After discovering that Soul Society had finally chosen the Shinigami that was going to be the new guardian of Karakura Town, and had sent them through something that Sombra had discovered was called the Senkaimon, Sombra had gone to the area of the Urahara Shop that he had been given and relaxed for an hour, to calm himself down from his earlier training with Yoruichi. Hoho, as he had originally suspected, was tough to learn and it appeared that he was proving to be a decent student, if what his instructor had told him was to be believed, but at the same time he made sure that he didn't slack off when he was training and gave it his all. He also opened one of the books that he had been reading recently and continued his studies, as something told him that his time would be more focused on whatever happened after he found out who Soul Society had chosen for this assignment, especially since it took a month to pick a replacement. While that happened he heard Kisuke and Yoruichi come up to the upper area of the shop and closed the hidden entrance he had climbed out of earlier, though once he determined that they were talking about Soul Society's chosen guardian for the town he focused on the book in from of him and simply let time tick by.
When an hour had gone by he closed the book he was reading, slipped it back into the shelf that he had pulled it from, and laid on the makeshift bed that had been put in the roof, because Kisuke insisted that he not ruin his back by sleeping in the position he had take the first few nights he had spent inside the shop... and eventually drifted off into a dreamless sleep, as he was still curious about what would happen in the morning. His sleep was interrupted a few hours later, where he discovered that it was Friday morning, though he simply laid there and focused his mind, feeling the flow of the reiatsu in the town to the best of his ability as he searched for something. Yoruichi had insisted that he learn this technique as well, as part of their training, though all he could feel at the moment was what he assumed was the opening of the Senkaimon and the arrival of the Shinigami that had been picked for the town, along with two smaller signatures that had to be Hollows. He had to hazard a guess that the Shinigami that was chosen would have a busy first morning, but after figuring out what was going on he calmed his mind and stopped what he was doing, allowing him to slip back into his dreamless sleep once more.
After a few more hours morning arrived in the Urahara Shop, as that was when everyone else woke up, started their morning chores, and had their breakfast, to which Sombra joined them and drank his morning tea, because since he was an Arrancar he didn't need to eat anything at all... but he still felt that he should drink something, and at the same time he found that the tea helped calm his nerves for when he was about to head out into the town.
As Sombra sat in his customary spot, where he could observe everything that happened in the morning, he found that Jinta was excited about something, Ururu seemed indifferent about what Jinta was thinking about, Tessai was focused on what they would be doing that day, and Kisuke was interested in the paper that had arrived. Yoruichi, however, came into the room shortly after Kisuke did, though this time around she did so in her cat form and sat near Sombra, causing Jinta to raise an eyebrow as he looked over at them, until Tessai told him that it wasn't polite to stare at someone. From what Sombra could tell the children either didn't know the truth about Yoruichi's true form or they did and liked to pretend that they didn't know anything, but at the same time he wasn't about to ask them about it, just in case they found him strange for his thoughts. Still, regardless of what they thought, he still felt the urge to scratch Yoruichi behind the ears a few times while he drank his tea, where Kisuke raised an eyebrow when she didn't paw him or anything, as sometimes Yoruichi did that when she was in this form... though he said nothing as he left the two of them to their devices, since in a few minutes Sombra was going to head out and see who had been picked to be the guardian of Karakura Town.
A few minutes later, much like Kisuke thought, Sombra sighed and stood up for a moment, where he put his tea cup in the sink and rinsed it for a few seconds, before putting it down and turned towards the group that happened to be gathered around the table.
"Well, I'm going to head out and see who our mysterious new friend is." Sombra said, speaking in a way that wouldn't cause Jinta or Ururu to question what he was talking about, as he wasn't sure if the two of them knew about Soul Society or if they had no knowledge about it's existence, "I'll be sure to come back when I have something to tell you guys."
"Go ahead and take your time." Kisuke replied, knowing that this could be a delicate mission, since there was no telling what would happen when Sombra encountered the Shinigami that Soul Society had picked out, or what would happen when he made contact with that individual and Ichigo Kurosaki, "I'm fairly sure that it will take some time to figure out where they went and what they are up to, so take your time and make sure to keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary."
