The days following the events of Ichigo's family trip to the grave of his mother, where he chased away the Grand Fisher on his own, were slow in the sense that there weren't any Hollows interested in invading Karakura Town, meaning that Ichigo could do his schoolwork without being interrupted all the time. For the most part Rukia stayed near him, just in case she needed to eject his soul to fight a Hollow, but since there weren't any Hollow's attacking the town they didn't have to do anything and were able to continue attending school, which is what Ichigo wanted. Sombra, on the other hand, remained nearby and kept his senses at the ready, though at the same time he was making sure that the moment the Grand Fisher returned, as he knew that it would come back at some point in time, while keeping watch for more Hollows. Of course, when he followed them to the school, he wasn't the only Arrancar that watched over the students, since Sora Inoue was standing out in the hallway and kept his eyes on Orihime's classroom, just in case a Hollow came to attack his sister again, even though he was the first one to do that.

Thinking about that event made Sombra wonder about the mysterious figure that had come out of nowhere, stopped Sora from purifying himself and sending his soul to Soul Society, told him what needed to be done to transform into the state he was in now, and then disappeared without a trace. He had no idea who was hiding beneath the robe, as it had completely covered the stranger's body and prevented him from seeing who had spoken, but he had to be someone that had some knowledge on Shinigami, Hollows, and even Arrancars, knowledge that he could use at the moment. There were questions that he had that he couldn't answer, because Kisuke and Yoruichi didn't have the answers themselves, questions that only the stranger could answer, but the problem was that when the stranger had shown himself he hadn't detected a hint of reiatsu from the figure, meaning that the stranger had to be strong enough to mask all his or her power and leave someone confused on what had happened. He guessed that the only thing that he could do was watch and wait, because sooner or later he was sure that the mysterious figure would return to Karakura Town, though when he or she did Sombra intended to find them and see if he couldn't get some answers.

As the rest of June started to pass them by Sombra found that Sora, out of the blue, wanted him to teach the new Arrancar how to use a sword, as he hadn't learned how to do it himself in the time he had been watching his sister, to which Sombra sighed and spent some of his free time giving Sora some pointers on the subject. They also practiced every now and then, making sure that Sora knew exactly what he was doing, but Sombra refrained from inflicting any wounds on him, since he wasn't going to ask Kisuke and Yoruichi if they could use the training area, especially since he didn't want to explain the fact that there was another Arrancar after telling them that nothing happened. Of course, when he thought about that, he knew that there was the very real possibility that they had detected Sora's reiatsu and had investigated him on their own, meaning that they might already know of his existence, though neither of them said anything to him and let him do what he wanted. The only problem was that he was sure that Kisuke was trying to mess with him, as there were times where he saw a knowing look in the man's eyes whenever he looked at him, though he always hid behind his fan and acted like nothing was wrong, making Sombra wonder if he was overthinking things or if he was being foolish to keep something from the others.

When they reached the last few days of June the Hollows finally returned to Karakura Town, much to Sombra's relief since he was wondering if something had gone wrong in Hueco Mundo, though both he and Ichigo had a system in place to make sure that he stayed in school. Sombra would take any Hollow that appeared during the early morning, the time that Ichigo was in school, and the night time, when everyone was asleep, leaving Ichigo time to take out some Hollows both before and after school, minimizing the time Kon had possession over his body, though fortunately the majority of his transformations were with Rukia nearby and she made sure his body was alright for his return. One or two of the Hollows Sombra detected actually went after Orihime, where Sora stepped in and cut them down, either purifying them, purifying them, or sent them back to Hueco Mundo, as Sombra wasn't sure what would happen to a Hollow's soul if an Arrancar, wielding an Arrancar's Zanpakuto, killed a Hollow, but he knew that time would tell. At the very least Sora was happy to keep his sister safe, even if she may or may not be able to see him, as Sora wasn't sure one way or the other, but since he seemed to be happy Sombra didn't bother questioning what was going on and left him to his own devices.

