Started June 16th.

Completed June 17th.

Authoress: Desperatembrace

Disclaimer(s): I do not own Bleach. If I did, Urahara would totally be kicking major ass in the current battles.

Warning:

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

Yaoi

Chapter 10

"Pursuer"


Blue eyes sat and watched the clock, tracing the path that the second hand made, revolving in circles over and over. Nel looked at the corner of the room, noting how the broken glass from the coffee table had been sloppily swept into it to keep it out of the way. She glanced over at her brother worriedly, knowing just how much the event that had just transpired tore him up. She jumped slightly when she heard a knocking from the entrance of the apartment, forcing herself to the main entry-way. Stepping over the fragments of the front door, she beckoned for the guests to come in, urging them to be careful.

"Sorry for the short notice," Nel said, quite uncomfortable with having to be the one to say it aloud. After all, who would enjoy greeting the father of someone who had just been kidnapped? It almost tore her heart out when the man gave a pained smile.

Isshin shook his head. "No, thanks for contacting me so quickly." He stepped past Nel, over the broken wood pieces and made his way further into the apartment, his companion stepping in along behind. Nel followed the two into the living room, glancing curiously at the other man. Isshin cleared his throat, gaining the attention of Grimmjow (having already had the attention of the other occupants).

His voice rang out in a somber tone. "I would like to introduce a former colleague of mine. Meet Urahara Kisuke." The man's head dipped, blond strands of hair swaying ever so slightly from underneath the entrapment of a green and white striped fedora. Urahara's face mirrored that of Isshin's, a somber, professional expression.

Nel, having settled herself in the sofa, turned her attention away from the newcomer. Staring at Isshin, she voiced a question that had been bugging her ever since she had made the phone call to Ichigo's dad.

"Why did you not let me call the police?"

Instead of an answer from Isshin, she received a deep chuckle from the blond man standing beside him. He shifted his weight, the clogs he wore and the cane that he held clacking against the hardwood floor. "So..." He looked up and glanced at each individual sitting in a different spot. "I take it that nobody told you anything about the Kurosaki family?"

Nel sat back, conveying her answer with a mere raise of an eyebrow. Urahara glanced at his friend, receiving a simple nod. "Well you see, little lady..." He turned his attention back to the green haired woman. "This man here used to be one of the best cops on the force." Nel blinked, turning to look at her brother. Seeing no indication of surprise, she turned back to the two standing men, unable to come up with a reply.

Urahara continued, ignoring her confusion. "Besides, we can't get too many involved without our plans being foiled. The police are all about big operations. No matter how much they try to keep it covert, it ends up being the biggest thing.." He rolled his eyes. "We're going to need the utmost secrecy for this. So we're going to hand-pick who participates in this." He released a breath, trying to regain lost air. "You see, Ichigo has been through many things as a child." Isshin glanced around the room, ignoring his friend in favor of finding some sort of help for the circumstances. Seeing a silver gleam from the wall next to the bedroom door, he crossed the room in long strides, pulling the knife out of the wall. Urahara, having seen the movement, watched him as he made his way back to his side. "The biggest thing that happened was eleven years ago--" The blond man glanced at the object in Isshin's hand, nodding morosely. "And that was when he got tangled up into this mess that's going on right now."

Grimmjow, fixing his hands to a steeple supported on his knees, finally spoke for the first time since the duo arrived. "So you're telling me that you know what is going on?" Urahara stayed silent, watching the man glare at him over the tips of his fingers. After a quiet moment of analyzing him, he nodded.

The simple nod caused electric blue eyes to flash menacingly. "Then tell me how the fuck we fix this shit and get him back." Urahara was unfazed with the threatening tone, merely picking up the knife laying in Isshin's hand and holding it up to where it glinted in the light. "You see," he said as he stared up at at the metal. "That night eleven years ago was a nightmare for a lot of us. Especially when Ichigo stepped through the door, covered in blood and carrying a knife, bringing news of his mother's death." He ignored the gasp from Nel and the horrified looks painting the faces of everyone in the room, lowering his hand and allowing Isshin to take the knife from him.

