//------------------------------//
// Interlude: Heading Back Home 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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The first thing that happened when they arrived at Kukaku Shiba's place, where her cannon was still out and not back in the underground storage area where it belonged, was that they found Ganju, who had purposely gone home before anyone could stop him, being beat up by his sister, or at the very least punishing him for being no help to the group. Rukia took the opportunity that was presented to her and stopped them for a moment, as she had to finally get something off her chest and apologized for the death of Kaien Shiba, someone that Sombra discovered had meant a lot to Rukia, just as he was Kukaku and Ganju's older brother. Of course Kukaku, as well as a number of Shinigami, had learned that the reason behind Kaien's death wasn't because Rukia had killed him, but rather a Hollow had killed his wife, fused with his body when he came looking for it, and then Rukia had the terrible deed of killing the end result, which was why Rukia felt so guilty over the entire thing, as she still believed that it was her fault that Kaien died. Kukaku wasn't about to have any of that and insisted that, upon hearing the real reason behind her brother's death, that she would forgive Rukia only if she came and apologized, and because that was what Rukia did, even if it brought tears to her eyes, both she and Ganju finally buried their dislike for Rukia so they could move on with their lives... but that was also when Kukaku insisted that Rukia stopped apologizing for what happened, otherwise she was going to beat her up until she did so.

Sombra, upon hearing about the experiment that was conducted, realized that the person that was ultimately responsible for Kaien Shiba's death was none other than Aizen, as he had admitted that he ran a number of tests and came up with next to nothing, but at least it gave Rukia fuel for her fire.

Yoruichi, once Kukaku was done tormenting Rukia over apologizing and saying that she was sorry, moved to the side and told her friend that their group would be leaving sometime in the morning, along with the fact that she knew that it was time for them to fulfill their side of the bargain they made earlier, when they were first seeking her help. Sombra quickly discovered that it was basically a dinner party, Kukaku's treat as it were, and that they were all invited to eat, have fun, and spend the night if they so desired, which seemed to appease Ichigo and Ganju, even though the two of them fought over some of the food in the process. Sombra smiled as he sat against one of the walls, drinking the cup of tea that he had been served, and watched his friends as they enjoyed themselves, as he knew that they deserved this time to relax and unwind from all the stress they had been through from the moment that they entered Soul Society, even though he had to refuse both Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko's offers for something to eat. They still didn't understand him, as they said that beings that had power, like Shinigami, needed to eat to keep their strength up, or something along those lines, and Sombra told them that, as an Arrancar, he didn't abide by the same rules and that a cup of tea was all he really needed, even though it wasn't necessary for his survival.

His belief was that Arrancars either survived off of spirit particles, which Soul Society had an excessive amount of if he believed what Uryu said, or they actually didn't need to eat anything at all and simply recovered on their own, which was his personal opinion on the matter... though some time later, as the group settled down, Ichigo decided that it was time to pop the question to Rukia, causing everyone to quiet down to hear what was going on.

"Tomorrow we get to go home." Ichigo said, as it was still so unreal that the Shinigami were allowing all of them, who had invaded their home to save a friend from a fate that they didn't think she deserved, to leave Soul Society and head back to the World of the Living, so they could resume their lives as if nothing had happened, "It still seems so unreal that we're going to head back home... though the experience was definitely worth it, since it means that we saved our friend in the process."

"Ichigo..." Rukia sighed, as she had been meaning to tell the group this since they left the area that Sombra and Zaraki had been fighting in, but so many of them had been talking that she hadn't had the opportunity to do so, which was why she was going it now, "I've been meaning to tell this to you guys for a while now, since you went out of your way to come here and save me. I... I was thinking of staying here, in Soul Society."

"Really? That's great." Ichigo replied, though while he put a happy expression on his face Sombra noticed that his hands shook for a moment, like he felt that Rukia should renounce Soul Society for doing all of this to her and run away to the World of the Living, before Ichigo spoke again, "Well, if that's something that you decided that's good for you, that you feel that you would really like to stay here, then it's best that way."

