EDIT (11/21/2006): I'm rather tired and I'm supposed to be working on something else. But I thought I'd get a head start with the editing of this chapter. This was truly one of my favorite because of the way I wrote it, switching from one perspective to the other simultaneously, in order to give a wider view of what happened. This, I feel, is where the story takes shape, where a lot of questions are answered, and yet more are formulated to keep you guessing what might happen in the end. I hope I did a good job at striking your fancy with this chapter, making you ask your own questions and try to find your own answers. It was because of the readers that I was truly inspired to write this story. Thank you all.

---

What a surprise! I'm late! Again! I thought I would manage to get this one out earlier, because I felt at one point I would finish quickly. But sometimes you can't predict what will happen. Well, in my case, I got sick. I had a fever and a massive headache for two days, and even when I stayed home, I couldn't work on this chapter because looking at the computer was too painful. Harry has helped me a lot, though; he's been more diligent lately, so I don't have to chase him around to do chores and stuff. Plus, he's been taking care of me. And believe me, I'm a handful. I don't know how he puts up with me. He's a sweetheart.

Anyway, I'm finally done, at least until I have to post the next chapter... crawls away from the computer and dies halfway to the bed.

Author's note: I spent all weekend structuring the plot. Now I really know what's going to happen all the way to the end (yes, believe it or not, I started this story without any certainty of how it was even going to end. How terrible am I?). I can rest easy now. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be exactly what Kubotite makes happen in the manga, I don't want people to think I'm a copycat –but the truth is that everything I've written and made happen, and everything I will make happen is based on some theories I've read around forums and sites and some of my own theories. And if those theories turn out to be true, then there's no helping it: my story would still end up being a lot like the manga. So… it's not really my fault. Please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Seriously, don't sue. I'm innocent. And broke.

Music for this chapter: "Ghost love score" by Nightwish, "Sacrifice" by t.A.T.u., "Miss Murder" by A.F.I.

---

Coming Undone – by Deathberry15

5: Make this go on forever

The fighting stopped. The clashing of swords and battle cries went mute. The Arrancar paused and listened, and the shinigami stared in wonder and puzzlement.

"Time to go," Grimmjaw said, and cast a long last look of spite at Renji, before turning away from all of them. As if by a silent command, the sky ripped open again, a gaping hole to a world unknown. "This isn't over, though," he added, gesturing for the other two Arrancar to follow. Luppi grinned mischievously and shrugged.

"Wait! What—" Ikkaku started.

"I guess we'll have to finish this some other time. Bye now," Luppi interrupted, and he stepped after Grimmjaw. One vine shot out toward Wonderweiss, who was still trying to cut Matsumoto, and it wrapped around him and pulled him along. As soon as they were on the other side, the sky closed up, and they were gone.

"They're leaving? All of a sudden?" Yumichika said. Matsumoto frowned.

"They're done here," she said. "They were here for a purpose. If they left, it must mean they accomplished it."

"They were here for Inoue," Renji replied.

"Does this mean they took her?" Yumichika asked. Renji shook his head.

"I don't know…" he promptly trailed off. He became very still, and then his head snapped in another direction, like a dog when it has heard or smelled something.

"Rukia!" he exclaimed, and immediately took off in that direction. The others momentarily looked at each other in confusion, before bolting after him.

"Does anyone know where Hitsugaya-kun might be?" Matsumoto asked. Yumichika shook his head.

"I get the feeling we're about to find out."

---

Ichigo sat up, rain beating down on him, and looked around. Rukia sat next to him, soaked black hair plastered to her cheeks and neck, shivering with cold. In spite of the water soaking her face, Ichigo knew she was crying.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered between sobs, "I couldn't— I couldn't do anything…"

He blinked hard, water clinging to his eyelashes and stinging his eyes. He was having trouble breathing, and his vision was blurry; he felt lightheaded. His back aching with every move, he looked right. Someone was lying on the ground about ten feet away from him, slumped against a tree trunk, unmoving. It was Orihime.

He was unfazed at first, wiping water out of his face with his muddy hands. For a moment he couldn't process what he saw; he tried recalling what happened, the battle, the Arrancar, everything seemed rather surreal, and he wasn't sure if it had actually happened. His vision cleared after rubbing his eyes a few times.

"Inoue…" he mumbled to himself.

"Ichigo," Rukia said, sobbing uncontrollably now. "I'm really sorry…"

He heard her crying, speaking, but in his fuzzy mind, it almost didn't register. All he saw was the red-headed girl lying on the muddy grass, drenched and completely limp. He crawled toward her, not minding his torn robes or the pain or the zanpakutou that lay on a puddle. He dragged himself over to her, until he was beside her, and he could confirm up close what he already feared. The Arrancar had come to take her. Grabbing her limp hand, he felt for an inexistent pulse; her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted, but no breath, no heartbeat.

They had come to take her. And they only needed her soul.

Without thinking, Ichigo pulled Orihime's lifeless body into his arms. She was cold, because of the rain, and because…

Rukia was still crying. Ichigo began to tremble. Not from the cold, though. He was angry. His head wasn't clear enough yet for him to know why he was so angry. Whether he was angrier at the Arrancar, or at himself. But more than anger, what he felt was despair. He couldn't still understand what had happened, or how it had happened. But he was suddenly overwhelmed with despair. He held Orihime in a weak embrace, trembling still, and he couldn't fathom that she was…

"Ichigo!"

