White Rain

Chapter Twelve: unexpected allies

This is a Bleach fanfiction story that I am teaming up with Openminded15 (from fanfiction.net) to write. We do not own anything associated with the Bleach series and/or its characters. However this story is an original idea as some of the characters may seem a bit OC as we have also thrown in some completely OCC characters for this story. Please leave your comments and reviews telling us what you think. Thank you!

Key guide: bold - hollow voice, italic - zanpakuto voice, *mental speech*, "regular speech", 'thinking', bold italics - attacks, (author notes/translation)

Chapter Twelve: unexpected allies

Ichigo barged in through the doors of the Squad Four barracks and placed the unconscious Grimmjow on a gurney. There wasn't much trouble getting Grimmjow there as Starrk held off most of the Hollowfied Shinigami. The ones he couldn't hold off they managed to run from.  Both Unohana and Captain Yamamoto looked surprised that Ichigo dared to bring two Espada back with him. Shinji and the others were there as well as they looked just as shocked as Captain Yamamoto that Ichigo would actually dare to bring their allies there.

"Ichigo! What do you think you are doing?" Yamamoto snapped.

"He's badly injured. Please, Unohana, can you heal him?" Ichigo asked.

"But, he's an enemy. Last time he....."

"I know what he did last time." Ichigo interrupted Unohana. "But right now, he needs our help.  He was corrupted by Hakurai. I hope that he has come to his senses now."  Unohana still looked hesitant to heal him. She looked back at Yamamoto for answers. He stood there, trying to figure out what to do. He looked back at Unohana and nodded. She turned to Grimmjow and put up a protective healing barrier around him. As she was busy healing him, the others started talking about what their next plan of action should be.

"It sounds like to me Captain Mayuri is too hard for you guys to find. Maybe you should just go straight for Hakurai," Starrk stated sitting back in a relaxed position.

"That's too dangerous for us to do. He controls those crazed Hollowfied Shinigami. If we try to attack him now, we could easily become outnumbered." Shinji retorted.

"So do you think we should keep searching for Mayuri?" Rukia asked.

"No, of course not. This is apparently a wild goose chase. He's nowhere to be found. But, we can't just start going after Hakurai. It's a suicide mission!" Shinji answered.

*King, maybe you can find a way that we can get more Arrancar allies. With them, we might have a chance at fighting Hakurai.* Shiro suggested.

*It would be a good solution, Shiro. But, how would we really be able to get all of the Arrancar to be on our side? I'm sure most of them are still bitter about how some of our battles ended with there.* Ichigo answered mentally.

*I never said all of them King. We could get as many as we can.*

*Why would they be any more help to us anyways, Shiro? They can't do anything the Vizards can't do.*

*Didn't you notice before Grimmjow fought you that the hollows didn't attack you? And how they moved out of the way for Grimmjow? I think they obey the Arrancar. Either if it's out of fear or respect, we can use it to our advantage.*

Looking back on just before the battle, Ichigo could recall them making a pathway for the panther-like Arrancar. Shiro might be onto something. If they could get enough Arrancar to fight with them, then they might have sort of a shield for Hakurai's tricks.