"I will." Sombra said, remembering what he had promised Kisuke and Yoruichi last night, that he be safe in regards to what he was about to do, before he bowed his head slightly and headed out through the backdoor, that way no one would see the front door open with no one walking out of it.
As he walked through the backdoor of the shop, and looked around to be absolutely sure that there wasn't anyone around him at the moment, he knew that his days of relaxing and spending most of his time training had come to an end, and that he was looking forward to seeing who Soul Society had sent to guard the town... to which he got started moving as he began his search for the new Shinigami or for Ichigo Kurosaki, though he had the feeling it would take some time before he spotted one of them.
Sombra ended up spending the majority of the day wandering around Karakura Town, finding it odd that when he wanted to find Ichigo and the Shinigami that had been assigned to the town he couldn't find them at all, as opposed to wanting to remain hidden and having Ichigo discover him while he was exploring. He had spent some of his time conversing with the spirits that rested all over the town, asking if they had seen anyone that ordinary people didn't see, sort of like him, and yet none of them seemed to have seen the Shinigami that he was really looking for, or Ichigo for that matter. It wasn't until he asked the spirit that was near the high school that he discovered that Ichigo was in school at the moment and would be for some time, meaning that it would be some time before he could interact with the young man, to which Sombra thanked the spirit and went back to his search for the mysterious Shinigami that had been sent to the town. He was sure that Kisuke had been right about Soul Society sending someone to the town, as the manager wouldn't mislead him when he was interested in what was happening, which only meant that the person he was looking for was hiding themselves while they did their job... even if there weren't any Hollows around, save the two that appeared to be doing absolutely nothing except moving around the town, and the number of spirits hadn't done down yet.
Once he determined that the Hollows weren't doing anything he returned to the high school and simply waited in a spot where he could spot Ichigo Kurosaki the moment he left the building, though at the same time he stood in a shaded area to make it harder for the Human to see him when he came outside. He waited for a few hours, silently thanking the fact that Arrancars apparently didn't need to eat anything since a normal person would have had to break for the midday meal, before he spotted the students leaving the sigh school and started to head home for the day. Sombra stood there for a few moments, watching the students that couldn't see him walk out of the school grounds, before he spotted Ichigo walking out of the building. From there he remained still for a moment or two, recalling some of Yoruichi's teachings about stealth, and at the moment it appeared that Ichigo didn't even see him, so when he let the young man get some distance ahead of him he emerged from his hiding place and followed after him. As he walked some distance behind the young man he noticed that Ichigo seemed distracted about something, and not by him as it turned out, though he silently followed Ichigo through Karakura Town as he headed home... or at least that was what he assumed at first.
What actually happened was that Ichigo took a detour that took him to an intersection, one that appeared to have a small glass vase with some flowers put inside it, though the vase happened to be on it's side and the flowers all over the ground in front of it... to which Ichigo approached the five young men that were using what Sombra had discovered were skateboards, or at least that was what Jinta called them, before spinning around and kicked one of them, the leader, in the chest, causing him to collapse on the ground in pain.
"Wh... what's going on?" one of the young men asked, though as all this happened Sombra remained on a high place and watched what was going on, because he was interested in what Ichigo was doing, "You got some nerve coming over to us and kicking Yama down like that!"
The young man in question rushed forward, in a motion that revealed that he was going to attack Ichigo, but Sombra watched as Ichigo raised his foot and lightly kicked the young man in the face, before using his leg to repeatedly kick his foe into the ground until he was unconscious... to which he straightened himself and started at the remaining three young men that were in front of him with a look of irritation in his eyes.
"Listen, all of you... Look at that!" Ichigo said, to which he used his right hand and pointed back at the vase in question, indicating that he was annoyed about it's current position, while at the same time staring at the trio in front of him, "First question: What can that be? You, in the middle!"
"Huh?" the young man in the middle replied, surprised that he was being called upon, while at the same time his friends moved away from him a little bit, though whether it was because he was picked or for some other reason Sombra had no idea, "Um, well... flowers for the kid who died here the other day?"
"Absolutely right!" Ichigo stated, though that was followed by him getting really close to the trio and kicked the guy in the middle with a kick, knocking him backwards in the process, before he crouched for a moment and stared at the other two young men that were shaking at the moment, "Then tell me... Why is that vase on it's side?"
