Finally, a new chapter! I finally got enough over the writer's block to get a new chapter in, but sadly it's still lingering. T_T Well, anyways, hope you enjoy!(And for anyone who's wondering why Rukia's going alone, 1. you'll know why Ichigo and friends aren't going if you've read manga chapter 425+, and 2. She's breaking the law by going for Renji without official orders, and if she gets someone to go with her, then they might rat her out. So there.

Byakuya's schemes: chapter 7

"What!" demanded Yamamoto, pounding his fist down on the wooden desk with great force and shooting out of his seat. "You're saying you want the search called off!"

"That is precisely what I am requesting of you, Yamamoto-taicho," replied Byakuya, who was totally unfazed by the old man's sudden outburst. The noble had to see to it that no search parties came upon Renji and Rukia while they were alone. He didn't want his plans to be compromised yet again.

"But do you know how much effort was put into assembling that team of people!" explained Yamamoto. "If anything, why are you asking me this now, when they are all set out and ready to depart tomorrow!"

"Captain, the reason for my asking this of you so late is that my reason came up suddenly. I apologize for that. And any money that had to be expended for the search party will be paid back by the Kuchiki family, I swear it." Byakuya was being as polite as he could while still keeping his cool, calm composure. Yamamoto's jaw untightened, and the old geezer seemed to calm down as he sat back down in his chair. He sighed.

"Very well, Kuchiki-taicho." He paused. "But may I ask why you're requesting this? The missing man in question is your own lieutenant, after all." The air was heavy and solemn for a moment, the two men's spiritual pressure filling it to the brim.

"In all respect, my reasons are confidential, and though the man is my lieutenant I do have faith in him." He added, "Not only that, but I do plan on going to retrieve them myself." Yamamoto's eyebrow raised.

"Them?" Byakuya froze for a moment, like a thief caught red-handed, so much so that he almost lost his exterior stoicness. He soon composed himself though, thinking up an excuse on the spot.

"I apologize, that was simply a slip of the tongue, Yamamoto-taicho," explained Byakuya, hoping that the old man would buy it. Yamamoto seemed to think for a minute, before letting his eyebrow lower once more, though the noble could still sense a hint of suspicion in him.

"Very well, Kuchiki-taicho, I will cancel the search party and give you leeway to go out and look by yourself," said Yamamoto. His gaze sharpened. "But allow to make it clear that anything that takes place is not the fault of Soul Society." Byakuya nodded.

"Arigato, Yamamoto-taicho, I understand completely." With that, he left, scarf flowing behind him as he silently gloried in the fact that this part of his mission was done.


"Excuse me, ma'am," said Rukia, walking up to a woman who had a small child clinging to her robe.

"Have you seen a tall man, a shinigami like me, with bright red hair come through here recently?" She had gone pretty far within Rukongai already since last night and was currently in the 64th district. All day and last night she had been going around nonstop, asking people about it and trying to sense his spiritual pressure, and it was almost sundown right now.

The woman seemed surprised at first, probably because of the fact that a shinigami was all the way out here, but seemed to overlook it as she answered,

"I'm sorry, but I haven't-"

"-I seen him," interrupted the child. The boy's mother looked down at him, astonished.

"Don't tell such lies, Yoko," she scolded him.

"But I seen him!" protested the boy. "I seen him go through the air on a cloud of sparkly mist!" Rukia's eyes widened. The woman turned her head back to Rukia.

"I'm terribly sorry, Yoko has a tendency to lie and-"

"-But mama, I'm not lying!" he insisted. Rukia could tell that the child was telling the truth, and knelt in front of him.

"What was it you saw?" she asked him. He looked up at her smiling, obviously happy that someone believed him.

"Well," said the little boy. "Like I said, I saw him flying through the sky on a cloud of mist. He looked like he was passed out, and he had hair like fire."

"Did he have tattoos all over?" she further inquired him. "Was he a pretty large guy?" She was getting excited now; the small girl was sure that she almost had the answer to where Renji had been taken.

"Yep," continued the boy. "It was kind of hard to tell, but he had spiky black marks on his face, and he had real long legs." Yep, that was Renji alright.

"Do you remember which way he was going?" asked Rukia. The little boy put a finger to his chin, as if trying to remember.

"Well," he said. "I'm not quite sure I remember that part..." Rukia saw the little sparkle in the child's eyes, and could tell that he wanted something before he was going to cough up the information she needed. She wanted to chuckle at how humorous the situation was. This kid sure was a smart one.

"How about this," said Rukia. "If you can remember for me, then I'll make sure to get you some candy when I'm finished with my mission." The boy's eyes sparkled.

"Really, miss! You mean it!" he asked excitedly. Rukia nodded in response.

"Yep," confirmed Rukia. "But first, I need you to tell me which way my friend with the red hair went." The boy nodded, pointing.

"He went that way, miss," said the boy. "Can I have some candy now!" Rukia smiled at his enthusiasm.

"I'll get you some candy as soon as I'm finished with what I'm working on, I promise," assured Rukia. "Where do you live?" The boy pointed again, this time to a nearby wooden shack. Rukia nodded, ruffling his hair. She then thanked him and stood up, thanking his mother as well before running off. It would be dark soon, and she had to get to Renji as fast as possible.


