A/N-I want to take a moment to thank each and every person who has reviewed or favorited this story, I am always inspired by my readers and I appreciate that you think so highly of my story:) On to the chapter!

Theresa Crane

Chapter 35

Good Vs Evil

Another week has passed by, and Aizen was informed that there was only one night where the Rukia didn't sneak over to the boy's house. He isn't aware that she was researching his last pet on that night when she didn't go next door to find sanctuary from her nightmares.

He's been spending the week remembering a lot of his last captive, Hinamori Momo, and he hopes to give Rukia similar treatment to that which he gave to Momo.

Gin's going to go the next night, which will be a Sunday, to try and grab her, since it's the day she spends the longest at the gym with the boy, and they will most likely have less energy on that night than any other night. It seems like the best choice for what they have in mind. The only major downfall is that the biggest of all of the bodyguards is expected to guard her street tomorrow night.

Aizen is sitting at his computer when the email from his intended target arrives. He licks his lips eagerly in anticipation.

When he opens it, his hand shakes. He has never been more unnerved by anything in his life.

Are you familiar with the disappearance of Hinamori Momo?

Kuchiki Rukia

J J J J

Rukia's bad dreams only leave her alone when she's in Ichigo's bed with him. After researching as much about Hinamori Momo as she could all week long, she finally decides to ask for the perspective of Aizen-sensei. She doesn't know how to get into the discussion, and she certainly doesn't want to reveal the nature of her unsettling dreams the past couple of weeks, nor did she want to admit right off the bat that she had dreamed of the girl.

Since the girl had gone missing in Tokyo, Rukia decided to approach it by asking if he'd ever heard of the girl's disappearance. With his amazing memory, he might remember, and Rukia can then ease into how she saw the girl in her dream, though she has no desire to share the exact nature of her dream to Aizen-sensei.

Rukia sighs as she flops into her bed. The days seem to pass by more swiftly, and she and Ichigo keep on with their busy schedule. Ichigo had finally gotten the dummies out of storage, and Rukia's ability to execute his move was mastered within two days. She had a good hang of it the first day, and Ichigo let her try it on him, and she successfully executed the move on Wednesday.

Ichigo had given her such a proud look when she successfully flipped him over, and then was able to use her hands to catch herself on the ground as she flipped him over, and was able to spring up to her feet without ever falling on her ass. She had fallen a few times when practicing with the dummy, when it got caught up in her legs, but it worked perfectly with Ichigo.

He had confided that it was his opinion that the dummies were actually more difficult to flip than people.

Rukia sighs dreamily as she thinks about how much she's enjoying life these days. When she thinks about Ichigo, she always feels better, which is why she always thinks about him after she has thoughts about Hinamori Momo.

She doubts the professor has ever even heard of the girl, and she wonders if he'll think she's strange for asking. She knows that missing persons cases sometimes get a lot of coverage, maybe he remembers seeing something on the girl. Rukia can't forget how truly horrifying it was when she heard the girl say that she was already dead, in the dream that Rukia had.

Rukia has a strong feeling that in her sleep she somehow tapped into something very real. The fact that the girl existed and was missing seems to be proof enough of that. Rukia is terrified though, that she saw what might have happened to the girl after she went missing, and whenever she thinks of that, she feels chills run through her body.

Why could she see the girl and not the man? Rukia wonders why she was an observer, and why she couldn't rip the man off of the girl. Rukia hates to think that the girl experienced such hell before dying, if she is in fact dead.

Rukia hasn't even been able to let go of the details of the dream, other than the fact that she couldn't hear some of the words that came from the girl's lips, and she couldn't see the man's face, she remembers everything quite clearly. She especially remembers the very cold way in which the man was treating the obviously terrified girl. Rukia gets angry every time she remembers the way he got apparent enjoyment out of the girl's pain and fear.

If only she had known some Gracie Jiu-jitsu. She could have had a chance then.

Rukia feels a lot of gratitude that her sister insisted that Rukia be trained in martial arts. Any man who tried what they had with the girl from her dreams would definitely not be left with that sick smile on his face, because she would not allow it.

Why do there have to be so many sick people in the world?