The brown haired man held the knife away from him, his analytical stare raking over the design. "And it seems," he said, his voice hoarse, "that this knife has the exact same design as the one he brought home that night." The atmosphere was intense, multiple minds in the room linking what information they had together to make sense of the situation. Isshin looked over to Halibel, who stared at him in silence. Holding on to the sharp part of the blade, he gently tossed it to the woman, the blond easily catching it without any trouble.

She looked down at the object, her eyes widening ever so slightly before her expression hardened. She glanced up, silently demanding the two men's explanation. Ulquiorra, Grimmjow and Aporro stared in her direction, wondering exactly what was wrong. Nel voiced the question out loud. "Halibel... what's wrong? What is it?" Without removing her gaze from Ichigo's father, she ground out the answer, her voice hard with confusion.

"This knife was made in the weapons department of Espada Enterprise."

The air was putrid, thick with the scent of tar, gasoline and smoke. Beginnings of morning light began to peak through the dusty windows of the warehouse, rousing the man within.

Ichigo groaned, his body protesting the position he was currently in. All of his muscles throbbed, the predominant pain branching from the muscle connecting his neck and shoulder. He struggled to open his eyes, the rough sleep causing a groggy feeling behind his eyelids.

When brown eyes finally did open, they gave an empty stare forward, straining to clear the fog. While waiting for the blur to disappear, he took the time to focus and assess bodily damage. Moving his fingers and shifting his arms, he concluded that he was only bruised if not a little cut up. Wriggling his toes, he realized he was sitting with his legs behind him--as if he had tried sitting on his knees and gave up, sinking between his legs. His legs were otherwise in the same state as his arms. After a few minutes, the fog had been successfully blinked from his eyes, allowing him to see his surroundings.

Glancing around himself, he took in every detail. It was a really large room, with half-assed dirty marble flooring and a tall ceiling. When he looked up, he could see industrial lights supported by criss-crossing bars. The whole building was supported by multiple beams spread throughout the room. Leaning forward to get a bit of a clearer view around, he halted when his hands were caught on something.

He was handcuffed to one of the beams.

Ichigo stifled a groan, feeling uncomfortable and insecure with producing noise in such an open space. It would undoubtedly echo. And if he remembered correctly, he had been in a fight against the people in white, and then everything had just kind of... faded. He could easily guess what happened after that. And if that was what really happened, then he wanted to avoid making any attention-calling noise.

By the looks of things, the orange haired man deduced that he had been kidnapped right out of Grimmjow's apartment and taken to a warehouse. It was most likely recently abandoned, if the floors were any indication. Most older warehouses used cement flooring, while the newer ones utilized the nicer marble floorings.

Careful not to disturb any nearby people or upset his injuries, he slowly and quietly leaned back against the beam, breathing out a quiet sigh. Now that he had been captured, he knew what was likely to follow. He felt a strange calm wash over him. Something like...

Acceptance.

He had known this was going to happen. He tried to run away from it to keep it away as long as possible, but... it was inevitable. It couldn't be helped. Ichigo winced as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his temple.

What the hell do you think you're doing, King? The enraged voice growled out, pushing itself into his foremost thoughts from the depths of his mind. As his eyes slid shut, he felt the familiar feeling of slipping into his inner-world. When he opened his eyes, however, he felt surprise course through him.

The world that Hichi had claimed as his home inside of his mind, was no longer at its previous, original glory. Instead of the magnificent tall buildings littering almost every square inch of the world, all that was left was a few buildings along with the ruins of all of the other buildings. He looked to the top of the building that he currently stood on, seeing that it, too, was beginning to crumble away into oblivion. Ichigo crouched down, brushing his fingers over the mentally-produced building side, feeling concrete evidence that it was wearing away.