"Well..." one of the two young men answered, though at the same time Sombra could tell that he was scared for his own safety, meaning that Ichigo either had a reputation or those simple kicks were more than enough to cause people to back away, "we were skateboarding and knocked... it... over..."
It was in that moment, as the young man was answering the question, that Ichigo lashed out with his foot and knocked the two of them backwards, though this time around he gave his attack enough power to let them understand what he was saying without leaving them scattered around the area.
"If you ever do it again..." Ichigo said, anger filling his voice as he stared at the young men in question, who seemed to be absolutely terrified of what was happening at the moment, which might have been what he was going for when he started talking, "I'll make it so someone will have to offer flowers for your souls, too!"
Not a few seconds later the two young men, along with the one that was between them, screamed as they retreated, leaving their friends behind for now, though Ichigo held that stare for a few moments to be absolutely sure that they got the message, but once they were gone he sighed and returned to his normal expression.
"If I put that much fear into them, they probably won't be coming back." Ichigo stated, almost like he was talking to himself, but Sombra knew that he was actually talking to the spirit of the little girl that was hiding behind the light post that the vase had been resting in front of, as he spotted her a few seconds after Ichigo engaged the young men that had knocked over the offering, "I'll bring you some fresh flowers tomorrow."
"Thank you for getting rid of them." the young spirit said, her tone revealing that she was happy with what Ichigo had done for her, even going so far as to offer him a smile at the same time, especially when Ichigo approached the vase and put it right side up, "Now I should be able to rest in peace."
Ichigo nodded his head and started walking down the street he had been following since he had departed from the high school, which meant that his route had been intentional since the beginning, though Sombra followed after him to see what else he had planned before he reached the clinic that served as his home. What he discovered, however, was that there weren't any other stops Ichigo had in mind and he headed straight to the clinic, though when he arrived it was were into the evening, around the time that most people had dinner. When Ichigo headed inside the house part of the building that contained the clinic, which would take him to his room as well, Sombra waited outside, since it would have been impolite to simply barge into the house and follow the young man all the way to his room. Sombra had to admit that he was tempted to do that anyway, since he heard the sound of someone attacking Ichigo and immediately moved his hand to his weapon, but from the sounds he heard after the incident happened it appeared that his father was annoyed with him returning home after seven o'clock, when they had dinner together, to which Sombra sighed and took his hand off the handle of his weapon.
After a few minutes of listening to Ichigo 'fight' his father, and argue with him as his sisters, who Sombra knew nothing about, commented on the fight they were having, before Ichigo went up to his room for the night, completely ignoring the evening meal... though at the same time Sombra jumped over to the top of a nearby building and waited, as it would be some time before anything happened, and he still couldn't find where that Shinigami had wandered off to. From there he watched over the part of the town that he was in and continued to keep an eye out for anything that would tell him where his targets were located, but once the first hour ticked by he quickly determined that he could simply sleep where he was and no one would bother him. At the very least he knew that the rays of the sun would be more than enough to awaken him this time around, since it was hard to ignored the sun when it's rays shined on him, so he dozed off knowing that he'd likely awaken around the same time that Kisuke and the others would, including Ichigo if his thoughts were correct.
For the most part he was correct, he was able to sleep through the night without anything happening, though as the sun's rays woke him up he stretched his arms and legs for a few seconds, but not even a moment later he heard the sound of an explosion nearby and immediately moved to investigate. What shocked him was that the explosion had happened close to where Ichigo and his family lived, though as he stared down at the scene, since he was standing on the roof above it, he found that the Humans were pointing some contraptions at the scene, video tapping what was going on, if he remember what the kids at the shop had told him. At the same time he noticed something more important, there were scratches on the wall nearby that looked like claw marks, meaning that a Hollow must have been behind the destruction around here, though since he couldn't see or feel either of them at the moment he sighed and headed back to the clinic, so he would wait and see what happened when Ichigo left the building. He was sure that, at some point in time, one of the two Hollows that had invaded the town would make their move and reveal themselves, though when that happened either he would take them out or the Shinigami would show up... which would work out good for him, since he was trying to figure out who had been sent here.
