Author's Note: I was rather disgusted with myself about the last chapter for obvious reasons...Ugh. I feel so impure now. I don't feel comfortable enough to write what actually goes on at eight o'clock in terrible detail (which would also require me to change the rating), so I guess what happens is better left to your imaginations. Unless you really DO want me to write it out... -twitch-

"So, well...Ichigo...Wait, that's your name, right? Ichigo?"

"Yeah."

Sitting inside a dank cell was extremely boring, but fortunately, Ichigo had company. Not very good company, in his opinion (he hated to admit it, but he actually was a bit jealous of Kusaka), but company nonetheless. At least he had someone to talk to.

"Well, I guess I should tell you my name, too, then."

"I know your name."

"Is that so?"

"Yep. You're Kusaka Sojiro, right?"

"Yeah." Blinking, the raven-haired youth looked at Ichigo with an expression of interest. "How'd you know?"

"Oh," Ichigo shrugged, deciding not to tell him that he had been rooting around in his files. "Well, um...Toshiro told me a lot about you."

"He did?"

"Yeah. He really loved you, you know. I bet he still does."

"How do you know him anyway? Not to be intrusive, but you seem to really want to save him. Are the two of you...dating or something?"

"Oh! No, no, nothing like that," Ichigo laughed. "Toshiro and I...Well, we're just friends, I guess."

"Good friends?"

"Not really. But, still...I'd do anything for Toshiro," the strawberry sighed. "He didn't deserve this. He's a good person, really. And, well..." He swallowed before speaking again. "You, Sojiro. You're one lucky guy. I bet you and Toshiro are going to be real happy later on in life."

"Yeah," Kusaka answered quietly. "Assuming we do make it out alive."

"You will. Both of you."

"You know, we never wanted to be shinigami, Toshiro and I," he sighed. "I wanted to make him happy, so I asked him to marry me...He said 'yes,' and I figured we'd have the rest of our lives all taken care of from then on. I want to give him that fairy-tale ending everyone wants, you know - Happily ever after. But I failed him. When I saw him again for the first time in who knows how many years, I noticed that he's changed. I can see it in his eyes - he's lonely. But I just don't know what to do anymore. We can't go back to Soul Society, we don't belong in Hueco Mundo..."

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Ichigo interupted in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. "We'll figure something out, right?"

"I hope so."

"Toshiro's not helpless. Aizen can't break him that easily."

"I guess you're right," Kusaka agreed. "That's what I liked about him so much in the first place. He was a stubborn kid back when we were students. Wouldn't let anyone take advantage of him because of his looks or his age. I still don't know what he saw in me back then. I was just like any other academy student, he could easily have his pick of anyone else if he wanted to, he was real pretty kid back then, you know? Still is. Just not as...innocent."

"Well, maybe you're special?" Ichigo offered lamely.

"I'm not so sure about that. I couldn't protect him and I still can't."

"Hey, don't talk like that!" the strawberry insisted. "If Toshiro likes you as much as he does, there's got to be something about you."

There was a long silence.

Ichigo couldn't help but wonder if he was just making the situation worse.

What happened next suprised him.

Kusaka lowered himself to the floor, kneeling at Ichigo's feet and touching his head to the ground.

"Oi, what the hell are you..."

"Please, Kurosaki Ichigo," he started. "I know I do this alone...So please, I beg of you...Help me save Toshiro."

Ichigo said nothing for a moment, a bit caught off guard by the request. Then, he grinned agreeably. "Yeah," he answered. "Definetely."

Hours had passed since the infiltration of Las Noches, and Renji was starting to wonder how Ichigo and Matsumoto was doing. He hadn't run into any enemies so far, which was good, but actually rather boring.

He could feel Matsumoto's reiatsu faintly; she must be quite far away from him at this point. As for Ichigo's reiatsu, he couldn't feel anything, and that was either bad news, or just the fact that he was out of range. The redhead was hoping it meant the latter.

He stopped to rest for a while, deciding that running aimlessly might not do him any good, and he'd better save his energy in case an Arrancar appeared and would require him to fight. Then, he got back to his feet, deciding that walking and taking it easy for nows would be wise. Though, the sooner they found Hitsugaya and got the hell out of there, the better.

As he moved forward, he was wondering what time it was.

Evidently, in Hueco Mundo, telling time is probably a hard thing to do, since the sun never rose and it was difficult to distinguish night from day.

"Stupid Aizen," Renji muttered to himself, "He should get some clocks in here or something."

Yeah, a clock. A nice cuckoo clock, perhaps, like they had in the real world. And at every hour, its hinges would burst open, and a little wooden bird would pop out. Cute. Renji kind of wanted one of those himself to put in the office, but with Byakuya as his captain, that was out of the question. Damn.

It was completely silent. The silence was starting to bug the redhead, almost as if it was some kind of ominous indication.

However, his thoughts were interupted by the sound of a muffled scream ringing out across the corridors.

Renji blinked. He knew that voice.

"Hitsugaya-taichou?"

That was weird. Was something happening to him? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Silence.

He heard Arrancar voices, and his hand instantly went to Zabimaru, but relaxed a little when he realized that the sounds were coming from somewhere else, from behind the walls - In a seperate room? What was going on?

Renji decided to investigate.

Allowing his sense of hearing to lead him, the fukutaichou of the 6th division hurried down the hallway, and as he did so, the noise became increasingly audible. He stopped momentarily, pressing his ear against the wall - No, it was a door. Which most likely lead to another room. And the commotion seemed to be coming from this room, along with an impressive amount of reiatsu.

Cautiously, Renji opened the door by a finger's width, only enough to be able to see what was going on but without the room's occupants really noticing.

He instantly regretted it.

At the room's center seemed to be situated a bed of sorts. He couldn't see too well, as there were many Arrancar surrounding the area and blocking his vision. They were laughing at something that was apparently supposed to be funny...?

Another muffled scream.

More laughter.

He knew that Hitsugaya had to be in there, but he couldn't see much, only the boy's face, his hair dissheveled, locks of it clinging to his face with persperation, his eyes were squeezed tightly shut, unshed tears stinging at their edges and someone's hand was clamped tightly over his mouth. The boy was gripping the bedsheets tightly, his knuckles whitening as he clenched the material with his fingers.

His shihakusho was lying discarded on the floor nearby, and as Renji craned his neck to try to see around the Arrancar, he nearly puked.

Another scream. Another peal of laughter.

Feeling sick to his stomach, Renji hastily shut the door, breathing hard, rather...well, disturbed at what he had just witnessed. He rubbed his eyes fierecely as if it could erase the mental image that had just been branded into his mind - Hitsugaya Toshiro, the once proud captain of the tenth division, being raped by what seemed to be at keast five Arrancar, and most likely Aizen as well. Raped, for god's sake. Renji had never felt more disgusted with Aizen before in his life.

Ichigo was going to have a fit when he told him about this.

He froze, hearing someone speak from inside the room.

"Hey! There was someone at the door!"

"Who was it?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"What should we do, Aizen-sama?"

Renji could clearly hear Aizen's voice adding to the mix of Arrancar vocalizations.

"Investigate it, then...In the meantime, I need someone to return little Hitsugaya-kun to his room. It seems he's had enough for the night, isn't that right?"

Shit. Time for Renji to run.