Chapter 3

The Real Story of LochteGate

Ichigo brings Kazui back to the hotel room, where he immediately rushes up to Orihime and glomps her. Orihime kisses him, then kisses Ichigo.

"You saved him! I knew you would, you've always saved everyone," Orihime remarks.

Ichigo grins. "It was like taking candy from a baby."

"Who was it?" Orihime wonders. "Was it Grimmjow? Ulquiorra?"

Those names cause a chuckle out of Ichigo. "No, no," he says. "It was someone much less significant."

He then turns stern for a moment.

"It was Loly Aivirrne."

Orihime's eyes grow wide, and she stands in stunned silence.

"What's the matter, Mama?" Kazui asks.

Orihime's eyes begin to water, and Ichigo touches her gently, trying to console her.

"Mama, why are you crying?"

Kazui's mother sighs, trying to keep from crying.

"Loly was a nasty girl who beat up on me and tormented me when I was held captive in Hueco Mundo. I saved her life, but she still hated me. But I'm glad to hear that she's finally finished."

Ichigo gulps.

"Actually…" he says.

Orihime looks stern. "You… you didn't kill her? She wasn't very powerful - Ichigo, don't tell me you let her go!"

"We made a deal," Ichigo says. "She now has Aizen's powers, and I couldn't fight her without hurting Kazui."

"Aizen's powers?"

"Yes, she tells me that Aizen somehow passed on his powers to her. I don't really believe her, but that's what she says. So we worked things out. She gave up Kazui to me, on one condition - that Chad wins the gold medal."

Orihime looks shocked. "Ichigo, you aren't going to give Kazui back to her, are you?"

"Yeah, Mama, I'm not going back to her."

"Relax," Ichigo says with a smile. "You and Kazui will be fine. The only one who's in danger is me. If Chad loses, then I fight her to the death. And if he wins, then I fight her to the death. No matter what, I will remove Loly Aivirrne from the universe. Because she will never hurt my family ever again!"

Orihime hugs Ichigo. "What do we do now?" she wonders.

"Simple," Ichigo laughs. "We watch boxing."

Ichigo, Orihime and Kazui arrive at Riocentro Pavilion 6, the venue for the boxing matches. They take their seats in the back of the arena, craning their necks to get a look at Chad.

"In the blue corner, representing Mexico, Yasutora Sado!"

Chad marches out, with blue boxing gloves and blue trunks on.

"Go Chad!" Orihime shouts.

Chad hears Orihime, then looks over at her and gives her a thumbs up.

"I can hear your sister now," Orihime whispers to Ichigo. "She'd say that's so uncool."

Ichigo chuckles. "That's Karin for you."

"In the red corner, representing Russia, Alexei Malkin!"

The Russian boxer walks on out, ready for the fight. The referee explains the rules to both of the boxers, then the bell sounds, signifying the start of the fight.

As Chad's fight goes on, Loly Aivirrne is very busy. She is at a gas station in the heart of the city, on the Soul Phone with Menoly Mallia.

"Do you have all the supplies ready?" Loly asks her.

Menoly sighs over the phone. "Loly, are you sure we should do this?"

"Absolutely!" Loly exclaims. "I haven't come all this way for nothing!"

"I'm just not so sure this is going to do anything for your goal of helping Aizen escape."

"It is! My goal is twofold: step one, destroy Orihime's family, since I hate her so badly. Step two, kill a large number of souls in one fell swoop, in order to distract the Soul Society. Then we make our entry in and save Aizen."

Menoly sighs again. "How do you even know that's where Aizen is? He could be dead, he could be some place else."

"Shut up! I'm going to do whatever it takes to get him back. Then I'm going to marry him!"

"Well, I have the supplies, and I'm almost ready to go through the portal," Menoly comments.

"Good. I'm getting the gasoline right now."

Loly takes the gas pump and starts filling up a container.

"Once this is finished, I'm just going to have to find the perfect place to set off our Soul Bomb. And I also have to figure out how to disguise the Soul Bomb so that no one notices it."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Menoly says with resignation.

"Of course I do," Loly says. "Crap! Someone's coming! I got to go."

Loly shuts off the Soul Phone, then finishes pumping gas. She sees four men at the gas station, one of whom is urinating nearby.

"Typical men," she whispers.

The men then start vandalizing the station. One of them starts slamming and kicking parts of the property, pulling down an advertisement on the side of the building.

"Crap!" she exclaims. "If these guys blow my cover, I'm going to get caught, and this will all go for naught!"

Loly runs with the gasoline container in her hand. She tries to slip out of sight, just as a security guard shows up on the scene.

"Hey, where are you going?" the security guard yells.

"Those guys are vandalizing the station!" Loly shouts back. "They're causing trouble! I'm just trying to get away from them!"

The guard nods. "Thanks for telling me. Have a safe night."

The security guard then goes over to confront the four men. Loly breathes a sigh of relief as she escapes.

"The winner of the first-round match… by decision… in the blue corner, from Mexico, Yasutora Sado!"

The referee raises Chad's arm, and Chad points with his glove out to Ichigo, Orihime and Kazui in the audience in appreciation for their support. Chad then consoles his opponent, before heading over to his trainer and leaving the ring.

"Papa, how do you know who won?" Kazui asks.

Ichigo grins. "They have judges who determine who landed the most punches," he explains. "Chad punched his opponent more than he got punched, so he won."

"Where's Loly?" Kazui wonders.

Ichigo looks a bit upset. "I can't sense her spiritual pressure, so she must not be here. But don't worry, I'm going to fight her and finish her off."

The Kurosaki family heads out of the arena, then finds their way back to their hotel room. Orihime pulls out the key to open the door to the room, then pulls the door open. But when she opens it, she screams out in shock.

"We've been waiting for you, Orihime."

To Be Continued...