Eventually Ichigo walked out of his house and started to walk down the street, heading towards the area that the little girl's spirit had been standing when he encountered the group of young men, but as Sombra followed him he noticed something odd... he was still wearing his school clothes and was carrying his school bag.
He's got school on a Saturday?! Sombra thought as he followed Ichigo by using the roofs to his advantage, though it appeared that the Human was distracted by something that must have happened inside his house, I had no idea that the younger people in this town went to school six days a week... I wonder if that includes Sunday as well.
He had been so preoccupied with his training that he hadn't noticed whether Jinta and Ururu had to go to school six days a week or five days a week, or if they went to any sort of school at all, though that thought was immediately interrupted when he noticed that Ichigo was walking by where the explosion had been. The fact that he didn't even stop to see what was going on told Sombra that the people who had been video tapping everything must have broadcast it to the people in their homes, how he had no idea, but he remained silent as he followed Ichigo, who eventually came to a stop by where the little girl's spirit had been. As he started to call out to the spirit, who should have been in the area, Sombra heard the sound of the little girl screaming and, sure enough, the sound of a Hollow echoing after the scream, meaning that he'd get to see some action before the day was done, though what was interesting was that Ichigo heard the Hollow howl as well. Ichigo headed out in the direction of the scream, just as Sombra did at the same time, though as they arrived at the area in question Sombra discovered that the Hollow was already smashing his way through the area... and, based on what he was seeing, the large insect like Hollow was chasing the little girl from earlier.
He guessed that the Hollow was interested in eating the soul of the little girl and that was why it had smashed that other area apart earlier, because it was chasing her, though at the same time Sombra landed some distance behind Ichigo and stared at the Hollow, knowing that the time to act was coming.
"W... What's that...?" Ichigo asked, telling Sombra that he could see the Hollow as well, though that was before he spotted the little girl as well, who was running towards him since he had protected her earlier, only for the two of them to continue running in the opposite direction of the Hollow... to which the two of them moved right by Sombra and barely noticed him until Ichigo realized that he had been there.
That was the moment that little girl tripped on something and hit the ground, to which Ichigo moved to help the young spirit up, though at the same time Sombra moved immediately, as he rushed forward, drew his sword, and slashed through one of the Hollow's legs, stunning it as it roared in pain. As he moved to hack through the mask, and kill the creature while purifying it's soul, a figure wearing the same clothing that he was wearing, only black colored, dropped down from the roof above them and descended towards the Hollow's mask. Once she was in position, as he was sure that it was a female based on the body that he was seeing, she drew her own Zanpakuto and used a horizontal slash to wound the Hollow's mouth, as blood flew everywhere as it was cut, though that was followed by her touching the ground as the creature withered in pain. Sombra took the chance and jumped to the other side of the Hollow, where he hacked off the other legs and caused it to crash on the ground, though as it raised it's head towards the sky the Shinigami appeared above it's head and swung her sword in a vertical manner that cut the entire Hollow in half... causing it to dissolve into nothing as it was purified.
The instant the Hollow was taken care of, and Ichigo started to come out of the daze he had been in since this appeared to be the first time seeing such a creature, both Sombra and the Shinigami sheathed their blades and departed from the area, leaving a confused young man behind... though, oddly enough, when Sombra stopped on top of one of the roofs that were above the street he found that he wasn't alone in that decision, because the Shinigami followed him up there. That gave him the opportunity to observe the Shinigami, finding that she was shorter than him and appeared to have a petite body, though she had light colored skin and purple colored eyes. The Shinigami's hair was black colored, sort of like his own hair, and that there happened to be several strands of hair that were currently hanging between her eyes, though based on the look she was giving him he could tell that the strands were the one thing she wasn't interested in at the moment. He guessed that his luck was great so far, as one of the Hollows had been taken out and he was about to figure out who the Shinigami of Soul Society had sent to Karakura Town... unless she was going to try and kill him, which meant he'd have to knock her out first, but he kept his hand away from his sword for the moment.
"I was wondering where that energy was coming from," the Shinigami commented, to which she approached him and studied his body, no doubt taking in his hooves, his tail, and his horn, along with the strange crown that he wore, before she backed away and stared at him, "What are you exactly? And how did you get your hands on that Zanpakuto?"
