Chapter 8: Recording 12009


That night, Neji returned to the water's edge, and waited impatiently for Sajin, passing up and down, hands tied together behind his back. The moon shone brightly over head, illuminated his pale features, and the faint purple bags that were forming under his eyes; twice, now, he had gone to the lake and had been robbed of his sleep, not that he actually got any sleep when he had the chance to. Those guys…they'd made him sleep next to Choji…That loud, pig-like fool, talking and kicking about in his sleep…. Oh, how Neji hated him!

Sajin finally arrived, and almost got his head chewed off when Neji snarled at him like a rapid dog, demanding to know where he had been. Sajin apologized ten times, saying that he'd gotten lost, and then got stuck into business.

"Have you decided yet, Neji-san?" He asked, frowning worriedly as he remembered the boy's promise. Neji stiffened, then sat down.

"He tried to blow up Hinata-sama using a Slave Hunter as coverage!" He growled, skipping the man's question. "I thought he was supposed to capture her."

"The orders may have changed," Sajin said bitterly. "Aizen's mind is strange—and Hitsugaya will follow it no matter what. Aizen may not need Hinata-dono anymore, and now wants her head."

Neji pounded the ground with his fist. "I don't understand!" He howled, throwing his head up and glaring at the moon, hovering in a starless sky. Why would Aizen order Hinata's capture, then execute her death sentence? Neji just didn't understand. It didn't make sense—but Hitsugaya could fly as well. He'd seen him do it once before. Why hadn't done so to save Hinata-sama, when she'd been falling to her death? The boy gritted his teeth. Hitsugaya would probably say something like he didn't understand how he did it last time, and that he couldn't do it when he wanted to. What crap!

"It doesn't matter," Neji hissed. "We're supposedly leaving tomorrow at midday, but one of our companions is having a tantrum, so we may not." His face screwed up into a ball of annoyance as he imaged Yamanaka Ino's bright, cheerful face, daisy-blond hair glowing against her brilliant sky blue-eyes—that image of her may have been a little too precise, but Neji was precise about everything, right down the way people smiled. He couldn't help it.

"I see," Sajin murmured. "I'll wait for you and Hinata-dono, then. If not here, then I will just follow you. I have been doing so for quite some time."

Neji's grey eyes narrowed at the last part; he didn't like to think that this blind man had followed them so far, but Sajin claimed to be able to see the auras of living beings, and that of the non-living. Still, Neji couldn't help but feel disgusted. He was a genius, after all—how could he have not sensed Sajin's presence? "Yes. I'll find you either here, or a spot near our next camping spot. Be there, Sajin." Neji took on a hostile tone. "If Hinata-sama is in danger, I plan to save her. I do not wish to see her die or be captured just because you fail to complete your part."

Sajin's shoulders sank. "As would I, as would I…" He mumbled softly.

After a few more minutes of planning, Neji hulled himself up and left, leaving Sajin to his own, dark thoughts. He smiled as Neji's outline finally disappeared—things were going just as planned.


Hinamori stared up at the cave's roof, eyes dark and glazed over so that she looked as though she were still unconscious. She could hear Kuchiki Rukia's near-silence mumbling, muttering words which held no meaning as she slept in a bed surrounded by dirt; Hinamori did not like Rukia. She had spoken of Shiro-chan—she had heard her!—and yet refused to say anything. It was ridiculous! Poor, poor Shiro-chan….lost somewhere, without Momo….

He probably doesn't miss me, though, Hinamori thought sadly, tears welling in her eyes. She'd screamed at him only a few days before his disappearance; she'd even gone as far as to hold a knife at his throat, saying that Aizen may have done bad things, but he was still her Captain, and anyone who fouls her Captain should die. Before then, he had come to visit her whenever he had time, sitting by her bed whether she was sane or not, talking to her and telling her about the War and her soldiers. He'd been so kind to her, nurturing her like she was the child rather then he; a tear rolled down Hinamori's cheek. She'd been so cruel. How could she have done such things to her Shiro-chan? It was….insane, ironically. Pure insanity.

