She punched him. Her fist that had of so few weeks previously done quite a number on Ichigo's face, somehow just did not cut it against the Hierro. Stark didn't even flinch. Curse Aizen and the Hogyoku. Rukia withdrew her fist only to replace it with a foot to the shin. Nada once again. "Jerk," she muttered aloud, hopping on her good foot. Lilynette made it look easy to get a reaction...oh no. Her brow rose as another thought came to her.

As if on cue, the Fraccion's voice floated through her consciousness. "Just give old Starkie a hard squeeze on the balls, that'll get him up real fast!"

If nothing else worked...could I? Her hand shaking and trembling whether from fear/embarrassment-make that feeling her face grow as red as a tomato...approached the sensitive part of the male anatomy.

~A moment later...~

He yelped.

Startled, Rukia fell back, landing hard on her behind.

"Lily--oh." Unfocused gray eyes wandered downward then around, "where are we again?"

"I just yanked on you and all you have to say is 'oh'!" she cried, scrambling to her feet. Stark mildly turned back to her, "yanked on me?" He looked confused for a moment then brightened, "my, you're certainly getting bolder."

"Wha-what do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

To her absolute consternation, he saw her blush and chuckled, seeming to not be the least repentant for being the cause. "Cute, Rukia. Now let's go."

Cute? she watched him walk through into the next room. "What do you mean, 'cute'?! I'm not cute! And do you even know where we're going?!" There may have been a grunt of disagreement but even then she wasn't sure since his footsteps were growing farther away.

The jerk was leaving her behind!

Silently crying in frustration, Rukia ran after him.

~Las Noches~

"She isn't there," spoke the teal-haired Arrancar.

Ulquiorra backed away from the closed door of the Primera's quarters with a nonchalance that anyone would be hard-pressed to say was fake. Grimmjow knew better however.

"So, what 'cha doing here anyway, Ulqui?"

"That is none of your concern, Grimmjow. And please refrain from addressing me by such a ridiculous name. "

"I bet you were hoping she was alone, weren't you, Ulqui?" The Sexta persisted, ignoring the other's glower at his repeated use of the name.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you?"

"No." Ulquiorra swiftly turned on his heel and began to stride back up the hallway, a slight feeling of gloom weighing down his thoughts. Not gloom, the melancholy Espada refused to think. He was not in such low-spirits just because he learned he wouldn't be able to glimpse the girl with the frail neck today. His hand twitched in his pocket at the remembrance of that particular feature of her anatomy. He sighed. It was a fine neck indeed...

~The Caves~

"Stark! Rukia! You found her!"

Rukia was nearly bowled over by the Fraccion.

"Of course I did," he yawned boredly, ignoring Lilynette's overt display of affection. "Now can we go?"

Lilynette stopped in her joyous celebrating to glare in his direction, "of course not!"

"Why?"

"Because," the Fraccion dragged the nearly unconscious Shinigami to the ground beside the mysterious basket Lilynette had previous insight to bring. And unconscious you say? Well it was simply because Rukia had been made dizzy by being spun around by the hyper Arrancar.

"We haven't picnicked yet!"

~Las Noches, several hours after their return. ~

"Where were you?"

He started, turning slightly to the black-haired Arrancar stepping out of the shadows (and by shadows we mean shadows). "Ulquiorra," Stark looked surprised for a moment, "what? Are you tailing me or something?"

The Cuatro made no remark, only casually scanned the area. No one else. He fought the urge to sigh in disappointment. The girl wasn't there. "Not at all," he said dismissively, his hands in his pockets like always. Stark observed his expression and aura of black gloom he was putting out and came to the only logical explanation that fitted with the Cuatro's denial and that his mind could come up with.

Which also happened to be totally wrong. Unfortunately.

"Did you..." Stark hesitated, looking slightly unsure on how to proceed.

Green eyes widened an infinitesimal fraction. Had he realized something? Maybe the Primera wasn't such lazy trash as he originally surmised.

"Miss me?"

If it had been Grimmjow, he would've guffawed loud enough to alert the denizens of Las Noches that something was up and very quickly they would have an eager audience filled with other deviants like Nnoitora. As it was Ulquiorra whom was being accused of Shonen-Ai sensibilities, his reaction to say the least wasn't as loud.

He stared. His eyes did not become the size of dinner plates but they did feel like they wanted to pop out of their sockets. Luckily he could regrow them. "Excuse me?" he finally said in a dangerously soft voice.

Stark rolled his shoulders, shrugging slightly, "hey, man. I'm cool with it--not that I'm that way--I'm not. Okay? But I mean if it helps you go to sleep at night--"

"I. Do not. Like. You." Ulquiorra didn't get a chance to add. I. Hate. You. As. Well.

Stark's brows rose, "really? Are you sure about that?"

It was at that moment that two figures came dashing down the hall toward them. One being Lilynette giggling madly, her one eye rolling to the side as Rukia came tearing down the corridor after her...in only a bath towel. The object of the Shinigami's single-minded purpose of retrieval rested in the Fraccion's iron grip. It was...her underwear.

Both males turned and stared. Earning them definite eyefuls of a streaker when Rukia accidentally tripped over--well let's just say it was someone's sandaled foot and went flying into Ulquiorra's arms. Towel notwithstanding.

Almost immediately there were two identical blushes darkening the two male Arrancars cheeks.

And one that almost rivaled both on hers along with a shriek of mortification.

Lilynette stopped in the opposite hallway to burst into another spurt of evil-sounding giggles.

"The Plan," seemed to be progressing nicely.

~Elsewhere -somewhere in Seireitei~

"Rukia hasn't reported in for two weeks?" Byakuya Kuchiki questioned. Ukitake coughed into a handkerchief before speaking, "I'm sorry. I would've let you know sooner--"

"I'm sure she is with that Kurosaki boy," the Kuchiki Noble cut him off scathingly.

A white eyebrow rose, "it is possible. But I don't think she--"

"I may send Abarai later to pick her up. That boy's presence corrupts everything," he wrinkled his nose aristocratically despite Ukitake's polite cough. The Captain of the Thirteenth Division never enjoyed hearing someone he liked and respected spoken of in such tones of dislike that Byakuya affected. Yet he was much too polite to actually say so.

"Well, if you think it's nothing to be--"

"It isn't." Byakuya spun on his heel abruptly, "when I have located Rukia, I will make sure to send her to attend to you. Your fourth seats never seemed to be competent enough."

Ukitake sighed the moment the door slid shut. He hadn't been able to tell Byakuya about the suspicious spirit pressure that had appeared the day Rukia went missing and vanished just as mysteriously a while later. Oh well...maybe it was as he said. She was just visiting friends. The frail Captain smiled at the thought.

Never knowing it was the exact opposite.

~To be continued~

AN: Thanks for reading.

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