"My name is Sombra, and I'm an Arrancar," Sombra replied, thinking that this might be the same as when he met Kisuke the first time around, giving up his own name in exchange for the name of the person he was talking to, before he moved his sword a little, "and this was given to me when it was determined that I'd be of more use to the town if I had a weapon to help me combat the Hollows that occasionally appear every now and then. I've been silently guarding Karakura Town for the last month, waiting for Soul Society to send someone to take the place of the last Shinigami that had died in the line of duty... though it's fortunate that we met in such a manner, instead of being enemies."
"The last month?" the Shinigami inquired, to which she appeared to think about something for a moment, while at the same time Sombra nodded his head to confirm what he had just said, where she stared at him once more, "Part of my mission, besides helping the souls of the dead depart from this world and taking care of Hollows, was to find the energy signature that had been slowly growing over the last month and identify whether it was a threat to the town, or if it was something else entirely. I guess that means I can at least report back that I found the source of the energy and that I'll have a more detailed report after I spend some time figuring you out... though that raises a question, how could someone like you know about Soul Society and the Shinigami?"
"I'm flattered that Soul Society sent someone to find me." Sombra said, though at the same time he bowed for a moment, just to show that he wasn't like the Hollows that he had taken out and the one that he had assisted her in taking out, before he stood straight and stared at her, "Though the reason I know about Soul Society and the Shinigami is because someone taught me all about the place you came from and what you're supposed to do while you're in the World of the Living, which is sort of what I've been doing since the last Shinigami was killed by a Hollow. Now then, what are you going to do about the Hollow that's still running around since yesterday morning?"
The Shinigami remained silent for a moment, clearly surprised by the fact that he was willing to answer her questions with the truth and that, to the best of her knowledge, wasn't holding anything back from her, and she also had to be a little shocked that he was keeping taps on the Hollow, whenever it appeared around the town. Even now Sombra was aware that Ichigo was heading back to school, to learn more about the world around him and what he needed for his adult life, but at the same time this was the person that he was really looking for, and so far he had gotten nothing. He was actually pretty fine with the arrangement, because that meant that he might be able to get her to tell him some things in return, since he gave her so much already, but he was just going to have to wait and see what happened next before he rushed to a conclusion that might be incorrect.
"I'm going to track it down and get rid of it," the Shinigami finally replied, though her statement made sense in Sombra's mind, as it was safer for the spirits and souls in the town if the Hollows were purified shortly after they revealed themselves, "along with sending some of these souls to Soul Society... there's quite a number of them still lingering in the places where they died or gathering around people who were important when they were alive. You, on the other hand, are going to come with me and tell me everything that's happened over the last month... maybe we can track down that Shinigami killing Hollow while we're at it."
"It would be my pleasure, Miss..." Sombra said, though at the same time he purposely let her know that, since she knew his name it was only fair that she tell him exactly who she was, that way he didn't have to dodge around calling her a Shinigami all the time, since that would only annoy her.
"Oh, right, I haven't told you my name yet." the Shinigami said, though Sombra wasn't sure if she had intentionally forgotten or if she never had the intention of telling him, but now it appeared that she was going to tell him anyway, as if she had thought about how he had worded his parts of the conversation, "My name is Rukia... Rukia Kuchiki."
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Rukia Kuchiki," Sombra replied, earning what was a light smile from the Shinigami for a moment, before she beckoned to him and got underway by jumping over to the next rooftop as she continued her search for the other Hollow.
Sombra followed after her not a few seconds later, as he was eager to see what else he could learn from her, so that way when he told Kisuke the news he'd have something to offer him and Yoruichi the next time he saw them, as they were going to be interested in learning why Soul Society sent Rukia here in the first place... and maybe figure out a way to assist her in the future, if she needed help doing her job or learning where places were throughout the town. One thing he figured out, from just following Rukia, was that she seemed to be interested in Ichigo at the moment, more in the fact that he had seen the Hollow they killed, because she was following him towards his high school. It didn't take them long to reach the area that Sombra stood in when he was watching the school, waiting for the young man to come out, so he offered Rukia some shade and they both sat down, where he told her everything that had happened since he appeared in the town a month ago... though he did hope that he told her something that would help her find that Shinigami killing hollow, just so she could tell Soul Society that their comrades had been avenged.