She rolled over and glanced at Rukia's bed, guilt building quickly in her gut. Perhaps it was better that Rukia didn't tell her what she knew about Shiro-chan….Hinamori could be sane one moment, smiling non-stop with her cheeks rosy-pink and her eyes full of life; the next her eyes were wild, her face was screwed into a ball of either hate or anger, and she was coming at you with a knife. Perhaps Rukia had been afraid of telling Hinamori….or, maybe, just maybe, she really didn't know anything about Shiro-chan, and she had been telling the honest truth. The Vice-Captain didn't think that likely.

Foot steps, close and getting closer, causing Hinamori to close her eyes and shrink further into her small bed. A white Haori flashed before her eyes just as they closed, and the foot steps suddenly stopped.

"Oi, Rukia!" It was Abarai-kun. "Wake up!"

Rukia made some weird noises—sleeping noises—then barked loudly, and, by Hinamori's reckoning, slapped Renji, for he made a strangled sound just after there was a loud smack.

"H-hey!" Renji screamed; Hinamori imagined a face to match the voice, and smiled under her blankets. "What was that for!"

"Renji!" Rangiku-san…was it? Hinamori hadn't actually heard for voice for a time now—not even when they'd saved Rukia from her fury. "Be quite, please!" She sounded tired.

"Please, Abarai-kun," Ukitake-Taichou? "Could you?"

Renji huffed. "Whatever!"

"Are you feeling better, Kuchiki-san?" Ukitake asked.

"H-Hai, Ukitake-Taichou!" Rukia stammered, embarrassed. "U-um, if I may ask, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing," Ukitake informed her, his voice cheerful and father-ly as usually. "and to ask if you would like to come see Ichigo-kun off."

"Eh?"

"Ichigo and I are going to go get Inoue Orihime from the Real World!" Renji exclaimed, clearly annoyed by her ignorance. "Kurotsuchi-Taichou says we could die in the attempt. Now, are you coming or not?"

"D-die!" Rukia shrieked. "Of course I'm coming! Come on, Renji! Help me out!"

Rangiku-san made a sound, then began to chuckle. No-one else seemed to hear her, nor did anyone hear her mutter a few words—not even Hinamori, who was listening to intently that it hurt. As her interest dimmed, Momo settled herself, and allowed her mind to drift off. It was because of this that she didn't feel Matsumoto's hand brush the hair out of her closed eyes, a sad smile touching the blonde's lips. Hinamori and she had been friends at a time; perhaps, after this was all over, they could be again.

After being tapped on her shoulder by Ukitake, Rangiku stood and followed them out, Rukia hanging off Renji's arm as she struggled to remember how to walk.


"Why do we have to do this?" Ino complained to Hinata as the two girls gathered berries from near by bushes. "It's hard!" The blond threw a hand full of about-to-be-ripe berries into the half-full container at her feet.

Hinata's smile came naturally, even though there was no reason to smile with Ino acting in such a princess-like manner. "I-it's not that hard, Ino-san." Hinata said timidly. "It's b-better then having to go look for live food, right?"

"I guess so," Ino pouted, picking up her basket and moving past the silver eyed Hyuuga, blue eyes scanning the bushes for more fruits.

It was dawn, now, the sky an ever-lightening shade of pink-blue; the sun was climbing over the sky, racing towards the center, basking all beneath it in its golden light; Hinata's albino face was set aglow by the sunlight, her silver eyes shimmering like diamonds. The same effects had copied themselves on Ino's skin and eyes, though her blue ones could never even come close to matching that of Hinata's, something Ino knew very well. She was pretty, but Hinata would always be prettier—in her eyes, anyway.