Sombra knew that Rukia was staying here for multiple reasons, the first being that this was her home, since she was a Soul and not a Human, and the second being because she still hadn't fully recovered from her time in her cell, meaning that the best place for her to heal and get better was here, in Soul Society. Of course he was a little sad that she was planning on staying behind, but there was one good thing, besides all the power that he and Ichigo had gained and the potential allies they might have made, that made the entire trip worth it in his eyes, and that was Yoruichi, who was sitting by his side after the twins stopped pestering him. So far none of their friends had noticed that they were much friendlier towards each other, even though Uryu might have noticed, since he was the most observant of the others, and had chosen to say nothing, and right now he was intending to keep it a secret for a little while longer, just until they got back to the World of the Living and told Urahara the news. He honestly had no idea how the former Captain of the Twelfth Division was going to react to him suddenly coming back with the news that he and Yoruichi were definitely a couple, even if they hadn't told anyone yet, and it was his reaction that he was interested in, since he and Tessai had known her longer than he did at the moment... and even Yoruichi had no idea what they were going to say, even though she had some guesses and refused to say since many of them could be wrong.

Soon they would return to the World of the Living and rejoin the rest of their friends, and get back to how life had been before Byakuya and Renji came for Rukia, but before they got to that point in time Sombra focused on what was happening at the moment and wrapped an arm around a smiling Yoruichi, knowing that she was enjoying herself and joined the others in their final celebration.





When morning arrived, and everyone got up from where they had fallen asleep, Sombra and Yoruichi, the only ones that hadn't gone overboard on whatever activity the group had gotten into during the dinner party, shook the others awake and made sure that they were ready to depart. The reason was because Soul Society had a strict timeline they wanted to adhere to and that meant that they wanted to get them out of this realm by a certain time, though the gate to get back to the World of the Living, if Yoruichi was correct, would have been reconstructed on Sokyoku Hill, meaning that they had to go back into the Seireitei to reach the gate. Kukaku was just fine with them leaving, as the mess had been cleaned up by the twins while they were sleeping, and even wished them well on their way back to their own realm, even though she had them promise that, if they ever wound up in Soul Society, they come visit her again, especially Yoruichi, who smiled at her and waved goodbye as the group headed back towards the center of the Seireitei. Sombra, however, made absolutely sure that they left nothing of importance behind, such as Zangetsu since it was halfway across the room from where Ichigo finally collapsed when he was 'brawling' with Ganju... and he personally didn't want to know how it had gotten over there, as he simply handed the Zanpakuto over to Ichigo, made sure Shokyo was attached to his belt, and they continued on their way to Sokyoku Hill once more.

Several Shinigami nodded their heads to them as they headed down the street that would would allow them to reach their destination quickly, even though it would take an hour to reach it anyway, but at the very least they would arrive at a time that would fit with the time table that the Captains needed to abide by and wouldn't make them upset with the group anymore than they already were... though when they arrived at the hill, however, they found Captain Ukitake standing near a gateway that reminded Sombra of the gateway they used to get here in the first place.

"Ah, there you guys are," Ukitake commented, to which he flashed the group a smile as they neared him, while at the same time Rukia walked over to where her Captain was standing and turned to face the group, who were focused on the official looking gate that was standing in front of them, "This is the informal Senkaimon. Of course, seeing that most of you arrived by energy conversion, we installed an energy converter so you can head back to the World of the Living. Ichigo Kurosaki, I have something for you."

Ichigo and Sombra glanced over in Captain Ukitake's direction and found that he was holding some sort of badge that seemed to resemble a pentagram of some sort, with a skull and cross emblazoned upon the surface of it, though the two of them stared at it as Ichigo wrapped his hand around it and picked it up so he could stare at it.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked, though as he looked at it he found that Sombra was staring at it as well, because he had no idea what the badge was supposed to be since it had never appeared in any of his studies when Urahara was teaching him in the past, before they focused on Ukitake as he started to explain himself.

"This is your Battle Certificate as a Substitute Shinigami," Ukitake stated, noting that both Ichigo and Sombra were focused on both him and the badge, something that he could agree with since this wasn't something that they generally brought out, not after what happened to one of the last Substitutes they had, "It was decided in ancient times, when a Substitute Shinigami that could be of use appeared, this would be passed onto them. If you put this on, you'll be able to quickly transform from your Human state and become a Shinigami. Of course, after taking into consideration everything you have done for us, I honestly don't think that I can pay you back with just this."