Suddenly Rukia's voice sounded so far away that he couldn't be sure if he really heard her at all. Ichigo looked over his shoulder, and felt chills. Rukia was battling Ulquiorra, but they moved as if in slow motion, making no sound at all. Their zanpakutous clashed constantly but there was no metallic noise. And in slow motion, Ichigo watched as Ulquiorra pierced Rukia's middle in one very slow thrust.

Rukia's lips moved in barely audible words. It felt like a pillow had been placed over his ears.

"Ichigo, wake up."

Rukia and Ulquiorra vanished into thin air. Ichigo looked down and stared in shock. Orihime had disappeared. Instead, he was now holding his mother.

---

Ichigo woke up with a start. His eyes flew wide open and he looked straight up, only to see a shadow hovering over him.

"Wake up, Ichigo," Rukia repeated. She was the one above him, shielding him from the rain. Blinking a few times, he could now make out her face clearly against the clouded night sky backdrop. Her eyebrows were knitted in concern, and her hair still clung to her face and neck. He tried to speak, but instead started coughing. He spat out some blood as he did.

"I healed you as best as I could, but we'll have to go to Urahara's to get you completely healed," Rukia said. "I need it too. Inoue was able to heal me partially, but the Santen Kesshun was gone before they could finish," she added, but he was barely listening. The last few minutes replayed themselves in his head.

"Inoue!" he shouted, and he sat up very fast, which he then wished he hadn't. A blinding pain shot through his entire body, starting at his very middle. He saw the great bloodstain and hole torn in the front of his kimono and underrobe. Even if the wound was completely closed, the skin of his stomach was still raw red and tender with purple bruises. He touched it gently and withdrew his hand immediately, hissing with pain. His neck still stung too, fresh blood seeping out the fine cut.

"Don't be stupid. You're still hurt, and you need care," she said, pushing him so he'd lie back down. She pulled out her communicator, which dripped water.

Ichigo just sat up again and looked around. The Arrancar were gone. There was no one in the vicinity. He looked to his right. There was nothing there either.

"Damn it! It's ruined. It went underwater with me." Rukia said, looking at the mobile. How am I—"

"Inoue! Where's Inoue?" Ichigo interrupted her. Rukia stared in shock. She almost dropped the mobile.

"She's gone, Ichigo. They took her," she muttered. "You saw what happened."

"But… did they kill her?"

Rukia hesitated to answer. "As far as we know, she might still be alive." Ichigo shook his head.

"But I just saw—" he stopped and stared at the spot where he thought he'd seen Orihime's body. He was so sure he had seen her there. But he had been dreaming; it had just been a very realistic dream.

"What is it?" Rukia asked. Ichigo painstakingly dragged himself over to that very spot, much like he had done in his "dream". The flattened grass and markings on the wet mud made it clear that someone had been lying there. But it was now empty.

"Ichigo…" Rukia mumbled as she watched him, his shoulders slumped, head bowed, examining the place where Ulquiorra had picked up Orihime and crossed over to Hueco Mundo with her. It was as if he were trying to make absolutely sure there was nothing, no one, right there.

"I'm really sorry, Ichigo," Rukia began. "I couldn't stop them. I wish I had gotten here sooner. Maybe if I had, then none of this—"

"Don't be stupid. It's not your fault," he interjected. "You did what you could. You two were alone."

Rukia stared in mild surprise. She had been half-expecting some other sort of reaction from him.

"I'm the one who couldn't save her," he added, and trembled. His breath came out in ragged gasps, as he tried very hard to hold it in; his anger, his pain, his despair. With what little strength he had left at the moment, he clutched and clawed angrily at the ground, ripping up grass, squishing mud in the palm of his hands. Anything to vent it all out. He couldn't bear to have this pain crushing his chest, his soul.

He stopped when he felt something sharp prick his finger.

Ichigo lifted his hand out of the mud. The object was small and metallic and had six pointy edges. He wiped off the mud and took a closer look, drawing a sharp breath. It was one of Orihime's hairpins.

"Aaah…" he mumbled, blinking hard. He could've sworn he had seen Ulquiorra remove the hairpins. Why was one of them here, forgotten among the grass? Had Ulquiorra dropped it by accident? Had it fallen from Orihime's hair before he could take them both? Ichigo had no idea what it might mean, if it was a good thing or not. But he felt a bit of hope rise in his chest.

"Ichigo?" Rukia called him.

"We've got to go see Urahara. Now," Ichigo responded, getting up very slowly and with great difficulty. "I found something, and I need him to tell me if it might mean what I think it means."

He was speaking very quickly. Rukia frowned. "Okay, but you're still not well. We will wait for the others. They shouldn't—ICHIGO!"

She wasn't fast enough –or fast at all—; Ichigo stumbled and fell over onto his side, and she couldn't catch him or attempt to soften his fall. This is why you should listen to me, she thought, watching him keel over. Rukia crawled over to him, hissing in pain, and rolled him onto his back, holding his head; he was breathing evenly, but he was unconscious. Rukia was relieved to see he was just passed out, but she started to cry anyway. Everything about this night was enough to make her cry. Her friends and comrades were wounded, she had failed miserably on her own, and Orihime had been kidnapped by Aizen's subordinates.

She noticed Ichigo's hand was balled into a fist, clutched tightly. Before she could check to see what it was, a shadow fell on top of her. She looked up in fear.

"Ishida!" she exclaimed. The Quincy breathed heavily, having hurried most of the way there.

"I saw what happened," Ishida said. He looked up and stared at the river. "Or at least part of it."