Her life has been blessed, all because she met Ichigo at the most critical moment in her life. It's not fair that so many girls go missing, get raped, experience such unhappiness, and get preyed upon. Rukia pulls a barrette out of her hair and pulls the blade out without looking. She slowly turns the knife in her hand as is her habit of late, every time she lays there in bed, just thinking.

The knife in her hand comforts her. She wishes she could castrate the bastard in her dreams, and make it impossible for him to use that part of his body to ever hurt another woman. She would have no problems taking care of that for the guy either, except that she has no idea who he is.

J J J J

Aizen stares at the email. Of all of the things that she could have emailed him about, this astounds him the most. He thinks of the pictures that he took of his pet Momo while he had her in captivity.

Why in the hell is she asking me about this?

Aizen has the brief fear that she's somehow figured out his game, but he doesn't even know how something like that can be possible. He also doesn't know how to respond to her email. The most obvious response would be to say he's never heard that name before in his life. There was never any connection made between him and the girl, and he had never been questioned in regards to her whereabouts, nor had his home ever been searched.

For some reason, he cannot let himself type that lie, because if he does type that lie he may never find out why she's asking, and he wants to know. He decides to play it off like he vaguely remembers, and it takes him a long time to write a response that satisfies him.

I vaguely recall hearing that name. Upon your asking, I researched and realized why. She was a sixteen year old girl that went missing here in Tokyo. I'm curious to know why you're asking me about her.

Professor Aizen Sousuke

He finally presses send, and he feels a wave of anticipation run all throughout his body. He hadn't thought for one second that she would email him to ask him about the disappearance of his last abducted sex slave.

He knew his men had gotten her first, and when she'd been restrained in his hidden chamber, she had the most beautiful look of terror about her. Aizen had been very pleased that she never failed to lose her fear, not even up to the last second of her life, not that he would have allowed her to. She had even had that fear when she had that defiant look, which he had only seen the first day when he'd informed her that she would serve his desires.

He hates that Kuchiki Rukia has made him doubt himself, not only that, she's thwarted him with every attempt he's made to capture her. She's the most elusive girl he could have developed an obsession with. Her brother has ridiculously strong bodyguards watching over her, and she's practically attached at the hip to the kid next door to her.

It seems she surrounds herself with people who are ready and capable of protecting her from any harm. Aizen contemplates whether or not Byakuya purposely settled his sister at this location, knowing she would be well protected and looked after.

Byakuya has been a thorn in both his and Gin's lives for a long time, since he constantly moved Rukia the moment the men even got a whiff of her.

Now he leaves her in a location that may as well be a damned fort for all the trouble he's having.

Aizen knows that Gin's planned attempt is actually viable, so long as she's knocked unconscious before she has the chance to shout for help. Aizen will fall over laughing in joy if Gin is actually successful.

Unfortunately, in regards to this particular girl, nothing ever seems to work out as planned.

J J J J

Once again, Rukia dreams of Momo, which she hasn't done since the first time she dreamed of her, and this dream is far different. This dream is obviously of the girl's abduction. It was nighttime, and she was obviously hurrying home. She had on a skirt and blouse, and she looks young, innocent, and then terrified.

This time Rukia isn't in the scene, it's more like a movie that she's watching and can't turn off.

Rukia's heart races when four men, dressed all in black pop out in front of her and laugh with amusement as they quickly box her in. They quickly force her out of sight of the road, hidden behind a few trees, perfect for their operation.

"We've been waiting for you, don't you know that you're late?" One man asks with a chuckle. Momo just stares up in fear and then squawks when one man feels up her leg very quickly and lets his hand go up her skirt. Momo quickly bats his hand away but the moment her arm comes out, another man grabs it. He quickly gets behind her as one of his companions grabs her other arm. He pulls it back and the man holding her right arm takes her left hand from his companion.

Momo squirms in fear as the other three men stand in front of her and look at her with a disturbing interest. One man reaches forward and puts his finger at the top of her blouse and then jerks his hand downward, effectively popping off her buttons, leaving her blouse hanging open a bit. Momo screams at that and her eyes widen as the other men all chuckle.

