A/N: I'm back! It's been a wild year and a half, I hope you are all safe. Anyway, I am finally in a place again where I can keep working on this story. Plus I missed our heroine too much, I can't just leave her where she is.

As always, thanks so much for all of your lovely reviews. You guys are the best readers :)

Wednesday

3:08 p.m.

Tatsuki Arisawa was no stranger to exercise by any stretch of the imagination. She worked herself to exhaustion in karate every day, ran laps around the soccer field even after a match, pushing herself to go one step further, run just a little faster, until sweat poured down her forehead and she could taste the saltiness of her perspiration on her lips.

But that was nothing compared to how she pushed herself now.

She sprinted down the street that led from her house until she reached the edge of town. Past the bakery, past the little convenience store on the corner, past the donut shop that perched next to the grocers. Her feet pounded the pavement, trying in vain to keep pace with the frantic beating of her heart.

She jogged further, skirting the entrance to the high school where students were still trickling out, down to the edge of the river where a few teenagers lounged lazily on the embankment, delaying their walk home to gossip with friends or skip stones in the water.

Didn't they know? Didn't they care? A piece of her had gone missing and she was aching at its absence. The comforting presence that had once been a constant in her life was gone, gone, leaving her with a gaping void that threatened to consume her.

She stooped forward, resting her hands on her knees as she panted, straining to catch her breath. Her schoolbag dropped heavily to the ground, splitting open and ejecting notebooks and pens onto the grass.

"Where are you?!" she shouted at the river, at the knots of people lounging by the water, at the birds wheeling through the sky. She received nothing but the chattering of the stream and a few curious stares in response.

Gone. Orihime was gone. This could not be happening. Despair threatened to overwhelm her entire being.

But Tatsuki was not one to give into depression. She was a fighter, and she was going to find her sweet-tempered, orange-haired friend if it took her entire life.

But where to start? She could think of one person who she knew to be connected with the mysterious goings-on in Karakura Town. Someone she occasionally saw leaping from building to building, garbed in a strange black robe and carrying a sword as long as his body.

Surely Ichigo would know where her Orihime was. And she would pummel the information out of him if she had to.

She turned around, sprinting back the way she came.

3:22 p.m.

Ever since little Orihime was first adopted into the Vizard family many years ago, they had held regular meetings to discuss her adoption, her upbringing, and if or when to reveal the secrets of their past to her. They were often serious and tense meetings, that sometimes led to shouting matches between certain members (albeit muffled ones, so as to not wake their young ward).

But there had never before been a meeting like this.

Rose and Lisa were the first to make it back to the warehouse after their battle with Yammy to rendezvous with Hachi, who had been holding down the fort. Love and Mashiro arrived a few minutes after, tired and worn out from the battle with their own arrancar.

Hiyori and Kensei were next.

When Ichigo, exhausted and still sporting a very painful hole in his hand courtesy of Grimmjow, came staggering into the building supported on either side by Shinji and Rukia, the last thing he expected to encounter was the scene in front of him.

The entire Vizard family (sans Orihime—where was she?) was gathered in their main room, where a very heated argument was taking place. Kensei was yelling at Love, looking more upset than ever. Love was standing his ground, his eyes flashing dangerously behind his sunglasses. Lisa perched nearby, devoid of her usual magazine, and for once fully attentive to the events unfolding around her. Rose hovered behind her, looking worried. Even Mashiro looked unusually solemn.

But what startled Ichigo the most was the figure of Hiyori, seated on their little couch in front of the television, receiving first aid from Hachi. Though she sat just a few feet away from an impassioned shouting match, for the first time he had ever seen, she was not a participant. Instead, she sat defeated, with a look of shock on her face, clutching something in one of her diminutive hands.

So intense was the argument that no one noticed as the trio entered the warehouse.

"—have to act now!" Kensei was shouting. "Who knows what they're doing to her, or why they even wanted her in the first place?! We don't have time to just sit around and wait!"

"We need to prepare," Love retorted, just as adamantly. "We can't just waltz into Hueco Mundo with no plan and hope to find Orihime and get her and all of us out safely! If you would just—"

"We don't have time for your cowardice," Kensei snarled, poking the taller man in the chest. "You don't care about her at all, do you?!" Love's face darkened at the accusation and he crossed his arms, drawing himself up to his full height.

"Enough," said Shinji, releasing Ichigo and stepping forward to join the throng. All eyes turned to him.

"Shinji—" Kensei began.

"Which one was it?" Shinji asked quietly.

Kensei said nothing, jamming his hands in his pockets. His eyes flicked to Hiyori's direction, where she looked absurdly small, dwarfed by Hachi's massive form.

"Espada," spat the blonde-haired vizard. "One of Aizen's personal guard. He broke my mask in less than five seconds."

"So. Aizen is getting more serious, is he?" mused Shinji, grimly.

Ichigo watched the exchange with growing horror. "Wait, what's happening?" he demanded, eyes flitting between the members of the vizard. "Are you saying that Orihime was—was—"

"Kidnapped," answered Love. "It was likely the reason all those arrancar were sent here in the first place."

