San Diego was wonderful as always. What WASN'T wonderful was coming back to find that my laptop had completely died. Done. Kaput. :(

So I had to break into my Las Vegas funds and buy myself a new laptop. Thankfully I was able to transfer all my files over to my new computer which took some time, and that's basically why I haven't uploaded anything for you guys yet this week, I'm sorry.

I'm loving the in depth reviews I'm getting now that things are picking up. Of course, I can't say if you guys are right or wrong but I do love to read the theories! It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! I don't wanna keep you guys waiting for much longer. :3

As for this chapter, and the next couple of chapters, things are fast paced and a lot of ground is covered. Some of my favorite characters make their appearances in this chapter and I'm happy to welcome them to the story. YAY!

Well, let's not mess around anymore. Let's get this chapter started!

4 White Rabbit- Egypt Central


(4) Ulquiorra sat in his cell staring at the wall across from him. His wound was completely healed but he could feel that his body was still weakened from Kenpachi's attack. After Hanatarō had left he hadn't seen a single familiar face. There was a man that brought him dinner but other than that and a few guards, he hadn't seen anyone. He glanced down in his hand at Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka and grit his teeth. "I have to get out of here and find her."

"That's some dangerous talk." Ikkaku said as he entered the holding area. He approached Ulquiorra's cell and leaned against the bars to look in at his fellow Shinigami. "The guards hear you talking like that and you'll land yourself in some real hot water."

"Madarame!" Ulquiorra stood quickly and walked over to the bars. "Have you heard anything? Am I getting released soon?"

"It doesn't sound like it. The way they make it sound, you're not going anywhere until they get to the bottom of this. Apparently, they've opened an investigation into our squad and the disappearance of the Captain and Lieutenant. Yumichika is gone as well." Ikkaku's eyes narrowed on Ulquiorra. "They really did take her, didn't they?"

"They did. Madarame, I have to save her." Ulquiorra looked at his squad mate seriously. "Get me out of here."

Ikkaku chuckled and shook his head. "Geeze, somehow I knew you were going to say that. I guess it's a good thing I knocked out those guards and brought you this." Ikkaku pulled Ulquiorra's Zanpakutō out from behind his back and handed it to the other Shinigami.

"Murciélago..." Ulquiorra looked over the sword in admiration. It had been six years since he had last held it in his hands. Six years since he had been stripped of the right to bear any sort of weapon. "To hold it in my hand again, it feels-"

"Look, we don't really have time for that." Ikkaku unlocked the cell with a key he had gotten from the guards and motioned for Ulquiorra to follow. "We need to get out of here fast. They had your Zanpakutō locked away so I'm pretty sure I set off an alarm or two when I stole it."

Ulquiorra followed after Ikkaku quickly and out of the prison. There were alarms sounding in the distance and he knew it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for them. "Where will we go? They're bound to find us even in Rukongai!"

"I know." Ikkaku glanced back at Ulquiorra and grinned. "That's why we're going to the world of the living."

"But I don't have a Jigokuchō!" Ulquiorra looked at Ikkaku worriedly but it suddenly dawned upon him that the other man had probably already figured as much. "We're traveling through the Dangai, aren't we?"

"It won't be too bad. Now hurry up! I've got a Senkaimon waiting for us in Rukongai." Ikkaku ran through Seireitei as quickly as he could with Ulquiorra trailing behind him. He could hear more alarms begin to sound and he let out a loud laugh. "Ha! Looks like they found out you're gone too! We'll have to hurry. Can you use Shunpo?"

Ulquiorra shook his head. "They refused to let me learn."

"Then hold on." Ikkaku turned around and yanked Ulquiorra to him. He hoisted the smaller man over his shoulder and used his Shunpo technique to get as far as he could before he got short of breath. He then quickly dropped Ulquiorra to the ground and continued to run. "We're almost there! Come on, keep up."

"H-how far do we have to go?" Ulquiorra pushed himself up and hurried as fast as he could after Ikkaku. His body was still noticeably weak from his wound and he was having a hard time even running. He continued after Ikkaku until they came upon a peculiar looking house. He stared at the house in awe. It was confusing with it's two big arms holding up a big red banner. He'd never seen anything like it before. "Kūkaku Shiba?"

