A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it took me so long to update, but I had many tests, followed by a load of Finals. But now, I should be updating more often, since now I'm on Summer Vacation! :D
Please enjoy~
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Captain-Commander Yamamoto stood in his quarters, watching over the SeiReiTei. He thought long and hard about a conflict discussed in the Captain's meeting a short while ago: Kurosaki Ichigo had disappeared without a trace; his whereabouts weren't positive, but there was speculation that he had left to train with the Vaizords, but he'd been gone almost three months now, which seemed highly odd, even for training. But the real conflict had been whether or not to go searching for him – if the shinigami went to where they believed the Vaizords, and Ichigo wasn't with them, that could eventually result in word getting around one of their most powerful assets had disappeared; if Aizen found out that the Soul Society is in a slight panic, then wouldn't that provoke him into an attack? It had been a while since they believed the War would start – and the Captain Commander wondered if this delay was good or bad; could Ichigo be involved?
But what if Ichigo was with the Vaizords? Then they could assume he had gotten stronger, and they would be more ready for the War. Yamamoto wasn't happy about being associated with someone who was part Hollow; Hollows were something that they aimed to wipe out, and now a Halfling was an ally. It wasn't a big matter, but it did bother him from time to time.
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The meeting began moments after the last few Captains arrived. They all took their places in uniformed lines, waiting for the conference to start. They all figured it had something to do with Kurosaki's disappearance, but that was just a vague rumor being passed around.
The Captain-Commander began: "This meeting will begin with shocking information: Kurosaki Ichigo has disappeared. As of now, he's been gone nearly a month. He's suspected to have joined the Vaizords for training, but that is unconfirmed information, and will be treated as such. The War with Aizen should be getting ready to start, and with Kurosaki gone, we need to be training even more to make up for loss; of course, there is a possibility he might reappear, but we won't take a chance on that."
All the Captain's eyes widened slightly, a few whispers being passed between Kyouraku and Ukitake.
"Silence!" the Captain-Commander began again: "Since Aizen has made a move to study Kurosaki in the past, there is also a small chance he could be in Hueco Mundo; however, I'm highly reluctant to take a risk to search for him if he is in fact in Hueco Mundo; we should be preparing the Soul Society for War."
The other Captains' faces turned from shock to thought. This was a tough decision: Search for Kurosaki in Hueco Mundo, and risk precious lives, or leave him to wherever he is, and have a chance of him turning on Soul Society – and what made things more insecure was that these were all theories, theories that had no ratio of the chances of being right or wrong.
The Captains all nodded their heads. The Commander spoke, "This meeting is adjourned."
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Yamamoto shook his head. If Ichigo did turn out to be against them, then he would have no choice but to kill the traitor; 'Traitor' was a too-common word now. The betrayal from Aizen and the others made the Soul Society become untrusting, and when a wrong move was made, 'traitor' was the word thrown at one another. And now to have Ichigo, the one who almost single-handedly defeated the Soul Society, was now a traitor. That would only cause more turmoil.
Yamamoto turned to see an emissary crouched behind him. "Excuse me, Captain-Commander Yamamoto, but I have important news: Inoue Orihime has been captured by an Espada. Forces tried to interlope them, but he disappeared before they could do anything. As of now, Inoue Orihime is now in Hueco Mundo."
Yamamoto nodded and dismissed the courier. He turned back to face the SeiReiTei, his face unreadable. 'What a mess…'
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Renji and Rukia quickly sped off back to the World of the Living ( they had spied on the Captain's meeting, and were the ones who tried to stop the Espada from taking Orihime ). They seemed to be failing when it came to their friends lately: they had let Ichigo disappear without a trace before they could figure out why he had changed so much, and they had let Orihime slip through their fingers. It seemed unfair that those who shouldn't even be involved were the ones being taken away from their homes.
Renji looked to Rukia, whose face was cast down at the floor, her face an enigma of emotions. He places an arm around her shoulder, "Don't worry Rukia, we'll get them back."
She didn't look at him, her face didn't change, and she didn't loosen her stance. "The only way to get them back would be to get them from Hueco Mundo… which Yamamoto said he wouldn't do. He's willing to let them stay in Hueco Mundo under Aizen!" she finally looked at him, tears gathering in her eyes, "He's going to let them be tortured by Aizen and the Arrancar! How is that fair!" A tear fell, followed by another, and another, until she was sobbing; her shoulders shook and her face was contorted into unreadable sadness, but she didn't let out a single whine or noise.
Renji felt sick seeing her this way. He made a decision: "Hey, Rukia, do you think we could get Urahara's help… to get to Hueco Mundo?" Rukia stopped shaking; her tears stopped falling, except for a few that were already in the process before Renji offered the idea. "I mean, we could ask the others for help, then we could just go to Hueco Mundo, and get back Inoue and Ichigo."
Renji's voice seemed so sure, but he felt uneasy inside: would it really be that easy? The only one who could consistently fight on Captain level was Ichigo and himself – and Ichigo was stronger than he was. But, now Ichigo was gone and he would have to support the others that went with him and Rukia.
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Renji proposed the idea to Urahara, and was surprised when Urahara and Yoruichi both volunteered to accompany them on their journey. Of course, Chad agreed, but Uryu seemed to have disappeared sometime during the discussion. Urahara said it would take a few days preparation for Hueco Mundo, and in that time, the others should be getting ready for their mission, which was not only dangerous, but going against Yamamoto's wishes.
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A/N: Soo, how was that? I'm sorry if it was kinda confusing at points, I really didn't think about this chapter as I wrote it. I only wrote what I thought on that one moment~
Just a few things that might help clear up the story:
X_ Since Ichigo disappeared when he four months along, and it's been three months, now he's at seven months! ( Yes, a bit of a skip, but I didn't to write out every single month )
X_ I took the actual series' events and… rearranged them
X_ Since Ichigo had already disappeared, Orihime wasn't taken in secret, so of course she was discovered being kidnapped by Ulquiorra
If you need more things cleared up, please leave questions in your reviews and I'll answer them in the next chapter~
Thanks!
BTW: I don't know how I'm going to end this story, I don't want to continue it forever. BUT, I do have a few side stories that I want to write for this – so maybe I'll write those as I think of a conclusion~