The man reaches in and grabs her bra from the very center of it in the front and yanks on it until he snaps it. It hurts Momo a great deal when he does that as the material pulled and stretched against her back in a rough way until the fabric gave way to his strength. Momo cries and attempts to struggle as the man pushes the material away so that her breasts can be seen. He then starts to work on her underwear, and the other two guys hold her legs to keep her from kicking the man in front of her in the face as he yanks down her panties quickly.

"Quit your crying, you are one lucky bitch to be getting it as good as you're about to. Have you ever heard of a gang bang?" The man behind her asks her in her ear with a snarl. Momo is silenced by the man who just pulled off her panties. He shoves them into her mouth and once again his companions smile and seem amused.

Rukia feels a real fear for the girl as the man undoes his pants quickly to reveal his ereaction. Momo closes her eyes and keeps on crying as the man puts his hands all over her body, on places nobody has ever touched, in ways she didn't want to experience.

She grimaces and doesn't open her eyes when she hears him spit, and Rukia feels so dirty as she watches the man spit in his hand and then run his hand in between her legs. She can't stand how the man crudely laughs and talks down to the girl.

"She's ready." The guy says. The man behind her, suddenly repositions her arms high above her head and the other two men both grab a leg, holding her in the air and they lower her just a little bit before they drop her on her back on the ground.

The impact hurts Momo, but before she can even think about reacting, the man who had exposed himself falls on top of her, adding to the pain. Her hands are quickly held by the man who had been behind her above her head and the man who had been in front of her, positions himself to enter her.

Momo lets out a loud pained scream when the man penetrates her, the underwear don't muffle it very much.

Rukia's dream doesn't end there, she's forced to watch as all four men get a turn in before they tie up her arms and legs and throw her into a car and drive away.

Rukia wakes up with sweat on her face. She pops out of bed and runs to her bathroom and quickly splashes some water onto her face before she wipes it off with a towel. She quickly heads downstairs and looks out the front door. Ikkaku is passing by and Rukia waits for a few moments after he passes by before she lets herself out of her house and dashes over to Ichigo's house.

When she gets into his arms, she's finally able to sleep peacefully, and though she dreams, it's not anything she remembers when she wakes up in Ichigo's arms.

As his normal routine is, he wakes her up and gets her home before anybody else can be wise to her stunt. Ichigo disarms the security system and notices Yumichika is there, right outside walking around. He looks bored but they manage to escape his view as Rukia slips into her house and Ichigo heads back home.

When Rukia heads up to her bedroom, she gets back onto her laptop and notices the reply from Aizen-sensei.

Rukia lets out an irritable sigh. She decides to tell him simply why she asked when she responds.

She has appeared in a couple of my dreams. Is this a typical phenomenon? I thought you might be able to tell me.

Kuchiki Rukia

Rukia heads into the bathroom to soak before gymnastics practice with her coach and Ichigo.

J J J J

"I have that uneasy feeling again, big time." Ichigo tells Rukia. They're in his room for the evening, with all of their homework completed. He crawls into bed and lays down next to her.

"Me too." Rukia tells him softly. Ichigo's arm slides around her and Rukia scoots a little closer to him.

"At least I feel prepared for a confrontation, after all of the hard workouts we've been putting in the past couple of weeks." Ichigo tells her, his voice very serious.

"I feel more prepared too, especially since I learned your new technique." Rukia tells him proudly, and she knows she is glad she learned it so swiftly. It makes her feel even more able to protect herself.

"What did you dream about last night?" Ichigo asks shrewdly. He can tell that something has been weighing on her mind, and he kind of figures it was whatever dream she'd had last night that had brought her over to his bed again.

"It was about her again." Rukia tells him in a soft voice.

"Was it a repeat of the last dream?" Ichigo asks next.

"No, although it was just as disturbing. This dream was of her actual abduction. She was raped by four men before they tied her up and threw her into a car and drove off." Rukia tells him, not sharing the disturbing details of the abduction besides what she'd already mentioned.

"Damn. In the past month or so, I've heard more about rape than I ever wanted to hear." Ichigo mutters softly, remembering the men who had shown up at Rukia's house with the intentions of raping her.

"It was beyond disturbing, it was totally terrifying, and it felt like it was a real occurrence." Rukia says softly.

"I'm sorry." Ichigo whispers, hating that she has such awful nightmares.

"I just want you to hold me," Rukia tells him, and his grasp tightens around her.

