Rukia had brought out the surviving remains of the Hollow when she and the others fled Hueco Mundo. Shiba Kuukaku had demanded that they keep it at the Shiba mansion, but Ukitake had refused. It had to be held securely until they managed to bring Shiba Kaien to the surface once more.
He sat long hours into the night with the chained Hollow in the shielded room under Thirteenth Division, sipping tea and coughing gently as he talked to it, trying to rouse some memory of Kaien.
It screamed and swore at him, but he was patient.
He could wait.
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