Chapter 5:

Dawn seemed to come too early for my liking.

I was woken up by Urahara knocking, too loudly, on my door. He wouldn't stop knocking until I finally got out of the comfortable futon and opened the door; I definitely showed him a glare so he understood that I didn't care about the way he woke me up. I've never really been a morning person. After only getting a few hours of sleep, and dreaming the entire time, I felt even more tired than I was before laying down. With a dream that reminded me too much of the past as well, all I wanted was to go back to sleep and not think of that again.

"Yuuko! Good morning to you." The former Captain spoke in a too-loud, cheerful manner, completely ignoring my glare. "We have all the preparations ready, you and Ichigo will be leaving in 15 minutes. I've had Tessai cook you two breakfast." He walked away from my room and down the hall, towards the area that smelt of something incredible, even from where I was standing.

I rolled my eyes and followed behind Urahara. I ran my hand through my long hair a few times, but otherwise just ignored it. Not like whatever hollows I fight will care what I look like anyways, especially once they die.

Once I entered the room behind Urahara, both he and Tessai pulled me into a chair and put a plate full of eggs and toast in front of me. Across from me, Ichigo sat with his arms folded. It seemed like he already ate and was just wanting to leave and save his friend.

I quickly ate a piece of toast, then pushed the plate away. Honestly, I could have eaten more, but I didn't want to postpone a rescue mission any longer.

Urahara turned towards me at the sound of the plate being pushed aside. "Already done, Yuuko?" At my nod, he continued, "Well then, follow me."

Both Ichigo and I quickly stood up and followed Urahara to the training grounds located beneath the shop.

Urahara and Tessai both stood in front of us, two tall wooden posts stood behind them, almost the same height as the boulders littering the training area. The former Captain cleared his throat before speaking, "Alright you two, are you ready?"

I simply nodded, and Kurosaki Ichigo spoke, "I've left Chad waiting too long as it is... Of course I'm ready!" He clenched his Zanpakutō, as if getting ready for the action bound to happen as soon as we reached Hueco Mundo.

Urahara seemed proud of the substitute shinigami's statement. "Good. Remember though, Shinobu has the lead in this. No running off ahead, or splitting up. Understood?" When Ichigo reluctantly nodded, Urahara dug for an object out of his coat and handed it to me.

It was a strange object. It was circular, pale blue, and almost the size of my palm. It wasn't very heavy, but I could feel strong spiritual power coming from it. It had a strange pattern as well, white strips and very small diamonds littered its surface, with a larger diamond on the back; which seemed to be a button. I stared at the object for a while, trying to figure out what it could be. The former Captain spoke before I had the chance to ask him.

"It's a device I made after the Aizen situation. It will open another Garganta in Hueco Mundo. It's only good for one use though, so keep it safe and only use it once you rescue Sado."

I gently placed it inside my shihakushō, "Understood. Is there anything else?"

The former Captain jumped up high, landing on top of one of the wooden posts. "Only... Good luck." As soon as those words left his lips, he tapped his crane against the post.

Urahara began producing an enormous amount of reiatsu, chanting: "My right hand is the stone that bridges worlds. My left hand is the blade that binds reality. The black-haired shepherd is hung from a chair. Stratus clouds come, and I strike down the ibis." As soon as the incantation was complete, a blue spiritual aura produced, coming from Uraharas cane, and continuing to grow, covering the entire wooden post before shooting across to the other post a couple hundred feet away, covering that as well; the aura in the sky deepened, turning a dark blue, then black. Suddenly, it split: a massive black void appeared, the Garganta.

The substitute shinigami was about to run off and jump right in, but before he could I grabbed a hold of his arm, keeping him at my side. He sent me an annoyed look but I began talking to Urahara before he could say anything. "Sir, if we aren't back in 48 hours, I presume you will contact Seireitei about our..." With a quick glance at the human next to me, I decided not to use the word death, "..failure?"

The man beside me looked shocked, as if simply implying that we could fail was a sin. Honestly, 48 hours was a long time. For what should be a quick rescue, espeically since we know where to go, it should take no longer than 12 hours, if that. Urahara should know that if we aren't back within 24 hours then that would mean something went wrong, and it should be at that time that he would contact Seireitei, not a day later than that. Urahara seemed to understand my message completely and nodded above us. "Of course I will."