"Are you going to answer me?"The menacing voice caused him to snap his head up, coming face to face with his mirror opposite. He remained silent for a moment, confused by the environment that Hichi was in. What exactly was going on? Was he finally falling apart from the pressure and stress? So it was affecting his inner-world? He clutched his head in his hands, the sharp pain having returned.

Hichi reached forward and grabbed him by the scruff of the shirt, pulling him up. As his toes hovered inches above the ground, Ichigo was forced to stare straight into the intimidating eyes of his reflection. The albino continued to push into his personal space and said, "I'll tell you what you're doing, King. You're being a coward. You're giving up." The words stung. It had hit right where it hurt the most. And the pain was increased ten-fold when he realized that it was the truth. Ichigo turned away, a look of hurt denial painting his face.

His reflection didn't even bother to try and sugar-coat his words, knowing that the harsh words would get the point across and provoke his desired reaction. He just hoped that the reaction would take effect in time. "You have been running from these people for exactly eleven years now. Do you know why people run, King? It's because they have hope for a future. A future in which everything will be pleasant and they would no longer have to run." He threw Ichigo down before glancing to the side, at the ground. As he watched the pieces of the building crumble to the ground, he formed fists at his side, baring his teeth like an animal.

"But you know something, King? Such a future doesn't just happen. You have to strive for it, wishing desperately to bring it into reality. You can't just sit by and hope that it happens." He turned his eyes to his orange haired opposite, no mercy in his eyes. "Work for it. Push yourself until you can no longer move, until you can no longer feel or wish or hope. Reach out to take your future into your own fucking hands."

The pain in his temple started to increase to the point of him being unable to register anything else. He clutched his head, groaning in agony. Ichigo felt the world around him fade as he was pushed back into his real body in the real world. He winced, cracking his eyes open and trying to stay awake. Hichi's presence still lingered in his mind, holding still for a moment.

Think about it, King.

Hichi's presence faded into the back of his mind and Ichigo passed out once more.

It was Szayel's turn to be appalled and floored. "What the hell do you mean it's made by Espada Enterprise?" He leaned forward, eyes wide with horror. Urahara glanced at the man, tipping his hat up a bit to give a better view of his eyes. "I'm sure you can deduce exactly what that means. There are two possibilities--"

Surprisingly, he was interrupted by Ulquiorra, who quietly finished the sentence. "First possibility is that Espada Enterprise is dealing under-the-table." He glanced at Grimmjow, who's hands had tightened around each other. "Second possibility is that they created the weapons for themselves and are, in fact, the ones behind this whole mess." A wry smile spread across Urahara's face, delighted that he could keep up.

"Exactly." He pointed his cane at the green eyed man. "Thing is, we've already deduced which one it is within recent weeks." Nel stiffened, already knowing the answer. Everyone else waited for the answer, dreading the words to come out of Urahara's mouth. Both instances were terrible and absolutely atrocious, but there was a better one. Unfortunately, however, their fears were realized when Isshin spoke. "It's the second one. They are indeed the ones behind this."

Grimmjow sprung up from his seat, ready to charge the blond man. Szayel had quickly stood up, though, grabbing the blue haired man by the wrist to hold him back. Halibel, having also stood up to hold him at bay, hesitantly sat back down. The blue haired man's voice was murderous, radiating utter hatred and killing intent.

"What the fuck do you mean Espada Enterprise is behind this?!" His voice was low, daring Urahara to challenge him. The blond man, not fearing Grimmjow, kept his voice steady and his eyes hard. "I know it may be hard to believe, but it's the truth. While you may not be involved with it, many others in the company are." Grimmjow bared his teeth, barely trying to hold his rage back. "That is utter bullshit! There is no way--" He was interrupted by a quiet voice, Nel watching him with utter sadness.