The only thing that actually calmed him down, and let him put his thoughts aside for some time, was when Yoruichi spent some of her time showing him more Hoho techniques, as it required his full focus to keep up with her and not lose sight of her, something that he was slowly improving on until she jumped her speed up when he was getting close to the level she had been at. Whenever they paused for a break, so he could catch his breath, he sometimes thought about what she said, about friends and acquaintances, and knew that, among the few that he could call his friends, Yoruichi was at the top of the list, mostly because he spent a lot more time with her than anyone else. He was sure that she was happy for him, in terms of him understanding what she had taught him, in both their lessons and the difference between friends and acquaintances, though even then he occasionally saw the same blush appear when they were doing something and wondered if something was wrong with her, but before he could ask they'd start up again and he'd forget about it. In the end he mentally determined that the blush was nothing important and stopped paying attention to it, letting Yoruichi do whatever it was that she was doing while he focused on the lessons she taught him and the other duties that he had whenever Ichigo was in school.

Eventually June turned into July and the days continued like normal, killing whatever foolish Hollow attacked the town, purified whatever souls they happened to find, or simply have a boring day and just relax in some manner, though at the same time Sombra had the feeling that something was coming and they needed to be ready for it.

The sixteenth of July started like any other day, as Ichigo was attacked by Kon, who he threw at a wall to shut up, Rukia stepped out of the closest and left the room before Yuzu opened the door to see if Ichigo was up and about, and Sombra stayed on the roof during the previous night. That was where things started to get a little strange, as while he waited for Ichigo to leave, so they could catch up with Rukia, Sombra heard something about Yuzu being excited about something while the rest of her family had a mixed reaction to the same thing she got excited about. When Ichigo finally left his house, after having his morning piece of toast, which Sombra still found odd to this day since he figured that a good breakfast would be more than a single slice of toast, he wouldn't tell Sombra what was up and made him worry that this was leading to another unhappy memory for the family. Along the way to school, however, they discovered that Rukia had moved on ahead and was leaving them behind, to which Ichigo walked in silence while Sombra thought about what was going on at the moment, as this wasn't common for the two of them... and that only made him worry that the feeling he had earlier, back in the very beginning of July, was coming true at last.

When they got the the high school, or more accurately ichigo's classroom, Ichigo opened the door and was stopped the moment he found Orihime standing on the other side of the door, though she appeared to be in a happier mood than usual, which Sora, who was standing nearby, enjoyed seeing as both Sombra and Ichigo stood there.

"Bwahahahaha!" Orihime said, to which she crossed both of her arms over her chest, with her hands resting in front of her shoulders, and did the laugh at the same time, where Ichigo, Sombra, and Sora stared at her like she had lost her mind or something, before she opened her eyes and stared at the same that Ichigo was giving her, "Huh? That's a faint reaction... Don't you know what this is?"

"D... Drop In..." Ichigo stated, indicating that he had some sort of understanding about what Orihime was doing, but at the same time Sombra could tell that whatever the sign was attached to was something that Ichigo didn't like, at least based on the look that he had seen on his face.

"Bingo!" Orihime replied, to which she smiled once more, showing that she was happy that Ichigo understood what she was doing, while at the same time moving her hands out of the sign that she had been holding them in and clapped them for a moment, "It's a fun show, huh? Then you should come with us and Bwaaaa..."

"Banzai." Tatsuki said, as she intercepted Orihime from behind, before she could make the sign again, and moved her arms in the air, much to Orihime's confusion in the process, but at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra were glad that it was done for the moment, "Yeah, yeah... I'll go with you and 'Bwahaha'."

Sombra watched as Tatsuki pushed Orihime away from the entrance of the room, allowing Ichigo to enter the room while Sora stayed in the hallway once more, though before Ichigo could actually enter the room Keigo, Mizuiro, and Chad appeared behind him, where both Keigo and Mizuiro did the 'Bwahahahaha' sign and laugh while Chad simply did the sign as he stood behind the duo. Ichigo, seeing that they had time before class started, headed towards his seat and dropped his bag in his seat, before heading towards the open window, where Sombra entered the room as well, as he was interested in what was happening at the moment, because he was confused as to what the students were doing.

"I'm not going." Ichigo stated, not even bothering to look back at whichever of the two troublemakers that wanted to talk with him, as he was sure that one of them was going to convince him to head to what they were going to attend tonight, something that he wanted to ignore.

"The hell do you mean you're not going?" Keigo asked, where he moved forward and stood on Ichigo's left, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing and wanted to see if he might be able to convince him to attend what he and the others were going to see, "It's the most popular show in Japan. On top of that, it's coming to Karakura to broadcast live! As a resident of the town, if you don't go and see it, you might as well be dead!"