I smiled and saluted the former Captain before jumping into the Garganta, with the Substitute Shinigami right behind me.

As soon as we entered, I made a small pathway with the spirit particles surrounding us. I never was very good with controlling things like this, so the pathway was only a few feet wide and a little unstable, but it would definitely get the job of allowing us to cross through the Garganta done.

We quickly began walking the path.

I wasn't really expecting to have much conversation while on this mission, especially with my companion being so worried about his friend. However, he was the one who spoke first. "We're not going to fail, you know."

I looked over my shoulder at the orange-haired man walking behind me. He said that with so much confidence... It's rare to meet someone like him, that's for sure. I quickly responded, "I wasn't really expecting us to. But I have responsibilities, and one of those is to make sure, just in case this turns into a lot more than we anticipated, that someone will be aware of what happened. It's more of a formality than doubt, don't worry." I cast him a smile to reassure him, "I'm going in with the full intention of bringing back your friend, one way or another."

Ichigo seemed to relax a bit at that. "Thank you."

I laughed softly, facing ahead again. "After everything you've done for Seireitei, and Renji, this is only paying back a little of the dept we owe you."

At the sound of hair rustling, I turned in time to see the man shaking his head. "No, you really don't owe me anything. I did those things because it had to be done, to protect my friends and family, that's all."

Wow... it's been a while since I've seen a man so selfless, unlike those Kuchiki's... I shook that thought away and smiled at him again, "All the more reason to help you when it's needed. I'm speaking for all of Seireitei when I say this."

The substitute Shinigami smiled at me, "So, are you and Renji... well, together, or something?" I assume because of my look of shock he continued, "That's not the first time you've mentioned him is all, sorry if I'm prying."

I laughed loudly, the tension from lack of sleep and stress almost fading, as if I was with Renji again. "No, no. Definitely not!" I tried to stop laughing, but it wasn't working too well. "I mean... Hah! Not that he isn't attractive and everything, but..." I shook my head, still giggling, "Sorry, it's been a while since I've been asked this, and it's certainly not the first time it's been about me and Renji." After a deep breath, I continued, "But, no. We haven't ever been romantically involved. We're just very good friends."

Ichigo seemed amused, yet also relieved. "I see, good. I know someone who's interested in him, so I would have hated to break the news to her if he was taken."

I immediately gave the shinigami my full attention. It couldn't be... "Really?! Who?"

The orange-haired man quickly shook his head, "Damn it, sorry, ignore that. I said nothing about anything, got it?" Once he finished that, he spoke very softly again, "She'll kill me if I tell anyone."

Automatically, I smiled. Not the first time I've heard that statement, hopefully it's about the same person!... one way to find out. "Is it Kuchiki Rukia?"

The man looked at me, shocked. "I-I... Damn it! I didn't tell you, got it?!"

Laughing loudly, I nodded. "Now I definitely have to succeed in rescuing your friend! Renji will be happy that his feelings are returned." I'm not too afraid about Renji hurting me for telling his secret to who Renji thought was a rival, so I didn't even bother saying 'don't tell anyone' and all the other stuff people normally would say, I was too busy being happy for my friend to worry about it in the first place.

Right away, the shinigami behind me smiled, "Wow! That's great!" He laughed along with me, placing his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.

I smiled, pleased at the comfortable atmosphere between me and the substitute shinigami.

I still had my guard up, even if the shinigami beside me didn't. We were in the Garganta, so the possibility of an attack was extremely minimal, but it was still there none-the-less. We were coming closer to the exit into Hueco Mundo, so I didn't want to take any chances.

A few minutes later, we broke through the Reishi surrounding us and came into the immense desert that filled Hueco Mundo.

As far as I was able to sense, there weren't any hollows nearby; at least none that seemed interested or would pose a threat to us.

The substitute shinigami immediately ran off, and I was surprised he picked the right direction.

I quickly caught up with him, "Hang on, Kurosaki. We can't make too large of a scene, we need to take a more stealth approach. And make a plan!"

He glanced sideways at me with a dumbfounded glance, "Eh?! Stealth? You want a plan, fine. We go in, start hitting things, get Chad back, and get home. What's so difficult about that?"

I sighed loudly, still trying to keep up with him. Jeez, does he want to get himself killed? "It's difficult because you've done it before with Inoue, they will be expe-"

Cutting me off mid-sentence he spoke over me, "And it worked perfectly well there too, what's wrong with doing it again?"

