THANK YOU GUEST FOR POINTING OUT THE FORMATTING ERROR WHEN I FIRST POSTED THIS CHAPTER! It is not apparent until after I publish sometimes. I hate Word.

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Chapter 11: Pump the Breaks

Renji looked between Rukia and his captain in confusion, before looking again to Commander Yamamoto, who had called a captain and lieutenant meeting. Rukia had been summoned as well due to her involvement in Hueco Mundo.

"I'm sorry, Mayuri, could you say that again, please?" Kyoraku asked the captain of the Research division.

"I said Aizen is dead. How much more plainly do I need to put it for you simpletons?" he sneered.

"And the Hogyoku?" Ukitake asked.

"Gone," he answered defensively.

"Destroyed gone? Taken Gone?" Soi Fon demanded clarification.

"I don't know!" Captain Kurotsuchi shouted. "Just gone!"

The room went quiet for a moment, until Hitsugaya asked the question on everyone's mind. "Found a new master, 'gone'?"

"That is the fear, Hitsugaya-taicho," answered Yamamoto grimly, casting a glance to Captain Kurotsuchi that communicated his desire for him to follow-up on the concern.

"When was the Hogyoku discovered missing," Captain Kuchiki asked smoothly, belying his own anxiety.

"After Aizen's death," Kurotsuchi answered petulantly.

"Which was…?" Komamura followed up exasperatedly, making no attempt to disguise his impatience at the necessity for the court guards to extract each little detail out of the psychologically childish captain one by one.

"Coinciding with the 'incident'," he answered.

"Is that what we are calling it now?" Hisagi asked.

"Yes," several present answered in unison.

"Why are we just hearing about this now?" Unohana asked earnestly, gently and certainly trying to get back to the agenda, whatever it may be.

"We have only just been able to spare enough resources to allow the proper monitoring of the Muken. It was not a high priority under the circumstances, being all but impenetrable. We allowed low-security surveillance consisting of just a visual feed to suffice while most of our personnel was out searching Rukongai. As one might imagine, it is difficult to ascertain whether a person, as heavily bound as Aizen, is alive or dead based solely on a visual picture. The vital data must be under surveillance as well. This is how his death was missed until now. The Twelfth Division has reviewed the data from the time of his death countless times now, using both the vital data and the visual feed, and we have been unable to find anything remarkable about it. Aizen was alive one moment, and then he wasn't. When we removed his body from the Muken this morning, it was brought to the Twelfth and examined to my exacting standards. The Hogyoku was gone, with no trace remaining."

"Hmmm, this is a problem," Kyoraku broke the following silence with the understatement of the century.

Commander Yamamoto brought the meeting to attention with a thunderous bang of his staff on the tiled floor. When all eyes were on him, he raised his eyebrows enough for the gathering to see the glinting orbs underneath. "I will summon Urahara Kisuke. Unfortunately, it is our only option."

His lieutenant nodded once and left to carry out his captain's will unbidden. Yamamoto directed his gaze then to Hisagi, Kira, and Matsumoto. "Report what you have heard in Rukongai." He demanded with absolute authority.

The three lieutenants looked to each other, unsure where to start. Rangiku decided to take the lead. "Well, Soutaicho, I would like to preface this report with the disclaimer that none of us put too much stock into the drunken rumblings of the Rukongai pub scene, but all three of us have heard in multiple instances stories of a strange beast sighted at night in Rukongai. According to the locals, this beast made its first appearance the night of the 'incident'."

"And what have the stories had in common?"

"Just that this creature is about the same size as one of us, only has been spotted at night, and avoids contact with any souls. In each story it has fled before being identified." Hisagi reported.

"And what, if any, identifying characteristics have been reported?" the Commander pressed, narrowing his eyes with interest.

Kira spoke up hesitantly. "The creature is said to have wings and a tail, Soutaicho. It is said to be a demon."

"Mmmm." Yamamoto responded, effectively dismissing the three. Then he addressed the rest. "I will call you again after I have spoken with Urahara Kisuke. In the meantime, direct your squads to follow up on any leads it finds on this 'demon', but also to discourage the citizens of Rukongai from weaving this into a tall tale. It undermines our efforts if all information we receive is hearsay."

All present nodded.

"Kuchiki Rukia, Lieutenant Abarai" the commander added, "You will return to your own squads, but be on standby to return to the World of the Living. It may be necessary to bring the Ryoka back to Soul Society for a period of time before this issue is resolved, and your participation may be required to ensure their cooperation."

"Yes, Commander," they answered in unison.

