~Odd|One|Out~

Shin'ichi narrowed his eyes at the mention of Aizen; That damned traitor. He felt a twitch in his hand, as it trembled near the handle of his zanpakuto. But he forced himself to put it down as he watched from the shadows.

Michi jumped out of the way of another attack from Tesla, "Aizen-sama?!". She blinked in surprise. "You don't remember? That meeting we all had. All fraccion and Espada were ordered to attend", Tesla stated. "Hey! That's not fair! You know I was in bed for a few weeks because Nnoitra-sama shuved me off the edge of Las Noches and broke a few bones!", she stated, now worried. Tesla stayed silent now. He hadn't noticed that she had been missing at that meeting. "S-Surely Aizen-sama knew to...right? So-Someone told him I didn't know...RIGHT?!", Michi's hands began to shake in fear and she found it hard to hold her zanpakuto. Tesla continued to stay quiet. "Oh no, oh no!", she shook her head, "Nnoitra-sama is one thing...b-but Aizen-sama...is completely different..! Nnoitra-sama says he'll kill you, and sometimes he does mean it but...he never does...but Aizen-sama...I am so dead...!". She may not have feared dying, but Aizen was someone she did fear. Broken bones, wounds, those things were simple and she was used to. Facing Aizen. That was on a whole other level.

Shin'ichi frowned at this. Aizen had instilled such fear into his own troops. He supposed that was how he commanded respect... He bit on his lip. Surely this girl, Michiru, could not go back now.

"If you come back now without any hesitation, I am sure Aizen-sama will forgive you", Tesla tried to reason, trying to look on the bright side. "Maybe...", she murmured, taking a step back from Tesla. Tesla lowered his blade and held his hand to her, using a very rare sight of a smile to try and coax her into coming back. "If you stay here you'll only be making it much worse. Since Aizen-sama has not sent anyone after you, he can't be that mad", Tesla stated. 'But Ichimaru-sama...has people monitoring who comes here, and when they do they're watched unless they're ordered to come here...They saw me associate with a shinigami. Heard what I said...Would Aizen-sama forgive that...?', she thought, now chewing on her bottom lip as she tried to decide. "Michiru...?", Tesla's smile faded and a serious look replaced it as she shook her head at him. "Sorry Tesla-san. I still respect Aizen-sama and Nnoitra-sama to but...", she got into a fighting stance, "Since Aizen-sama has everyone monitored when they come here, something I did earlier will be held against me so...I'm very sorry Tesla-san!". She moved quickly and began to attack her comrade.

Shin'ichi decided that he had no choice. Even though Shinigami and Espada were sworn enemies, it didn't mean he had to hate all of them. He rose, drawing Densetsu Kirureru and rushed forward. He'd give Michiru time to escape as he escalated his reiatsu to become noticeable.

Tesla and Michiru both looked over, quickly splitting apart as Shin'ichi intervened. "W-What are you doing?!", she asked him in a worried tone. "Shinigami...", Tesla grunted, grasping his sword tightly. He glanced toiwards Michi. 'She knows him...?', he thought in confusion.

Shin'ichi used his Shunpo and tore through the air towards Tesla without warning. He collided into him and fell back down with the Espada as he released his weapon. He glanced back at Michiru, and his eyes screamed for her to leave.

Michiru stood there in confusion as he attacked Tesla. 'Why...?', she thought to herself. Tesla grunted as Shin'ichi collided with him and he raised his blade to push off of him, getting away for a moment before coming back at him and swinging his sword down towards his shoulder. Despite what she now was. Despite what was going on, what was happening right now. Tesla was still her friend, even if he was also now her enemy. "TESLA!", Michiru exclaimed, quickly using sonido to get between the two. She kicked Tesla back and held Shin'ichi at bay with her sword. "Go away! Go home!", she told him, "I know this is no good....but just go!". She looked at Shin'ichi. "I don't want you involved in my problems...", she whispered to him.

Tesla narrowed his eyes on Shin'ichi and Michiru after having been kicked back. But he sheathed his zanpakuto nonetheless. "Despite this, you already know what's going to happen Michiru. You can't run forever...", Tesla stated as he opened up a gargantua and stepped inside, disappearing from the area and going back to Las Noches.

Shin'ichi sighed and his zanpakuto reverted. It hung there by his side, as limp as his arm. "Maybe I'm too caring for my own damn good. All I've got is everyone's interest at heart. Even if it is the enemy." He sheathed his weapon, shrugging away from Michiru.