"Personally, I'm fine with being a zombie." Ichigo replied, as he wanted to stay away from the show that everyone was so interested in, while at the same time seeing the confused look on Sombra's face as he listened to what was going on around him at the moment, "Beat it, Keigo."

It was in that moment that Keigo, unwilling to admit defeat in the face of Ichigo refusing to attend the showing of the show that all of his classmates were talking about, revealed that he had even invited Rukia to the showing and that he was trying to get her to mimic the sign that everyone was using, save for Ichigo, Sombra, and Sora. In the following moments the teacher came in and the lesson started, causing the students to return to their seats and listen to what they needed to learn, though what Sombra discovered was that the majority of them were focused on what was apparently happening tonight, so much so that the teacher, when she reached the homework part of the lesson, let them go with nothing. It appeared that she fully expected everyone to head to the broadcast that everyone was talking about, so she had decided to assign nothing and let them have some fun in the process, though at the same time Sombra, if he was an instructor, would have posted a writing assignment for those that were definitely going to the showing, maybe for extra credit or for whatever the rules stated. Despite those thoughts he watched as the students were pleased with not having any homework tonight, so much so when the school day was over they were all happily walking home, discussing their plans with their friends, while Ichigo sighed and headed home as well.

What Sombra wasn't expecting, when he and Ichigo reached the clinic, was for Ichigo's family to approach him and convinced him to come with them, as from what he heard Ichigo's father and sister, Yuzu from the sounds of it, were interested in the show and were planning on heading to the area for the broadcast... or, from what he heard, maybe it was just the fact that Ichigo didn't want to leave his family alone during the recording. Sombra still had no idea what was going on at the moment, though when the Kurosaki family started to move out, and had closed the clinic for the night, he jumped down to the street and followed them as they headed into the city, though after some time he began to notice that they were heading to an area that he had been to before today. The abandoned hospital looked the exact same as he remembered it, which was understandable since no one was in a hurry to fix it up, though at the same time he noticed that, in addition to all the people that had come out here, there was a number of devices that Humans used to capture what was going on and transmit it to the homes of those around them... or that was his limited understanding of the devices, since he had no interest in figuring out what they actually were or what they were supposed to do.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening!" someone said, where Sombra found an announcer, male by the body type, walked out onto the nearby stage that everyone was gathering around, though at the same time he noticed that Ichigo was annoyed a little by what was going on around him, "On this week's Drop-In Holy Ground we bring you an urgent live broadcast from a condemned hospital in the Karakura neighborhood, where it is said that you can hear the screams of angry spirits. I wonder what we will witness this evening. Now then, let us welcome our star. The charismatic spiritual medium for the new century... Hell's messenger... Mister... DON KAN'ONJI!"

It was in that moment, that the announcer pointed towards the sky, that Sombra and the others found a helicopter flying above the hospital, though that was before someone jumped out of the vehicle and seemed to free fall towards the area that everyone else was in.

"SPIRITS ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU!" the man, Don Kanonji if Sombra was right in his thoughts, loudly declared, much to the joy of the majority of the people that were below him, though that was before he pulled something and the parachute deployed, allowing him to safely descend towards the platform the announcer was standing on.

Don Kanonji, from what Sombra discovered, was a tall man that was also thin, as well as handsome according to some of the ladies that were around him, but at the same time he was wearing what Sombra believed to be a ridiculous outfit that came complete with a cape and a large hat... though at the same time Don Kanonji landed and removed the parachute, which his workers came and collected before they disappeared, where he turned towards the audience.

"How are you all feeling?" Don Kanonji asked, though at the same time he raised his hands and the crowd seemed to be entranced by what he was doing, while Sombra and Ichigo stared at him for a few moments, "Tonight, I'll let all my babies hear the whispers of the spirits!"

"What do you think of our location, Kanonji-san?" a second announcer asked, a female one, though at the same time Sombra wondered why they needed two people to announce things or ask the man questions, but he kept his mouth shut and kept his senses open in case a Hollow showed up.

"My nose is filled with the smells of terrible spirits." Don Kanonji replied, to which he raised a finger to his mouth, like he was trying to have them be silent while he 'felt' the area for spirits, though at the same time it appeared that this was going to be a long process before anything actually happened, This is, without a doubt..."

"SMELLS LIKE BAD SPIRITS!" the crowd declared, showing that they had seen the show before today and knew the man's phrases before he finished them, though at the same time it appeared that it was designed for that to happen, as none of the staff were upset by the audience's words.