"It's okay, we did this because we wanted to." Ichigo replied, to which he held up the badge for a few seconds and smiled for a moment, because he honestly wasn't expecting to get something like this when he and his friends came to Soul Society in the first place, before he gave the Captain his full attention once more, just to show that he was grateful that they were so accepting of him being a Substitute Shinigami, "But I'll gratefully accept this."

"As you wish." Ukitake said, because Ichigo was definitely different than anyone he had met before, though at the same time he glanced over at Sombra for a moment, noticing that the Arrancar was staring at the gate that was in front of them once more, showing him that he had lost interest in the badge, "There's not much we can give to an Arrancar, since this is the first time we've had a friendly one be created in Hueco Mundo, so the best we can do is give you freedom to return to the World of the Living."

"That's fine." Sombra spoke up, not even caring about the fact that most of the people that were around him were ignoring him, save for his friends anyway, even though Uryu and Orihime were giving Rukia the dress that Uryu had made for her earlier, before he sighed as he turned away from the gate, where he found that the remaining Captains and their Lieutenants had gathered to see them off without saying anything to them, "How long until the gate opens?"

"Right now actually." Ukitake replied, seeing a nod from the Shinigami that were tending to the gate, to which Sombra's friends separated from Rukia and gathered near the gate, so they could head back to the World of the Living at long last and leave Soul Society behind... to which Ichigo turned towards Rukia and smiled, while at the same time she smiled back at him in return.

"See you later, Rukia." Ichigo said, though at the same time his friends smiled and nodded their heads in agreement, showing that they all knew that his words held some truth, as they were fully expecting her to come visit them one day in the future, since she might be assigned to watch over Karakura Town once her powers returned.

"Later, Ichigo, Sombra." Rukia stated, knowing that they would be expecting her to return to their town in the future, and she fully intended to visit them at some point in the future, though at the same time her friends started to move towards the gate that was in front of them, "Thanks for everything, guys."

Sombra smiled for a moment as he and the others focused on the gate in front of them, though as they stepped forward he noticed that Yoruichi was wearing a wakizashi on the right side of her waist, but instead of questioning when she went off and reclaimed her Zanpakuto, since they had been together a majority of the time, he decided to go with it as they passed into the dimension between Soul Society and the World of the Living. At first nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, even though Yoruichi had them run from the moment they entered the tunnel dimension, but after a few minutes of running Sombra glanced behind him and spotted the Kototsu coming after them again, to the dismay of the rest of the group since they had been hoping to avoid being chased by this thing. This time around no one decided to do what they had done the first time around, which was when Orihime blocked the fast moving Kototsu with her Flowers and blew them out of the Dangai, while Uryu made sure to keep his clothing away from the walls, to prevent a repeat of the last time they were here. While all of that happened, however, Sombra found that the Shinigami Senkaimon was actually much faster than the one that Urahara had made in the underground training area and let them used, as they were able to reach the end of the tunnel in a shorter amount of time than when they ran towards Soul Society.

As they moved through the exit, however, they found that the opening was far in the air above the town, but while both Sombra and Yoruichi was expecting something like that, since the entrance they used was high up in the air to begin with, they were more able to continue standing as the others fell... but before they were able to do anything they spotted Ururu launch something that wrapped around them, and both Tessai and Jinta caught it before it expanded into what could have been called a flying cloth of some kind, to which the two of them landed at the back of the pack. At the same time Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu landed behind them as well, showing that this had been planned ahead of time, but as they did that they focused on Urahara as they sat down, while the others focused on what was going on at the moment.

"Welcome back everyone." Urahara said, though he glanced back for a few seconds, seeing that Yoruichi had returned in her normal form and was carrying a blade that he hadn't seen for over a hundred years, one that she had left behind and told him that she'd recover if she ever went back to Soul Society, before he focused on what he wanted to talk about and who he wanted to talk to, "Welcome home, Kurosaki-san, Sombra. I assume that Yoruichi told you all about me?"