"That's the name of the lady that owns the house. You better humble yourself when you step inside, otherwise she might change her mind." Ikkaku stepped closer to the peculiar house to see Ganju Shiba waiting outside for them. "Ganju, is the Senkaimon ready yet?"

"Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko are stabilizing it right now." Ganju crossed his arms and stared hard at Ikkaku and Ulquiorra. "You're sure that Orihime Inoue is in danger?"

Ikkaku nodded. "We have very little time to train, and even then we might not be able to save her."

"You understand, we're a bit uncomfortable helping out a former Hollow." Ganju turned his eyes to Ulquiorra. "If it was anybody else's life on the line, I doubt we would be helping you. Now hurry inside."

Ulquiorra nodded and followed Ikkaku and Ganju into the house. They hurried down a long set of stairs until they reached an open door at the end of a long hall. He stepped inside with the two men and stared at the Senkaimon which appeared to be a bit unstable. There was a woman inside that he assumed was Kūkaku Shiba.

Kūkaku glanced over her shoulder at Ikkaku and Ulquiorra. "It's about time you got here. I was getting ready to shut this whole operation down." She turned to face the two strangers and advanced on them quickly. "I don't normally do favors for people I don't know and I've never done any favors for a Hollow but my good for nothing brother begged me to help, and since it's for that girl I figured why not. She's a friend of a friend so I at least owe her something, right?" She turned away from them again and stepped toward the unstable gate. "We're not that skilled at opening a Senkaimon as you can see, so I hope you're fast on your feet. You won't have much time to cross through the Dangai."

Ulquiorra nodded to Kūkaku. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, just get going." Kūkaku motioned for the two Shinigami to enter the Senkaimon. "It's as stable as it's going to get."

"Alright, let's go." Ikkaku hoisted Ulquiorra over his shoulder again and stepped through the gate. The Dangai was dark as usual and he knew they had little time to pass through with the Senkaimon being as unstable as it was. He used his Shunpo to close the distance between them and the exit as a loud rumble started behind them. He leapt through the exit gateway and fell to the ground, Ulquiorra flying a few feet away from him. It seemed they had reached the other side just in time before the gateway on Kūkaku's end collapsed with a deafening boom. They landed in the dirt in the dead of night without a single noise around.

Ulquiorra gasped for air as the dust around them began to settle. It was hard to breathe and he felt even weaker than he had minutes earlier. "Where are we?"

Ikkaku stood quickly and dusted himself off. "The world of the living, right where we need to be."

Ulquiorra pushed himself up off the ground and watched as Ikkaku walked over to a vaguely familiar building. He slowly made his way over as Ikkaku knocked on the door loudly. He was about to question Ikkaku's actions when the door slid open and a young woman stared out at them curiously. Ulquiorra recognized the face but from where, he didn't know.

Ururu Tsumugiya stared out into the dark of night at the two men standing before her. She was half asleep and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust but as they did, she recognized one of the faces immediately. "I-ikkaku Madarame? It's been a really long time." She turned her gaze to Ulquiorra and squinted in the dim light from the moon. The face looked familiar to her but she couldn't place it until she remembered back to the events of one particular night over ten years ago. "You're that Hollow!" She instinctively clenched her fists and stepped outside, prepared to fight against the man if need be. "What do you want?"

"Relax Ururu. He's not a Hollow anymore." Ikkaku stepped between Ulquiorra and Ururu but it was more to protect the Shinigami from the young woman rather than the other way around. "We need Urahara's help."

Ururu glared past Ikkaku at Ulquiorra. It was true that the man's Reiatsu was no longer that of a Hollow but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. She looked back at Ikkaku calmly and unclenched her fists. "Kisuke is out right now. He and Tessai had some business to attend to."

"Figures." Ikkaku scoffed and crossed his arms. "Look Ururu, we just need use of the underground facility. It's important. Orihime Inoue has been kidnapped and Ulquiorra has to get strong enough to retrieve her."

"Miss Inoue?" Ururu looked to Ikkaku worriedly. "What happened?"

