Chapter 5

She couldn't stop herself from grimacing as the needle pierced her skin once more, the pain was beginning to be unbearable. The man above her made a face almost as if he knew what she was going through before he continued, and Orihime let out a breath she'd been holding before sucking in one more. How much longer did she have to endure this torture? Where on Earth was she anyway?

"I'm sorry to have cut you so deep." The man sighed. "Truly I thought I had better control, I could have killed you!" His persona now was nothing like it had been back in the world of the living, Orihime thought. She bit back a wince as she looked around the room she was in, shock was beyond what she felt when she'd woken up hours before.

She was expecting to be smacked around and tortured once more, held in a cold cell with a lonely window facing a never changing landscape and instead she awoke in a warm bed, a raging fire burning in the corner of the warmly lit room and a platter of food on the table near her head. She'd jumped up confused so quick she'd ripped the few stitches that had been sown over her previous wound. Which led her to be sitting in front of the man who kidnapped her as he hummed a cheery tune and apologized.

"Miss Inoue I really have no other way to apologize without boring you to death I just hope you understand why I did this. I desperately need your help, and Kurosaki Ichigo's as well." He explained, discarding his bloody gloves and offering Orihime a small smile, it was like he'd been a completely different person.

"I'm so confused." Orihime admitted looking away sheepishly and Lepe gasped overly dramatically as he took a seat beside her.

"Oh Kami! I've apologized so many times before even telling you why I needed your help! Forgive me, this is my first time having guests over and Miss Inoue you and your boyfriend are famous around these parts." He said raising his eyebrows "You know, murdering a bunch of people does that." He added with a chuckle and Orihime's eyes went wide, to which he burst out laughing. Was this man crazy? Orihime wondered to herself.

"Anyway i'll cut to the chase, a couple of months ago, my husband was taken by another Arrancar, forced to work in his palace because of some squabble over payment of a debt from decades before. I need you to help me bring him home." He said matter of fact and Orihime frowned.

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand." She whispered. "You need us to help bring your husband back home? What could we do?"

"Well it's obvious honey!" Lepe said rolling his eyes "You and Mr Knight in Shining Armor are strong, and he's even stronger when he's trying to protect you. That's why I took you, I knew that if I wanted to ask his help I'd need to only have you in my grasp to have him listen."
"So, this was all just to get him to fight your battle for you?" She said frowning, "As if he was some sort of soldier."

"Now now, I never said he would be doing the fighting for me, just that I wanted his help." Lepe said with a shrug, tossing his pink hair over his shoulder, and Orihime scoffed.

"If you just wanted his help, then you could have talked to him in the world of the living, without hurting anybody."

"I don't know if you noticed sweet cheeks but your world doesn't exactly bring out the best in me." He said giving her a once over. "I don't recall ever hearing about you being this bold." He added and Orihime's cheeks darkened three shades, her eyes down cast.

"Oh to be in love." Lepe hummed, a small smile coming to his face. Orihime looked up to find him staring off into space, and she wondered who this man really was. "I know it's a terrible lot to ask of you both, but I do miss my husband, and I know I'm not strong enough to do this alone."

Orihime stared at him, trying to see through any deceit but he seemed to be genuinely telling the truth and Orihime could only sigh as she looked into the fire, the shadows dancing on the floor reminding her of all the battles they'd been in.

"Kurosaki-kun will be so mad." she whispered.

And she had no idea how right her words were.

Ichigo was in the land of the living trying to find any means in to Hueco Mundo, his temper was boiling and he spent night and day beneath Urahara's shop, training untilhis legs gave way as the shop keeper made preparations for his upcoming trip. Ichigo hated himself at the moment; to claim to care about someone and not even be able to protect them, he was pathetic! He spat on the ground before standing up right, the tip of his sword barely grazing the ground. He had to become stronger, he had to find her, and he had to tell her how much he truly cared about her before he lost her for good.

"If you keep pushing yourself this hard, you're going to kill yourself." Urahara said from behind him, his face hidden behind his fan. Ichigo could only clench his fist tighter around Zangetzu's hilt.

"I'm not dying until she's home." He said and Urahara knew with every fiber of his being that he meant it.

A/N: Hello lovelies! I hope you all had a great New Year's and have had a great few months. I know I've been lost and I have no excuses. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the turn the story has taken, I hope nobody is hating it so far, that would make me very sad. It's a small one I think, just trying to build up some plot, we'll get back to some love soon. Drop a review and tell me what you think, I appreciate yu all taking the time to read this. :)