Chapter 10
The "Betrayal"
"Wh-what did you say!? Kidnapped!? H-how do you know!?" Ichigo asked.
"That girl, Nel, told me." Gohan said. "I'm sorry, Ichigo. This is my fault... I should have paid attention to her like Kisuke said."
"I don't blame you for this, Gohan. I only blame myself for not being strong enough to protect her." Ichigo said.
"I can't sense her energy, Gohan... are you sure she's not dead?" Goku asked, silently.
"I hope so, hold on. Zero! You have a lot of explaining to do!" Gohan yelled.
"Uh-oh! I'm in trouble. Yeah, that's all a part of my plan, so don't worry. I'm sure Aizen will leave her safety up to me, Ulquiorra, and Nel." Zero said.
Gohan started to get angry. A second later, his power ring started to glow, for a brief instant.
"What the... was that my ring?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah, it was. Any idea how you did that?" Goku asked.
"No clue. I told Piccolo before that Sonic never told me that part." Gohan said. "Though I wish he did. I'm not done talking to you yet, Zero! You better tell me your whole plan, or else!"
"Now where would the fun be in that?" Zero asked. "I thought saiyans loved a good challenge."
"Hmph... you're lucky I need to worry about something else right now. I'll talk to you later." Gohan said.
"Bye." Zero said.
"Hey, Tails, you there? It's me, Gohan." Gohan said.
"Oh, hi Gohan! It's nice to hear your voice again, only it sounds a little, older." Tails said.
"Yeah, I got my age back. I wanted to ask you something. How do I use my power ring?" Gohan asked.
"Hmm... I think the ring is triggered by your emotions. If your angry, it skyrockets. If your calm, it's calm." Tails explained.
"Wow, that's a better answer than what Sonic gave me. Thanks Tails!" Gohan said.
"I hope we talk again soon. Bye!" Tails said.
"I got an answer, finally. My friend Tails told me that the ring is triggered by my emotions." Gohan said.
"Neat. Try getting mad!" Goku said.
"Grrrr." Gohan tried, but nothing happened. "Nothing. That sucks. I'll figure it out, later though. For now, we should get going."
"We'll see you later, Ichigo!" Goku said.
"Bye guys!" Ichigo said.
Gohan and Goku picked up Goten and teleported towards Chi Chi. Once there, Gohan got a call from an old friend.
"Hey, Gohan! How's it going?" A woman with blue hair said.
"Hi, Bulma! I'm doing great! And yourself?" Gohan asked.
"I'm fine! By the way, I got some mail on my computer. It says it's a gift from 'Nicole'. Any idea who that is?" Bulma asked.
"Yeah, she's a friend of mine. What did she send?" Gohan asked.
"Come over and see for yourself." Bulma said.
Gohan teleported toward Bulma.
"What did she send me?" Gohan asked, again.
"Ta da! She sent you... a warp ring! She said this'll help you get to Mobius and back, with out all that space traveling." Bulma said.
"Neat! Tell her I said thanks." Gohan said. "By the way Bulma, can you make a gateway to a spirit world?" Gohan asked.
"Of course I can! Where do you want to go?" Bulma asked, looking up her computer to search whatever Gohan was looking for.
"It's called 'Hueco Mundo' I think." Gohan said.
"Hmm... ah, here it is. I should have a gate ready for you within a... week!" Bulma said.
"Really! That's great! I wasn't sure you could do it!" Gohan said.
"Gohan, you're talking to a girl who made a radar specifically for 7 magical balls. I'm sure it won't be that hard." Bulma said. "Thanks for visiting. Tell Goku that if he doesn't visit, I'll kill him, okay."
"Yeah, thanks again! Bye!" Gohan yelled, teleporting towards Ichigo's house.
"Hey..." Gohan said.
"AUGH! Give me a little warning before you just come into my house!" Ichigo yelled.
"Sorry. How are your injuries?" Gohan asked.
"They still hurt a lot. Do you have any of those senzu things?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah, here... I have 5 left now... Sigh." Gohan said.
"Thanks. These things may not have taste, but it's always refreshing to eat one." Ichigo said.
"Is Videl here? I wanna see her." Gohan said.
"Yeah, she's downstairs. I'll be up here if you need me." Ichigo said.
Gohan walked downstairs and dodged Isshin's kick.
"...You were waiting for Ichigo, weren't you." Gohan said.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I almost thought I had you too." Isshin said.
Gohan finished walking downstairs, and met Videl's hand in his face.
"OW! What was that for!?" Gohan asked.
"That was for ignoring my calls for the past month, you jerk!" Videl yelled.
"Listen, I'm sorry, it's just that I was..." Gohan started.
"You were training, weren't you!" Videl said.
"...It wasn't exactly by choice. I was forced to fight him." Videl said.
"Sigh, just, CALL me next time, okay." Videl said.
"I will. Did you here the news, yet? Orihime was kidnapped..." Gohan said.
"She was!? How?" Videl asked.
"We turned a blind eye. It was my fault, I should have watched her." Gohan said.
"Don't blame yourself. If anything, blame Kisuke! He wasn't there to help you guys at all!" Videl said.
"I don't blame him, Videl." Gohan said. "Hey, Isshin, can I stay the night?" Gohan asked.