"We can't go into details right now. If we have time, I can explain it to you later. Can we use the facility or not?" Ikkaku stared at Ururu quietly. It was clear that she was conflicted about helping Orihime and about letting Ulquiorra into she shop and Ikkaku couldn't blame her. Still, if she denied them they'd have to wait for Kisuke Urahara to return from whatever trip he was on and that could take days that they just didn't have to spare. "I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important."

"A-alright." Ururu stepped aside to allow Ikkaku and Ulquiorra into the shop. "I'll open up the basement for you."

"Ururu..." Ikkaku looked to the young woman seriously. "It's also likely that we'll be needing your help with training, at least at first. Ulquiorra has been deprived of his Zanpakutō and any legitimate battle training for six years. We need to work him up to a level where he can fight against our Captain."

"Against a Captain?" Ururu let out a sigh. "We have to get him up to a level where he can use his Bankai and you bring him here so weak?" She shook her head in disbelief and walked away from the two calmly. "I'll go wake Jinta, but he won't be happy about it."

...

Orihime moaned softly as daylight reached her eyelids. She opened her eyes slowly and squinted in the bright light to see around her but her vision was initially blurry.

"Good morning, Inoue." Yumichika smiled at the woman as she sat up and began rubbing her eyes. "My apologies ahead of time for this atrocious setting."

"Ayasegawa!" Orihime looked at her surroundings and quickly noticed that she was in a cave. Her head ached and she felt as though she had been sleeping for weeks. Her memories soon came flooding back to her and she remembered that Yumichika had grabbed her and taken her away from Ulquiorra. She backed away from him instinctively and scowled. "Where are we? Why did you bring me here?"

"I had to make due with what I could, but don't worry. I'm hoping to find a place more suitable to keep a princess very soon." Yumichika winked and stood slowly. "You should eat. Your body hasn't had any nutrients since I took you. You'll waste away at this rate."

Orihime stared at Yumichika as he offered an apple in her direction. She drew back from him even further and averted her gaze. "I don't want it."

Yumichika chuckled and continued to offer the apple in the woman's direction. "Come now, you can't keep acting like that. You have to eat. If you die there will be no point in Ulquiorra coming to rescue you."

Orihime's eyes shot to Yumichika in anger. "What do you mean?"

"Oh my, I think I've said too much." Yumichika sighed and sat back down. "You'll see what I mean soon enough."

...

"Pathetic!" Ikkaku growled as he watched Ulquiorra fly through the air from a simple kick by Jinta Hanakari. The fiery young boy had grown to be an equally as fiery young man and his attack force had tripled since he had aged. Even so, he wasn't using any weapons and he was still making quick work of Ulquiorra with just his fists and his feet. "Come on! How do you expect to fight against the Captain when you can't even fight against a human!"

Ulquiorra heaved for air as he managed to stand on shaky limbs. His body had not completely recovered from his previous wound and the Reishi in the world of the living was so shallow that it was hard for him to even function. He wouldn't make excuses however. There would be no point and Ikkaku would just dismiss them anyway. He watched as the red haired boy rushed at him again and this time he was determined to block the attack. He raised up his arm to block Jinta's punch but his arm became so heavy that it dropped before he could even block the attack. He took a hit to the face and it knocked him to the ground.

"How are you supposed to hold up your Zanpakutō when you can't even hold up your own arm!" Ikkaku screamed.

"Madarame, it's been seven hours." Ururu approached the Shinigami calmly and sat beside him. "Don't you think he deserves a break?"

"He can rest when he's dead!" Ikkaku cupped his hands over his mouth to shout at Ulquiorra. "You hear me? You can rest when you're dead, now defend yourself!"

Ururu sighed sadly. "But the breakfast I made will go to waste."

Ikkaku glanced at Ururu out of the corner of his eye. "Breakfast, huh? Alright." He stood and cupped his hands back over his mouth. "Ulquiorra, be grateful! Ururu made your sorry ass some breakfast! Ordinarily I'd say you'd have to earn it but I know that won't happen and I don't want to hurt her feelings! Come get some!"

Ulquiorra laid on the ground in pain as Ikkaku's words reached him. He barely had the energy to move but he was starving and he knew he had to eat. He stood slowly and managed his way over to the ladder where he mustered up just enough strength to reach the top before he collapsed to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Ururu knelt down beside Ulquiorra and stared at him worriedly. "Madarame is working you to the bone and you were already in a weakened state. Here, let me help you to the table and you can eat." She pulled Ulquiorra's arm up over her shoulder and supported his weight long enough to make it to the dining area where she propped him up at the table. "Do you need help eating?"