The two of them spent the majority of the morning sitting outside the high school, in Sombra's little hiding area, discussing what happened over the last month, where Rukia learned whatever Sombra had discovered on his own and nodded her head a few times, meaning that she either knew something or verified what she had been told earlier. At the same time they both kept their eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary, as there was no telling when the other Hollow would make it's move, until Rukia decided to move and headed back into the town, with Sombra following after her so she didn't get lost. What she ended up doing was tracking down some of the spirits that he had told her about and gave him his first glimpse of the Konso technique, where Rukia tapped the hilt of her sword against the forehead of the spirit, where all of them had been good while they were living, as they ended up turning into a black bodied butterfly that flew off into the distance before they disappeared entirely. Rukia didn't offer an explanation as to why the spirits she performed the Konso on became butterflies, leaving Sombra to just watch and learn while they continued to make their way through the town, taking care of the duties that the previous Shinigami would have done if they hadn't been killed.
Eventually the day turned to night as they came to a familiar part of Karakura Town, the very place where Ichigo's house was located, and Rukia paused for a moment, apparently sensing another spirit nearby, though that was followed by her jumping up till she was level with one of the rooms in the second story. It was in that moment that she opened a black doorway of some kind, one that allowed her to pass through the wall, and, as Sombra moved over to the window to see what was going on, he watched her step out onto Ichigo's deck and scared the young man for a moment when she touched her sword as she sought out the spirit in question. When Rukia stepped down onto the floor, and muttered something about 'something' being near, Ichigo got fed up with her and proceeded to kick her in the back, knocking her to the floor with a look of surprise on her face, though at the same time Sombra shook his head, because he had told her that Ichigo could see spirits and she had ignored him entirely... making him wonder if this 'partnership' they were in was even going to work, if she wasn't going to listen to anything he said.
It was in the moment that he was thinking about how he and Rukia were going to work together that Ichigo turned on the light and gave him a better chance to see Rukia, who happened to be remaining on the floor, as she was stunned by what had just happened.
"You scare the living daylights out of me, then you ignore me?!" Ichigo commented, revealing that he didn't like the fact that Rukia had ignored him like he wasn't there, or the fact that he had asked her several questions before he took matters into his own hands, "I asked you who you are!"
"Y... You can see me?" Rukia asked, surprised that this was even happening, though at the same time she turned around a little so she could look at Ichigo with her look of surprise remaining on her face, once more confirming what Sombra had thought a few moments ago, "But wait... you just kicked me..."
"I told you that he can see spirits, souls, and ghosts," Sombra said, to which he remained outside the room and stared at the two of them for a moment, while at the same time he noticed that Ichigo was turning to look at him, "Ah, Ichigo Kurosaki, do you mind if I enter your bedroom as well?"
"Ugh... sure." Ichigo replied, where it was clear that he had no idea what to make of the situation, though as Sombra opened the window, and climbed inside the room, his eyes revealed the he recognized Sombra, "Hey, you're that strange person I've seen around Karakura Town for the last month!"
"That I am," Sombra said, to which he touched the floor and closed the window behind him, to make sure nothing else came into the room after both he and Rukia did the same, before he turned towards Ichigo and extended a hand towards the young man, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Sombra, and this is..."
"Interesting... normally people like you can't see people like us." Rukia commented, having gotten up while Ichigo was distracted, though she then approached him and started studying him in detail, as if she was trying to figure out how he could see the two of them.
"Quit talking nonsense." Ichigo stated, to which he actually kicked at Rukia, but this time since he was coming from the front, and Rukia was a Shinigami, she jumped over his kick, jumped off of it and landed on his head, before giving herself a little boost and landed behind him while knocking the young man to the floor.
"I guess I might as well explain things to you." Rukia said, to which she turned around and looked at Ichigo, where Sombra sighed, as this was going to take some time before they got anywhere and he was sure that there were some pieces of information that were going to go over Ichigo's head, "I am a Shinigami..."