"It's the truth, Grimm." He halted, turning to stare at his sister. She stayed quiet for a minute before leaning back with a shaky sigh. "Did you ever wonder why I didn't give you an excuse as to why I quit the company?" She turned her sad eyes away from her brother in favor of staring up at the ceiling. "They approached me one day, actually." Everyone in the room maintained utter silence, trying to decipher the meaning behind her words.

"They wanted me to join them, Grimm." Aporro released him when his arms went slack, he himself becoming enraptured with the green haired woman's words.

"I knew that they were up to no good when they said I would have to keep my identity secret when working the 'second job'. I wasn't given much detail about what the jobs entailed... They even brought me one of those masks that they had on. It gave me the creeps." Nel shivered, trying to keep herself from glancing over at her friends and family, wondering exactly what they were thinking. She wrapped her arms around herself, eye sight becoming hazy. "I immediately rejected, of course, getting out of there as fast as I could. That's when I came to you and tried to get you out of there... along with you guys." She glanced at the group around her, trying to ignore how her brother stiffened visibly.

"I couldn't say anything because it would have put everyone in danger, but... I figure now's a pretty good time to let it out in the open." She glanced at Ichigo's father, watching as he gave a slow nod, eyes distant as if he were analyzing her words. Urahara gave a light cough to break the mood up a bit, glancing at the clock. "Well then, I would like to ask that you all get some rest." Grimmjow and Nel stared at the blond man in horror, wondering how in the hell they were supposed to rest at a time such as this.

Urahara understood the looks, giving a wary sigh. "Jeez, I just can't deal with you guys." He turned and glanced at Isshin, who had probably come to his own personal conclusion of something or another. Grimmjow watched them in silence, ready to refuse any orders to rest. Isshin stared right back at him, jaw set and eyes searching.

The green haired woman finally shifted from her seat and rested a hand on her brother's thigh, meaning it to be comforting. Grimmjow jolted slightly and then relaxed. Nel looked at Isshin and voiced another question that had been bugging her for a while. "Mr. Kurosaki..." He slowly slid his gaze over to her. "Wouldn't most parents try to bring their children back home when they realized there was a threat? And why do you not seem panicked..?" She furrowed her eyebrows, truly perplexed. Urahara gave a dry laugh in response. "Do you really think that stubborn mule would come home even if his father had demanded it? Besides, do you think a former cop would really leave his son completely defenseless?"

He glanced around with a devious smile. "First of all, he left his son in the care of very reliable fighters, experienced with fighting--even if it may be street-fighting." Nel looked away, a sad expression on her face. "But even though he was left with us, they still were able to take him away..." Grimmjow glared at the ground, rubbing his bruised cheek angrily. Urahara shifted, pointing his can determinedly at the green haired young woman. "It would have been the same result had he come home with his father." Isshin looked off at the wall, his teeth clenched.

"Besides..." Urahara grinned. "We have a reason why we're not panicking here. It pays to be a former uniform." He leaned against the wall, rolling his shoulders tiredly. "The moment we knew that the company that Mr. Blue here is in was involved, we took precautions." He grinned at Grimmjow, knowing the man caught the double meaning of the name when a scowl slipped onto his face. He pointed over to Isshin, the grin still stretched across his cheeks. "If you would kindly remember, a few weeks ago, Isshin popped up to give his son a cell phone. He insisted that Ichigo would take it... for more than the reason mentioned. Now.. question: why would that be?"

Ulquiorra sat forward a bit from the chair's arm rest, his eyes knowing. "It would be... bugged, right? A tracking device?" Urahara gave a small clap, the grin growing impossibly wider. "Bravo, my friend. That would be correct!" He pushed off of the wall, his clogs clacking once more against the floor. "While the phone is probably not still on Ichigo and confiscated, it is likely nearby. All we have to do is get it on a database." Hope was renewed in Grimmjow's and Nel's eyes. They had a chance at saving Ichigo... and with help!