They hold each other until it's time for him to take her home. Both of them feel uneasy as they head outside and Ichigo is glad she lives right next door. He gets her into her house safely, and then looks all around.

He doesn't like the feeling that he gets as he stands there at all. He quickly walks back home and arms the security system.

It takes him awhile to fall asleep. He was hoping to stay up until Rukia appears, due to the uneasiness, but his exhaustion finally catches up with him, and he falls asleep.

J J J J

Rukia jumps when her cell phone rings, just as she's getting ready to lay down. She quickly grabs it up and answers it. She hadn't looked at the number before answering and she's surprised at who is on the other end.

"Hello?" Rukia asks.

"Hello." Aizen answers, and Rukia's eyes widen.

"Aizen-sensei?" Rukia asks quickly. She hadn't expected him to call.

"Yes, sorry if you didn't recognize the number, I'm not at home. I wanted to call you though before it got too late." Aizen tells her, impatient to hear about her dreams. He had gotten a stolen cell phone from Kira, who was eager to win back Aizen's approval.

"Oh, how considerate of you." Rukia says it evenly and Aizen cannot tell if she is being sarcastic or not.

"I was calling because your email sparked my curiosity. You say you dreamed about a missing girl?" Aizen asks her with narrowed eyes. Rukia can feel her cheeks heating up a bit at his comment.

"Yes." Rukia says softly.

"Please tell me about your dreams. How many have you had?" He asks her.

"Only two." Rukia tells him.

"I'd like to hear about these dreams." Aizen tells her softly. Rukia gulps. She does not want to talk about the details of her dreams.

"It's embarrassing." Rukia finally stammers out. Aizen smiles. Obviously she didn't contact him about the girl because she suspected him.

"I am a professional. It may be hard to talk about, but I may be able to help you." Aizen tells her.

"I know, it's not you. I just have difficulty saying out loud what I saw in my dreams." Rukia explains.

"You contacted me so that I could help you, didn't you? Let go of the embarrassment and tell me about your dreams." He says in a more commanding voice. "We're friends, aren't we?" Aizen adds with a smirk.

"You're right." Rukia sighs before she continues. Her cheeks burn in embarrassment. "The first dream I had of the girl was of her being held captive in a room. She was restrained and naked. She was muttering as though she was starting to go mad, and then a man walked into the room and seemed to get enjoyment out of her terror. He undid the restraints and then forced her to do things." Rukia says, feeling her face heat up. Aizen's face heats up too, although in excitement, not in embarrassment. He's glad nobody's around to see him since he couldn't make the call from his home.

"What did he force her to do?" Aizen asks as he unzips his pants.

"Sexual things." Rukia answers after a long moment of hesitation.

"What kinds of sexual things?" Aizen asks next. Rukia had hoped he wouldn't ask that.

"He forced himself into her mouth and then he forced himself into her and had sex with her against her will." Rukia says, feeling mortified.

"What about the man?" Aizen asks next as his hand pauses from moving.

"I never got to see his face. He hurt her in order to make her do those degrading things with him." Rukia says sadly. Aizen's hand resumes moving. "It was obvious that he enjoyed it." Rukia says after a pause.

"It really scared you, didn't it?" Aizen asks in a comforting tone while he smiles broadly.

"It disgusted me," Rukia corrects him. Of course it had scared her, but Ichigo is the only one she'll admit that to. Aizen wishes she would have said she was scared. He liked how she was scared after her servant went missing.

"What about the second dream?" Aizen asks next.

"That was of her abduction. I dreamed of her being abducted and raped by four men before they tied her up and threw her into a car." Rukia says quickly.

"Interesting that you would dream of a girl that actually went missing." Aizen says, hoping he has her by morning. "Has that ever happened before?" He asks her curiously.

"No. Is this anything you've ever heard of before?" Rukia asks him.

"I'll research it and get back to you. I don't want to keep you up too late." Aizen says with a smile. The longer he keeps her awake, the longer it will be until she attempts to sneak next door, only to run into Gin.

"Thank you, please get back to me soon." Rukia tells him in an obviously sleepy voice.

"Of course. Bye." Aizen tells her. He had longed to tell her that he would probably get back to her sooner than she thinks, but he doesn't want any of her suspicion directed at him.