In Choji's, Ino would always be prettiest. Speaking of Choji, he was standing close by right now, collecting herbs and what not just as the girls were. Kiba claimed not to trust Choji running around by himself because of when he was attacked by Hollows, but Choji knew the real reason. It was because he was useless to them, useless against Hollows, and useless to the Arrancar they were staying with; he'd been strong once, but not anymore. Not since the war began.

Mumbling to himself, Choji picked up the small basket and hurried away, leaving the girls to gossip among the trees. It nice seeing Ino-chan again, and Shikamaru, though Choji would have preferred him to have not come; things would only get rougher from here on out, and Shikamaru had a tendency to get lazy. Choji didn't want him getting himself killed because of it.

Hinata glanced up as Choji waddled away. As her silver eyes rested upon his leg, she frowned, remembering back when it had bloated and turned purple, back when their little shack had been destroyed. She'd thought about it long and hard, and could not understand how such a thing could happen—it was down right freaky.

"Hina-chan!" Ino cheerful voice broke into Hinata's thoughts. "Could you tell me what this thing is? It's purple."

Hinata spun round to examine the fruit Ino had found; after only a few seconds, Hinata announced the fruit was about to go off, and threw it into the brushes. The Yamanaka sighed, disappointed, then walked off to continue looking for fruits and herbs; Hinata watched her go, then sighed, and then drifted off into her own world.


Hitsugaya stared down at the rabbit's limp, bloody body, hiding the disgust he felt behind a pale mask.; its fur was snowy white, almost silver, even—just like his hair—which made the fact he would be eating it later even harder on his stomach. Pushing his concerns aside, the teal eyed body snatched up the body, and stuffed it into a small pouch bag tied to his side; Kiba would—sadly—be teaching him how to gut the thing later.

Not nice is it, killing something so defenseless?

Hitsugaya became stiff at the voice, his breath cutting short; for a moment, he stood unmoving, then shook himself and kept moving. His Inner Hollow had a very loud voice, he'd come to notice, and did not like being ignored for too long; it spoke to him sometimes, mostly when he was feeling down or sick, and never failed to make him feel worse. The boy often imaged punching his black haired twin in the face, and cracking his grey nose, but only got a few moments of satisfaction from that before remembering that they were just about identical—apart from their colouring. He ended up breaking his own nose, which made him feel sick.

"You got the rabbit, Toushirou?" An orange flash sped by, and suddenly Uzumaki Naruto was standing over Hitsugaya grinning like an idiot. The pouch-bag at his side was full, too, signaling that he'd already collected his prey.

Hitsugaya nodded, and then stood up, brushing dirt off his knees as he did so. He no longer wore his Haori as he once did; running around in the bush it would get caught on things, and Toushirou saw no point in wearing it anyhow, so, instead, tied it around Hyourinmaru's scabbard. The dragon spirit had not been happy about it, to say the least; he'd almost caused Hitsugaya to go deaf with his tantrums, demanding to know how the boy could use such an important grab for something so trivial as scabbard protection.

'I don't see why I should wear it if all it dose is annoy me,' Hitsugaya had argued meekly. That resulted in another round of screams, but eventually Hyourinmaru had clamed down.

"Good, dattabyo!" Naruto exclaimed. "We should head back, then. Hinata said she'd make us a good meal before we take off. Something small, so we won't get sick, but something good all the same!" His cheeks coloured faintly with lust as he remembered Hinata's cooking. His blue eyes began to sparkle. "If I'd known Hinata was such a good cook and was strong back before the war started, I would've asked her to marry me."

"You're thirteen, Uzumaki." Hitsugaya snapped, a little too icily, by the way Naruto withdrew. He quickly recovered, though, and returned to his sparkly-eyed self.

"I'm kidding!" Naruto sighed, waving his hand in dismay. "No need to get jealous, lover boy."

Hitsugaya flushed. "Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" He snarled, ears burning with embarrassment.