"So... If you would rather not rest..." The blond haired man dug into his pocket, pulling out a small notepad and pen, quickly scribbling something down on three different pages. "I would like to ask that you contact these people and have them contact the number on the bottom, or show up, if possible." He ripped out the pages and gave them to Ulquiorra, Halibel, and Szayel. "There are a bunch of different people, so splitting you up would get them together quicker.." The three nodded, not even thinking about rejecting the job. They quickly stood up and made their way out of the door. Szayel lingered in the doorway, however, glancing at Grimmjow. "Do me a favor..." When his blue haired friend looked up at him, he gave a small, firm frown. "Don't do anything reckless." He stared at his friend for a moment. When he received no answer, his frown deepened slightly, and he gave a small, hesitant nod before disappearing down the corridor.

There was a moment of silence as the four collected their thoughts. "Now..." Urahara turned to the siblings sitting on the couch side by side. "I would like to ask you two to rest a bit. I'm sure this is very mentally draining." Grimmjow was ready to let out a string of protests accompanied by very inappropriate words, but halted when Isshin held up a silencing hand. "There's no need to worry. We will allow you to participate in this.. I will allow it. I'm not blind." He held his gaze with the blue haired man, many words being said through the look.

"We will stay here in your apartment as a base of operations to track down Ichigo. We will likely make our move tonight, after the darkness sets in. But you will not be of use if you can barely even move or think." Grimmjow clenched his teeth, forcing himself to come to terms with what Isshin was saying. He knew that he really didn't have much of a choice. For him to rush in by himself likely wouldn't go very far--he needed help. And this man could provide proficient help. It made it better that it was Ichigo's father. That way Ichigo's life would be valued higher, protected at any cost. He relaxed slightly, giving a grudging nod. "Fine."

Urahara gave a simple smile, pulling out a cell phone. "Alright now that it's settled, let's get busy, Isshin." The brown haired man nodded, watching as Grimmjow and Nel made their way to the bedroom to get a bit of rest. When the door clicked shut, he glanced out the window with a pained sigh, noting that the sun had already rose. He collapsed tiredly into the deserted leather chair. Urahara came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry." He had the cell phone poised next to his ear, staring down at his friend. "Ichigo is a tough kid. He'll be alright."

Isshin looked away, worry mixed in with his determined expression.

"Of course. He inherited that from his mother."

Nel and Grimmjow had stayed in the bedroom all day, trying to force themselves to sleep. Nel had finally given up after a few hours, however, and made her way into the bathroom, stealing a few sleeping pills for her brother and herself. They quickly choked them down and were knocked out within the next hour.

A few hours after noon, Rukia had walked through the bedroom door, telling them what she knew of the situation so far. They had gathered a few people for the operation later that night, but so far, little progress on Ichigo's whereabouts had been made. She left the room, leaving them to sleep once more.

The siblings awoke again a little before 4 o'clock. Nel had gotten out of bed to use the bathroom, while Grimmjow took the chance to see what progress had been made. When he walked in the kitchen, he found Isshin, Urahara and Rukia crowded around a laptop and a hastily laid-out map, the blond haired man tracing his fingers along a line before pausing to rest it in a particular spot. They looked up to see the groggy blue haired man and immediately sat back away from the map. Rukia watched him for a moment before gesturing him over. He walked over, peering over the paper map and glancing at the screen of the laptop.

Nel walked through the door shortly after, taking residence next to her brother. Urahara began a quick explanation. "We have located the cell phone to be right here. As we suspected, it is nowhere near where Ichigo is being held." Nel glanced up at the blond haired man, her eyebrows furrowed. "How would you know if he's with the phone or not?" Isshin shook his head. "It's registering in a very busy public building. While that would be the ideal trickery, I sincerely doubt that they would pull something like that. There is, however, a recently abandoned building on the lot that is supposed to be demolished in a few days. It would be the likely place to take him." Urahara traced his finger south a few centimeters, tapping on the spot. "That is where he is."