"You're that girl." Ulquiorra stared at Ururu calmly. "I recognized your face but I couldn't remember where I had seen it. That night I had come to investigate the remnants of Orihime's spiritual power, you were there and the red haired boy too. I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm sorry."

Ururu smiled and shook her head. "That was a long time ago. Just eat up. You've got to try to regain some form of strength if you're planning on fighting against me. Jinta may be going a bit easy on you but I won't."

Ulquiorra nodded slowly and brought his arm atop the table. He managed to reach for his plate before he lost consciousness and fell backward to the floor with a thud.

"What the hell was that!" Ikkaku shouted as he stepped into the room. He noticed Ulquiorra unconscious on the floor and grunted. "What is he doing?"

"You pushed him too hard. He's still wounded." Ururu sighed and stood. "I have a bed prepared for him. I knew it was only a matter of time before he dropped." She grabbed Ulquiorra by his feet and began dragging him. As she did so, she noticed something small and shiny fall out of his hand. She knelt to the ground and picked up Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka and examined them curiously. "Miss Inoue's hair pins. How did he get them?"

"Who knows? She probably gave them to him for some stupid girly reason." Ikkaku scoffed and started over to the table. "Anyway, I'm going to eat breakfast. Try to make sure he's awake soon."

Ururu sighed and nodded slowly. She continued to drag Ulquiorra until she was able to put him in the bed she had prepared. She placed the hair pins in her pocket and started back toward the table when she heard the sound of Kisuke's voice. She smiled as she rounded the corner and saw both Kisuke and Tessai standing in the doorway. "Kisuke! Tessai! Welcome back! We have-"

"Visitors, I see." Kisuke smiled and patted Ururu's head as he approached her. "Madarame and... another Reiatsu. It's familiar yet it isn't and it's very weak. Who is our other guest?"

"His name is Ulquiorra." Ikkaku said quickly. "He used to be a Hollow, he isn't anymore. We need your help training him." He turned a serious gaze to Kisuke. "Orihime Inoue has been kidnapped by Zaraki Kenpachi."

"I see." Kisuke turned his attention to Tessai and smiled. "Will you heal the good for nothing Hollow and get him out of my shop?"

"Kisuke, wait!" Ururu pulled out the two hair pins and held them out for her boss to see. "These are Miss Inoue's. He was clinging to them with all his strength, even while fighting Jinta. To him, it was more important to protect these hair pins than it was to protect his already weakened body."

"I don't care." Kisuke waved Ururu away and crossed his arms. "Let Ichigo handle it, it's his job to protect his friends anyway."

"That won't do for him." Ikkaku shook his head and chuckled. "He's in love with Inoue or something and he feels threatened by Ichigo. Besides, you'd be doing me a favor. I'm kinda the one that stole his Zanpakutō from lock up and broke him out of jail meaning it'll be my ass on the frying pan if we go back empty handed."

"What a burden." Kisuke sighed and shook his head. "Fine, fine. I'll let you train him here but I expect you to do some work around the shop, at least until you're needed for his training."

"I understand." Ikkaku nodded to Kisuke. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means."

...

"Are you feeling better now?" Ururu asked as she knelt beside Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra sat up in the bed and clenched the blanket that was covering him. "Where am I?"

"You're still in Urahara Shop. You collapsed so I had to put you in bed." Ururu sat down the tray she had brought for the Shinigami and motioned to it. "You should eat."

"I need to get back to training!" Ulquiorra made a motion to stand but the young woman put her hand on his chest and forced him back down. "Please! I've lost valuable time already."

Ururu shook her head and nudged the tray of food forward. "You should eat."

Ulquiorra stared at the girl quietly and shook his head. "I'm not hungry. I have to-" A loud gurgling interrupted from him and he realized with embarrassment that the noise had come from his stomach. Without another word he took the tray into his lap and began eating calmly.