"I wonder…." Naruto said softly as he turned round; Hitsugaya made a move to grab him, but Naruto anticipated it, and charged off before Hitsugaya's hand had even gotten close to him. The Shinigami let out a low hiss of frustration, then raced after him, cursing under his breath. That blond fool! What'd he mean by 'Lover boy'?

Hitsugaya raced the blue eyed ninja, and would have beaten him there if the Arrancar hadn't appeared. Ulquiorra appeared from out of no where—literally—and preformed the same trick with his hand, causing it to appear at Hitsugaya's ankle within a few seconds. He grabbed the boy's ankle while he was in mid jump; his weight kept the silver haired boy's ankle in the one place, but not the rest of his body. That fell forward. His chin smacked against a tree branch, and then slipped off; pain racking his body and tears swelling in his eyes. Gah….it hurt….

Hitsugaya stopped himself from hitting the ground by throwing his hands forward, and catching the branch which his chin had hit; a vain in his head threatening to pop, Hitsugaya twisted his body 360 degrees, forcing Ulquiorra to release his foot or be slapped across the face with a dirty sole. The boy dangled from the branch for a moment, then pulled himself up in a circle, feet touching the branch's top lightly and soundlessly. Then he rounded on Ulquiorra, eye brows twitching.

"What was that for, Ulquiorra!" He snarled furiously.

Ulquiorra did not seem affected by his scream, for all he did was flick some dirt off his hand by jerking his fingers back and forth, then let his arm fell and held Toushirou with a steady stare. Hitsugaya shivered; Ulquiorra never blinked when he was staring someone down. He acted as though he could keep his eyes opened forever, just staring, drilling into your face with those emotionless eyes…..Eyes that happened to belong to the certain someone who had saved Hyuuga Hinata's life. Hitsugaya couldn't help but be gratefully—Hinata meant a great deal to him and everyone else—but it was still hard not to be freaked out by the black haired man. He had a frightening aura, the type that said he'd kill you without regret, remorse, or anything similar. It said you were worth nothing, that you were a pawn on his chess board, and he had the right to sacrifice you if necessary. It was scary.

"I need to talk to you." Ulquiorra said coolly. "If you will listen."

Hitsugaya sat down on the branch and began to massage his ankle, which had begun to sting. He sighed. "I guess. Shoot."

"Hitsugaya, I want to help you."

Hitsugaya blinked and looked up, his face a mask of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Kiba told me about the time when you were attacked by the Hollows," Ulquiorra explained. "You produced a dragon of ice from that sword of yours, and you were able to stay in the air for a number of minutes. Do you know how you did that, boy?"

Hitsugaya frowned and looked away, feeling uncomfortable; the fact that he couldn't answer the question only made it worse. The fight with the Hollows was a fading memory; he'd produced a massive amount of Spirit Energy, enough to kill a full-grown ninja if it was directed straight at them. Hyourinmaru said that was due to the amount of power he had displayed, and over time, it would stop happening

"No…I don't." He said finally. "I just….did it." What a lame excuse.

Ulquiorra nodded thoughtfully, a hint of emotion flashing in those dead, green eyes; as to what emotion it was, Hitsugaya was unsure of. "I will tell you what you did. You stabilized the Spirit Energy and Charka in the air, creating an invisible platform beneath your feet for you to stand on, causing those who look on to believe you are flying. To fly, what you must do is separate the Spirit Energy from the Charka, rather then making it so they can function together—it creates a battle between the two forces, stripping you of all weight and with it your need to obey gravity."

Hitsugaya blinked, unable to speak. Why was the Arrancar telling him all this?

"Spirits become mortal in this place," Ulquiorra continued, seemingly oblivious to the boy's puzzlement. "Because the Charka and Spirit Energy flow together, they become one with the world, and their aging slows or speeds up to match the rules of the world. In the World of Spirits—a thing a faintly remember—I would remain in the same shape for fifty years at a time, while a human would shrivel, rot and then die, as does every human. If I remain here, I too will shrivel, rot and then die. Where my consciousness will go, I do not know, but while I am here, I would like to be of some use."