That was followed by Don Kanonji, and the majority of the crowd, launching themselves into the 'Bwahahahaha' stance for a moment, where Sombra noticed that, of all the people that did it, Don Kanonji was the most energetic of them all and the people seemed really excited about what was going on... though that was followed by smoke covering the man that was on stage and someone called that they were going to a commercial, causing the crowd to move towards another section of the hospital. As Ichigo followed the crowd to the 'exorcism' area, by staying at the back of the pack, Orihime approached him and apologized for what she had said earlier, though while that happened Sombra nodded his head to Sora, who had come to make sure nothing happened to his sister. Sombra discovered that Ichigo hated ghost shows, likely due to his abilities and what he had been through, though Ichigo wasn't mad at her for the way she acted, since she didn't know that he hated these types of shows, while he was annoyed with Keigo and Mizuiro purposely did the stance to annoy Ichigo to some degree... and, after a few moments of talking, he also discovered that Ichigo definitely came to this because of his family, as it would have been wrong to leave Yuzu and his father alone here, despite the fact that Karin was here.

Eventually Tatsuki, who was some distance in front of them, told Orihime that she was moving on without her, to which Orihime bid Ichigo farewell for now and raced forward, to which Sora headed into the air to make sure he had a good view, while at the same time Sombra and Ichigo started to move forward... before someone's voice made them stop in their tracks for a moment.

"Something wrong, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, to which Ichigo and Sombra turned around and faced her, though that was shortly followed by both of them regretting that decision when they noticed what she was doing, as her arms were crossed in a familiar fashion, "Bwahahahaha!"

Ichigo stood there for a moment, staring at the Shinigami that was inhabiting a gigai from what he had discovered thanks to what she had told him, while at the same time surprised that she had adapted to using that stance as well, but he hoped that she would stop it soon... though Sombra, on the other hand, just stared at her while the two of them got ready to converse before the show started again.

"Why are you scowling so?" Rukia asked, though at the same time she dropped her arms and started at Ichigo, as she knew that the reason Sombra was staring was because he wasn't used to everything that was going on around them, to which she focused her attention on the Human that had her powers, "Smell the roses. If you don't have fun, you'll lose out. Even with Sombra covering for you, from time to time, you must be tired from having to juggle your usual homework and the work of a Shinigami... there will be more difficult fights from now on, and you should take a moment to relax and have some fun every now and then. Though that raises a question... what sort of festival is this?"

Ichigo sighed and gave Rukia a quick rundown on what was happening, as Don Kanonji was a spiritual medium, or at least he claimed to be one, that supposedly purified areas of ghosts and spirits, sending them to Heaven, or what he had actually discovered was Soul Society. Rukia and Sombra listened to his brief explanation of what was going on, to which Sombra determined that it would have been better for him or Ichigo, in his Shinigami form, to investigate the area and see if anything was here, because right now he didn't feel anything and was worried about that fact.

"Hey Rukia," Ichigo said, turning the conversation away from Don Kanonji and his show, as it was the last thing he wanted to talk about at the moment, as there was another thought he wanted to voice before they moved on, "do you think there's a chance that there might be a ghost or two in a condemned hospital like this?"

"Why do you asked?" Rukia inquired, as she wasn't aware that, when Sombra was under orders to remain hidden from Ichigo, he had come here and the Human had followed him, but she turned towards the building and stared at it for a few moments as she thought about something.

"If there were any ghosts here, wouldn't the other Shinigami have sent them to rest long ago?" Ichigo asked, to which Sombra nodded his understanding, as he knew that Ichigo was asking if any of them had come here and used the Konso on whatever spirits were in the condemned building.

"Not necessarily," Rukia replied, to which she took a moment to think about what Ichigo was asking about, and how best to tell him what she knew, before she continued talking, knowing that Sombra was listening at the same time, "The kind of ghosts that inhabit a place like this are usually earth-bound ghosts. They're usually absorbed into the ground, so they almost never show up on Soul Society's sensors. There's only one condition for an earth-bound ghost to reveal themselves... and that's when a Human enters it's territory."

It was in the moment that Rukia said that statement that one of the crew members crossed the threshold, as not a few seconds later the three of them heard a scream that sounded like a Hollow's scream, though at the same time it also sounded slightly Human at the same time. While that happened, and the scream repeated a few times, Sombra noticed that Chad, Karin, and both Tatsuki and Orihime seemed to sense the scream as well, though they seemed to think it was their imagination or something else, meaning they didn't want to think about it.

