Meanwhile in Soul Society…
Yamamoto, Captain of Squad 1 and the man in charge of the Gotei 13, all looked at his fellow captains, whom he had called together to discuss a very important matter.
"Captain Hitsugaya has given me his latest report," he told his fellow captains. "It seems Aizen has gained a new and mysterious ally."
The captains found themselves paying close attention to Yamamoto's words.
"This ally is confirmed not to be an Arrancar or Hollow, for Hitsugaya's team did not sense any reiatsu of those kind leaking from him. This new being is some kind of shape-shifter, who has displayed multiple forms and different powers for each form. This being was able to hold off Hitsugaya's entire team all by himself."
Now this really got everybody's attention. One being that could hold off a Captain, a lieutenant, and the two top fighters in Squad 11?
"While the creature only displayed three forms in the battle today, Hitsugaya has considered the possibility of the creature having far more forms."
Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of Squad 11 grinned. He was a mountain of a man with his hair braided into spikes. An eye patch covering one of his eyes.
"Sounds like fun," he said. "I need to get to Hueco Mundo."
SoiFon, captain of Squad 2, a woman with short black hair scoffed. "You're always off to go and some pointless fight, aren't you, Zaraki?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi, captain of Squad 12, smiled. "I say we should go to Hueco Mundo right now. This new creature would make an excellent test subject."
"But what really interested me," Yamamoto continued. "Was what else Hitsugaya told me."
Everyone stopped talking to listen to their leader.
"According to Hitsugaya and his team," Yamamoto went on. "The creature displayed extreme reluctance to do any serious damage to the Shinigami and even prevented his Espada companions from killing anyone. In fact, the creature seemed intent on reasoning with us."
SoiFon scoffed again. "It's obviously a trick by Aizen to make us lower our guard."
Ukitake, the white haired captain of Squad 13, spoke now. "Maybe not. For all we know, there are some on Aizen's side who actually disagree with the war."
"Highly unlikely," Yamamoto stated.
Captain Kyoraku, Ukitake's best friend and Captain of Squad 8, disagreed. "There is always a possibility." He admitted.
"I don't care whose side he's on," Zaraki said. "I just care whether or not he's good in a fight."
"I'm personally looking forward to experimenting on him," Kurotsuchi said with glee.
Soon, the meeting had turned into more of a debate. Everyone was arguing which course of action to take.
Las Noches, Hueco Mundo…
Ben had finally recovered. All his friends were relieved. They still felt guilty about being so forward with Ben, but he forgave them. This made Nel and Harribel's Fraccion extremely relieved. Afterwards, Ben decided to take a nap.
He wasn't sure what time it was when he woke up. But then again, he never knew what time it was in Hueco Mundo. He felt something clutching onto him and saw that Nel had fallen asleep beside him. Quietly and gently, he lifted Nel off him and put down gently on the bed. He could see her little hand reaching out as if seeking him. She grabbed the blanket and brought it closer to her. Ben could also hear her murmur his name in her sleep. Smiling down at her, Ben rubbed her head gently. Then he quietly left the room.
Walking down the hallways, Ben noticed one of the doors opening. Walking out of the room was none other than Ulquiorra. Raising an eyebrow, Ben walked over to greet the 4th Espada, but Ulquiorra did not give any acknowledgement to Ben's existence and continued walking. Deciding not to bother with him, Ben instead was curious about the door that Ulquiorra had just left. Was it Ulquiorra's room? In case it wasn't, Ben knocked on the door. Silence. Curious, Ben opened the door.
Inside the room was particularly plain. It had accommodations similar to his old room before he moved in with Harribel's Fraccion. But then he saw somebody in the room. It was a girl with orange hair and wearing some kind of school uniform gazing up at the moon through the window. Apparently she hadn't noticed him coming in.
"Er," Ben said. "Hello?"
The girl gave a little yelp, jumped, and turned around. Her eyes were filled with fright. But when she saw Ben, her eyes went wide with amazement. Ben's own eyes widened. This girl was a human. An actual human.
Ben scratched his head. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to startle you."
The girl simply stared at Ben, her mouth slightly open. It was as if Ben wasn't real. Slowly, the girl walked over to Ben and started pulling on his cheeks.
"Ow!" Ben yelled, causing the girl to jump backwards and cover her mouth as if she was trying to fight back a scream.
"You…you're real," she breathed.
"Sure I'm real," Ben told her. Then he smiled. "This is awesome! I had no idea there was another human here."
"Well," the girl said shyly. "I just got here."
This got Ben's attention. "How did you get here?" he asked.
"I was brought here," the girl explained. "I was told that my powers were needed, so I came. But I had no idea that I would get to see another human again."
Ben smiled at her. "Don't worry. I'm human, alright." He held out his hand. "My name's Ben Tennyson."
The girl smiled as she shook Ben's hand and bowed politely.
"Please to meet you, Tennyson-kun. My name's Inoue Orihime."