Sombra closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall, listening to Rukia describe the duties of the Shinigami and their purpose in the World of the Living, were he found that everything she said he already knew about, as Kisuke and Yoruichi had told him everything that she was telling Ichigo. Even without having to look Sombra could tell that Ichigo wasn't buying what Rukia was telling him, even though it was the truth, and eventually he started reciting everything he had learned in the most simple form possible, by attaching it to the spirit of the little girl that had been attacked. What was amazing was that he understood what Rukia was telling him, parts of it at the very least, but in the end he declared that he couldn't actually believe what she had said, mostly because he had seen spirits for a long period of time and that this was the first time that he had seen a Shinigami. The only reason he was willing to believe that Sombra, an Arrancar, was real was because he had seen him multiple times over the last month, even though he stated that he deserved an explanation as to why he kept running over the last month.
It was during the part that Ichigo explained why he couldn't believe Rukia that he touched his head and called her a 'pipsqueak', which annoyed Rukia to the point where she used one of the Bakudo techniques Sombra had read about, Sai, that forced Ichigo's hands behind his back and locked them there. Sombra opened his eyes to watch that happened, while noticing that Rukia followed it up by taunting Ichigo for a moment before drawing her sword, to perform Konso on a spirit that had come up from the floor, where she sent his soul to Soul Society. That, in turn, launched Rukia into another explanation about another set of duties that the Shinigami performed, where Sombra tuned her out once more as he focused his mind, as he found that Ichigo's room was making it hard to sense anything that was going on around Karakura Town, meaning that the Hollow they were hunting for could be on it's way here and they wouldn't know about it until it was took late to do anything. That was, however, until he heard the familiar roar of a Hollow, one that was extremely close to where they were sitting, and yet he appeared to be the only one to notice it... or at least that was the case, until Ichigo pointed it out and Rukia jumped to attention, now aware to the fact that her target was nearby.
In the moments that followed Ichigo heard the sound of one of his sisters screaming as Rukia opened the door, though she paused a moment later as the reiatsu of the Hollow, stronger than what she was expecting it to be, stopped her in her tracks, while at the same time Sombra felt it as well. As such while Rukia and Ichigo dealt with leaving through the bedroom door, and apparently listening to a wounded Yuzu for a moment, Sombra opened the window and jumped outside, before circling around to the front of the clinic, which was now missing it's front. His position gave him a good view of the humanoid Hollow, the young girl that he was holding onto, and the bottom of the stairs were Rukia was standing, before Ichigo, somehow, came down the stairs and moved himself into a standing position, surprising Sombra for a moment since the Sai technique was supposed to immobilize the target. It was in the following moments that both he and Rukia were surprised, as Ichigo used his own power, which had to be something like a Shinigami's power or similar to it, to shatter the Bakudo that had been placed on him... to which he rushed forward, grabbed onto a folded up chair, and tried to attack the Hollow, who punched him to the side and had to be caught by Sombra before he hurt himself.
Not a few seconds later, after Sombra pulled Ichigo away to avoid the Hollow's punch, Rukia charged out and cut a gash into the Hollow's hand, forcing him to drop the young girl, Karin as Sombra soon discovered, to which Ichigo caught his sister and rushed her back into the house. As the Hollow seemed to retreat for the moment Rukia discovered something about the situation they were in, the Hollows that she had encountered today weren't after the spirit or the girls that they were attacking, what they were actually after was Ichigo himself, as he seemed to have an incredible amount of reiatsu that had been suppressed up until this point. Ichigo was surprised and shocked by that fact, as he couldn't believe that it was his fault that this was happening to his own family, but even as Rukia said that Sombra wondered why the Hollows didn't come after him or the others, before he wondered if the Urahara Shop was designed to repel Hollows and prevented the creatures from sensing reiatsu from those that lived inside the building. Unfortunately that was as far as his thoughts went, as the moment the Hollow returned Ichigo ran forward and moved away from the clinic, where he actually tried to bargain with the Hollow, which only seemed to laugh at him.
It was in the moment that the Hollow attacked him, and before Sombra could draw his sword, that Rukia jumped between the two and wedged her sword in between two of the Hollow's teeth as it bit into her shoulder, though in the end she tore one of the creature's teeth out while sustaining enough damage that she could hardly stand anymore... where she started to crawl over to the nearby lamppost and turned towards the battle.
