anyone remember REACTION? this will kinda be like that but not at the same time. hopefully. anyway, if anyone remembered LOST that i tried to do a while back, then you'll see where this is going.


+Rukia+

Another Hollow fell and disintegrated as Renji and I came back to the ground. I looked over at him as he looked around for more Hollows. He looked odd in the captain's haori but he had taken it begrudgingly due to the circumstances.

"Well, I don't see anymore Hollows about. I think this section is cleared."

"Yeah, I think so too… and as usual, not even a clue about Nii-sama."

I could tell that Renji didn't really know what to do about the situation. Nii-sama had suddenly disappeared one day, leaving behind his haori and Senbonzakura. We were under the impression that he was kidnapped, but at first it was hard for us to even think that. I mean, after all, Nii-sama is such a skilled captain so how could something so menial as him being kidnapped even be a thought? But after months and months of searching, the Head Captain called off the search and decided to make Renji the captain of Squad 6 until Byakuya was found or confirmed dead.

I didn't believe he was dead due to the fact that Senbonzakura was completely intact. If he had died, the sword would be gone; but it just sat there in the corner of Renji's office in the barracks, waiting for its master to come home and wield it again. Sometimes I would hold it and just stare, wondering where in the world my brother could have gone.

"I don't think Hollows this low on the scale would have any information about Byakuya anyway, Rukia. What makes you so sure that it's Hollows we need to get the information from anyway?"

"I just have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that that's where we should be looking. I think I may petition the Head Captain about going to Hueco Mundo again."

Renji made a face at me. "Rukia, it's dangerous there. He's not going to let you go alone. Besides, Aizen is gone and the only threats we have from there are the lesser Hollows. None of the Arrancars left have tried to come at us."

"Isn't that a crucial point? The fact that those Arrancars are still there and yet none of them have tried to avenge Aizen? He was their leader and the one who helped make them full Arrancars."

"Many of them told us how they only followed Aizen because he told them he would give them a piece of the world he wanted to create. When we captured him and they realized there was nothing left to get, they just accepted Los Noches as their victory and have nothing to do with us. We don't go in and mess with them in Hueco Mundo and they don't mess with us here. They have nothing to gain from doing so."

"Or they are preoccupied with something they've already done."

"What do you mean?"

"I think that they have Nii-sama and that's why they haven't been doing anything to us. They have been preoccupied with him, doing who knows what to him. I just… I have this feeling in my stomach."

Renji put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes.

"Rukia, we will find him. I promise."

I know he meant well but so far, it didn't seem like I was getting anywhere. If Renji wouldn't help me and if the Head Captain wouldn't allow me to go to Hueco Mundo myself, then maybe someone else I knew could.


+Ichigo+

"Ichi-nii! Wait up!"

I looked back at Karin as she ran to me and then pushed me hard when she got close.

"I thought you said you were going to teach me how to do shunpo, not run away from me." She growled.

"That was me teaching you shunpo."

Karin growled and I laughed. Ever since it was discovered that I was mixture of all four counterparts of our world, the Head Captain believed that I shouldn't return to the World of the Living in my human form anymore. He said that my powers were too much for it to handle. But, he allowed me to use a special gigai provided by Urahara to visit and also to help Karin with her rising spiritual pressure. Ukitake let her have a Soul Reaper badge and now she was a Substitute Soul Reaper like I used to be. In all honesty, I think I still am a Substitute Soul Reaper but instead of being called that, I think I'm more of an 'on call' type. I don't fall under the Soul Society due to the circumstances so…

"Why can't I just go to the academy for a bit and learn how to try and harness my zanpakuto spirit?" Karin asked, waving her asauchi around.

"Because Dad said you had to finish regular school before you moved on."

Karin made a face. "The way you say that makes it seem like I'm already a ghost and that's what's holding me back. I mean, you never finished school and that's what your career is, being a Soul Reaper."

