Umm... Yeah, the end of this chapter is the end of the flashback, btw. So, who was kidnapped? You'll find out, after the break. I will never, ever be a news anchor. That was terrible.

Anyways, if I owned Bleach, all of the captains would have to eat supper together, and it would be funny. Like my captain's meetings except Yamamoto doesn't stop them XD

Kaili stumbled out of the way of another attack, tripping and sprawling out on the hard earth. Trapped, she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the ending blow. There was the sharp hiss of air as the claws swished towards her, and then, the sharp clang of metal against metal. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and looked up. Byakuya was standing in front of her, Senbonzakura blocking the attack.

"Ah ha," the dark voice chuckled. "You've come back to play, have you?"

Kaili clambered to her feet, clinging to Arashi. Shikai hadn't done much good, but now that Byakuya was there… she breathed out a sigh of relief. Now that Byakuya was there, everything would be okay. After all, Byakuya was amazing.

"Unfortunately, I must call our little game to a halt. After all, you're cheating. How about I even the odds, hmm?"

Kaili gulped, and tightened her grip a bit. What did it mean, 'even the odds'? She didn't like the sound of it. Byakuya didn't seem to either, if his sudden frown was anything to go by.

Suddenly, the bodies of Janice and Annica, who were coming back from going out to lunch together, slumped as their souls were pulled from them. With a gasp of surprise, Kaili sprinted in their direction, with Byakuya directly behind her. Just as she was nearing them, the voice spoke again.

"I'm sorry, but I think I'll keep these. They look as though they'll make very good toys."

With that final statement, the strange reiatsu disappeared, taking Janice and Annica with it. Kaili collapsed to her knees, sobbing. Byakuya picked her up gently, and cradled her against his body while she sobbed softly.

"No, no, no," she whimpered, "uh uh." She clung to his robes. "I don't like them, but it'll kill them, a-an-an-and it'll eat th-em and…" she buried her face in his shoulder, "an' kill them an' eat them and, and,"

Byakuya just held her tighter as she cried. He didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. Renji skidded to a halt beside Byakuya and Kaili. "What happened?" he asked, panting. Byakuya told him.

Mrs. Grant stared at the slumped bodies of Annica and Janice. Seeing their souls ripped out of their bodies and carried off by some huge invisible beast shocked her horribly. One of the supervisors was calling 911, and the students were rapidly running to the scene to see what had happened. It was only when Josh, a little boy in her class looked around and asked "where's Kaili?" that she managed to snap back to her senses.

"She wasn't feeling well," she replied. "She went home." She looked at Byakuya, who was holding Kaili in a manner that she recognized instantly. She had used it plenty of times when her children were frightened or sad. Plenty of parents had. Seeing that reflected in the cold, quiet man gave her the reassurance that she needed. The world was still right when a father gave their child love like that. Maybe it had straightened on its axis, but it was still, basically right.

Silently, she watched as Byakuya, Kaili and Renji all disappeared in a blur of movement. Then, she turned her attention back to the problem at hand. After all, the three 'Shini-whatevers' would take care of it. That was their job, after all.

Tara and Bren were walking to Tara's house together when a sudden disturbance rippled through the air. Both girls stopped, and stared at each other, driven to their knees by a sudden pressure.

"The hell?" Tara gasped, clutching at her chest. Suddenly, there was a sharp tug of pain as they were ripped from their bodies. The two exchanged looks as cold metal claws closed around their ribs. Bren stared down at her body, slumped on the concrete of the sidewalk.

"What?" she asked, looking over at Tara. "Are we dead?" She noticed a chain attached to her chest and tugged at it uncomfortably. The chain was somehow connected to her body, through some sort of link. Panicking a bit now, she struggled to remember everything that she had learnt at church the few times that she had gone, before deciding it was all bullshit anyways. (No offence meant, btw. Just my personal opinion. Don't try to convert me, or I will be extremely angry with you, and probably use up the character limit on the PMs to inform you exactly where you can shove that. I have nothing against religion. It's just when people try to force it on me that I get a bit pissed. So don't.) Besides, she had been too busy entertaining thoughts of punching that smug priest's face in to bother listening to the shit that came out of his mouth. She had stopped listening at the point where he began to inform his audience that they were worth nothing, and that God made them who they were, and they would never ever have achieved anything without God. As far as she'd been concerned, God could shove it up his ass.

"Tara?" she asked quietly, since Tara knew the answer to everything, "what's going on?"

"I don't know," Tara replied, sounding slightly scared.

"You're going to be my toys," a deep, dark, rippling voice rang out over their heads. "Isn't that exciting?"

"No," they chorused. "Not really."

"It is for me," the voice giggled, or as much as something that deep could giggle. "And since I'm stronger than you, you have to do what I say!"

"Oh joy," Bren replied sarcastically.

"Aren't you so nice," Tara continued, scowling bitterly.

"I know," the voice replied, not seeming to understand the sarcasm.

Bren gave up on sarcasm and let out a string of curse words that would have sent her mother to an early grave had she heard them come out of her 'darling daughter's' mouth. After a moment, Tara joined in.

Please review =3 Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what could use improving, what completely and utterly sucked etc. Please! I need the feedback!

Thanks to everybody who has reviewed so far. You are amazing.

-Stormy