Disclaimer: I do not own or make a profit off of this story in any way, that title, unfortunately goes to the acclaimed, Tite

Disclaimer: I do not own or make a profit off of this story in any way, that title, unfortunately goes to the acclaimed, Tite Kubo.

Warning: This story takes place directly after anime episode 167, so the whole Shusuke arc doesn't exist. Also, there is some MAJOR OOCness in here and I'm not 100 percent sure about pairings yet, but there will be some, including an OC character…

Author's Note: This is my first fan fiction, so please don't flame, but constructive criticism is always welcome!

Chapter 1:

It had been a couple of days since Ichigo had retrieved Orihime from Hueco Mundo and everyone was fairing nicely…or as nicely as you can fair when recovering from painful injuries. But under the care of Unohana Taicho, everything always seemed better than it should have been.

"Oi, Ichigo," Renji called out, waving at the black clad shinigami.

Ichigo turned and greeted the redhead in turn, "What?"

"Have you seen Kuchiki Taicho?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I haven't seen him in the past two days and I can't detect his reiatsu anywhere, I even asked Orihime to help me!"

"So what? Byakuya can take care of himself," Ichigo replied indifferently, "I mean, come on, he's freaking Kuchiki Byakuya! …Or are you just worried like some old woman?"

Renji blinked once, then scowled, "Tch, like I'd ever be worried about him…I…I just have some paper work to deliver to him."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "Riiiiiight, anyway, why don't you ask one of the other captains or something, they might know where he is."

"Sure," he replied.

"And just in case you really are worried," Ichigo added, smirking, "He's probably just somewhere training with a barrier set up around him."

"T-teme!" Sputtered an embarrassed Abarai; stalking off in the direction he had come. "Damn Kurosaki," he swore, listening to his friend laugh at him.

Rounding the corner, he almost bumped into a short, blank-faced, white-haired captain. "Uh, Hitsugaya Taicho, how are you?"

"The usual, is something wrong, Abarai Fukutaicho?" Responded Toushiro.

"Well, you see, uh…" Renji started, "Have you seen Kuchiki Taicho anywhere?"

"Now that you mention it, no, I have not seen him anywhere." He replied, "In fact, I don't think I've seen him since Kurosaki returned with Orihime-san."

Renji nodded, "That's what I thought, do you have any idea where he could be?"

The ice-wielding captain shook his head, "I have absolutely no idea, but he'll probably show up in a day or two."

"Thank you, Hitsugaya Taicho!" Renji said, bowing respectively.

"Ah," Hitsugaya nodded, both of them heading their separate ways.

As he left though, Renji's brows were furrowed, deep in thought. Contrary to common belief, his captain was not as cold hearted as everyone thought, and ever since the ryoka invasion way back when, he'd grown closer to his captain. Now, he was worried, none of his Taichou's work was finished and the Kuchiki heir wasn't one to neglect his duties. That alone was enough indication that something was amiss, but the fact that he didn't know when the Roku-ban Taicho had disappeared just made him wonder even more. "Where are you Taichou? Are you alright?" he muttered to himself.

--In Hueco Mundo--

"How is he?" A voice asked, emotionless and empty, but at the same time powerful and strong.

Another softer, kinder voice responded, "I think he'll be alright now. That vizard really did a number on him."

"Hn," the voice said again.

The two shadows stood by the edge of a dark cave. Their bodies outlined from the light outside. One was a male with shoulder-length hair, wearing some kind of cloak and the other was shorter and slim, with a loose fitting pants and a skin-tight shirt that hugged her figure.

"You should be going back now, they'll begin to wonder where you are." The kind voice suggested.

The taller man nodded, "I will, once he wakes up."

"If you insist," the other nodded, a smile evident in her voice.

Inside the cave, lay a figure wrapped in bandages. "Ugh," it groaned, still floating in the black world between the lines of being unconscious and awake.

TBC

Sorry this was so short; just want to see how you guys like it. So please review and I'll try to have another chapter up by next week! Suggestions are always welcome, but flames will be reported.