Rukia didn't respond. She knew he was looking at the place where Orihime and the Arrancar had disappeared. At least he had seen that much.

"He needs care," Ishida continued, kneeling beside Rukia and looking over Ichigo's battered body.

"Right," Rukia muttered. "How did you find us?"

Ishida seemed reluctant to respond. Rukia felt something strange about him. He had been acting this way since he left Soul Society; distant, detached, unusually so. For him to show up like this, so suddenly, was rather strange. But she was glad.

"I sensed the disturbance. I came to see what it was. I guess I was too late," he said. "But I probably wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway."

"I don't think anyone could've done anything," Rukia replied, watching Ichigo sadly. Ishida nodded, in agreement or understanding, perhaps; Rukia didn't know.

"I'll carry him. Can you walk?" he asked.

"Like hell she can! I'll take her!" a voice responded. Rukia and Ishida turned to see Renji leaping down the slope and landing next to them.

"Renji!" Rukia said, smiling through her tears.

"Ishida, it's a good thing you came," Renji said, and quickly helped lift Ichigo up, and Ishida propped him up onto his back. "Just in the right place at the right time. Not the best conditions, but thank you."

Ishida seemed perplexed. "Ahh, er, no problem," he said, and started in the direction of Urahara Shouten. It was a long way, and he didn't know how long he would be able to carry Ichigo like this. He didn't look like it, but Ichigo was rather heavy. And now he was climbing that steep slope up to the street, with a heavy, injured shinigami on his shoulders. If his father saw him…

In spite of it all, Ishida was glad he could do something to help. But he knew the consequences. He would have to deal with that later.

"I'm fine, Renji," Rukia insisted, as Renji helped her to her feet.

"You're so stubborn. I'll carry you," Renji insisted.

"Why are you so insistent?"

"Why are you so difficult? You make too much of a fuss, for such a tiny person in such a bad state. Now shut up and let me carry you," Renji retorted, and before Rukia could say anything else in response, he hoisted her up into his arms; she weighted nothing. Rukia instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, for safety, and blushed. She could never get used to being in such close proximity to Renji.

"What happened?" Renji asked. He gave Rukia a look. "Did they take her?"

Rukia lowered her gaze and didn't answer. Renji stared ahead again and followed Ishida.

"Right. Urahara's got some explaining to do."

---

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Matsumoto yelled, frantically looking around. They arrived at the river, having barely kept up with Renji, who headed immediately for the bottom of the slope, where he saw Rukia and Ichigo and, surprisingly, Ishida. Across the street from the riverbank were a couple of empty buildings; Matsumoto made straight for those. One of them in particular looked like it had been hit with a bazooka. There was a huge hole on the front wall, and heaps of broken bricks pooled onto the sidewalk.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Matsumoto yelled again, peeking inside. Not only the front wall, but every wall that ran parallel to it on the inside was busted with a gaping hole right in the middle. It looked like an old, abandoned office building, with rows and rows of cubicles. Desk chairs and tables were now overturned, some broken, and the ceiling boards, with the brackets for the fluorescent lights, had clattered and smashed on the floor. Matsumoto stared in horror. Obviously a bazooka hadn't done this; she feared it was her captain who had been used as a sort of bullet.

"Ew," Yumichika mumbled, looking at the wreck inside. She fought the urge to punch him, and instead supported herself on him to climb though the hole.

"Careful…" Ikkaku said. He and Yumichika followed her closely

"Hitsugaya-taichou?" she called once again, her voice wavering in fear. Was he okay? There was a sudden noise from far within. The three shinigami were startled to see something moving, but promptly sighed in relief. Chad was emerging from a hole in one of the inner walls, Hitsugaya piggy-backing on him.

"You finally… got it right," Hitsugaya said weakly, grinning. Matsumoto smiled broadly at the sight of her captain, and plodded over the mess to wrap him in a hug.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" she cried, referring to him in her usual, friendlier manner. Hitsugaya grimaced and rolled his eyes.

"For a brief moment, at least," he added. Matsumoto ignored him, and released him long enough for Chad to bring him outside and put him down onto the ground.

"Are you alright?" Yumichika asked, once they were all outside.

"Do I look alright?" Hitsugaya replied moodily.

"Did you get hit by a cero?" Ikkaku asked.

"No. Bastard only needed to slap me to drive me through six concrete walls. My back is killing me, you know."

Matsumoto shook her head and chuckled. It was unlike him to joke at a time like this, but he did tend to be rather cynical. This was just his way of taking in his defeat. Nothing ever seemed like a big deal to him; it was like, no matter how bad things were, he always seemed in control. Maybe if he had been able to use bankai, he would've been done with all those Arrancar in a cinch. But there was too much water around. Somebody else might've gotten hurt, too.

"The big one? Yammy?" Chad asked. Hitsugaya nodded, looking at him curiously. Of course Chad would know Yammy; he'd gotten his arm ripped off by him.

"He chased me. I couldn't do anything," Hitsugaya added, huffing.

"You'll be fine," Matsumoto said, after taking a look at his injuries.

"Thank you for finding me, Sado-san," Hitsugaya said to Chad. Chad, in his usual manner, regarded Hitsugaya with a quiet nod of his shaggy head.

"What were you doing here anyway?" Ikkaku asked. Chad, as always, paused before answering.

"I sensed something. I knew it was you," he replied. "And the Arrancar."

"So you walked out in the rain to see if you were right?" Yumichika asked.

Chad paused again. "I didn't want to take any chances."

"It's a good thing you did," Hitsugaya said. "There was a big piece of ceiling on top of me. It wasn't very comfortable."

