Hello, I hope that you enjoy this story!

Chapter One

The night was innocent as moon shone onto the clean, empty streets of Seretei. All looked well and peaceful. Yet outside of the moon's view, an alleyway's lack of light hid two individuals. The shadow cast over them betrayed the night, for they were anything but well wishing.

"There's no way that they'll survive, not if you act according to the plan." The cloaked figure spoke quietly while instructing another dressed in a hood and dark garments. The other responded swiftly,

"But sir, there are always obstacles. There are always unexpected and unwanted variables."

"You question me?"

"No, I question the effectiveness of such an inflexible plan. There is no room for improvisation if it is needed."

"Improvisation is only required when one makes a mistake. You will not make a mistake, and if you do you do it alone and die alone."

"I understand, my apologies sir. I will commence with your mind's creation; I will succeed in completing your plan," the figure supplied. He bowed quickly before flash stepping from view, leaving his companion to turn from the moon's light and walk deeper into the darkness of the alley, muttering with a twisted smile

"If you don't succeed, I wish you a painful death."

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"Look at my hair! Look what Ikkaku did to my hair!" a drunk Matsumoto sobbed. She pulled at her sopping wet orange locks in distress, wringing them of liquor.

"Oh shaddap woman, it was a *hick* accident!" Ikkaku shouted angrily as Rangiku slammed her head into his, snarling, "You idiot! You bald headed buffoon!"

"Oh stop, arguing is beautiful. If you ever want to be even moderately attractive, you must not make yourselves look so ugly," Yumichika instructed from his perch on top of the bar table.

"Ayasegawa, get down from there, you look like a fucking bird. Men aren't supposed to look like *hick* birds, I wouldn't want to look like a bird. Fuck no, fuck birds, birds are fucks. And they shit on people. Shitting on people isn't bea*hick*ful" Renji rambled incoherently as he drank his sixth cup of Sake.

"Renji-kun, birds are beautiful, unlike the baboon you are. And why are you cussing so much? You sound uneducated. Are you particularly upset about something today?" Ayasegawa ignored Ikkaku and Matsumoto as they flew by him, Rangiku clawing at Ikkaku's head.

Renji frowned as he attempted to pour himself another cup, but every time he tried, he just kept on pouring it on his arm. He gave up on the cup and picked up the bottle of Sake, drinking from that instead. Once he finished the entire container, Abarai turned his drunken gaze to Yumichika, until opening his mouth, "Yumichika, you ever wonder if you won't get any stronger? Like you just try *hick* and try, but you just can't ever get any stronger. An' everyone else is like 'I'm so fucking strong look at me I'm great', and you just feel good for them, but shitty about yourself? Do you ever feel that way, Ayasegawa? Do you?"

Yumichika was quiet for a while, until asking "Did new recruits come in today Renji?"

"Uh-huh."

"Did Kuchiki Taichou show them some of his fighting techniques?"

"Uh-huh."

"Did you show them yours first?"

"Uh-huh."

"Did you feel like complete trash after your Taichou did his thing?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's called jealousy, Renji-kun."

"*hick*."

"Don't worry about it, everyone feels like that sometimes. Just don't let it magnify itself and consume you. You shouldn't worry yourself about it; people consider you to be a strong fighter."

"Thanks Yumichika. Tha' means *hick* a lot ta me." Renji smiled brightly at Ayasegawa as he lifted himself onto the bar table and lay down on it. He felt more relaxed in his befuddled state of mind, thinking that he shouldn't worry about Kuchiki Taichou, because everyone felt inadequate compared to him. Renji stared at the ceiling smiling, thinking about all the Teriyaki he would eat tomorrow. "Ah, tomorrow will be great!" he blurted, throwing his arms in the air. The other customers at the bar had become immune to the outbursts, and simply ignored Abarai's joyful prediction.

He continued smiling happily, until the screams began.

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Byakuya's worry didn't show on his face as he charged through Soul Society's streets. Yet he was worried, he was very worried. He was sure that the other captains were on their way; the alarms hadn't been set off, but they would be able to tell from the large number of those reiatsus being snuffed out.

Not only that, but two lieutenants could be sensed in the midst of the chaos.

The Kuchiki's feet halted at a bar commonly attended by his Lieutenant, and upon stopping the stench hit him in full strength. The scent of blood could be smelled from outside the bar, through the shattered door and blown out windows.

What really frightened him was that he could not sense the reiatsu of his Lieutenant from inside the bar.

"Lieutenant Abarai?" Byakuya questioned evenly as he stepped into the bar, resisting the urge to cover his nose. He stopped upon seeing the carnage; white bones jutting out from pieces of flesh, people hanging from the rafters, body parts scattered across the floor…it was all so violent and grotesque, easily one of the most disturbing spectacles he'd laid eyes on.

Why weren't any of the other captains here by now?

"They were here, Byakuya. But then they left, looking for you."

The Kuchiki whirled around to the face a hooded figure, who immediately spoke

"The captains were here, you just didn't sense them. You think that all this just happened, but it actually occurred about twenty minutes ago. The other captains think that you were the one who didn't show up. They think that you were the one who did all this. What do the wounds on these people look like? They look like something Senbonzakura would create. Neh? And your precious Lieutenant, well, he didn't get to escape with Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Matsumoto to the human world. What cowards they were, they couldn't save the people here, oh no. The commoners were dead in an instant. But Renji Abarai," the cloaked man licked his lips, "do you want to know where he is? Hmmm? Well. Renji's in Hueco Mundo, Mister Kuchiki; I put him there, and he's going to die there. I messed with him a little, so he's definitely not in good condition."

Byakuya sensed the other captains now; they were rushing toward his location.

Sirens began to wail, with a loudspeaker messaging to all "Apprehend Byakuya Kuchiki at all costs, I repeat, apprehend Byakuya Kuchiki at all costs."

"You have two choices Byakuya. You can either wait here and get caught by them, blamed for treason, blamed for snapping, blamed for murder, or you can run along to Hueco Mundo to save your lieutenant."

The figure produced an orb, in which the Kuchiki could see Renji, bloodied and stumbling through the white sands of Hueco Mundo.

"So, what'll it be?" the cloaked male had become arrogant. Everything was going according to the plan. The Kuchiki had no time but to go after his Lieutenant.

He underestimated the noble, and was caught off guard when the captain suddenly appeared behind him, and entrapped him in rods of light.

"How…?"

"You fool. Seretei does not permit trespassers. You will be killed on the spot, or interrogated through means of torture. If you were truly the only means to create all this chaos, then you would not have been captured so easily. Don't dine to say that you injured my lieutenant, when I know that one as weak as you is only capable of carrying out another's plan and riding on another's power. You are merely a pawn, and have no true strength. Renji Abarai is a strong man, and would not be injured by the likes of one as worthless as you."

Byakuya then slit the air with his Zanpakuto, creating a passage to the land of the hollows, and dived through its opening just as it snapped shut behind him.

The Kuchiki sailed through the midnight sky, focused only on the wavering reiatsu of his fukutaichou.