A/N i have about a months worth of pre written chapters for this story, and i gotta say you guys better get ready cause in late dec or early jan shiz gets real. i surprise myself sometimes!

beta'd by the irreplaceable fuusunshine

iJapan: thank you! i update each weekend, or try to unless im on vacation or out of pocket. i am so glad you made some time to read my story! thank you for your kind words.

SexyBVirgo: your worries are on point, all i can say is hang in there!

If Reina was inconsolable Kasai was even worse, scratching his head Ichigo didn't know what to do. He felt the loss too, Tatsuki was his friend after all, and despite it all his hollow had left him to create a life with her. Something he was grateful for and also rather proud of Kasai for, he smiled as he remembered the day he had walked into the kitchen to see Tatsuki laughing as Reina bossily told Kasai where he needed to clean. He found out that there had been an applesauce war and took in the sight of the powerful hollow being reduced to maid courtesy of the two women in his life.

He cautiously approached Kasai, the hollow had fled to the desert to be alone but he knew better; after all Kasai had been part of him. He stood on top of a dune, his full power unleashed, flame colored hair whipping in wind his mask in place; he emanated power and a very real fuck off vibe.

"She made the choice herself you know" he said, yelling through the wind to make sure his other half heard. "She wanted to, for you, for Reina, for everyone-"

He was cut off as in the blink on an eye he heard the bam of sonido and felt a clawed hand encircle his neck. Kasai's rage filled face was inches from him, his hot and rather foul breathe permeating his nostrils, his eyes all black and unseeing. His hand squeezed Ichigo's throat warningly before with a snarl he threw him, hard. With a pop, clunk and boom Ichigo landed in the middle of a street, the pavement thrown up like waves behind him as he had skidded to a stop in some abandoned neighborhood. Grumbling he got up and brushed the dust off his clothes and face before he attempted any contact with Starrk, part of the fun of being mated was you could sense each other; and right now Starrk was asleep. Ichigo groaned, perfect, he had no idea where he was and his sense of direction sucked big time, he attempted to give Starrk another emotional kick but the wolf did not wake. Putting his hands in his pockets he began to walk, trying to find the nearest house to stay until he could figure out what to do.

Aizen never could leave well enough alone he thought as he chewed on the brick that they considered bread. He and Rukia were to be sent on a one way ticket to the living world, thanks to Urahara they would be getting out of here at least; he was apprehensive about what they were walking into. Weak and in bad shape they would be easy prey for anything or anyone who wished them harm, Aizen had also made sure they kept their power limiting earrings on which was clearly a death sentence. He had expected that much though; Aizen certainly didn't want them alive and on the off chance they did run into something that was hostile it would certainly do the job. His thoughts were interrupted by a clank as the cell door was opened. Roughly he was stood up and practically dragged to the lab, where Aizen stood waiting outside.

"Jushiro" the brunette simply nodded before opening the door, following him in he saw a rather haggard looking Urahara fiddling with a device. The blonde was chewing his bottom lip vigorously and he had a feeling things were not going quite as planned.

"Is it ready?" Aizen asked, his smooth baritone floating through the expanse of space that separated the men.

"Just about" Urahara said as he reached for another screwdriver, "aha!" He clapped his hands together, sending up black particles into the air. Aizen nodded and led him to a circle a few feet from the device; he stood patiently waiting for what was to come next.

"Aizen-sama, please let me make sure he is in acceptable physical health before he is transported." The brunette looked irritated but gave a curt nod anyway. Urahara drew close to him and began to go through the motions.

"He had me change it" his voice a whisper "you and Rukia. She has the other device, you must find her." He drew back smiling, and clapped his cheerful personality returning.

"We are ready to begin" he said almost gleefully, but Jushiro saw the look of sadness in his eyes as he pushed the button and he was swallowed up in the blackness.

Rukia blinked and looked around, shocked by what she saw. The living world was decimated and ruined, once tall buildings were reduced to rubble. The wind was hot and angry as it whipped across her small frame, the sun beating down mercilessly causing her black robes to feel suffocating, shaking her head she snapped out of it and quickly shun po'd to the nearest building to find shade. Collapsing into a sitting position she took several deep breaths to calm herself. She had to find the survivors if there were any, and Jushiro, at the last moment Aizen had thrown them for a loop. Instead of sending them together he had sent them separately and to different places, Urahara having only made one return device gave it to her since he said she was in worse shape than Jushiro. He advised her to stay in one spot until he found her, knowing Jushiro would immediately make that his priority. Glancing around she looked to see if there were any stores nearby, she was starving, and wanted something other than rock hard bread. After resting for a few more minutes she got up and began to slowly walk, keeping her eyes peeled for anything resembling a grocery store.