"Tessai healed you while you were sleeping so you should be better now. You're not at one hundred percent but you should be good enough to take on Jinta now." Ururu stared at Ulquiorra before moving the hair that was hanging over her shoulder. The action revealed Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka which she had stuck on the breast pocket of her shirt. "It also seems that these were protecting you from receiving maximum damage while you were training with Jinta. It makes sense considering they are the realization of Miss Inoue's will. It seems her will is to protect you."

Ulquiorra's eyes darted to the hair pins and he reached out for them. "Give them to me."

Ururu jumped up and flipped out of Ulquiorra's reach. "No. Using them is cheating. Besides that, they should be your motivation. I won't give them back to you until you are able to defeat me."

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed on Ururu dangerously. "You don't seem to understand. Those are the only chance I have at finding her."

"That's not true. These hair pins may resonate with Miss Inoue's Reiatsu but you'll be able to find her without them soon enough. Your hearts are connected and in that way you'll always have a link to her. Your heart will resonate with hers more so than these hair pins." Ururu smiled and placed her hand over the pins. "But don't worry, I'll still take very good care of them."

"Th-thank you." Ulquiorra bowed his head to the young woman before turning his eyes back to his food. "For everything. You've been very helpful to us when I could tell that you didn't necessarily want to be. I know you're doing it for Orihime, but I still want to thank you."

Ururu nodded. "You should drink your coffee. You'll need as much energy as you can get because you're going to be training for a long time on minimal sleep."

Ulquiorra looked to the tray in curiosity and picked up the cup that was sitting on it. He examined the fluid inside, dark and hot. He sniffed it and it had an intriguing scent so he took a sip. His eyes widened before flying to Ururu. "What is this called, again?"

"Coffee." Ururu smiled. "It's terrible and bitter, I know, but it will help you."

"Actually, it's quite pleasant." Ulquiorra brought the cup back to his lips and continued to drink until the liquid was nearly gone. He finished his meal and then quickly finished the rest of the coffee and stood. "I'm ready to continue training."

"Alright." Ururu smiled and opened the door for Ulquiorra. "I'll make a fresh pot of coffee for you soon."

Ulquiorra nodded. "Thank you."

"About damn time! Geeze!" Ikkaku grabbed Ulquiorra by a clump of his hair as soon as he saw him and dragged the other man back to the underground facility. He threw the Shinigami at Kisuke's feet and grumbled. "Beg Urahara's forgiveness for showing up here and expecting so much help and then beg Tsukabishi's forgiveness for being so weak and needing to be healed."

Ulquiorra bowed his head and kept his eyes downcast. "Forgive me, both of you. I wouldn't have come if it wasn't a matter of extreme importance. I assume that Madarame explained this situation so all that I'll ask is that you continue to help me as much as you can and eventually I'll find some way to repay you."

Kisuke looked down at Ulquiorra in interest. He recognized him immediately as soon as he saw his face but he could scarcely believe that this was the same Hollow from all those years ago. "So he's the one in love with Inoue. Very interesting." He shrugged and motioned over to Jinta. "Jinta has been waiting to continue the training. As for repaying me, we'll just see how much progress you make before you worry about that."

"Alright." Ulquiorra nodded and then stood to face Jinta. "I'm ready when you are."

Jinta grinned widely at the Shinigami before him and doubled up his fists. "I'm glad you got rid of those annoying hair pins. Now my attacks can actually do some damage."

"You'll have to land them first." Ulquiorra fell into a battle stance and prepared for Jinta's first attack. The young man bolted toward him with a kick but Ulquiorra found it much easier to dodge this time. His strength was nowhere near the level it was in Soul Society but it was no longer weak either. His speed and agility had also increased and it was all thanks to being healed and getting a bit of food in his body. The feelings of despair that he had felt when he first fought against Jinta were now replaced with feelings of hope. When the red head lunged at him again he was able to not only dodge the boy's punch but counter it with a swipe of his own. His fist didn't make contact but he was pleased enough that he was able to react so quickly. His satisfaction was short lived however as Jinta spun around with a second attack. It caught him off guard and knocked him a few feet away but he didn't fly as far as he had been before.