With that, Yamamoto dismissed the meeting

Ichigo woke the guys up early that morning, filling them in on how Renji and Rukia had been mysteriously summoned to Soul Society in the middle of the night while packing up and cleaning up the campsite. The girls joined them soon thereafter, and after giving Ryo the excuse that Renji had received an emergency call about a relative in an accident earlier in the morning and that everyone wanted to get back a day early to see what they could do, the group started down the mountain. While going down was definitely faster than going up, the trip back was still going to take about four hours including the multiple train and bus stops involved.

After saying goodbye to Ryo at Karakura Station, the rest of the group went directly to Urahara's. Tessai showed them into the living area, and Yoruichi entered, informing the group, "He's not here. He has been summoned to Soul Society. I don't know when he will be able to return or get a message to me. I tried to follow him but he seems to have locked the senkaimon somehow. He also locked access to all his surveillance equipment, presumably to keep it out of the wrong hands during his absence, so all any of us can do right now is wait."

The group eyed each other with anxious and disappointed expressions. There wasn't really anything to say. Ichigo spoke up, "You'll let us know as soon as you hear anything, won't you, Yoruichi?"

"Yes. In the meantime, be careful. Ayasegawa-kun and Madarame-kun were also called back to Soul Society too. If hollows start showing up in Karakura again, it will fall to you to take care of them. I'm stuck here too, so I guess I can help out in a pinch, but I can't be everywhere at once."

"Of course." Uryuu said as Chad and Orihime nodded along. Ichigo made a somewhat awkward face, but not because he felt sorry for himself again. He just realized he wasn't being addressed by Yoruichi and it felt kind of odd. He suddenly felt great empathy for Tatsuki, who was also standing to the side of the group.

With that, the group decided to go part ways for the rest of the weekend; everyone was tired from the trek up and down the mountain and lack of sleep over the past 24 hours. The anticlimactic outcome of the trip to Urahara's did nothing for their energy levels. Ichigo said goodbye to his friends and took Orihime's hand to walk her home, taking her backpack while she carried her pillow.

When they arrived, he came in with her backpack and set it down near the door, just past the shoe-changing area. He wasn't quite ready to leave her yet, though. Luckily for him, she felt likewise. "Would you like something to drink, Kurosaki-kun?" she asked from her bedroom as she put her pillow away.

"Actually, I am pretty thirsty," he said, picking her backpack up again and bringing it to the doorway of her room. She took it with a smile and set it down, planning to deal with it later.

"Follow me!" she said cheerfully, leading the way to the kitchen. She took out two glasses and opened the fridge. "Would you like water? Barley tea? Milk?"

"Barley tea would be great," Ichigo said, watching how her hair in her ponytail spilled over her shoulder to veil her face as she leaned into the fridge to retrieve the pitcher. He took a seat at the counter stool and smiled at her as she passed him a full glass. She stood on the other side of the counter and watched condensation grow on the side of her own glass. She had kept the curtains drawn in her apartment while she was gone in attempt to keep it cool, but it was still quite hot inside. She got up to open her large window and put her fan in front of it, directing it toward Ichigo. "Is that helping at all?" she asked him.

"Yeah, that makes a big difference, thanks," he said as he held the cool glass to the back of his neck.

Orihime chuckled a bit. "Next time, maybe we should go to the beach instead of the mountains," she said with a laugh in her voice.

"I'd go. I think we could still pull it off this year if you want, we can at least try," Ichigo said, not especially excited but clearly not opposed.

"Yeah… It's not going to be the same without Rukia-chan and Abarai-kun, though. I hope they can come back soon," Orihime said without much actual hope, watching her fingers draw lines in the condensation on her glass.

"I know. As much as they annoy me, it's a little lonely without them."

"Right?" Orihime looked to Ichigo with a smile, pleased that he was sharing his feelings with her so easily.

Ichigo looked up at his girlfriend, observing her with an affectionate half-grin, and then looked down to his lap and spoke, "You know, I had planned on going home right after dropping you off, but…" he trailed off, raising his head again with a sideways gaze somewhat shadowed by his brows.

"Umm, Kurosaki-kun, would you like to stay and watch a movie? It's too hot to do anything else really. We could have dinner here, if you don't mind… I kind of blew my budget for the week on camping…" She was nervous and tripping over her words. She wasn't sure what he had in mind. Also, he was watching her like a hawk. She didn't want to appear too eager, and she knew he wouldn't miss anything.

"That sounds great, Inoue. Actually, I could go for some cold ramen." He saw Orihime's face begin to fall a bit, and quickly added, "The convenience store kind is fine. I'll go get it now, if you don't mind. I'll get some ice cream, too," he added to literally sweeten the deal.

Orihime's face lit up. "Really? You don't mind?"

"Of course not! What kind of boyfriend would I be if I couldn't even treat my girl to ice cream and noodles?" he said, nearly laughing.