"That's…" Hitsugaya mumbled. "…good…I guess. Um, why are you telling me?"

Ah! The point. "Hitsugaya, I want to help you control your powers—something which you clearly need to master, and quickly, if you want to protect Hinata. This means that Grimmijow and I will be traveling with you from now on."

Hitsugaya almost choked on the last few words. "E-excuse me?"


The earth almost seemed to moan as Mayuri activated the portal to the Real World.

Ichigo and Renji stood a little back from the orange eyed Taichou, each keeping to their own thoughts while their eyes continued to focus on the mass of swirling colours that was the portal's inners; it was sickening to look at, to glance at, even, but Ichigo couldn't help it. He'd be stepping into that vortex in a moment—if everything ran smoothly, that is—and would have to get used to the colours either way. Renji mumbled beside him, and tore his amber eyes away, his face pale. Ichigo brought a hand to his face to hide is ever-growing smirk; to think Renji, a Fuku-Taichou, couldn't even look at the portal for more then ten minutes!

"The vortex is holding, Kurotsuchi-Taichou," A man with small horns sticking out of his head reported evenly, his eyes never leaving his screen.

"Good, good." Mayuri dismissed the report with a wave of his hand, and a small, barely audible murmur. His eyes were fixed on the portal. It was amazing! Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought the Gate Way would look like this, even if affected by Raven's dimensional barrier. There were colours he had never seen before swirling in the mass; truly an incredible sight—despite the fact his stomach was more then disturbed by it.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," He called, raising his hand and beckoning him over with his frighteningly large finger nail; he never looked away from the portal, even as Ichigo started stiffly towards him. Renji snickered at his discomfort. "Abarai Renji, too." His laughter died away so quickly Renji's throat was suddenly sore. He stalked up behind Ichigo, head down.

Ichigo expected the man to say something him, but instead he barked at the man with horns coming out of his forehead. "Akon!" He snapped. "Is it safe to travel through?"

"Not particularly, sir." Akon answered bitterly. "The vortex may be holding, but that doesn't mean its not unstable. The walls could collapse and swallow Kurosaki-dono and Abarai-Fuku-Taichou whole."

"Good enough." Mayuri said, then rounded on Ichigo. "Off you go," He commanded innocently, jabbing his long, thin, stark-white finger towards the portal. "Quickly now."

Ichigo made a strangled sound. "Didn't he just say that the portal could eat us!" Ichigo growled, the veins in his forehead throbbing with fear and annoyance, much like Toushirou's would when Rangiku 'forgot' to do her paper work and hid it under the sofa.

"Could." Mayuri snapped. "Now get going. I haven't the patience—or the time—to meet this open much longer. I'm working on something at the moment which could help us find Raven. And, also, just a word of warning. Go off the path, and you'll be sucked into raven's barrier. It's a very painful way to die."

Ukitake, standing by the lap's entrance, shuddered, and glanced at Shunsui, who was hiding beneath his hat. Neither had the courage to face the orange eyed Captain who was acting-god in this laboratory; not many did, this including the all powerful So-Taichou, the Captain-General. Mayuri had a way of making you feel small. So the two just stood there and watched, shivering in their boots, and praying silently that the captain-class officers would make it to the other side safely….or at least Shunsui was. Ukitake couldn't help but wonder where Rukia had got to.

"Ukitake-Taichou!"

Speaking of the devil! Ukitake glanced over his shoulder to see Rukia sprinting down the hall, clad in her Shinigami uniform, katana dangling from her waist. A small smile raised the Captain's cheeks. She'd been getting changed. Who'd of thought Rukia could act so very much like a girl?

"Have they left yet, Ukitake-Taichou!" Rukia demanded as she flung herself through the doorway. Seeing Ichigo and Renji, her face broke into a smile, and she darted across the shiny black floor, coming to a sudden yet graceful stop between the two. Shunsui grinned mockingly at Ukitake, teasing him for being forgotten by his officer so easily. Ukitake rolled his eyes, though his smile only grew larger. It was good to have friends.