Matsumoto's eyes flew wide open in shock. "Taichou, we have to get you to Urahara!"

Chad was already lifting Hitsugaya back, but the young shinigami tried to stop him. "Wait! What happened? What happened with the Arrancar?"

"They're gone," Ikkaku answered.

Hitsugaya looked at Matsumoto. "Did they take her?" She looked down at her hands.

"I don't know."

Hitsugaya sighed. This was a mess. He needed to get some answers; otherwise, he didn't know what he would report to Soul Society. Aizen suddenly targeting a human? What did they want from Orihime?

"Urahara's got a lot of explaining to do," he said as Chad lifted him up on his back and they started on their way to the shinigami shop.

---

The mood was dreary. Nobody spoke much. Four shinigami, two young children, and one burly shop assistant gathered around a wounded captain, lying on a futon inside Urahara Shouten. It was almost midnight, but no one seemed ready to go to sleep, as weary as they all were.

Tessai broke the silence by ordering Ururu and Jinta to get "the black bottle from the pantry". The kids bowed before rushing out of the room.

In one corner, two teenagers sniffed and shivered, as silent as everyone else, watching the scene with a bit more awe.

Ishida pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose in his usual fashion and leaned back. He would've left a long time ago, as soon as he had dropped Ichigo off; but upon hearing a very brief explanation of what had happened, from recollections of Rukia and the other shinigami, he was inclined to stay. Urahara was busy right now, shut away in another room mending Ichigo's wounds with Rukia's assistance –Rukia had already been tended to—, and everyone was just waiting for him to be done so he could answer all their questions. And they had lots of questions. Ishida had a few of his own. So he waited with them.

"I should really go home, though," he said bitterly, more to himself. If my father finds out about this… Still he had a feeling his father already knew about this. That he was not just in contact with shinigami, but helping them. And Ishida didn't care. He couldn't abandon his friends. He would deal with his father later.

"Why don't you, then?" Chad asked, not unkindly. Ishida shook his head.

"I want to know what happened to Inoue," he replied. At least Inoue isn't a shinigami.

Jinta and Ururu returned very soon, carrying a large bottle between them. It seemed to be heavy, since they both had to carry it, grunting and looking like they were making a great effort. However, judging by the contents, it didn't seem heavy at all. A dark, misty thing floated inside, and one couldn't be sure if it was really gas or liquid; it swirled around as if it were a bottled rainstorm cloud or something. They watched in awe as Tessai poured the contents over Hitsugaya, but they didn't see anything in particular. The mist just vanished once it poured out of the neck of the bottle. Still, Hitsugaya hissed loudly, flinching and clawing at the futon. Quite obviously, the dark mist was having some sort of effect on him. Promptly, he stopped twitching in pain and seemed to relax.

"He'll be fine. He still needs full healing, but he'll be in less pain," Tessai said, handing the bottle back to the kids, who groaned and started back out with it.

"At least you won't have to get back into your gigai for a while," Matsumoto said.

The gigai were another issue. Yumichika and Ikkaku were dispatched to search for Hitsugaya's artificial soul and retrieve it, along with the others. They found it, lying dead-like in the middle of the street, soaked and with a large stab wound through the back and chest. The soul candy had fortunately not been whisked away by water current running down the street, but they faced the difficulty of walking back carrying the empty gigai; if any human looked out from any window, they would see the lifeless body of a white-haired kid floating around.

Mod-Matsumoto escorted Kon to the shop shortly afterwards, for damage control. Thus, Ichigo's body was in line, along with Hitsugaya's gigai, to be repaired by Urahara, once he was done with Ichigo. In spite of Orihime's healing, Kon was still unwell; surely Ichigo wouldn't want to return to his body in its current state.

"You can all stay here for the night," Tessai announced. He called Ururu and Jinta back, so they would start preparing more futons for the guests.

"There's really no need. I can go back to Orih—" Matsumoto started, but stopped herself, realizing what she was about to say. Of course she couldn't go back to Orihime's flat. Because Orihime was gone. Hitsugaya gave her a sad look, and she bit her lip. "Yes, thank you. We'll stay," she said, and fell silent.

It seemed that Hitsugaya had taken Orihime's abduction the hardest. It wasn't just because he had tried to stop it, to save her, and had gotten cannon-balled into a dirty old building, unable to do anything at all; but it seemed to Matsumoto that, in spite of his no-nonsense attitude and disregard for silliness, he had begun to grow quite fond of Orihime, attached even, because of the way she treated him.

Sometimes Matsumoto felt Orihime reminded her a bit of Hinamori, and likely she wasn't the only one who thought that way. After all, both girls were rather playful and sweet when it came to dealing with Hitsugaya, regarding him as a sort of little brother, and treating him so, despite his futile attempts to be the mature, sometimes condescending one. It wasn't like the two girls were the only ones who refused to call him "taichou" like he wanted; most people couldn't quite regard him as a higher-ranking shinigami, because of his age and appearance. It did seem, though, that Hitsugaya only put up with such behavior from Hinamori, and lately from Orihime too. Or maybe he had just given up trying, but Matsumoto didn't think so.

"What do you reckon will happen now?" Ikkaku asked.

"I don't know. Surely Urahara can tell us. He seems to know a lot, but you have to pry it out of him," Renji replied. "Shouldn't be long now," he added with a sigh.

A loud crash interrupted the tranquility in the shop. They all looked at the door at the end of the hall, behind which Ichigo was being healed. The crash was quickly followed by the sound of breaking glass, and some thumps.