Orihime blushed and gave a shy smile. She still wasn't used to the idea of being his girlfriend, despite what had happened the previous day. At the memory of that her blush deepened significantly and she squirmed a bit.

Ichigo noticed her discomfort but misinterpreted it. "Are you alright, Inoue? You look overheated. I could go…" He reconsidered. He really didn't want to go. "I could go get the food and you could take a shower or something and cool off," He reconsidered again. He didn't want to be that selfish. "Or we could just do this another time?"

"No!" Orihime's focus came back as she answered with a sharper voice than she intended. "No, I'm fine. But a shower is a good idea. Take my key with you and I'll get cleaned up. You can clean up too after you get back, I mean, you have a change of clothes in your backpack that you were going to use tomorrow, right?"

"Oh yeah," he answered, not exactly comfortable with the idea of showering at her house, but even more averse to the idea that he would be sweaty and smelly while his girlfriend was fresh as a daisy. "That's a good idea, Inoue. I'll be back then," he added, taking the key.

"See you soon!" she answered.

Ichigo was right to be a little concerned about taking a shower at Orihime's place. It felt unnatural using her almond-scented shampoo and fruity body soap, although not unpleasant. The part that was really unnerving though was the errant thoughts about this being the place where Orihime took her daily showers that kept flooding his mind. In fact, he had such a hard time keeping his thoughts 'family friendly' that Orihime started to get worried about him and came to knock on the door, asking if everything was alright. The fear of being caught with a raging boner in his girlfriend's bathroom was enough to cool his thoughts, and he finished dressing as he assured her everything was fine.

Ichigo was also right about the convenience store cold ramen; it hit the spot. After they ate dinner, they brought the ice cream out to the living room and turned on a comedy movie. They were both drawn into the movie while their hands and mouths were busy eating their desserts, but after the ice cream was gone, they both felt a little more conscious of one another. Ichigo tentatively took Orihime's hand, and she intertwined her fingers with his. Orihime began absentmindedly stroking the side of his palm with her little finger, which Ichigo, being seventeen years old and completely inexperienced with girls, found to be the most erotic sensation in his young life. His focus on the movie was quickly fading and his breath was becoming shallower and quicker. He returned Orihime's attention by stroking the back of her hand with his thumb in time with her own movements. Soon enough, Orihime realized what was going on. She too was inordinately turned on by this small physical connection. Her breathing mimicked Ichigo's, and when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, she started to turn her head to him, and before her eyes could find his face, his lips found hers.

He kissed her softly at first, just allowing his lips to mold against hers motionlessly, and after a moment the hand that was not in hers found its way to her shoulder. He turned her to face him and then tilted his head to allow the kiss to intensify. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth for a moment, and as she let out a silent gasp, he went on the offense, his tongue dominating her mouth.

It was all going too quickly for Orihime. As much as she was into it the day before, being here, alone with him in her apartment, she felt much more vulnerable. Armed with the knowledge of how hot their make-out session in the cabin had been, she also knew if she let things go too far, she wouldn't be able to stop either of them. She put her hands on Ichigo's shoulders and pushed him back.

Ichigo didn't get the message. His gaze darkened and he pushed her back, so that her shoulder blades hit the arm of her sofa. His throat growled slightly as he went in for another kiss.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime yelped a lot louder than she intended, pushing her hands into his chest and locking her elbows.

Ichigo froze. He looked at Orihime's frightened face and he felt his nerves turn to ice. His face fell and paled as he sat back down, unable to look away.

"Oh my god, Inoue, I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me," he said in a soft, quaking voice.

Orihime just nodded silently and looked at her fists as she straightened back up.

After a tortuous minute, she spoke up.

"Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry. I just think things between us are moving too quickly. I mean, it's not that I don't like it, I just, I, I just don't want to rush so much," she said, looking up to him apologetically.

Ichigo's frozen heart melted a bit, and he wished he could take her hand without feeling like a pervert. "You're right, Inoue," he smiled apologetically and stood up. "I should probably go home. I'll see you on Monday."

Everything inside of Orihime was screaming for her to stop him, but she knew he was right. She got up and followed him as he made his way to the door. "Thank you for understanding, Kurosaki-kun. And thanks for dinner!"

He turned around to face her as he put on his shoes at the door. "Don't worry about it, Inoue. You are right, and you are welcome," he said, putting on a confident smile for her benefit. Her relieved reaction was worth it. She was so damn cute, he couldn't help himself from grabbing her chin lightly and pecking her on the lips before giving her a tight hug. "I'll see you Monday," he repeated himself.

"I'll see you Monday. Goodnight, Kurosaki-kun," she said dreamily.

"Goodnight, Inoue," he said, leaving before he could change his mind.

Sorry it's a short one, but this seemed like a natural place to stop. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think about the news in Soul Society and IchiHime action!