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[enters from Karakura Town]

((Temporarily RPing as Ichigo for Yuu-chan's sake.))

Ichigo stopped in front of the large and elegantly-designed metal gate of the Bount mansion. This was the first time Ichigo had come back here since he had to rescue Uryuu from being used in Jin Kariya's plans. The first thing he noticed was that the dark aura had disappeared and the place held no hostile intent, unlike before. Now, Ichigo was sure that Yuu-chan would be safe if he left her here, just as the young man, whom Yuu-chan regarded as her brother, had said a while earlier before he was rushed to the hospital.

"Excuse me," a voice asked as a muscular guard approached the two and asked them as to what business they have with the master of the mansion. "I was asked to drop off a little girl here by a friend of mine, Xeion Kuchiki. He said that this is the place I should take her since he said that he already made arrangements for her to stay here," said Ichigo, shifting Yuu-chan's weight slightly as his arms slowly became strained by carrying her.

The guard nodded, looking at the orange-haired boy then the blue-haired girl he was carrying. "Ah, so you must be little Yuu-chan, ne?" the guard asked, opening the gates in order to let the girl in. Ichigo, in turn, gently set Yuu-chan down and patted her on the head. "Yuu-chan, it's been nice meeting you. Be a good girl until your brother arrives, okay? I've got some...matters to attend to. The Arrancar have been restless lately and I need to know...," Ichigo stopped, realizing that Yuu-chan might not understand what he was telling her. She was just so small and cute that it reminded her of Nell. "Anyway, I'll be going now. I'll come visit when I have free time, okay? Until then, be good."

[Ichigo exits]

The guard gave Yuu-chan a surprised and confused look. After working for the master of the mansion, Ky, for quite some time now and exposed to numerous dangers, even he didn't know what the word meant. All he knew was that the Arrancar were the things the people of the mansion and the organization the master of the mansion fought alongside the people with whom Xeion, another highly respected name within the mansion, were affiliated with -- people known as shinigami. That was the only information the guard had on him, so if Yuu-chan wanted to know more, it would be wisest if she would ask the people who are part of the fight against the Arrancar like the Ravens, Master Ky, or Master Xeion, but since they were all gone, if luck would have it, maybe one of the older staff of the mansion might know something about what was going on and help enlighten Yuu-chan on the matter.

The guard shook his head. "I'm sorry, little girl; I'm afraid that I don't know about that either. I just know that the Arrancar are enemies of the master of this mansion and the enemies of people who are regarded as 'shinigami'," said the guard. "You won't get anything out of me, but I'm sure you'll have better luck if you ask one of the people inside the mansion."

The guard smiled as he saw the little girl run inside the mansion, her things in hand, after she had pecked him on the cheek. "For a little girl, she can jump so high. It's impressive," said the guard, rubbing the check he had been kissed on as he closed the gates to the mansion and continued to stand guard. Meanwhile, inside the mansion, numerous maids and butlers came to greet the cute, little girl that they've heard about so that they could greet her and help her with the luggage. "Good evening, little miss," said all of them in complete unison, bowing at the exact same time like a well-choreographed dance troupe. "May we be of service?" asked all of them in complete unison which resulted in their voices echoing throughout the entire mansion when they spoke.

The maids laughed then came to Yuu-chan in order to comfort her. "Come on, sweetie; no need to be shy. We won't hurt you," one of them said, patting Yuu-chan on her head and smiled. "Are you hungry? Tired? just tell us what you want and we'll gladly be of service."

"An Arrancar?" one of the maids said and shook her head, as with all of the other maids. They explained to Yuu-chan that they didn't know what an Arrancar was, except for the same information that the guard had already said to her earlier -- that Arrancar were the things the organization of their master fought alongside the people known as shinigami. "I'm sorry, little miss, but that's all we know as well. Maybe Head Butler Heinrich knows what those things are. They say he fought with one while protecting our master from harm.

As Yuu-chan wandered through the large mansion, she was suddenly met by a large, kind-looking old man who wore a butler's tuxedo, and whose hair and short beard were as white as snow. "Hello there, little one. Are you the little girl whom Master Xeion talked about?" asked the man with a gentle smile, patting the girl on the head. "Are you lost? Do you need to go to the little girl's room?"

"So, you wish to know what an Arrancar is? Well, Arrancar are the evolved form of these things we call Hollows who eat the souls of the innocent," said the old butler who stood up to fix his coat. "In this world, there are both good and bad Arrancar, but most of them are bad. The good Arrancar side with us and the shinigami and fight against those who want to destroy everything -- the bad Arrancar. But," said the old butler, kneeling down with a smile and looked at Yuu-chan in the eyes. "you shouldn't get involved with something you know nothing about. Children like you are best kept happy and free. I'm sure master Xeion feels the same. If I were you, it would be best not to ask about things like the 'Arrancar' or 'Hollows' any more. You should be happy, little one; as happy as my daughter."

The man nodded. "Yes, I have a daughter, the youngest out of three. She's turning 18 now and she's living in Germany with her mother," said Heinrich, smiling at Yuu-chan. At least she wasn't talking about Arrancars now. Heinrich didn't want to expose Yuu-chan to such a dangerous world.