"Sounds like Ichigo's up and at it again," Renji said. Everyone looked at each other uneasily, wondering what might be going on. Yet no one dared to go look.

---

Rukia jumped up and down trying to climb onto the back of a fully recovered Ichigo, in a fruitless attempt to restrain him. Sure she was half his size and not feeling very well at the moment, but she had to try, lest the young man would really kill Urahara (though she sensed that was his intention, by the killing intent in his eye).

Ichigo, in spite of his discomfort, paid little mind to the fact that he was completely healed now and that it was thanks to Urahara. As soon as he had regained consciousness, he leapt fantastically to his feet and proceeded to strangle Urahara, knocking the striped hat off his head and managing a shocked reaction from the former 12th division captain, who seemed to be rarely fazed. And although this act gave her an odd sense of smug satisfaction, Rukia knew that it wouldn't do any good to have Urahara dead, and so she worked hard on prying Ichigo off of him.

"Ichigo, control yourself!" she shouted, finally pulling him away from Urahara.

That didn't quite do the trick. Even as Rukia stood squarely in front of him to block him, the bleach-haired boy proceeded to grab anything and everything that he could reach and hurl it at the blond shinigami. If he couldn't kill him with his own hands, he would throw stuff at him until something hit him hard enough.

After a few minutes of breaking, smashing and chucking various glass, porcelain, wooden, metal and plastic objects around, Urahara had enough of this torture.

"I didn't want to have to do this," he began, "but you leave me no choice."

Rukia stared in awe as Urahara used shunpo to appear right in front of Ichigo, just inches away from his face. It gave her shivers to see him move like that, so fast that he was momentarily invisible to the naked eye; she had never seen him move like that. He now stood between her and Ichigo.

"NO!" she yelled instinctively, moving forward to stop him from touching Ichigo. In the blink of an eye, Ichigo was down; pinned to the floor with his arms held tightly behind his back and his face firmly squashed against the tatami mats. He grunted in surprise and anger as he found himself unable to wiggle out from underneath Urahara, who was sitting on his back and holding his head and arms as if it were a routine. Rukia dropped to her knees next to both of them.

"Let him go, Urahara," she requested.

"Not until he calms down. Otherwise he'll just jump me again," Urahara replied angrily, which surprised Rukia. For him to be angry was unusual. More importantly, Rukia thought he had no right to be angry. They, as in herself and Ichigo and the others who were waiting outside, were the ones who should be angry at him.

"Well, you deserve it," she hissed with a grimace. Urahara frowned at her.

"I can't breathe, you jerk!" Ichigo coughed.

"You must promise to stay calm, Kurosaki-san, or I'll have to restrain you more severely. I hoped for a normal conversation, but you're being hostile. And in your condition; you'll overexert yourself if you try to attack me again, and then you might hurt yourself again. Or I might hurt you, whatever happens first, so—"

"FUCK YOU!" Ichigo yelled, and violently shoved Urahara off, breaking free from his lock. The exiled shinigami stared wide-eyed as Ichigo got up and stood over him, shaking with rage. Rukia called Ichigo's name feebly, swallowing nervously, as she grabbed her friend's arm in a futile effort to make him remain calm. Ichigo, at least, did not move, but continued to eye Urahara dangerously. Rukia thought she had never seen him so angry before.

"I want answers, damn it!" he bellowed, towering over the other man. "Why Inoue?!"

Urahara seemed to regain his cool and sat cross-legged in front of him. He took his time before speaking.

"Why do you want to know?"

Rukia had to grip Ichigo's arm tighter, since he seemed ready to pounce. But he just glared harder. "Because they took her! Why else?! We have to get her back!"

"How do you feel about her?"

Ichigo was taken aback. "W-What?"

"How do you feel about her?" Urahara repeated the question. Ichigo was dumbfounded.

"Why… why are you asking me that? What does it matter?!"

"Well, you probably should be able to answer me. What does Inoue-san mean to you?"

Rukia watched Ichigo with a mix of surprise and deception. He seemed disconcerted at the question. Did he not know the answer to it?

She knew; she already knew the most logical answer. And it pained her also to know that the truth seemed too hard for Ichigo to deal with. But he had to. He must.

"She's… my friend…" Ichigo answered slowly, hesitantly, dropping to the floor and sitting down, as if he were so overwhelmed he couldn't stand any longer. Rukia imitated him. Ichigo shook his head. "I— she's Inoue!"

Urahara stroke his chin thoughtfully, and it was clear he wasn't wholly convinced. "I see."

"Look, it shouldn't matter!" Ichigo yelled, angry again. "I have to save her! I promised I would protect her, and I've failed her again! I need to bring her back! I— I can't… I just have to do something…"

"It actually does matter a lot," Urahara said after a pause. "Your determination and eagerness to bring her back, to go to any lengths to find her and bring her back safe, are directly related to how you feel about her. Whether she means a lot to you… or whether she means the world to you."

Ichigo swallowed a lump in his throat. Rukia thought he might be holding back tears. Urahara eyed him intently as the boy fell silent, immersed in his thoughts.

With a mixture of sadness and anger, Rukia glared at Urahara. Everything that went wrong tonight, she couldn't help thinking it was Urahara's entire fault.

---

"I think he killed him," Ikkaku spoke. The noise and voices had abruptly stopped.

"You think who killed who?" Yumichika asked.

"I don't know, but one of them is bound to have killed the other, since the noise and their yelling stopped."