"This is different than the Aizen situation! That's why, and the Gotei 13 are taking point here, you need to understand that!" And here I thought me and him would get along pretty well. At the shop, Urahara made him know I was to lead this, why act like this now?

He finally quit running and turned to look at me. "I do! But this is Chad! He's my friend, and I..." Kurosaki ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "I can't just play things cool when my friend is in danger because of me! This isn't that different than the Aizen situation.. a damn guy wants to hurt my friends... it's not different at all!"

I was stunned, although that was a bit of an understatement. If this was just some random stranger, I might just tell them to learn there place and quit wanting to rush off to their death. However, this man... his confidence that he will rescue Chad, and that nobody will stand in the way of him doing so was overwhelming. Before I could really think things through, the words already blurted out of my mouth: "Okay, let's do it your way then."

He quickly ran off, almost like he knew I would agree all along. I shook my head and followed after him.

Surprisingly, when we got to the Forest of Menos about 20 minutes later, there were no hollows or arrancar in sight. Nobody attacked us on the way, either.

Even when I come to Hueco Mundo alone for my various missions, I always have a few hollows get in my way. By now, everyone in, at least the area we were going to be going to, should have been notified that we were coming. Yet... nobody has attacked. Why?... I have a bad feeling about this.

I was definitely re-thinking the whole 'jump in and let loose' approach Kurosaki seemed to favor. I wanted to go back to being... well, sneaky.

We were just walking through the entrance to the Forest when I felt a chill run up my spine. Shit. I automatically felt an enormous reiatsu coming from behind me, but before I could even turn around completely, I was hit. By what? I have no clue... a kick? Punch? Sword? Either way, it hurt like hell, and I was thrown into one of the stones surrounding the entrance to the Forest.

"Shinobu!" I heard Kurosaki yell, but it sounded far away. I tried opening my eyes, but once again, I was hit. They seemed to stomp on my stomach, with enough strength and force to send me into the rocks almost a full foot.

I knew there were multiple Hollows surrounding us now, all extremely powerful; I'd be no match for them at all. I couldn't even move after only two hits; From the sounds of groans and what even seemed to be a bone cracking, it seemed Kurosaki wasn't fairing well either.

Damn it, damn it,damn it! What do I do? I tried to lift my arm towards my Zanpakutō, but as soon as I even twitched my finger, a hollow grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the rocks, practically dragging me.

"Hmm... 'ey, boss? Can I keep this one, think she'd make a good pet! Not as sexy as tha las' one, but she's got somethin' I like."

I attempted to struggle away, I really did, but it was like his hold alone put me into some sort of trance; If I had any strength in my body after those hits, I certainly didn't then.

I heard a man sigh, "I have no interest in that one, go ahead."

The man holding me squeezed me close to him, "Ha ha! Thanks boss!" He then whispered softly into my ear, making me want to puke on him right then to see if he'd let me go. "You better behave... actually, I kinda like a little struggle."

"LET HER GO!" I heard Kurosaki yell from a few feet away. After those words left his mouth though, I heard another crunch and a mumbled curse.

The man who sounded bored replied again, "It's time to go. Serdico, come. Leocadia, we do not want him dead! Bring him, we're leaving."

With that, the man who seemed to be the leader vanished. The man holding me, who I assume is named Serdico, tightened his grip and spoke to the other hollow nearby. "Gee, he can't even let me be happy for one minute with my new toy."

I heard the woman gasp and she yelled, "Do not speak of Milagros that way, Gilga!" With that, her reiatsu vanished as well, along with Ichigos.

Damn it! I can't even open my eyes anymore... where are they taking us?

I felt, more than heard, the hollow sigh above me and he used Sonido to catch up to his comrades.

As soon as he moved I realized I was loosing consciousness. Damn... am I really this useless... was he right about me all along?

Just a few moments later, and I passed out.

The last thing I heard was the hollow above me chuckling, and my Zanpakutō yelling my name, before everything simply... disappeared.

End of Chapter 5

Authors Note: Hope you all enjoyed! Look forward to the reviews ^.^

If there are any questions, just PM me or ask in a review. Remember guys, this story is rated T, there will be things a bit in the "maybe" suited for teens department, but I will not put rape/torture or anything of that sort in my stories. Just don't want you guys to have the wrong idea. :)

Next update in a week! Enjoy!