"Bye, Aizen-sensei." Rukia tells him. She watches for the call to end. She sticks her phone back in her purse and lays down in bed. She wonders if he'll be able to find out anything that will make her feel better.

When she finally closes her eyes, she has another dream that she's restrained, naked. This time she's on the bed that Hinamori Momo had been. The man without a head is not in the room, and for once, Rukia isn't scared in her dream. She knows that if she shows fear, that will please the man, and he'll likely appear.

The dream is still extremely disturbing though, because the girl that she watched go through a degrading series of rapes is standing in the room with her. She's in a black kimono, and she is looking at Rukia with tears streaming down her face.

She looks so devastated over Rukia's condition, and Rukia knows it doesn't look good, but on some level, she's also aware that this is a dream. She wills the restraints to loosen, and they do. Rukia grabs the blanket on the table and wraps it around herself. Dream or not, she doesn't typically have chats with people naked, unless of course, it's Ichigo.

Rukia slowly walks over to the girl. Hinamori sinks to her knees, and her tears seem to subside a bit.

"I am so sorry for all of the horror that you have had to endure, it's something that no person should ever go through." Rukia tells her softly. Hinamori raises her head and gives Rukia a wide eyed look.

"You should be sorry for yourself." Hinamori says to her in a hard voice, despite her earlier apparent concern for Rukia.

"Why? Please tell me why I keep having visions of you!" Rukia says desperately, pleading with the girl to reveal her true motives.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hinamori asks in disbelief as she looks around the room. Her eyes snap back to Rukia.

"No…I'm sorry. I'm so confused." Rukia whispers softly as she watches the girl's eyes narrow in a bit of anger.

"Evil is after you. It has been after you your whole life. How can you be so blissfully naïve?" Momo asks in a disappointed voice.

"No, I had many peaceful years. It's true that a few attempts have been made on me, but I've always been saved." Rukia tells her as she tries to understand why the girl is so mad at her. She was hoping that the girl would confide in her, and tell her all of the things that she wants to know.

"I used to see the good in life too. I changed my views on humanity in the last four months of my life." Hinamori tells her in a hard voice. Rukia gets it now. This girl won't be friendly to anybody after what she's endured.

"I apologize for irritating you. I would like to tell you about the good in humanity but I'm afraid you wouldn't want to hear it. I'm more interested in why I'm having dreams about you." Rukia tells her calmly.

"I'm only going to say this one time, and it had better sink into your skull. The man who arranged to have me delivered to him is the kind of criminal that law enforcement refers to a repeat offender. He told me that he likes petite women who look young but don't have the bodies of children. He told me I was perfect to be his new pet. He told me I would spend the rest of my life serving him, and do you know what? I did. I spent the last four months of my life living only for him. It was worse than you can imagine, even though I showed you one of the less painful times." The girl says in a low voice which is nearly devoid of any emotion.

"You were here for four months?" Rukia asks her horrified as she looks around the room.

"He loves to inflict pain and fear. It's all I felt the whole time I was here. Do you know how long four months can feel like? It can feel like four centuries if you're in enough pain and you're afraid enough. I embraced death when it finally took me." Hinamori tells her with a nod of her head.

"I understand all of that. I still don't know why you are appearing. Does this mean you have not passed on?" Rukia asks in confusion. Momo growls in frustration.

"This is not about me!" Hinamori shouts this and Rukia jumps in surprise.

"I'm sorry!" Rukia says quickly. No way does she want to upset this girl. She's been through enough.

"I'm here because you're next!" Hinamori shouts, as her eyes turn red in anger. "This has never been about me, this has been about you! The whole time. You still don't get it?" Hinamori asks her with obvious disbelief. Rukia gives her a hard look.

"I'm not next. No way will that happen to me." Rukia tells her, even though her heart is pounding at the girl's words.

"He'll never give up on having you." Hinamori tells her in a hard voice.

"He'll die trying." Rukia responds in the same manner.

"Everyone has a vulnerable moment. The control you exhibited was only temporary, and from where I sit, you're done for." Hinamori tells her. "Look." Rukia is stunned as the blanket is ripped off of her by an unseen source. She glances around but she doesn't see anyone there. She suddenly feels like she's been pushed and she lands back in the bed. The restraints that she had loosened by will are now restraining her again. Rukia doesn't understand it.