"Kidnapped?" Ichigo gaped at him in shock. At his side, Rukia wore a similar expression. He glanced around the room in disbelief, eyes darting to each family member, as if hoping they would refute the obviously ridiculous statement. When none of them did, he continued, "How could this happen?! Why was no one protecting her?! Why didn't you—"

"We were protecting her," Hiyori snapped. "That's the point, Ichigo. They beat us anyway. The Espada are the most powerful arrancar in Aizen's army. You should know, didn't you come to us to train because you got your ass handed to you by one of them? Or did you forget?" she jeered.

"I didn't forget," Ichigo snapped back. The memory was permanently seared into his consciousness—how it had felt lying there on the pavement, a mess of gashes, bruises, and broken bones, looking up at a grinning Grimmjow. Knowing that he was completely at his enemy's mercy and there was nothing he could do to protect himself or the ones he cared about.

It hit him that Hiyori had probably felt the same way when Orihime was taken.

It was why he had sought the arrancar out again, after all, to avenge himself and to prove that he was indeed strong enough. It was why he had felt so disappointed when their battle had been abruptly cut short.

Realization dawned on him.

"So when that beam of light hit Grimmjow—"

"—their mission was completed," finished Shinji, solemnly. A heavy silence filled the room.

Hachi broke it. "Shinji," he asked. "What are we going to do now?"

Shinji opened his mouth, but Kensei interrupted. "Isn't it obvious? We storm Hueco Mundo and tear it apart until we find Orihime!"

"Calm down, Kensei," said Shinji. "Love is right. We need a plan. There are preparations that need to be made, and some of us have injuries that need tending to."

"Orihime is missing and you expect me to calm down?!" Kensei rounded on the blonde-haired vizard. There was an edge of desperation to his anger.

In the background, Hachi finished tending to Hiyori and turned to Ichigo, indicating for him to hold up his hand. Ichigo complied, and a beam of light incased the appendage. It was the most peculiar sensation, as if a thousand tiny somethings were crawling underneath his skin, pulling and stitching the broken pieces together.

"Yes," Shinji responded, his voice resounding with authority. "This was obviously a well thought out plan by Aizen. If we rush in blind, we could put Orihime in danger, along with ourselves. This may even have been why she was kidnapped—to lure us in! Perhaps our old comrade has business with us, and we should not give him the pleasure of walking into whatever trap he has concocted. And who will save Orihime if we are taken captive as well?"

Kensei glared at Shinji, but his logic was hard to ignore.

"We will save Orihime," Shinji said firmly. "But we must do it the right way."

"If you're going to Hueco Mundo, then I'm going too," added Ichigo.

"We don't need your help," retorted Kensei, roughly. "Just stay here and work on your training."

Ichigo's eyes widened, taken aback at the sudden hostility directed at him. He had not expected this reaction.

"Orihime is my friend, too!" he countered. "If she's in danger—"

"It's none of your business!"

He opened his mouth to utter a protest but Rukia cut in. "Ichigo—and I as well—are offering you help. And you're going to refuse—for what? The sake of your pride? Wouldn't you do anything to save Orihime?"

Kensei directed the full force of his glare at the raven-haired woman. "This doesn't concern you, soul reaper," he spat. "This is a family matter. We take care of our own."

Rukia's eyes narrowed as she glowered in return.

"This is our business, Ichigo." Shinji added. "We have our own personal vendetta with Aizen to take care of. We'll take him out and get Orihime too. Stay in Karakura Town—more hollows may be coming. For now, I think it's time you left the warehouse. We have our own preparations to make."

Ichigo listened with growing frustration. He yanked his hand free of Hachi's gentle grip. "I'm not staying put while Orihime is in danger!" he shouted. "Why do you think I've been training for the past month if not to protect—"

"Ichigo." Shinji looked at him pointedly.

Ichigo looked around the room at the vizard gathered—at Hachi's solemn gaze, Lisa's determined stare, Rose's furrowed brow—and each one of them stared silently back at him. He knew that this was the family who had raised Orihime since she was a little girl, long before he was even aware of her existence, and probably thought of and cared for her like a daughter. The responsibility to protect one's own family members—Ichigo understood it well. He had two little sisters after all.

This is a family matter, Kensei had said. And it was. But while that statement had meant to exclude Ichigo, he had understood it differently. Because while he had joined the vizard to steal the secrets of their hollow powers, he had gained something even more important.

An image of Orihime—full of laughter, her hair glowing like fire—flashed before his eyes. A burning determination filled him. A member of his family had been taken, and he had to save her.

"Fine," said Ichigo finally. "We'll go." Shinji visibly relaxed.

He turned on his heel and made to leave the warehouse. He stopped just as he passed the threshold to the outside, and said, "We'll go, and we'll meet there. In Hueco Mundo."

And he stalked out. After a final glance, Rukia followed suit.

"I'm sure we will," said Shinji softly, then turned to the rest of his family, who regarded him silently.

"We've got work to do."