"R-Rukia?" Ichigo stammered, shocked by her arrival. "Wh-what're you doing here?"

"She said she wanted to see us off." Renji informed him evenly, despite the fact his fingers were shaking. He turned to Rukia. "Thanks for coming, Rukia. It means a lot."

"Yeah, thanks." Ichigo put in.

"Your welcome." Rukia said. "But I'm not here to send you off. I'm coming, too."

It was good to have friends, but sometimes they went a little too far for each other. Ukitake—and several others people in the room—almost had a heart attack when Rukia had finished speaking, Ichigo one of these people.

"A-are you insane?" He choked. "You'll be killed!"

A vain pumped in the Shinigami's forehead. "And who says you will not die, Ichigo!" Rukia glared straight up at him, standing on the tips of her toes just to make her glare that much more threatening. The moment seemed to last a long time, the moment when they just glared at one another, going over the scenarios in which either one of them could die; then, without warning, Rukia rounded on Renji, who had just found his voice and had already planned out a short speech.

"Don't even think about it, Renji!" Rukia snarled, jabbing an accusing finger at the red-head's brow. "I will not sit here and wait for you guys like some….some princess! I'm not a little girl! I care about Inoue, too, and I want her to get here safely—as well as you two!" Suddenly she was calm, crossing her arms over her chest. "And, besides," She said sweetly. "Either one of you could last ten minutes without me babying you like your mother." She smirked at their furious faces.

"Kuchiki-san!" Ukitake exclaimed. Ichigo and Renji looked up, while Rukia turned round and let her hands fall by her sides. "There's a chance you'll be killed! And you're already injured! It's too risky!"

"Jyuushirou's right, you know." The flower-wearing Captain said quickly. "If your arm starts to hurt, you'll fall behind. Please reconsider—"

"You can't go, Kuchiki." Kurotsuchi said suddenly. They turned towards him in a hurry, having forgotten he was still there.

He frowned. "Yes, I'm still here. Anyway, you cannot go. We only have enough power to support two bodies, and though you'd only count for a half, it's still a half too many." Rukia's mouth twitched at his comments on her height. She wondered secretly if Nara could make up for that lacking half.

"But, Taichou—!"

"No buts!" Mayuri snapped furiously. "Kurosaki Ichigo, Abarai Renji, hurry up and get lost! You're wasting time!" He stomped away towards Akon, muttering angrily under his breath. Rukia looked as though she wanted to say something, for her mouth was open, but no words came out; instead, she sagged her shoulders in defeat, wished Ichigo and Renji a safe trip, and then retreated to where the Captain and his friend stood. Renji sighed, and then hurried towards the portal; Ichigo watched Rukia momentarily, frowning hard, and wondered if he should say something. He got no chance to, though, because Renji tugged rudely at his sleeve and ordered him to hurry up in a half annoyed, half terrified voice.

With one last glance at the woman who had unlocked his Shinigami powers, Ichigo followed Renji into the swirling vortex of colours.

Next thing he knew, the world was black, and he knew nothing more.


Aizen and Ichimaru had always discussed things together, but the fact that they were just about ignoring their new Espada pissed Aurelio off.

Aurelio was a young Espada—in fact, he was the youngest—with the body age of eighteen year old boy. His hair was short and black, growing in every direction but down; his eyes were golden, shimmering like diamonds whenever they caught the light; his skin was slightly tanned, contrasting sharply with his jet-black hair. He usually wore a Shinigami uniform, only everything which was black was now white, and anything white was now black. He loved messing things up, including the stupid Shinigami's look.

Aurelio was a likeable person, but his temper usually got the better of him, and this was one of those times. His Fraccion faded into the walls when he stormed by, fuming out of the ears; his cat-like eyes were scanning the halls, searching for the fox-like face which he was coming to despise.