"That's right." Sombra replied, though even as he said that he didn't hold anything against the man that had helped train him when he was still learning what he needed to know so he could survive in this world, because he knew that Urahara had a reason to hide who he and Yoruichi were, and he assumed that the same had to be the same for Tessai, since he knew more about Kido than a normal person should know about that subject, making him wonder what the man's role in Soul Society had been a hundred years ago, if he was in the same boat as Urahara and Yoruichi.

"I'm truly sorry, Ichigo." Urahara stated, to which he took off his hat and turned around in his seat, where he rested one of his fists on the cloth and bowed his head a little, showing that he was sorry for what he didn't tell them, as the look on Yoruichi's face told him everything that he needed to know, even if he wished that the outcome of the adventure had been different from the reality that had happened.

"Please stop. It's okay now." Ichigo said, though he looked off to the side as he glanced at the area around them, as he couldn't believe that they were even talking about this at the moment, before he turned his attention back to Urahara as the others did the same thing as they untangled themselves, "I'm not really mad. And you really didn't do anything bad. Despite whatever your intentions were, you saved all of us and made us stronger than we could have been if we had trained on our own. I'm grateful, so there's no need for you to apologize. Can I ask you one thing? Was the reason you didn't tell me, not to mention Sombra, the truth of the situation was because you thought that some of us might get scared and chicken out?"

"Right on the mark!" Urahara replied, though at the same time, as he put his hat back on his head, Ichigo growled as he elbowed him in the face and knocked him back to the edge of the cloth for a moment, though as he rubbed his face he noticed that Ichigo had sat down with his back towards him, and his fist was shaking in annoyance, "Good job... I wasn't expecting an elbow blow like that."

"That's not the truth, is it?" Sombra whispered, speaking to Yoruichi as Urahara and Ichigo went at it, because he had a feeling that the information of the Hogyoku wouldn't have changed anything, at least for him anyway, though at the same time it appeared that none of the others were paying attention to them at the moment.

"He didn't want to burden Ichigo with his own mistakes," Yoruichi replied, knowing that Urahara would have sent someone after the Hogyoku before Aizen got it, namely her while using the same technique that Aizen did since she knew where the device had been hidden before hand, but at the same time she sighed and focused on the group, as most of Ichigo's friends were chuckling, because he hadn't changed at all.

"Oh, and could you please properly apologize to Rukia the next time you see her?" Ichigo asked, as he knew that Rukia had been devastated by what Urahara wanted to do to her, to keep the Hogyoku hidden, and he felt that she deserved some sort of apology because of that, "Though when you do apologize she'll likely say the same thing."

Urahara stared at Ichigo for a moment, thinking about what he had said, before nodding head his head as he turned back towards the front of the cloth that they were all riding on, using his own reiatsu to steer them towards the various houses that the group lived in. At the same time he couldn't help but think about the fact that Yoruichi, who entered his own Senkaimon in her cat form, returned to them in her Shinigami form and was carrying her Zanpakuto, which he hadn't seen for the last hundred years or so, on her person once more. There was also the odd fact that she was smiling and standing closer to Sombra than she had been when they went to Soul Society, making him wonder if this was just because of where they landed or if something had happened between them when they went to save Rukia, making him remember what he had mentioned to Yoruichi, back when he first found out that there might be something between them. The thought of Yoruichi in love with an Arrancar was something that kept his mind off of what likely happened in Soul Society, as he would have been handed the Hogyoku when they returned, and he intended to talk with them once they had dropped off everyone else.

A minute or two later he felt a shift in the area behind him and turned his head a little, where he spotted that Uryu was now standing closer to the edge of the cloth that they were riding on, who appeared to be getting ready to climb off the cloth and head home.

"Now then, Urahara-san," Uryu spoke up, drawing attention to him at the moment, even though he knew that they weren't in the direct vicinity of where he lives, as he'd rather not have his father see what was going on at the moment since he was hanging with some Shinigami, "could you let me down around here?"

"Will do." Urahara replied, to which the cloth they were riding descended down towards the ground and paused before they got close to the street, though he knew that they were still some distance away from where Uryu actually lived and didn't say anything about that, since he didn't want to tell him how much he actually knew about all of them.

