Chapter 1

The Rescue Of The Princess

Ichigo had arrived at Hueco Mundo together with his friends Rukia, Renji, Sado and Ishida to rescue Orihime and take her back home to the World of the Living.

Ichigo was running alone in the long corridor after he and his friend decided to split up. He had just ended his first battle since entering Las Noches and continued forward deeper into the castle when he suddenly felt Orihime's reiatsu. He was close.

The path was dark and narrow. It seemed like it would never end. But he saw a small light, a sign that the path was leading into an end. He was certain there was a room ahead. He could feel her reiatsu, she had to be in that room.

He began to run faster. The reiatsu was weak but it was definitely her.

Inoue

He entered the room. But the sight of what was ahead of him made him completely still.

Sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, her arms and legs tied, there she was. Ichigo gasped.

"Inoue…?"

There seemed to be something behind her as well. A machine? He thought.

He couldn't really tell what that thing was or what it was doing. It had cables, a lot of cables and they seemed to be connected… all towards her...

She looked weak. So weak. He called her name again, but louder this time.

"Inoue?"

She didn't respond.

Ichigo walked towards her. He placed his hand upon her shoulder as he bent down so he could meet her eyes.

"Inoue. I'm here Inoue, I've.." he went silent. He could feel his heart aching and his body going numb.

She wasn't there. Well, her body was. But her mind was somewhere else. Her beautiful eyes that alway shined so brightly had gone dark. They didn't seem to have any emotions. They didn't seem to react at all...

The cables from the machine had been connected into her back somehow.

It appeared like something like a liquid was coming out of Orihime's back into those cables and towards the big machine.

Ichigo looked at her. He could never have imagined that he would find her in such a bad state. What the hell is Aizen doing to Orihime and what the hell does he want with her!?

"I'm sorry.."

He could barely look at her. The sight of her hurting was tearing him apart. The thought of not realizing the possibility of her kidnaping. The thought of him letting this happen to her… He couldn't bear it.

"Kura..sa..ki.."

Ichigo cringed. It was Orihime. Her voice was so distant, but it was her.

He looked at her and saw a tear fall down her cheek. Can she hear me? He could barely think. He had to take her someplace safe. She had to be healed. And that was now. She couldn't stay like this any longer.

Ichigo began to release her from the straps tied to the chair she sat on. There were signs that she had been trying to get free. She was covered in bruises all around her arms and legs where she had been tied.

He didn't know what the machine was doing to her. Ichigo tried to cut off the cables with his sword but he couldn't do it. They were too solidly built. There was no other way. He was going to force them off of her by ripping them from her body. He was certain that it was going to hurt.

With a lot of force, he managed to detach the cables from her back. Blood was coming out but Orihime didn't even react. Then, he thought he noticed something. Had he been seeing things? For a moment he thought that he had spotted a mark on her back. It had the shape of a lotus flower. The same shape as her hair pins. But as soon as he saw it, it disappeared. Ichigo shaked his head and thought It doesn't matter right now. What matters is getting her to safety.

Ichigo brought Orihime into his arms. He noticed that she was pale. More so than usual. She still didn't respond. Not her body. Not her eyes. Not anything...

Ichigo looked at her again once more and felt the pain in his heart.

"Let's go home Inoue"

Suddenly, a reiatsu was approaching. It was the Espada he had seen in the World of the Living. The one with green eyes and his hollow hole located on the base of his throat.


There you go, the very first chapter!

Please let me know what you think! Reviews are very much appreciated since this is my first attempt at writing IchiHime fanfic and really any longer story that can be read by others aside from myself…

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this for now! Shall I continue the story?