"They're talking, moron. That's why it stopped," Matsumoto said.

"How do you know? I hear no voices," Ikkaku replied.

"Of course they're talking. Rukia wouldn't allow Urahara to kill Ichigo," Renji said.

"Or the other way around," Matsumoto added.

Renji looked doubtful and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm not so sure about that," he said. "Rukia's not too happy either."

There was a silence as everyone tried to listen to what might be going on inside the room.

"What exactly did Urahara tell the two of you?" Ishida spoke up suddenly, looking at Renji questioningly.

---

The silence was prolonged among the three when Urahara opened his mouth to say something, but noticing Rukia's smoldering look, decided not to.

Finally, Ichigo came out of his thoughtfulness to speak up.

"Is she… is she dead?"

After his episode of madness, to hear him speak so soft and low was strange. He sounded genuinely downcast. Urahara's words had made a stronger impact on him than Rukia expected. Urahara eyed him carefully as he thought his answer over.

"No."

"How do you know?"

Urahara shrugged nonchalantly. "They have no reason to."

"No; how do you know?" Ichigo repeated. "Why do you know that? Why do you know any of these things? What else have you been hiding from us and why? Why did you let this happen?"

Ichigo was still angry, but he sounded and looked sad. More than that, he looked mournful.

Urahara sighed and got up. "I think the others are waiting to get some questions answered, too. Why don't we allow them to join us so that everyone can hear the whole explanation?" he said as he walked to the doors and slid them open.

---

Renji finished explaining very briefly what he knew; from that day Orihime was summoned to the shop while Renji and Chad had been training, what Urahara had said to her, how everyone seemed to forget about everything during those weeks Ichigo was gone and then he and Orihime were sick, and he finished with an elaborate telling of what Urahara had said to him and Rukia earlier that night.

The shinigami plus Chad and Ishida, were speechless.

"So he knew this would happen? Is that what you're saying?" Hitsugaya asked.

"He knew this would happen and still said nothing?" Ikkaku added.

"He might have been acting cautious, knowing what could happen, but his plan still failed," Renji replied.

"Failed?" Chad asked.

"Well, if he meant for Inoue to be safe, then I guess it didn't work, did it?"

"But he could've said something!" Matsumoto said indignant. "He should've warned us! If we had known Arrancar might come trying to kidnap Orihime-chan, then we could've been readier. We could've protected her better!" She sighed sadly. "If only she had stayed safe at home…" Then she got an angry glint in her eye. "You guys are in big trouble!" she yelled at her gigai and Hitsugaya's empty gigai, which were lying in a corner with Ichigo's body, still waiting to be fixed and healed by Urahara (Kon was secured in Rukia's pocket, waiting to at least be popped back into the lion plushy).

"It wouldn't have mattered," Hitsugaya said. "They can sense spiritual pressure easily with their pesquisa. Wherever Inoue-san was, they could follow her reiatsu."

"Still, I think we could've prevented this, if only we had been warned," Yumichika said.

"I guess Ichigo just got tired of Urahara's half-truths," Ishida said.

At that moment, Urahara emerged from the adjacent room, sliding the doors wide open.

"You'll be glad to know Kurosaki-san and Kuchiki-san are both fine," he informed them. They looked past him into the room; broken objects littered the floor, and in the middle sat Ichigo, with his back to them, shoulders slumped. Rukia turned and looked at them, and her expression said everything.

"Now that they've been taken care of, we can talk."

They all had questions. But none wanted to go first, to bring it up. Urahara approached them, his robe billowing behind him as he walked swiftly, confident.

"Well, I thought you'd bombard me with inquiries, but seeing as you're all reluctant to speak, I can just start myself," he said, remaining on foot.

"As I was telling Kurosaki-san, I have reason to believe Inoue-san should still be alive. In which case, anyone who is willing to volunteer may contribute to a strategy for a rescue mission. In a situation such as this when the person might still live, it's quite safe to say that we can still rescue her, if we put our minds into it."

"You know what? I'm tired of your half-truths, too," Hitsugaya said louder than anyone was used to hearing him speak. He was not the type to lose his temper. With some difficulty he stood up to face Urahara. In spite of the difference in height, Hitsugaya could still be threatening.

"We want to know everything," he said.

As if to back him up, Renji stood up too, as well as Ikkaku and Matsumoto. Urahara eyed them all in turn; suddenly, he didn't seem as confident anymore.

"Alright," he said carefully. "What do you want to know?"

"Why wouldn't they kill her?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Yeah, how can you be so sure they haven't?" Renji added.

Urahara shrugged. "They can't have her turn into a hollow. If they killed her, that's what would probably happen. Then how would she be able to use her powers?"

"But how did she not die when they took her to Hueco Mundo?" Ishida asked.

"They didn't use negacion. They just brought her across," Urahara replied.

"But she would've died once inside. She's still a human, you know," Ikkaku said. Urahara took a deep breath.

"Much like Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen did not die when they were taken to Hueco Mundo, it's likely the same was done with Inoue-san. There must be some sort of protection, to let them cross without damaging the soul, or in this case, the body too." He paused. "A protective barrier, much like Inoue-san's Santen Kesshun, could've allowed her to cross to Hueco Mundo, unharmed by the effects of negacion."

"Could her kishi somehow been transformed to reishi, in order to be able to be inside Hueco Mundo?" Hitsugaya said.

"That I don't know," the exiled shinigami said. "But it seems logical, doesn't it?"