"I'll see you around, Uryu." Ichigo said, knowing that he and the others would be eager to get back to a normal pace and return to school, even though their lives had been forever altered by the fact that Rukia had entered their lives a few months ago, "Either Sombra or I will let you know if anything else happens to come up in the future."

"What are you saying?" Uryu inquired, to which he glanced over at Ichigo for a moment, as he was slightly surprised that he had forgotten what they had said back when he had revealed that he was a Quincy, "You and I are Shinigami and Quincy... the next time we meet, we'll be enemies. Sombra, the all powerful Arrancar that terrified several of the Captains with his power, you are one that I would consider a friend."

"I consider you a friend as well, Uryu." Sombra spoke up, where he smiled at the Quincy, knowing that while they were in Soul Society he had sacrificed his powers to try and destroy Captain Mayuri, even though that ultimately failed since the Captain had a trick up his sleeve, but even as he spoke up he noticed a smile flash on Uryu's face before he dropped to the ground and walked away from them as they took to the sky once more.

Urahara seemed to have an idea of who wanted to be left of at which moment, as he moved them towards the house that Orihime was living in, with Sora watching over her in case Hollows came at them, and the two of them dropped down once they neared the house in question. Chad waited for a few moments, letting the cloth get them close to the location of his own house, before dropping to the ground and waved the group goodbye as they started the trek towards Ichigo's house so he could take his body back from Kon, and figure out what was going on around him. When Urahara asked Ichigo where he wanted to be dropped off, however, Ichigo noticed what they were passing over and jumped off the cloth, though Sombra knew that this was a special location for him and said nothing as Urahara sighed, before shifting them towards the shop once more. At the same time Yoruichi and Sombra glanced down at Ichigo as he disappeared into the distance, though the moment he was no longer in sight they turned towards Urahara, who was focusing on the path he was taking them on as they turned towards where the shop was located... though a few minutes later he had them touch down in front of the shop and everyone climbed off, to which he allowed Tessai and the kids to put everything inside while he focused on the pair behind him.

Tessai knew, from just looking at Urahara's face, that he wanted a moment alone with the pair, which was why he hurried both Jinta and Ururu inside before they started insisting that they be out here to learn what was going on, leaving the three of them outside the shop and free to speak what was on their minds.

"So, Aizen has the Hogyoku, despite my attempts to keep it hidden." Urahara commented, as he might as well air part of why he wanted to talk with them, as an opener for what was truly plaguing his mind at the moment, before he turned and looked back at the pair that were standing behind him, "I take it he showed some interest in you, Sombra, before he made his escape with the artifact?"

"Yes, after explaining that he was the one behind several of the experiments that Rukia and the other Shinigami had to deal with in the past," Sombra replied, though his senses told him that this was only part of what they would be talking about, and he had the feeling that he knew what the other part of it would be, "It seems that he's interested in breaking the barrier between Hollow and Shinigami, meaning that seeing someone like me, and the power I possess, might actually inspire him to use the Hogyoku and create more like me... an army of Arrancar, if you will, with powers that rival the remaining Captains that are protecting Soul Society."

"Right, Gin and Tosen. Almost forgot about them." Urahara said, and he had been thinking the same thing that Sombra had mentioned, as that was what all the evidence seemed to suggest, but, at the same time, she shelved those thoughts as he focused on the pair, "So, how long have you two been together?"

"You make it sound like we've been together for months," Yoruichi stated, as that was what Urahara's tone suggested, that she confessed her feelings to Sombra after he started making friends, or even before that, when the reality was different than what he was thinking about, "besides, we only started dating six days ago, the day after Aizen and his allies defected from Soul Society. And don't worry about Soul Society figuring out that we're together, as the only one that figured out our feelings was Soi Fon and, considering that I was her mentor all those years ago, I'm convinced that she'd keep this information to herself, to do whatever she wanted with it in the future."

"I see." Urahara said, though at the same time he glanced over at Sombra, who was being quiet at the moment, and knew that it was time to see if he truly felt the same way that Yoruichi did, even though he had the feeling, based on what he had just been told, that there was no reason for him to even bother, "And what about you, Sombra? How do you feel about the situation that you've found yourself in?"