The dust balls were new, constantly darting across the abandoned street as she made her way toward a much more suitable shelter she had found close to the store. It was run down to be sure but better than slabs of concrete, turns out it had been a camping store, and so she was able to find plenty of things there including a change of clothing. Resting her feet on the counter she began to eat slowly, she knew when you were starving if you ate too fast it could actually harm you, so despite her want to stuff her face she slowly chewed and swallowed her meal; savoring every bite. She decided that she would stay there, food was close by and the store was comfortable enough, providing sleeping gear and clothing with various other things. She yawned despite herself; she was tired and hadn't slept well since Aizen had taken over. Stretching she got up and walked to the camping section, pulling down a few sleeping bags made quite the cushy bed for herself and before her head hit the pillow she was deep asleep.

"Why in the three worlds did I have to get paired with you?" Byakuya asked, irritated as he watched Kenpachi dispatch the last of the group of hollows that had attacked them.

"Because princess, you're the brains and I'm the brawn. Why do you think the last pair was Renji and Ulquiorra?" Byakuya admitted to himself that Kenpachi had a point, but that didn't mean he was in agreement.

"They still could have put me with Renji, we have experience working together" he stated coolly, raising an eyebrow at the fake injured look Kenpachi threw his way as he wiped his blade off.

"Don't be like that" he pouted at the raven haired man, fluttering his eyelashes coquettishly. Byakuya smiled in spite of himself and elbowed the giant of a man.

"Fine, but we have to get what we came for, no more playing around" he said, slowly walking away. Kenpachi easily followed.

"This place is so fucking far from the house too" Kenpachi grumbled, falling in step beside him.

"Yes, but it's on our list as we need things from here" Byakuya replied. In truth he didn't mind that it was far, it was good to use shun po and on occasion he used flash step. He had a niggling feeling he needed to keep his skills sharp, just in case. It wasn't long before the two men arrived at their destination, a camping store. Originally Nnoitra had discovered it and been completely confused by it, luckily Renji had been with him and kind of knew what it was for; to everyone's surprise the two men had brought back clean bedding and clothes for everyone. It became a regular stop on their scavenging missions as it was quite expansive, Byakuya had found this thing called jerky that he thoroughly enjoyed and always requested some. He wondered to himself what they were all going to do when supplies ran out around them, would they move to somewhere else and start fresh and just continue to move until there was nowhere else? Or would they stay put and simply shun po around, their missions gradually taking longer and longer as they had to go further out to retrieve supplies? Would Szayel find a way to get them to soul society, and if he did what would they find there? Aizen had taken over, that much was obvious from the fact the three worlds were now completely and utterly disjointed and swinging around unbalanced. He sighed out loud and received a worried look from Kenpachi.

"Something buggin ya princess?" Byakuya huffed at the nickname the large man had given him and shook his head.

"Nothing besides the usual" he said, letting a small smile play across his features. Despite their obvious differences the two men had managed to become good friends, and somewhat of a calming influence on each other. Byakuya who had once been opposed to the wild captain found that he was fiercely loyal, strong and despite acting lighthearted took things more seriously than he let on. Kenpachi had found that the dark haired captain was thoughtful and kind despite being stern, he was a calming influence and hard to get riled up, and was good at keeping secrets. Secrets that Kenpachi hadn't told anyone….ever….

"I just wonder, if we will get back and if we even want to go. What do you think we will find there?" Byakuya said quietly.

"That's easy" Kenpachi said, a maniacal grin spreading across his scarred face, "we'll find a lot of fun!" Byakuya rolled his eyes at his companion's response, yet he wouldn't expect anything else from him.

"Hey princess, are you really that worried?" Kenpachi inquired; his tone a little more serious.

"I am, I worry about those who are stuck there and can't escape Aizen." Kenpachi nodded, he was as well.

"Well, we have to help Szayel as much as we can right? And since he wanted some things from here we should get those first" Kenpachi held the door open for the smaller man. The two men entered into the store and began collecting the items on their list, Szayel's first of course, then they moved on. Nnoitra had wanted a sleeping bag, Renji some clean clothes and boots, Ichigo a stereo and Starrk said nothing but they got a big coat for him as the man liked to make nests. Byakuya thought it was his wolf nature but he snickered when Kenpachi picked out a particularly furry coat for the man. Kasai wanted several pillows for him and Reina as the two were sharing a bed, Grimmjow wanted to try some jerky and Ulquiorra had simply asked for clean underwear. The two men started with those things first, stuffing them into their packs. The packs were camping bags, the huge kind you haul around on your back but that fit your whole house inside them. Everything that had been requested filled up all of Kenpachi's pack and they still had Byakuya's to fill; happily the two men began to gather extra clothes, shoes and non-perishable food items.

Byakuya hummed as he and Kenpachi threw things into his pack, he was chewing on a delicious piece of honey barbeque beef jerky and his stomach was loving every second of it. Never had he ever had such a tasty treat, the spices, the smoky flavor, it all roiled around on his tongue together to create a symphony of taste explosion. Ichigo had informed him it was quite common and cheap in the real world, something Byakuya would consider peasant food but he didn't believe the boy, or rather chose not to. Smiling as he swallowed the last bite down he was about to turn to Kenpachi and ask if they were finished when a familiar voice cut through the air like a razorblade.

"Ni-sama?!"