"Nothing about this seems right," Hitsugaya shook his head. "You should've told us about all this long ago, and we could've done something. But she's been abducted. Abducted! How are we supposed to bring her back?" He sat back down, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "She is more powerful than we thought. She cut through Yammy's arm with Tsubaki, she drove a hole through and through into his arm. Which means her Koten Zanshun can cut through hierro," he muttered. "But all Aizen wants her to do is accelerate the maturing process of the Hougyoku." He shook his head. "If that is true, then we're screwed. We need to get her back. We can't leave her at Aizen's mercy, and we can't let Aizen go through with that plan. Then we're definitively screwed."

"Not yet," Urahara said, and he pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for everyone to see.

"What is that?" Chad asked.

"A hairpin, duh," Yumichika said.

"Not just any hairpin," Urahara said. "It's—"

"Orihime-chan's!" Matsumoto exclaimed, standing up for a closer look. "It's one of her hairpins. The ones that provide her with her power."

"Not exactly," Urahara disagreed. "The hairpins don't produce the power. They channel it. The power is within Inoue-san, and has probably been there for longer than she can imagine, locked up within her soul and her heart for years. But prolonged exposure to a great spiritual power –namely Kurosaki-san's reiatsu— caused her to finally manifest them. The hairpins are the source through which they become real; the hairpins that were given to her by her brother, they became the source precisely because they hold special meaning to her, like a connection to her heart."

"Could this mean then that, without both hairpins, the Shun Shun Rikka cannot come out?" Rukia asked, walking up behind Urahara. He turned toward her, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ichigo still sitting quietly inside the room with his back to them.

"Yes, I think it could. But it's only a possibility," he replied.

"Where did you get it?" Ishida asked.

"Ichigo had it. He said he found it in the grass, where Inoue had fallen before they took her. It probably fell off," Rukia replied before Urahara could.

"So they only took one hairpin?" Yumichika asked.

"How could they have missed that?" Ikkaku said.

"It doesn't matter. The important thing is that they did," Urahara said. "It ensures a setback, and a chance for us to plan how to bring Inoue-san back."

"Wouldn't it have been easier to not let her be taken in the first place?" Renji asked.

Urahara didn't respond. He had a strange smile on his face, a knowing smile, like there was still something he wasn't telling them.

"That can't be helped now," he said.

"You son of a—" a voice said, startling everyone. Ichigo had suddenly appeared behind Urahara, and no one had seen or heard him coming, not even Urahara. Rukia managed to restrain him just in time, grabbing his arm just as Ichigo pulled back it back ready to punch. Renji also jumped in to hold him back.

"Let it go, Ichigo," he said firmly.

"Did you have this whole thing planned?" Ichigo asked in a vicious tone, nostrils flaring. "All part of one of your infamous schemes? Were you counting on everything to happen according to your expectations, every event leading up to the moment I would find the hairpin?"

Everyone stared at the two expectantly. Urahara had stopped smiling.

"Were you?" Ichigo asked again.

The shop owner gave a hesitant shrug. "Well," he began tentatively, with the air of a curious scientist, "I always consider every possibility."

This time, no one tried to stop Ichigo.

His fist connected formidably with Urahara's jaw, with a resounding crack, so much that Urahara's usually cool and collected attitude was interrupted by a yelp of pain escaping his throat. He shut his eyes and winced. A tiny trickle of blood traveled down the corner of his lip.

"Ow, well, um," he mumbled, rubbing his face. "I guess I deserved that."

Normally Rukia wouldn't condone this sort of behavior. But she had to admit to herself, even if she hadn't been the one who delivered the punch, that felt good.

The front door opened and closed, and they watched Yoruichi, in her cat shape, walk into the store and make her way to the back, where they were all gathered.

"Sorry I'm late. There was an alert over at Soul Society," she said in the grave voice she acquired when she became the black cat. "They said a few Arrancar had showed up here, but you guys would be able to handle it. Traveling between dimensions was banned for the moment, so I couldn't get through earlier. But it seems like it didn't matter, did it?"

She sat in the center of the group and stared around at all of them nonchalantly. "So, what did I miss?"

No one said anything. Ichigo shoved past Urahara and stormed out of the shop, slamming the door loudly behind him.

---

Tatsuki wasn't supposed to be out so late, wandering the streets all alone, especially with the storm still raging outside. Her parents would kill her if they found out; but they didn't need to find out.

All she needed was to make sure Orihime was alright, and then she could go back home and sleep and pretend she didn't just sneak out of her house.

Where did you go, Orihime? she said to herself.

The problem was that Tatsuki had been calling Orihime all night, but the chirpy red-head never picked up. It was past midnight already. What was Orihime doing out so late and where could she have gone?

The bigger problem was that Tatsuki decided to sneak out to check on Orihime personally, and besides finding her friend gone, she also found the door wide open. Orihime might be flaky, but she would never be so careless as to leave her flat unlocked.

So, needless to say, Tatsuki was sick with worry.

Had her flat been burglarized? Was she perhaps down at the police station filing a report? Had she been kidnapped, snatched right out of her house? Did she have a sudden urge to run out and buy ramen with strange toppings, and forgot to close the door? Could she have been sleepwalking a little too far?

All these questions plagued Tatsuki as she exited Orihime's building and stepped into the rain again. She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head, and that's when she saw it. A green umbrella, discarded on the sidewalk. She picked it up; it was definitively Orihime's.

Now Tatsuki was really nervous. What if something terrible had really happened to her friend after all? She needed to go to the police. Maybe Orihime was there; but if she wasn't, then Tatsuki still needed to file a report for a missing person.