"Don't get cocky just because you got your strength back! You've still got a long way to go!" Ikkaku growled and narrowed his gaze on Ulquiorra. "And don't think for a second that you're anywhere close to being able to land a punch on that kid! He let his guard down once because he was fighting a wimp like you but you won't be so lucky to have it happen again! Now I wanna see you put forth an effort or we might as well call it quits and let Ichigo take care of it all!"

Ulquiorra felt anger filling up inside of him at the idea of Ichigo saving Orihime. The image of Orihime kissing Ichigo flashed through his mind and he scowled in fury. "That's not going to happen." He rushed at Jinta with his fists ready and swung violently at the young man. Jinta was able to dodge the attacks but it was clear to Ulquiorra that he had him on the defensive.

"Damn bastard!" Jinta continued to dodge Ulquiorra's punches but the other man was relentless. He knew if he kept dodging that he would eventually lose stamina and possibly lose the fight and that was never an option for him. On the next punch that Ulquiorra threw, Jinta blocked it and countered it with a kick at the Shinigami's stomach but he was surprised to find that it was blocked by his opponent's hand. Jinta grit his teeth in irritation and began swinging back at Ulquiorra hoping to at least turn the tables.

"That's an interesting strategy you have there." Kisuke said as he stepped up behind Ikkaku. "You threaten him with the one person that could probably help him the most. You're going to build feelings of animosity."

"The feelings of animosity are already there. I'm just using it to my advantage." Ikkaku glanced up at Kisuke and grinned. "The outcome is the only thing I'm interested in. The road we take to get there can be paved with as much hatred and animosity as he can stand for all I care. As long as the job gets done, that's all that matters."

"I see." Kisuke smiled down at Ikkaku. "So I wonder Madarame, what do you gain from all this?"

Ikkaku returned his eyes to the fight before him and smirked. "Satisfaction."

...

"Renji!" Rukia rushed up to her long time friend in a panic. "I'm glad you're back!"

"Hey, Rukia!" Renji smiled and began to wave to Rukia. When he noticed a look of concern on her face, his hand dropped instantly to his side. "What's the matter?"

"It's a really long story." Rukia stopped in front of Renji and stared at him seriously. "A lot of us are preparing to be sent out. I know you just got back but could you go back out with the rest of us?"

Renji looked down at Rukia curiously. "Rukia, what happened?"

"Orihime Inoue died while we were out on our missions." Rukia looked to Renji sadly. "She came here to Soul Society and she was even accepted to the academy but the Hollow..." Rukia's look of sorrow quickly turned to a scowl and she clenched her fists. "He had a chance encounter with her and from that moment on he wouldn't leave her alone. Every chance he got, he was near her. The Captain Commander and Central 46 decided that it would be in everyone's best interest to keep the two separated. We don't know what his goals are or why he needs Inoue to accomplish them, but we couldn't allow it to happen. Then just a few nights ago, Inoue went missing. The Hollow was found unconscious at Sōkyoku Hill that same night. They questioned him and he claimed that Captain Zaraki, Lieutenant Kusajishi and fifth seat officer Ayasegawa had kidnapped her. Strangely enough, all three of them had also been missing since Inoue's disappearance. To make matters worse, last night the Hollow's Zanpakutō was stolen from where it had been sealed away and he has since escaped prison. Third seat officer Madarame has also been missing since last night."

"If you're thinking that Ikkaku helped him escape then forget about it. No way in hell he'd help that bastard out after what he did to Inoue." Renji crossed his arms in thought. "I'm willing to bet that the Hollow acted on his own and Captain Zaraki and the others were just trying to prevent him. It doesn't make any sense that they would kidnap Inoue, unless they did it to keep her safe from him."

"A handful of Lieutenants are being sent out. Captain Ukitake wanted me to go because he feels I know Inoue the best and he wanted me to ask you if you would accompany the rest of us if you got back in time." Rukia looked up at Renji pleadingly. "Will you help us, Renji?"

"Let me guess, Rangiku is going too." Renji let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "What a pain, but alright. I'll go. Who else are we working with?"

"Lieutenant Hisagi and Lieutenant Kira. Captain Hitsugaya is going to head up the team." Rukia smiled up and Renji gratefully. "Thank you for helping us."

"Of course. Inoue is a friend." Renji wrapped an arm around Rukia's head and gave her a noogie. "Now let's go save her!"