"Sure, stay. You can sleep in Ichigo's room!" Isshin said.
"Thanks." Gohan said, going back upstairs. "Good night, Videl."
"Good night, Gohan. Be careful, okay." Videl said.
"I will." Gohan said, continuing to go upstairs. Gohan entered Ichigo's room, only to find an orange light over Ichigo's body. "What the... what is that!?" Gohan watched as the light instantly disappeared, making it fly away. Gohan also sensed Ulquiorra outside the window. "You! Where's Orihime!?" Gohan asked.
"How would I know?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Don't play dumb with me! I know you're the one who kidnapped her!" Gohan yelled. "Why are you here, anyways? Come to finish Ichigo while he's down!?"
"No... I just forgot something." Ulquiorra said, walking back in the garganta.
"Stupid jerk... I'll talk to him later. For now, I'm going to bed..." Gohan said, walking in Ichigo's closet.
The next day, Ichigo was the first one to wake up. He fell on his face.
"Damn it! I'm such an idiot. Guh!? What the?" Ichigo asked, looking at his hand, shocked. Orihime's energy was on his hand! Confused, he looked for the source. "Was Orihime here?"
"Yeah, she was." Hichigo said.
"Really!? How, I thought she was kidnapped!" Ichigo yelled, waking Gohan up.
"Shut up, Ichigo. You're giving me a headache..." Gohan said.
"WHY ARE YOU IN MY CLOSET!" Ichigo yelled.
"Be quiet or you'll wake everyone up..." Gohan said.
"Like I was saying, Orihime was here. She came to heal you, but she stopped when Gohan showed up. I thought he was looking at her, but for some reason, he couldn't see her kiss you." Hichigo said.
"SHE KISSED ME! Damn, I didn't think she could do that..." Ichigo said.
"Anyway, Ulquiorra showed up, and Orihime walked in his garganta." Hichigo said.
"She just WALKED in!? Why!?" Ichigo asked.
"How would I know? Ask someone else! We'll talk later, king." Hichigo said.
Ichigo couldn't believe what he just heard. His best friend kissed him and walked away with the enemy. No, she didn't betray him... she wouldn't.
"Ichigo, Gohan... we need to talk to you." Toshiro said.
"Uh, okay..." Gohan said.
They entered a room with a really odd looking T.V. On screen was static.
"Do you need help fixing the T.V.?" Gohan asked.
"No. We need to talk to you about Orihime. Where she went. Do you have any idea?" Toshiro asked.
"Captain, I'm sending a call to the head captain." Rangiku said.
The screen went from static to Ukitake.
"Is there a reason why you took our call, captain Ukitake?" Toshiro asked.
"I had it switched to me because I was the last person who saw Ms. Inoue. I had two guards go and escort her... but when they came back, they said they were attacked by an arrancar. This arrancar also probably kidnapped Orihime, though we're not sure that's what happened. If she were kidnapped, then we would still be able to find her spiritual pressure, so we might have to assume the worst..." Ukitake explained.
"Is that all you're telling us!? That she might be dead!? Well look at me! Orihime-" Ichigo started.
"I gave Ichigo a senzu!" Gohan interrupted.
"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked.
"Think. If you told him that she healed you that night, then that would sound like a betrayal." Gohan whispered.
"You are correct, Son Gohan..." Yamamoto said. "It is unfortunate, but I believe that that's what happened."
"YOU TAKE THAT BA-" Ichigo yelled.
"Be quiet, Ichigo! I'll take it from here. Listen, head captain. If what you said is true, then we should go to Hueco Mundo and drag her back to her senses." Renji said.
"You must not!" Yamamoto said. "If they took her, then that means one thing. We must go to the soul society and get ready for the battle."
"You mean you want us to abandon Orihime!?" Rukia asked. "...Sorry, head captain, but I can't follow that order..."
"That is unfortunate, but I have planned for that." Yamamoto said. Suddenly, the gate to the soul society opened and Kempachi and Byakuya walked out.
"Alright, I want you all to head on back. Don't try to get away." Kempachi said.
"...Fine. Gohan and I'll go. I don't need the soul society's assistance. Gohan should be help enough." Ichigo said.
"You must not!" Yamamoto said. "Gohan is still a captain, which means he must return as well. As for you, Ichigo, we won't let you go out there and die for nothing."
"I'M NOT A CAPTAIN!" Gohan yelled.
"Kempachi, restrain him!" Yamamoto yelled.
"Ichigo, close your eyes!" Gohan said.
"Uh, okay..." Ichigo said.
"SOLAR FLARE!" Gohan yelled, the room was filled with light. Gohan jumped at Ichigo and teleported towards West City.
"Damn, he got away! I'll find him!" Kempachi said.
"No. If he wants to die, let him be. Let's just prepare ourselves." Yamamoto said.
At West City.
"Where'd you take me, Gohan?" Ichigo asked.
"I took you to where I thought would be the safest place..." Gohan said.
"Hello, Kakarott's son. What brings you here?" Vegeta asked.
"This was the closest place. I plan on taking him to a last resort area." Gohan said.
"Where?" Ichigo asked.
"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Gohan said.
The end of Chapter 10.