"That's the scream of an earth-bound ghost." Rukia stated, knowing that both Ichigo and Sombra had heard it, even though neither of them were reacting to it since most people couldn't hear it and they didn't want to stand out from the rest of the audience, "It looks like there was one here after all. The two of you have likely noticed a pattern to a Hollow's vocalizations. One of those is made by an earth-bound ghost with a strong attachment to this world as it degrades into a Hollow because it's been neglected... like that one right there."

Sombra stared at the entrance of the hospital for a moment, where he found that the spirit looked like a man that was in his early to middle thirties, based on what he had seen from the rest of the Humans around the town, with short spiky dark hair and sideburns, wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt. At the same time Sombra noticed that the spirit had a number of chains wrapped around it's arms and chest, chaining it to the building that was behind it, though at the same time he found that the Hollow hole was half opened, meaning that he was on his way towards becoming a Hollow, something that Rukia and Ichigo agreed on based on the ongoing conversation that they were having. Rukia even called the unfortunate spirit a Demi-Hollow while she explained the significance of the Hollow hole and the Hollow mask that each Hollow had, something that Ichigo understood the first time it was explained to him, back when he first discovered this world, and found that the drawing that Rukia had still diffused the tension in the air, to which Rukia smacked him in the head as they focused on what was happening at the moment.

The Demi-Hollow, however, started shouting for the people to leave the area and leave his hospital behind, as it appeared that he was still thinking that he could use the hospital to become a 'millionaire', to which Ichigo simply said that he was a shallow loser and tried to ignore what was going on... though that was followed by one of the crew members calling that the show was starting again, which was when Don Kanonji stepped out and drew the crowd's attention again.

"Spirits are always with you!" Don Kanonji declared, showing the crowd his favorite stance once more, which was, as Sombra expected, followed by his 'Bwahahahaha' once more, which the crowd mimicked while Ichigo worried that something was going to happen, especially since Rukia was ignoring the Demi-Hollow's transformation progress.

"Now then, Kanonji-san's exorcism is about to begin." the male announcer said, to which Ichigo and Sombra focused on what was going on, as now that they knew that a spirit was here, one that was starting to transform into a Hollow despite the fact that it was still Human looking, they were worried about what was coming next.

Sombra raised an eyebrow as Don Kanonji stepped forward and stared at the Demi-Hollow, showing that he had a slight ability to see them, which meant that he might not understand what he was looking at, while at the same time the Demi-Hollow asked the man if he was going to 'dirty up his hospital' and he made threats at the same time. Rukia told Ichigo that there was nothing to worry about, because as long as the Demi-Hollow didn't get any weird stimuli to his incomplete Hollow hole he wouldn't rapidly decay and transform into a Hollow, and that, when the show was done, they'd come back later and send the spirit to Soul Society. At the same time, however, Don Kanonji pulled out a staff, what he called his 'Super Spirit Stick', and claimed that he was going to end this in an instant, to which he proceeded to stab the lower end of the staff into the Demi-Hollow's incomplete hole and surprised both Ichigo and Rukia at the same time, while Sombra sighed, since he had seen this coming while they were busy talking.

Before Ichigo did anything foolish, however, Sombra touched his shoulder and stopped him from moving, as he knew that his friend wanted to preserve his reputation and that this would be seen all around the entire town, so while Ichigo stood still Sombra drew his sword and approached Don Kanonji... unfortunately his actions had an immediate reaction from the Demi-Hollow, as the chains started to shatter before their eyes. What Ichigo and the others weren't expecting was for Kisuke to suddenly appear with Tessai, as he used his cane and immediately released Ichigo's Shinigami form as well, to which he and Sombra charged at Don Kanonji as Tessai held Ichigo's collapsed body. Before the chains were completely broken Ichigo appeared between the man and the Demi-Hollow, where he kicked Don Kanonji in the chest and knocked him backwards, much to the shock of the audience in the process, while Sombra stood nearby, intending to purify the spirit before anything happened.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Don Kanonji asked, to which he rubbed the back of his head, though since he was a spirit medium the crowd would think that something that only he could see what happening, so he didn't have to worry about them thinking that he was insane or something.

"I guess we were right, you can see spirits." Sombra commented, because he had figured that if Don Kanonji could see spirits, such as the Demi-Hollow, then he might have the ability to see him and Ichigo, which it appeared that he could since he was talking to them.