"Dammit...what the hell?" muttered Renji, regaining consciousness. It was dark, and he couldn't see anything. All he could make out was that he was laying on a cold, hard surface. He couldn't move, either. His limbs were limp and as much as he commanded them to move, they wouldn't. He could also feel a slight tickling on his face, telling him that his hair tie had been broken.

"Ah, I see that your awake, ," came a voice. Renji quickly recognized it as the voice that belonged to the person who had attacked Rukia and him. Anger boiled inside him, and he began to yell.

"You bastard!" he practically screamed. "Where's Rukia!" The voice chuckled at his anger.

"Oh, I assure you that she's not here," said the voice. "She's probably coming this way right now, though." This voice was seeping with evil and darkness, and it was just pissing Renji off all the more.

"What is your little game!" demanded Renji, trying again to break free of his invisible bonds, but failing. Another chuckle.

"Well, you are to find out in due time, my friend." It added, "And I see that you're trying to struggle. It is of no use, I promise, so you may as well stop wasting precious energy. I have bounded you with a special kind of hollow magic, and there is no way you could escape." Renji growled. Well, at least now he knew that this thing was a hollow. Then something it had said earlier flashed through his mind.

"Wait...what do you mean she's coming this way!" This time the voice broke out into full on laughter.

"I see you care about the girl quite a bit. I can guess why." Renji growled at the comment, wanting nothing more than to kick this bastard's ass into next week.

"What I mean," continued the voice, "Is that I have been sensing her spiritual pressure heading this way for quite some time. She may even be sensing yours as well at this point, and if you would concentrate you might actually notice that." Renji did as the voice said, and he sensed it. The all-so-familiar reiatsu of Rukia. And the voice was right, she was heading their way fast. No! He thought alarmingly. No, Rukia, stop! This thing might kill you! If Renji could've wished for one thing at that moment, it would've been the power of telepathy, because he wanted so much to tell Rukia to turn around.

He wanted to tell her turn around, and go away, and not risk her life for a stray dog like him. The large man felt his heart start to ache as the reality enveloped him; she was putting herself into what might be extreme danger for his sake alone. Renji felt like crying, he just felt like going and beating himself bloody because of this. His fists tightened. He felt as if he were in a never-ending nightmare.


"Alert, alert," called all the messengers throughout Soul Society.

"Rukia Kuchiki is missing! She was not found in the squad four barracks that she was placed in!" The whole place was in a panic, most officials were surprised and captain Yamamoto was about to call a captain's meeting. People were rushing around and everything was in a tizzy. First Abarai-fukutaicho is kidnapped, and then Kuchiki Rukia turns up missing! No one knew what was going on. That was, except, for a select few individuals.


Unohana smiled as sound of the alarm alerts echoed in her ears.

So, she made it out, did she?


"I believe Rukia ended up making it," commented Ukitake as he and Kyouraku played shoji in his office.

"I do believe you are right, my friend," agreed the perverted captain, making his next move. "I do believe your right."


Baykuya was flash-stepping away from Soul Society at an alarming rate, glad that he had gotten out before the alarms had been voiced. Captain Yamamoto was sure to be at least suspicious by now.

But soon he focused his attention on the task at hand: following Rukia. Even though he himself was going, this was still a real assassin, and there was no telling what said assassin could do to either his sister or his lieutenant. Slight fear arose within the noble as he considered the possibilities. He quickened his speed, desperate to catch up, making sure that he could still sense Rukia's spiritual pressure, and that his own was concealed. Plan or not, he decided that he would have to step in if things got life-threatening. Besides, there was no way Renji and Rukia could even be in a relationship if they weren't alive anymore.


The blood in Rukia's head pounded in time with her feet as she ran at the fastest pace she could towards the destination where she knew Renji was. As soon as she had caught wind if his reiatsu, she had begun going that way, and she could tell that she was close.

"Only a little more," she whispered, for it was hard to speak with her breaths coming in pants. "Just...a little..." she stopped, confused. Suddenly, Renji's spiritual pressure felt as if it was...under her. One of her dark eyebrow's raised in confusion. She couldn't see anything around her, it was just old, rotting trees. She took another another step forward.

WHOOSH! The ground fell out from underneath of Rukia and suddenly she felt herself falling. Everything had happened so fast that she was completely disoriented, and she couldn't even think. Then she felt herself hit hard ground. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth before everything went black.

END OF CHAPTER 7

OMG CLIFFHANGER! Is Rukia okay? You will have to read to find out. Sorry about the slight delay, but if you've read any of the other stuff I've posted a few days before now, you'll know that I'm suffering from some of the dreaded writer's block, although luckily after writing a chapter of this, I do have the next few chapters of this story planned out, so updates on this story for now shouldn't take too long, but if your reading the master plan you might have to wait a little bit because I've totally just hit a wall on that one. Also sorry of this chapter seems half-assed, but I just really wasn't in the zone for it and I don't personally don't think it's as good as the other chapters. Well ,whatever, Tite Kubo owns Bleach, not I, and opinions are always welcome and appreciated!