I smiled nervously. "I would have rather had more time to be myself than get caught up in this mess. I tried to stay as normal as I could until Rukia came, but you know the story. Either way, graduating and being with my friends until the end would have been a better way for me to end my human existence than the way it happened. But it happened and here we are. The only good thing about this is that I'm more of a freelancer, so I'm not bound by some of the stuff the others are."

"Like teaching me."

"Exactly."

"Ichigo!"

I turned and saw Rukia on a rooftop waving at me.

"I'll be right back."

Karin looked mad but she let me go and see what Rukia needed.


I landed next to Rukia on the rooftop and she smiled at me.

"How's Karin doing?"

"She's getting the hang of it. She wants to be like me but Dad said she had to finish normal school first before she did anything with this."

"Does she want to do this?"

"She thinks it's exciting now that she understands what's going on but I really would prefer her not to do this. I mean, I've told you plenty of times how I wish I had never known about this world."

"Yeah…"

"What brings you here?"

Rukia didn't say anything for a moment and just stared at the ground. I waited patiently until she was ready to speak.

"I don't think I ever told you but… Nii-sama has been missing for a few months now."

"Missing?"

"Yeah…"

"If it's just a few months then maybe he's on a secret mission."

"No, it's not like that. One minute he was there and the next, he was gone. It's been almost a year since he's been gone and the Head Captain is starting to give up hope."

"A year isn't a few months…" I commented.

Rukia just gave me a look. "The Head Captain called off any search parties that were looking for him and even gave Squad 6 to Renji for him to be temporary captain until Nii-sama gets back."

"Really?"

"What's even stranger is that Nii-sama didn't take Senbonzakura with him. That's why Renji and I think that he was kidnapped or something."

"Kidnapped? Who would kidnap that guy?" I said with a frown.

I mean, I know Byakuya was pretty strong and powerful but other than that, he was a big stick in the mud.

"I don't know, but he's not safe… I feel it in the pit of my stomach."

"Why didn't you say anything to me before? I would have tried to look for him."

"That's what I want your help with now."

"Sure, I'll do what I can."

"Since you're not really bound by the laws of the Seireitei, that means you can go to Hueco Mundo whenever you please without having to be yelled at by the Head Captain."

I blinked for a second. "I mean, I guess I can but I'm not that skilled in opening up a Gargantua. I have Hollow powers, not Arrancar ones. Besides, why Hueco Mundo? What would Byakuya be doing in there?"

"It's a place we haven't looked yet and I find it odd that the Arrancars haven't tried anything with the Soul Society. I mean, I get that they kind of stay to themselves but even so, they are our enemies. Even though we defeated Aizen, it doesn't mean that the Arrancars left don't have their own desires."

"That's true, I guess…"

"So will you help me?"

"Sure. After I'm done with Karin, I'll see what I can find."

"Thank you. If you find anything, please don't do anything until you tell me."

"Depends on what I find."

Rukia didn't say anything else and just went away as I frowned after her. I didn't like Byakuya but there was no guarantee that if I found something that I didn't like, that I wasn't going to go and rescue the guy. I mean, he didn't like me either but his sense of justice would hopefully overcome his dislike of me and he'd do the same thing for me. Either way, I have to finish with Karin before I can do anything. Then I'll have to ask Urahara to help me get into Hueco Mundo.


in regards to settings: it's after the manga ended but going with the original thought that ichigo couldn't go back to the WOTL. instead of the whole fake karakura town arc thing, they got aizen way before that so most of the arrancars are still intact. i mean, what does it matter anymore considering the author did his own flibbettygibbett with his time line and retcon so time and place = WTF they don't matter.

also, if ichigo couldn't return to WOTL, i had often wondered what they were supposed to do with his body. i mean, just go and kill it? idk but i know that urahara would probably have had a special gigai made to harness all the power and stuff. so yeah... and ichigo couldn't conform to SRT life that quick. he'd be like but my fams... and get the SSR of karakura town or some shit... anyway, enjoy...