She started down the street, heading toward the police station, going over in her head what she would do. She would call her parents; no matter how much trouble she would get into, she should let them know where she was, or they would really kill her. And she didn't need that; not at a time like this.

The police station was quite far. Tatsuki ran as fast as she could, not caring about splashing her feet in puddles or the umbrella that was threatening to pop up the wrong way because she was going so fast the wind was almost pulling it out of her hands. She was cold and tired and sleepy, but she kept on going.

Halfway, she caught sight of something, or someone. A bright-haired young man, in very dark clothes, standing at the riverbank. Tatsuki froze and stared.

"Ichigo…" she whispered.

It was indeed Ichigo. He was dressed in a black kimono with hakama, and he had a very large, very broad sword on his back, wrapped in a long ribbon or bandages. He was staring out across the river, and he was soaked. But he didn't seem to care. Judging from his expression, he seemed miles away from that place.

She had only seen him dressed like that once before, and that was a fuzzy, uncertain memory; she thought her mind might have been playing tricks on her. Was it real, then? Was there a particular reason why he sometimes ran around dressed like that? And carrying that absurdly huge sword?

Why was he here, in the middle of the night, all alone?

Tatsuki suddenly remembered a time, years ago, when she would catch sight of him here all the time. Looking back at that, she couldn't believe she wasn't more supportive. He was her best friend, after all. It was after his mother's death, and he would come every day for too long, to walk around and crouch and walk around and crouch again, looking for something, anything, a sign, perhaps. It made her sad to think how he had become after that. He was doing it again; or maybe he had been doing this all these years without her knowing. Maybe he liked to come here to think. Maybe he found some sort of comfort in the rain.

"He'll catch a cold again."

Tatsuki jumped in surprise. She had certainly not been expecting anyone else to be there, but she suddenly heard a male voice a few feet away. Upon finding the source, she saw a stranger sight; Rukia was there, and that guy with the red hair and the weird tattoos. They sat at the very top of the slope down to the river. Both were wearing the same type of clothing Ichigo was, and they both also had swords. These had hilts, though, and were sheathed at their hips. Rukia's was average-sized and white, while Renji's sword was larger and had a strange razor-like shape. Tatsuki could only gape at them.

They sat there as if it were normal to hang out at nearly midnight under the pouring rain. They both watched Ichigo, and it seemed neither had noticed her nearby. It was a good thing, though; she wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to them right now, or have them talk to her. Not under these circumstances.

"I really don't think he cares," Rukia replied.

"Well, this is absolutely pointless. What good is this going to do?" Renji asked. Rukia didn't answer right away.

"He's mourning."

"She's not dead."

"He's always mourning. Ever since his mother's death, he can't stop."

"I mean Inoue. Inoue's not dead."

"It's almost as if she were. And until she comes back, that's how it'll feel like."

"But that's just being negative. It's not like Ichigo to be negative."

"He feels like he failed. He promised to protect her, and they took her anyway. There was nothing we could do. But he feels he had to do something and couldn't."

"He's being overdramatic."

Rukia gave Renji a cold stare, but he shook his head.

"You don't understand. I mean, he's getting himself in this funk, when deep down we all know, somehow, he'll bring her back."

"We do?"

"Well, I do. He'll bring Inoue back."

There was a silence. Rukia shrugged and sighed deeply. "Yeah, I know."

Tatsuki silently and carefully walked away, crossing to the opposite sidewalk. She didn't want them to see her. As she reached the other side of the street, she continued to stare at them, and at Ichigo, shocked and disbelieving. She nearly tripped over a bunch of bricks scattered on the pavement, noting the huge hole that somehow had been driven into the wall of the old abandoned building, causing wreckage inside. Somehow she knew it had something to do with what Rukia and Renji had been talking about. And somehow she knew everything they had said was true, even if she couldn't fully understand it or make sense of it.

They had spoken about Orihime. They said she was gone. That she had been taken.

Tatsuki wouldn't get any answers soon. Even if she did, she realized maybe she wouldn't believe it at all.

It all seemed like something taken from Orihime's crazy imagination. But Ichigo, Rukia and Renji were a part of it too. Ichigo was standing at the riverbank, his mother's riverbank, and he was mourning Orihime. Whatever the hell that meant. But it certainly didn't mean that she was dead. She was somewhere else.

She started heading the way she had come from. She guessed she wouldn't go to the police station after all, or file any missing person report. She wouldn't tell her parents she snuck out, either. Because somehow she knew that wherever Orihime was right now, there was nothing the police would be able to do about, and getting punished by her parents wouldn't make things any easier, either.

Truth was, she had no clue what was going on. But somehow she was certain, hearing Renji's words again in her head, that he was right. And Tatsuki believed him.

Wherever Orihime was right now, she would come back. Ichigo would bring her back.

---

I don't hate Urahara. But he is quite mischievous, and that makes him a sort of antagonist in the story that is just as essential as the heroes and villains. He's rather a passive antagonist. And that's what makes him so great. He spices things up.

I think this was my favorite chapter to write, I don't know why. It was mostly just blah, blah, blah, but it was nice to lay out my views on this issue, put my theories to work.

Maybe a lot of you will find this rather boring because of that. But I personally think it's rather fascinating.

Kon: Well, of course you do. You're the author, nee-chan.

(Did that plushy just talk to me? Hn... Well, it's bloody late. I'm probably just hallucinating.)

Kon: …Or is she?

Thank you for reading. Have a nice one!

-Nariko the Seer a.k.a Deathberry15