He glanced up at the digital clock sitting on the counter. "We still have a good 4 and a half hours before the sun sets. You guys go get as much rest as you can." Grimmjow and Nel stared at the map for a few moments longer before nodding silently and making their way back to the bedroom. After much internal thought of what was supposed to happen later that night, the two fell asleep once more.

They didn't awake until almost half-past six. Nel had stirred in her sleep, jolting her brother awake. She sat up, apologizing to him and muttering about bladder problems before taking off for the bathroom. Grimmjow sat in the bed, alone with his crushing thoughts. He sat there, wondering exactly how Ichigo felt at that exact moment. He ran over the time he had been with the orange haired man in his head, going through every memory. When he came to the part when Ichigo had been distancing himself because of his memories, however, he paused. After a few moments of contemplation, he came to a decision. Yanking out a pen and paper from his bedside table, he hastily scrawled something down before crossing over to his closet, pulling on some new clothes. He then opened the bedroom door quietly, glancing around cautiously. When he saw nobody around, he stepped out and shut the door behind him quickly, making his way across the threshold and to the main corridor.

Mere seconds after he walked out the front door and pressed the button for the elevator, Nel had finished up in the bathroom and entered the bedroom once more. When she didn't see the shock blue hair of her brother, she felt her stomach drop. Her eyes zeroed in on the small white square on the navy blue sheets of the bed, running over to it and snatching it up. After reading it, her eyes widened and she ran out of the room and straight into the kitchen.

"We have a problem." She quickly gained their attention, Isshin and Rukia looking up in alarm while Urahara just had a sad smile spread across his face. Nel handed the paper over to the blond haired man, watching as he read it. When Rukia and Ichigo's father read it over his shoulder, their eyes widened. Urahara, on the other hand, merely set the paper on the counter, turning back to the panicked green haired woman.

"I can't say I'm surprised. There's nothing we can do. We'll have to go after him along with Ichigo later on tonight."

Nel gave a pained sigh, heart heavy as she glanced on the note lying innocently on the counter. She never knew a simple sheet of paper could bring so much bad news. There was little writing on the note, hastily scrawled on the rumpled parchment. It was so short that she could easily remember it with no trouble at all.

'Sorry. I can't let him suffer through this alone.'

He had abandoned his precious car a few miles off, knowing that it would bring unwanted attention to him. As he glanced down at his watch, he noted the time, finding that the operation would commence in only a few hours. The sooner the better.

Grimmjow came closer to the warehouse, absolutely sure that this was the one. He hastily darted to the side wall, hunkering down low, hoping desperately that he wasn't seen. While he knew the chances of him saving Ichigo by himself were little to none, he still had to make the attempt. There was no way in hell he was just going to give up right off the bat.

He scooted a discarded box that had been lying nearby underneath one of the grungy windows, stepping up onto it. It wouldn't hold for long, but he just needed a quick glance of the inside...

He felt his heart race when he spied a flash of orange, instantly knowing that it was the familiar orange hair that he had been looking for. He felt his fingers twitch, itching to bust the glass of the window and climb through the small hole. His thoughts were cut short, however, when he felt his feet fall out from under him and found himself staring down the barrel of a shiny pistol.

Grimmjow felt panic claw at his limbs. He couldn't die here. Not before seeing Ichigo... not yet..! A voice sounded from a little further off, quiet but commanding. "Don't. Boss wants him alive." There was a grunt from above him as the barrel receded. He tried to see his attacker's face, but the kick to his stomach pulled all thought away from gathering details. He scrunched up slightly, gripping his stomach protectively. He heard the grass crunch closer to him and felt a sharp pain to the back of his head before he receded into the darkness.

But even as the darkness consumed his consciousness, Grimmjow did not regret coming for Ichigo.

Not one fucking bit.

-Chapter End-

A/N: Review?