"What?" Rukia asks, not understanding at all.

The girl is gone, and the door to the room opens. The headless man walks into the room and walks over to stand next to her.

"I know you've been waiting for me, but I've been waiting even longer for you. I am happy you belong to me." The man's voice is distorted, and it sounds like it's not even human.

Rukia forces herself to glare at him, even though the fear is quickly running rampant through her body.

It's just a dream…wake up!

Rukia repeats that chant over again and again in her mind. His hand reaches out to touch her and just as he's about to put his hand in between her legs, she wakes up and sits up straight in bed.

She can feel her legs shaking. All she wants now is to be in Ichigo's arms. She stands and silently leaves her bedroom. She tiptoes downstairs and creeps towards the window and she sees Kenpachi walking directly in front of her house at a quick speed. She waits for fifteen seconds before she acts.

Rukia runs over to the security system and programs so that it rearms after she leaves. She only has one minute. She goes to the front door and slips out quickly and quietly.

She is instantly hit with a very disturbing sensation. It's so bad that she can practically feel her body hair standing on end, screaming out and alerting her to danger. Rukia looks around, and doesn't see anything.

She hurries over towards Ichigo's house and with each step she takes, her body reacts more strongly like there's danger.

She suddenly senses someone in her personal space behind her and she brings her arms up to the side, knocking away an arm and she jumps forward about two meters and spins around to get a look at her attacker.

"Hey!" Rukia yelps out as she lands.

He's in a ski mask. He has a surgical mask in his hand, which she hadn't expected, and she immediately readies herself by getting into a fighting stance.

The noise woke Ichigo instantly and he sits up in bed and blinks. He looks around his room, thinking that maybe Rukia had just entered, but he doesn't see her.

"What was that noise?" Ichigo mutters in a sleepy voice, even though he's fully alert. The sensation he has right now is really bad.

He looks out the window and sees a man charging at Rukia. Ichigo doesn't watch to see what happens, he dashes out of his room.

Rukia is prepared when the man charges at her. She quickly positions herself to be standing facing him with her feet out a little bit further than her shoulders. As he's charging forward leaning his weight in and the mask is coming towards her face, Rukia quickly crosses her left foot behind her right as far as she can step and leans to the side and back a little bit with her right leg left stretched far out like a rope. The man in the mask trips over her outstretched leg and flies face first into the ground.

Rukia leaps on him in an instant. She begins to choke him and she instinctively holds her breath while she does, since he's pushing the mask towards her face as she's choking him. She tightens her hold. Unfortunately, she takes a deep inhaling breath as she tightens her hold and she immediately starts to feel dizzy. Her head starts to hurt next, but she doesn't stop choking the man. The moment she feels him stop struggling, she loosens her hold on him and backs almost a meter way from him.

She feels herself pitching to the ground, but she doesn't feel herself land.

Ichigo fell down the stairs in his haste and he had momentarily stunned himself when he cracked his head on the landing. When he's able to stand, several seconds later, he dashes out the front door, not worrying about disarming the system.

When he turns the corner, his heart pounds in fear, as he sees Rukia in light pink rabbit pajamas, laying on the ground not moving a muscle. He quickly dashes over to her side and feels her neck.

He breathes a sigh of relief when he feels her pulse. He quickly turns to the other figure laying on the ground. Ichigo goes over to him, and rips off the ski mask, revealing white hair. The man appears to be about his father's age too... maybe a bit older. He's unconscious. Ichigo can see him breathing.

Ichigo stares at the man. He doesn't want to be looking away if the guy wakes up before the police arrive.

There is a surgical mask, laying on the ground in between Rukia and the man. Ichigo had noticed it but he doesn't look at it now. He breathes a sigh of relief when the police pull into the driveway and he waves his arms frantically at them. They rush over, and ask him what happened.

Ichigo explains that he woke up to the two struggling and that when he came outside, they were both unconscious. Isshin walks outside due to all of the noise and his face turns white when he sees Rukia on the ground.

"Ichigo, carry her into the clinic!" Isshin says with obvious panic. Ichigo immediately hustles to Rukia's unconscious form and picks her up in his arms. As he's carrying her, he talks softly to her.