"You fool..." Rukia commented, to which she leaned against the lamppost and stared at Ichigo, though while all of this was going on Sombra pulled out his sword and dodged the incoming attack that the Hollow sent at him, before hacking out a second tooth while Rukia talked to Ichigo, "You should have known... that you were no match for him... Or, did you think that everything would be over if you gave him your soul? At this rate, we'll all become his food."
"Real vote of confidence there." Sombra muttered, surprised that Rukia had so little faith in his abilities, but then again she couldn't know much about him since they had only met a few hours ago, though that didn't stop him from dodging the next attack and hack into the Hollow's leg a little as he forced the creature backwards.
"Do you... want to save your family?" Rukia asked, completely ignoring Sombra's presence once more, because he was doing a good job of stalling the Hollow, which only wanted to get at Ichigo and he was still getting in the way, not that Sombra was going to let the creature go anywhere.
"Of course!" Ichigo replied, though at the same time he wondered if this meant that Sombra didn't have the power to stop the Hollow either, as Rukia seemed to have no faith in his abilities, even though he could tell that he was doing just fine on his own, "Is there a way for me to protect my family?"
"There's only one way..." Rukia said, to which she picked up her sword and pointed it at Ichigo, though it appeared that she was more determined than ever to survive this encounter, "You must become a Shinigami!"
Sombra would have questioned what was going on, but right now he was focused on battling a Hollow that was stronger than the ones he had fought when Yoruichi was training him, not that it was her fault since those ones must have been extremely weak. In the following moments, when he heard Rukia and Ichigo exchange names, a surge of light and energy emitted from where they were gathered, though Sombra's instincts told him to get out of the way and he did, to which he watched as one of the Hollow's arms went flying off not even five seconds later. When the smoke cleared he found Ichigo standing in the middle of the street, wearing the attire of a Shinigami and carrying a Zanpakuto that was larger than what he and Rukia were carrying, before he rested the sword against his back, where a container of some kind was strapped to his back. Rukia, as Sombra discovered, was just fine save for her wound, though her attire had become pure white, save for the parts where she was wounded, but she was shocked by what had happened and looked down at herself in disbelief... but even then Sombra could see that she was understanding what he had discovered, Ichigo's room had been filled with the young man's reiatsu, indicating that he had some powerful energy that he needed to learn how to control before someone got hurt.
In the next few seconds Sombra watched as Ichigo and the Hollow charged at each other, though Ichigo lopped off the creature's right leg and forced it to hop in place for a moment, before using a vertical slash to slay the Hollow, purifying it's soul and causing it to disappear... though as he stood up, and appeared to be getting ready to cheer, the excitement apparently got to him and he fell to the ground, where Sombra discovered that he was out cold.
"First time being a Shinigami and he falls asleep after killing a Hollow," Sombra commented, to which he sheathed his sword and walked over to Rukia, while at the same time noting the damage that had been caused to the clinic and Ichigo's unconscious family, "now then, how are we going to explain all of this?"
"I... I don't know," Rukia admitted, though at the same time she carefully reached into her pocket and pulled out a note she had been given before she departed from Soul Society, one that she handed to Sombra, "I was told that, if I ever needed supplies for my job, I could go to that shop and they would provide me with anything and everything that I might use while I'm in the World of the Living... I just don't know where the shop is located."
Sombra took the note and opened it, though he raised one of his eyebrows when he noticed that the shop in question was the Urahara Shop, which meant that he could kill two birds with one stone tonight... and maybe earn him some points with Rukia along the way.
"Don't worry, I know where the shop is located," Sombra said, though instead of waiting for Rukia to ask how he knew where the shop was located he picked her up and started heading over to where Kisuke and the others were, no doubt getting ready for bed themselves.
He guessed that he had been right in a way, as the chosen Shinigami from Soul Society had definitely made life in Karakura Town more interesting with her mere presence, even though now she appeared to be without her powers, which explained Ichigo's sudden transformation... though something told him he'd find out more about that later, once he helped figure out how they were going to explain the damage to Ichigo in the morning.