"After Aizen fled to Hueco Mundo, Byakuya told Rukia the truth about how she came to be welcomed into his family and the reasons behind his inaction," Sombra answered, reminding Yoruichi of why she had gone over to sit next to him, as listening to that very story had stirred some lost memory inside him and caused him to be sad, which she had replaced with love just by being close to him, before he glanced at her for a moment, "that story made me sad just by listening to it, though when Yoruichi sat next to me a new feeling, stronger than the last one, crushed that sadness into dust and took it's place immediately. Soi Fon later explained to me the situation she had discovered, and told me what she knew about love, before I came to the conclusion that I was awakening the same feelings that Yoruichi had for me... and then we went and spent the day exploring the Seireitei and relaxing in the training area that Ichigo and I learned Bankai in."

"Wait, you and Ichigo learned Bankai while you were in Soul Society?" Urahara asked, though while that caught him off guard, and pushed that fact to the front of his mind for the time being, he'd talk with them about the relationship again in the future, "You're going to have to tell me about the experience and what they look like... maybe over some tea and some dinner, since you did get out of the Dangai a few hours later than what I think you were expecting."

"Sounds good to me." Yoruichi said, to which she and Sombra followed Urahara into the shop, closed the door behind them, and settled into the area that they usually had meals in, where a small amount of food happened to be waiting on the table, showing them that Tessai and the kids were expecting this to happen, before they said down and faced Urahara, where she started to eat and Sombra merely drank his tea.

"So, you two know Bankai... how did you go about doing that?" Urahara inquired, as he had the feeling that Yoruichi might have used the doll that he had created to learn his own Bankai in three days, but, at the same time, he was interested in figuring out what else they might have done to get that level of power.

"Well, Yoruichi took us to the training area that you two created when you were younger and explained what a Bankai was to both of us," Sombra replied, because from what he could tell, based on the words that Byakuya had spoken when Ichigo revealed his own Bankai, gaining the ability to use that final power of a Zanpakuto was serious business, "She then had Ichigo use the Tenshintai to force Zangetsu to materialize and start his trial, which involved him trying to find the one blade, out of all the fragments of his heart, that was designed for battle, as that was the only one that could defeat the materialized Zangetsu. I, on the other hand, didn't need to go through with that, as I'm more than capable of calling Shokyo into our world and do whatever training that she thought I needed to master my Bankai, which she willingly taught me instead of trying to force me to make her submit to my will."

"Really?!" Urahara nearly exclaimed, because while he understood that Ichigo would have needed the help of such a device to get Zangetsu into their world, and had mentioned to Yoruichi in case the need arose where such a thing was even required, the thought that a Bankai could be obtained by a Zanpakuto spirit willingly teaching their wielder the technique was astonishing and shocking at the same time, and, if he was right in his thoughts, that meant that the power boost, if he had been training for the maximum amount of time to master the power, would have been granted to him in an instant, "You were an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar when you left... does this mean?"

"Yeah, our friend's a powerful Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar," Yoruichi replied, looking up from the food that she was eating, knowing that while Sombra did actually enjoy what she had offered him he still preferred to stick to his habit and drink his tea, before looking Urahara in the eyes, "Not only did he beat Byakuya, before going through Bankai training, but his full power was enough to help Ichigo beat Byakuya, freak out a good number of Shinigami, cause smoke to emit from Aizen's hand when he blocked the incoming attack Sombra threw at him, and, to top it off, beat Kenpachi Zaraki in a one on one fight on Sokyoku Hill."

