"Ichigo, come down." Yuzu called out to her brother in his room, but he didn't respond. He's been up in his room all day. Ever since he lost his duel to Ulquiorra, he's been sulking. He's lost the will to keep dueling. "I'm starting to get worried about him."

"I'm starting to get worried myself." Karin said. "He hasn't been himself the past couple days. I wonder what is going on."

…

The School

"You better be lying to me about this." Tatsuki said as she grabbed Renji by the collar. Ichigo's friends just told her and the others what happened to Orihime.

"Are you serious? Orihime has been taken by this group of people?" Keigo said.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" Rangiku said.

"The police can't help us." Uryu said.

"You guys remember we told you about Aizen, right?" Rukia said. "He's the one behind all of this and we don't have a clue as to where he is hiding. That means we don't know where Orihime is."

"Well, we've got to do something to help her." Ikkaku said.

"Where's Ichigo?" Tatsuki said.

"Not here. He's been at home all day." Renji said Tatsuki released him and went straight for Ichigo's place. "Wait. He's in a rough position. You should give him time."

"Time is something Orihime might not have." Tatsuki said.

….

Soul Society

With the recent events that have happened, the Soul Society is planning their attack against Aizen. Right now, a meeting is being held.

"Aizen is making his move. That is the third time he attacked and this time has kidnapped Orihime Inoue." Yamamoto said. "We need to strike back."

"How are we suppose to do that without Aizen's location?" Toshiro said.

"Simple, we strike back." Kenpachi said.

"What do you mean?" Yamamoto said.

"The next time he attacks, we fight back." Kenpachi said. "I'm getting tired of just sitting around. We need to stop these guys in their tracks."

"You do have a point. We can't just sit around and do nothing when they attack." Jushiro said.

"Just leave the next one to me." Kenpachi said.

…

Aizen

Aizen was enjoying a cup of tea. Ulquiorra returned and informed him of the duel that happened between him and Ichigo.

"I see. So you were able to defeat him very easily?" Aizen said.

"Yes. It was over before he even got to finish his turn." Ulquiorra said.

"Don't tell me you didn't finish him off. You just let him go?"

"What are you doing here, Nnoitora? This is a private meeting." Ulquiorra said to a man that was lean and tall with black hair and an eye patch over his left eye.

"I wanted in on what everyone is talking about." Nnoitora said.

"You want to duel Ichigo Kurosaki?" Aizen said.

"Not if he's a weakling who didn't stand a chance against Ulquiorra." Nnoitora said. "I just want to finish him off. Tear up his deck and strip him of his pride and everything until there is nothing left."

"You are a hypocrite." Ulquiorra said. "You say you want to face the strongest, but only because you wanted to be defeated in a glorious way."

"Mind your own business." Nnoitora said.

"If you want to go, I won't stop you Nnoitora." Aizen said. "Just keep in mind that the Soul Society will get in your way and if you want to find some powerful duelist, you'll find them there."

"Thanks for the tip." Nnoitora said. He was looking forward to this. You can tell by the creepy smirk on his face.

….

Ichigo

Ichigo hasn't moved out of his room. He can't bring himself to move.

"You shouldn't go in there." He heard Yuzu say, but his door was busted open and Tatsuki came barging in.

"Tatsuki, what's wrong?" Ichigo said, but she grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to the wall. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing? Why are you just sitting here? Orihime is out there and is held captive. Why aren't you out there trying to rescue her?" Tatsuki said. Ichigo assumed the others told her what happened.

"I can't. I'm not strong enough." Ichigo said.

"Then get stronger. She needs you." Tatsuki said.

"You don't understand." Ichigo said.

"I think I do." Tatsuki said. "You lost one duel and failed to get her back and now you're depressed. That was just one duel. Get back out there and fight back." Ichigo wouldn't move or say anything and Tatsuki wasn't going to put up with this. She just tossed him to the ground. "Forget you if you're not man enough to duel again." She stormed outside where the others were waiting for her.