"You did a good job with that shit head. You had better be okay. I hope you didn't faint after the way you lectured Yuzu." Ichigo says in an uncertain tone. She looks just fine besides being unconscious. Of all of the things he ever expected of Rukia when confronted in an attack, her winding up unconscious was not one of the scenarios.

"Something is wrong." Isshin tells Ichigo as he pulls out his smelling salts. "She's not the type to pass out during a confrontation." Isshin adds, and Ichigo knows he's right.

"What do you think is wrong?" Ichigo asks his father. Isshin shakes his head. He puts the smelling salts to her nose, but they don't take effect. Isshin quickly snaps on some gloves.

"There's no blood, thank goodness." Isshin tells him as he yanks on his stethoscope and slides in under Rukia's pajama top as he listens to her heart.

Ichigo feels himself growing more and more worried since Rukia's eyes haven't opened.

"You're right. This isn't like her at all." Ichigo tells Isshin. He watches as his father looks a bit more worried.

"I think she was drugged." Isshin tells Ichigo with a look of concern.

"That would make sense." Ichigo agrees slowly. "There was a surgical mask outside, I wonder if the police took it with them." Ichigo tells his dad. Isshin's eyes widen at that information.

"I'll go look." Isshin tells Ichigo. His father leaves the room and Ichigo looks down at Rukia who appears to be quite peaceful. He holds her hand tightly, hoping she can sense him there. He wishes it had been him against the assailant. He can't stand that she is laying here like this.

"Damn it Rukia…" Ichigo trails off.

J J J J

"Gin was captured." Kira tells Aizen in a broken up voice.

"What happened?" Aizen asks him.

"I couldn't see it all clearly, but they struggled and both ended up laying on the ground. I was about to open my car door to go grab her up when the kid next door came barreling outside. The police arrived and I'm still out front now. Driving away seemed too suspicious. I'll leave when the police do." Kira tells him. Aizen sighs into the phone.

"Let me know if anything else happens." Aizen tells him.

"Understood." Kira tells him before hanging up the phone. Kira stays ducked out of view. He doesn't dare look for fear of being spotted.

He'll wait until he hears the police cars pulling away before he does anything else.

He doesn't see Isshin come outside and talk to the police about his concerns regarding what the attacker did to Rukia. They allow him to pick up and smell the mask since he's wearing latex gloves and there's no risk of contaminating the evidence.

J J J J

Byakuya is fuming. Apparently Kenpachi thinks that Rukia spotted the man outside and went to confront him. (since he's unaware of her nightly excursions to Ichigo's house) Kenpachi had stayed out of sight of the police since he doesn't deal very well with authority figures, besides Byakuya.

The man, whoever he is, had regained consciousness after the police arrived, and they had carted him off for interrogation.

He knows Ichigo or Rukia will call, and let him know what happened, but he's still angry that someone was able to get that close to his sister. There's not a whole lot more he can do to step up security, without adding another man so that two patrol at night. He decides to start looking through candidates.

J J J J

Ichigo doesn't like the grim look on his father's face as he enters the room.

"What is it?" Ichigo asks immediately.

"I suspect that the mask was doused with chloroform. If it was, she won't wake up for at least another twenty minutes." Isshin tells Ichigo.

"What does that mean?" Ichigo asks, not really understanding.

"It means it was that man's intention to knock her out to prevent her from doing what she succeeded in doing before she got knocked out herself. I believe it was another attempted abduction. The mask is being sent for testing." Isshin tells Ichigo who nods in understanding.

"I hope she wakes up soon, are there any negative side effects we should worry about?" Ichigo asks, staring up at his dad.

"Chloroform can be very dangerous. Prolonged exposure can actually be deadly, though it's not common." Isshin tells his son.

"That son of a bitch." Ichigo growls.

"He's awake now, they were driving off with him when I came back inside. He'll be in interrogation now." Isshin tells Ichigo, who nods as he stares at Rukia's unconscious form.

"He's lucky he's not dead for what he pulled." Ichigo says softly.

"I'm glad you held back. We may finally be able to get some answers now." Isshin tells his son. Ichigo hopes his dad is right.

They both stand in silence, staring at Rukia willing her to wake up.