Urahara could not help by let him jaw hang when he heard the news, as he knew that Kenpachi Zaraki was powerful, and had gotten even stronger over time since they had last been in Soul Society, but hearing that Sombra, empowered by his Bankai and his full power, was able to beat him was astonishing. The hardest part of all that, if he had to pick one, was that he was able to force Aizen to block an attack that caused his hand to emit some smoke for a few seconds, especially since he and Yoruichi, and likely Sombra now, knew just how strong the traitorous former Captain really was. He had predicted that Sombra would be powerful, considering that he was an Arrancar whose power was so great that he was an Adjuchas when he first arrived outside the shop, but hearing that he was actually a Vasto Lorde made sense, and even then this was without the blade that contained all his memories and his true power. That worried him, because when they added his true power to the mix he had already gained, from training with former Shinigami, he was certain that there would be no one in all of Soul Society that would be able to beat him, not even Captain-Commander Yamamoto, and that was a worrying thought for him to have... and maybe even Aizen wouldn't stand a chance against the true power that was waiting to be unlocked, but that was something he'd have to wait and see for himself.

"You know, your comment about time reminds me," Yoruichi said, taking a moment to wipe away the crumbs from her mouth, while at the same time snapping Urahara out of his thoughts, which she felt was necessary since he was clearly getting into his private thoughts about Sombra, "What's today's date?"

"The sixteenth of August." Urahara replied, though he knew why Yoruichi was asking, because when one passes through the Dangai, without the Hell Butterflies assisting them, they generally lose time, or even gain it if they're chased by the Kototsu, while Shinigami that happen to be accompanied by the creatures pretty much lose only a few minutes and get to their destination in a matter of seconds.

"We left on the thirteenth, so we lost a few days getting here." Somrba commented, showing that he knew what the two were talking about, which made sense to Yoruichi since they were the ones that trained him, meaning that he shuould have adapted to their methods in some manner, before he looked at the calendar on the wall, "Oh well, it's no big deal that we lost a few days getting back. We can pick up protecting the town tomorrow, after everyone's all settled in after our stay in Soul Society, and maybe I can convince Ichigo to train with me in the underground training area... we have to improve his skill with his Bankai, so it doesn't hurt his body when he uses it in whatever battle is coming up next."

Urahara nodded, because it made sense for them to prepare for the battle with Aizen that was coming, something that Sombra understood without having to be told, though at the same time he was interested in why Sombra felt that Ichigo's body was being hurt by his Bankai, something he would find out later. At the very least some training between the two of them would be able to strengthen the power of Ichigo's Bankai, as well as make sure that the stress was gone, while at the same time allowing him or Sombra to correct the errors in his stance or how he was fighting, if he was willing to listen to them anyway. As he thought about that he noticed that Yoruichi had finished her meal, and that many of the dishes had already been set aside for later, before she and Sombra got up and walked out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts, where he noticed that the Arrancar was polite enough to set his cup away as well, causing him to chuckle as the pair went upstairs and headed towards Yoruichi's room, the same room that they mostly told people was a spare room and let no one into, save for Sombra anyway. He found it amusing that, even before he bothered to ask Yoruichi about her feelings, she was already letting the Arrancar stay in her room without any questions asked, and it seemed like Sombra had never put that piece of the puzzle together... but, at the same time, the room would be used more often now, especially if Yoruichi stayed in her normal form for more than a couple of days.

Yoruichi and Sombra were halfway up the stairs to the second story when Sombra froze for a moment, his senses going off once more, and both of them chuckled as they understood what that meant, so they raced back down the stairs, passed by Urahara, and then headed back out into the town around them, as there were Hollows to hunt and they both felt that it would be fair to give Ichigo and the others a day off before they got back to defending the town. Fortunately there happened to be a pair of Hollows in the area they were heading to, so the two of them separated from each other as they picked their target, where Sombra flashed through the air and pulled Shokyo out as he avoided a claw that was meant for his face, before severing the arm attached to it. From there he swung again and cut the Hollow's mask in half, purifying the soul that was hiding behind it, before he turned and watched as Yoruichi used her own Zanpakuto to cut down the Hollow that she had chosen to attack, though once that was down the two of them smiled and moved away from the area that they were in, all while Sombra commented on how Urahara knew about Gin and Tosen, without one of them mentioning anything to him.

Yoruichi, however, said that she would gladly explain the situation to him in due time, since he deserved to know what they were up against, but for how she wanted to focus on the moment they were having, as the night was still young and there were plenty more Hollows to purify and souls to send to Soul Society... to which they two of them headed out and continued the hunt, and they were going to make sure they enjoyed every second they spent together.