"How did it go?" Yumichika said.

"Forget him. I'll find Orihime by myself." Tatsuki said and she ran off and they went after her.

"Wait a minute Tatsuki." Keigo said.

"You don't want to mess with Aizen. He's a dangerous man." Rukia said.

"I don't care. Someone needs to save Orihime." Tatsuki said.

"We all get how you feel, but what good will this do." Rangiku said.

"We need Ichigo." Uryu said.

"No we don't if he's going to be too depressed to even move." Tatsuki said. They all failed to notice that the enemy was right over them. Nnoitora heard them talk about Ichigo and he saw an opportunity and attacked. Ichigo thought about Tatsuki said, but he still couldn't get up.

'Tatsuki's right, but I don't know what I can do if I face someone like Ulquiorra again.' Ichigo thought. That was when something crashed through his window and a hologram of Nnoitora appeared.

"Hey there. You must be Ichigo." Nnoitora said.

"Who are you?" Ichigo said.

"The name's Nnoitora. Lord Aizen has your girlfriend and, guess what, I've got the rest of them."

"What?!" Ichigo said.

"If you want to see them again, you better come meet me at this construction sight tonight and you better come fast." Nnoitora said.

…..

The Construction Sight

Ichigo hurried as fast as he could to the sight. When he made it through, he saw all of his friends unconscious and Nnoitora standing on a level of the building.

"So you showed." Nnoritora said.

"Guys, are you all okay?" Ichigo said as he tried to wake up Renji.

"Ichigo? Be careful. That guy is strong. He caught us off guard." Renji said.

"I don't see what all the fuss about you is." Nnoitora said.

"Listen, nobody messes with my friends and gets away with it." Ichigo said and Nnoitora jumped down to his level.

"Oh really? What are you going to do about it?" Nnoritora said. "Are you going to duel me?" That had Ichigo freeze up. He was afraid this guy would be like Ulquiorra and crush him. "I can see that you don't have the strength to fight me." He walked over and stood behind him. "You're out of your league and I don't waste my time with weaklings."

'What if he's right? What if Ulquiorra was right?' Ichigo thought.

"Just hand over your deck and it will all be done." Nnoitora said. Ichigo took his deck case and was about to place it in Nnoritora's hand. "That's it. Just give up being a duelist."

"Wait." Ichigo said and held his deck back from him. "Give up? Give up being a duelist? No way! A real duelist would never give up." Ichigo swung his arm, but Nnoritora ducked down and jumped over Ichigo. "I'll never give up. I'm never going to stop fighting. I don't know if I can beat you, but I will find a way to beat Aizen."

"Well said, kid." They all looked up and saw Kenpachi. He swung a sword at Nnoritora, but he jumped out of the way. Kenpachi jumped down and landed across from Nnoitora.

"Kenpachi?! What are you doing here?" Ichigo said.

"Why do you think I'm here? I'm here to take this guy down." Kenpachi said. "We've been told about what's been going on lately and I'm tired of just sitting around."

"Yeah!" Yachiru said as she landed on Ichigo's head. "Kenny doesn't like it when others play without him so he decided to join in."

"Who are you?" Nnoitora said.

"I'm the guy who's about to crush you." Kenpachi said.

"That's a laugh. I'm one of Aizen's strongest duelists, but if you want to take me on, I'll be more than glad to crush your deck." Nnoritora said.

"Kenpachi, if this guy is real strong, we should team up against him. We'll have a better chance if we take him on together." Ichigo said.

"You're nuts if you think I need help." Kenpachi said.

"That's right. You stay out of this one Ichi." Yachiru said. "Kenny is going to beat that weird looking man all by himself."

"Enough talking. Are we going to do this or not?" Nnoitora said.

"I'm ready to go if you are." Kenpachi said. Both of them activated their duel disks and placed them on their arms.

"Let's duel!"

To Be Continued….