Michiru moved away from Shin'ichi, ignoring what he said as she sheathed her blade. "Ahh, now what am I going to do!", she placed her hands to her head, messing up her purple hair in frustration, "Should've just stayed home and let Nnoitra-sama do whatever he wanted today! Ooohhh! I could've probably even hidden around Ichimaru-sama! He's always nice to me to!". She kicked the air in frustration. "Not that I agree with what Aizen-sama does, but I don't wanna go out like that! Oohh..", she covered her mouth, "Ooohh what am I saying?!". She began to pace in the air, trying to figure out what she was going ti do.

Shin'ichi frowned some as he listened to Michiru. He wanted to help. He really did. But there was no way they'd let an Arrancar into Soul Society again... God, why was he such a big softy. He turned to face her again, glancing up in Michiru's direction. He had something to say, but it caught in his throat.

( Sorry for the long wait; I got caught up in a lot of stuff. ._. )

"If I do go back now...maybe he won't have me killed...I could just explain that I didn't know anything and..uhm...Oh no! Bad idea!", she shook her head, "Aizen-sama isn't that forgiving! Or is he? No! No way! Ahhh!! This is so complicating!". She groaned in annoyance, finally lowering herself onto a roof top and taking a seat on it, releasing a heavy sigh.

{It's ok ^^;; I passed out like an hour or so after we stopped anyway. This damn heat here @_@}

Shin'ichi leapt to the roof easily, stooping next to her. He placed his hand on Michiru's shoulder. "Why don't you run? Impossible, you may think, but you can escape." He suggested. "I'd help, but I may be more of a hindrance..." He murmured.

( X3 Okay. I don't feel as bad now. Yeah, the heat gets pretty bad here, too. )

She looked back at him. "Have you ever tried to run from Aizen-sama?", she questioned, already knowing the answer since it was a ridiculous question to begin with. "Though I am just one arrancar...others have left before...OH! I know!", she quickly rose to her feet and faced him, "Have you ever hear of an arrancar named Ashia? I don't know much about her but I know she left Aizen's army a really long time ago. She used to be at the top of the ranks as the first Espada! If I could find her...I could probably hide away with her!".

Shin'ichi had, but never met Ashia personally. He nodded. "I couldn't tell you where to find her though; But she does tend to hang around the Living World most, especially around this district, come to think of it." He nodded. "I wish I could be more help."

Michi clasped her hands together, now quite relieved. "Then she could be around somewhere close by!", she quickly jumped to her feet and looked at him, "Well if you want to be more help...would you help me look for her?".

Shin'ichi would be pressing his time, since his patrol was almost up, but he smiled and nodded. "Of course; Keep within eyesight though, so I can help you incase something comes up." He told her.

She nodded at this, "Alright". The search begins. She took off into the air, feeling a birds eye veiw might be the best choice at the moment just to get a good feel for the area.

Shin'ichi took off from where he was, swiftest on the ground using his Shunpo. His eyes were sharp, so he would rarely miss a detail as he made sure that Michiru was always within eyesight whilst also hunting for this Ashia.

"Where could she be...", Michiru murmured, looking around the area from the sky.

---

Ashia lay underneath a tree in a park nearby. Her usual lazy self just relaxing and enjoying the nice day. "I wonder what's up...seems to be a lot of comotion today...", she murmured to herself, meaning the reitsu she had been sensing.

Shin'ichi landed atop a roof at a crouch, overlooking a neighboring park. His eyes scanned along the ground, feeling around for reiatsu. He knew it was be nearly impossible to detect Ashia, but it was worth a try. He wasn't sure if it was Michiru's or someone else's, but he felt a slight tug. He kept his reiatsu elevated, incase he would recieve a glance from someone hiding and expose themselves.

"Shinigami...", Ashia murmured to herself, opening one eye and looking over for a moment before closing it again. She felt no need to move. She was just lazy that way. Her reitsu was always surpressed at a low rate to, so it blended in with everything else. 'Better not come over here and disturb me shinigami....', she thought in annoyance.

Shin'ichi saw it. He whistled to Michiru and flipped through the air, falling fast. He hit the ground with a sizeable thud and rose. He sauntered over to Ashia and crossed his arms, looking down at her.

Michiru looked over as she heard Shin'ichi whistle. "Oh! He found her?!", she quickly headed down from the sky and towards his direction.

Ashia felt Shin'ichi next to her, but stayed quiet for a moment to see if her would move on. When he didn't, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Can I help you, shinigami?".

Shin'ichi stared down at Ashia. "No, but you can help my friend." He said quietly as Michiru soon arrived out of the sky. He remained unmoving, as he ocntinued to stare down at her.