"Of course I can, you fools!" Don Kanonji stated, to which he stared at the two of them, finding that they were in his way of purifying the area, though at the same time he still held onto his staff as he readied himself, "I am the charismatic spiritual medium of the new century. Oh, I see now, you two are fans of the show that died and stayed fans."

"Actually, I hate your show." Ichigo said, to which he stepped forward and grabbed onto Don Kanonji's collar, where he picked him up and stared at him, as he was angry about what he had seen and knew that Sombra was ready to purify the spirit before anything happened, "and I'm going to beat the stuffing out of you."

"Ichigo, we've got trouble." Sombra stated, to which he drew his sword and prepared to swing, as the Demi-Hollow's body was cracking before his eyes, though as Ichigo turned around the spirit glowed for a second before exploding, causing the two of them, including Don Kanonji, to cover their eyes for a few seconds.

Rukia was the first to react, as she called for Ichigo to look up, to which Ichigo, Sombra, and Don Kanonji looked up and found a glowing ball in the air, something that only they and others that could see spirits could see, before strands started to gather around the ball. That was before the body of an actual Hollow started to form before their eyes, with the spirit's head all that remained of what it had been moments ago, though as Sombra discovered that the Hollow seemed to be bipedal with some frog properties, before a white mass erupted from the spirit's mouth and the mask formed around it's head, completing the transformation into a Hollow, which was when the newly born Hollow roared. Sombra could tell, from just the roar, that the spirit had completely become a Hollow, but at the same time he knew that purifying it was what they needed to do, something that Ichigo knew as well since he drew his own sword in the process... while Don Kanonji, on the other hand, played it all off as the boss of the spirits that had been in the area, claiming that this one was here for revenge for him 'exorcising' the first one.

The man even told the duo, who were experienced in fighting Hollows, to run away and challenged the Hollow to come at him, though both Sombra and Ichigo were ready for what happened next, as when the Hollow charged at Don Kanonji they intercepted the attack and forced the Hollow backwards.

"Look, I might not like your show, but that doesn't mean I want you to die," Ichigo said, while at the same time Sombra kept his eyes on the Hollow, as he wanted to be sure that they were ready for when it decided to attack again, giving him a few moments to convince the man behind them to leave, "but you should run away while you have the chance."

"Run away?!" Don Kanonji repeated, looking like he was offended by Ichigo's suggestion, which annoyed Ichigo a little since he was trying to make sure nothing happened to the man, while at the same time the Hollow started to move once more, "What are you talking about?"

Before Ichigo could reply the Hollow got up and surged towards the man that had challenged it, though at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra swung at it, finding that it was more than capable of dodging some of their attacks while also parrying some of them as well. While this was going on Sombra noticed that Kisuke had an interest in watching the fight, as it appeared that he wanted to see what Ichigo could do for himself, especially since he had never seen the Substitute Shinigami fight before, though at the same time Ichigo pulled Don Kanonji out of the way and let the Hollow ram its head into the wall, where it struggled to pull itself out for a moment. At that point the man tried to attack the Hollow once more, to which Ichigo grabbed onto his shoulder and forcefully pulled him through the entrance of the hospital, shattering the glass entrance in the process, though while he did that, and Sombra followed after him, their opponent smashed through the wall and forced its way into the hospital as well. Once they were inside the hospital, heading through the halls, Don Kanonji stated that he couldn't run away from what was going on, despite the fact that he wanted Ichigo and Sombra to do that very same thing... to which Ichigo came to a stop and rolled the man towards the wall in front of them, while at the same time Sombra came to a halt as he listened for the Hollow.

"Okay, why should the two of us run away while you can't?" Ichigo asked, because while he knew that dealing with the Hollow was more important at the moment, as that was a Shinigami's job, he trusted that Sombra could keep an eye out for their opponent while he figured something out.

"Well... because I'm a hero." Don Kanonji replied, though at the same time he stood up and stared at the duo that was in front of him, not really sure why he was explaining himself to a pair of spirits, but at the very least they would come to understand what he was going through, "Boys, do you have any idea how many ratings my show gets? Twenty-five percent. Truly one in every four citizens is watching my show, and most of those viewers, from the surveys that go out, are actually little children. Those children watch my exploits and let their hearts dance. They watch me as I go up against evil spirits and learn a thing or two about courage. Do you understand now, boys? When those children are watching, I cannot run away!"