At last he found it, sitting in a chair.

"Ichimaru-sama!"

Gin glanced up from the book he was reading and smiled as Aurelio approached—he even went as far as to wave. "Hello there!" He greeted cheerfully. "What can I do for ya?"

"Why have you and Aizen-sama been ignoring all us Arrancar!" Aurelio demanded, literally screaming in the ex-Shinigami's face, who flinched. "What are you two planning?"

"W-well…that's, sorta, secret." Gin stressed the word 'secret' as though he though Aurelio wouldn't understand. "Aurelio, Aizen-Taichou and I are planning something big….But, if you want, you can do something for us, if you want to please Aizen-Taichou…"

Aurelio's face lit up. "Anything!" The new race of Espada were brained-washed to think Aizen truly was God, there-for would do anything to please him—even Aurelio, who disliked Aizen and his posy like a working man hates bills.

Gin's grin grew. "Alright, then." He stood up, tossing the book aside. He hadn't been reading it, anyway. "Come with me."


Rukia stared at the footage in dismay. Ukitake stared wide-eyed into the monitor. Shunsui looked away, hiding below his hat.

"Play it again," Ukitake ordered, ignoring Mayuri's annoyed and disappointed gaze. When no-one moved he repeated the order, fiercely, to which Mayuri replied with a sigh and a small gesture with his hand; at the move, Akon leapt up and replayed the footage.

Ichigo and Renji ran side by side down the tunnel. The tunnel was frighteningly dark, with purple slime oozing off the walls, along with other liquids and items that neither Shinigami dared look at for long. Their path was a stretch of light surrounded by darkness; they knew very well that if they strayed from the light, they would be eaten by the portal, and sucked into Raven's barrier. As Mayuri had said, it would be a terrible way to die.

They ran for what seemed like hours; eventually Ichigo slowed down slightly, wondering if they had gone the wrong way. He immediately realized how stupid the question was, since they had been going the same way since the beginning. He mentally slapped himself, and then charged to catch up with Renji, who was running at stop speed, desperate to get out of the spooky tunnel.

Suddenly, the path gave a lurch. The walls groaned and moaned like a dying animal. Ichigo and Renji let out shouts of shock, and struggled to keep their footing. The path lurched away, tossing this way and that like an angry snake; Renji pulled out his katana and thrust it into the white floor below. He clung to it like a life line.

At first Ichigo thought that plain idiocy, but as the light jerked again he realized that it was the only way to keep his feet on the ground. Cursing, he grabbed Zangetsu and forced the huge tip into the white stone; after a few moments he was clinging to his gigantic sword as well.

Then the path cracked; it was a small crack, at first, barely visible, but it got bigger very, very quickly. In seconds the entire path was cracking as it forked and jerked. Ichigo heaved Zangetsu out, terrified his sword had caused this, but that only made more cracks. The ground beneath his feet shattered, and Ichigo fell, Zanpakutou and all, into the abyss of darkness below, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Renji howled, only to have the ground fall apart beneath his feet seconds later. And then he was gone, too.

Kuchiki Rukia's scream could be heard, even though she wasn't on the other side of the camera.

End of Recording, 12009.


Gah! Short chapter -_- Sorry I took so bloody long to update…I had writers block, but I'm getting back on track! I re-wrote this chap twice, so please bare with me! DX No much happened in this chapter, though, apart from Ichi-kun and Ren-kun disappearing…More will happen later. I'm working on the next chap right now, so it'll hopefully be up soon! ^^

12009 is just a random number. I have no idea how many recording May has, but I know there's more then that XD Leave me alone.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^ I've started planning a bit more. It should get better….MUCH more HitsuHina action, too :P And sorry if it seems…strange. The timeline, I mean. I've always sucked at time lines…I'm getting better, though ^^;

People who want IchiRuki: 0 (XD This is fun.)

Bye-bye, and thanks for all the awesome reviews :D