Ichigo and Sombra stared at the man for a moment, wondering what was actually going through his mind at the moment, before Don Kanonji stated that it was time for them to go back and fight the monster that he had seen, only for Ichigo to immediately stop him and ask what would happen if the spectators got hurt. That included him giving the man a brief explanation that Hollows, the 'monster' as Don Kanonji called it, were after souls that contained a high amount of reiatsu, such as his own soul or the man's soul, which was actually a shock to the man if the look on his face was anything to go by. What surprised them was that the man was actually impressed by the fact that they were able to think of such things while in the middle of a fight, though as he was starting to say something Sombra had them both quiet down as he tightened his grip on his sword, something that Ichigo mimicked since he could tell the Hollow was coming. As it turned out the Hollow came from below, cracking the floor in front of them in the process, though what happened was that the creature spit some goo on Ichigo's hands, trapping them with his Zanpakuto, before allowing Ichigo to impale his shoulder, which caused the Hollow to smash through the wall and pull Ichigo to the roof... while at the same time Sombra sighed and jumped out through the opening, before spinning around and jumped towards the roof as well, leaving Don Kanonji to either run or head for the stairs to join them.

Of course when they arrived at the roof they were both a little surprised when Don Kanonji arrived a few seconds later, where his presence served as a distraction as the Hollow faked going for him and Ichigo moved to strike the Hollow down, only for the Hollow to hit him into the railing and trap him with some goo... though as the Hollow moved to attack him, however, Don Kanonji got between them and shoved his staff into the Hollow's mouth vertically. It was in that moment that the man revealed that he had some power, a little bit if he was being honest, and gathered his power into his right hand, claiming that this was his Kanonji-Style Final Super Attack: Kan'onball. What it was, as it turned out, was a marble sized ball that contained some of his power, one that lazily floated through the air before it connected with the goo that was trapping Ichigo, though that was when it exploded and tore the goo to pieces, freeing him in the process. Of course that was when the staff he was holding with his left hand shattered in the middle and the Hollow knocked him to the side... but when the Hollow raced towards the fallen man, however, Sombra flashed in between them and cut the Hollow's chest with enough force to knock him into the railing.

Ichigo was the one that followed up the attack by jumping into the air and swinging his sword in a way that cleaved the Hollow's mask in half, causing it to collapse on the floor in front of him, though as Don Kanonji got excited both Ichigo and Sombra stopped him as the Hollow form shattered, revealing the earth-bound ghost that he had transformed into a Hollow earlier. Don Kanonji stared at the spirit as it disappeared, as it had been purified, though at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra sheathed their Zanpakutos while Ichigo explained things to the man, revealing how a Hollow was created by the chain attached to a spirit's chest falling off and the hole opens. What surprised Sombra was that the sheer knowledge of what he was doing actually made Don Kanonji fall to his knees, and he was even more surprised when the man had a stream of tears come from his eyes, though Ichigo stopped him before he could get too emotional, as they could hear the crowd cheering the man's name. Even as Don Kanonji approached the rail, and performed the sign and call that got the crowd in a happy mood, he told both Ichigo and Sombra, who he still did not know the names of, that he admired their courage, their wit, and their strength in the fight they had been in... and even asked them to lend him their strength in the future.

Sombra was sure that Ichigo was going to refuse, since the man was going around creating Hollows, but he was further surprised when his friend stated that he'd be okay with helping out if it was only every now and then, instead of all the time... and he even shook the man's hand, showing Sombra that Ichigo had a little more respect for the man now that he understood why he was doing what he was doing, even when Don Kanonji called Ichigo his 'Number One Student'. As the two of them headed back down to the ground floor, so the man could finish up the broadcast and Ichigo could get his soul back into his body, Sombra glanced down at the crowd and stared at the machines that were recording everything, as he wondered if Soul Society would use the broadcast to help them find Rukia. He knew that it was only a matter of time until they sent someone else to find her, someone that wasn't as understanding as Eikichiro was, and that they needed to be ready for whatever happened next... though he had the feeling they weren't going to like what happened when Soul Society sent another Shinigami after Rukia, that much he knew from what the other Shinigami told them.

In the end he sighed and jumped down to the ground floor, knowing that the time for easy tasks was about to come to a close and that neither of them were going to like what was coming next, though he guessed that they would have to be patient and wait for the future to show them what was in store for them and their friends.