Chapter 6:

Do you ever get an odd feeling when you're dreaming about the past? Not because you know it's a dream, or because it's like déjà vu, or even because you know what's going to happen next. But, because... it doesn't matter when you know that it's going to turn out bad, you still get caught up in the things that happened before the bad that, even though you know it's going to happen no matter what you do, you still try to fight it...

This dream was like that, but no matter how much I tried, it went in the same direction as it did almost 100 years ago. The training, companionship, laughs, and happiness... all that disappeared and it turned into loneliness, hurt, regret, and anger.

Even while in a deep sleep, I could tell I was crying. Every time I dream this, I wake up hyperventilating with all the feelings this dream brings.

This time though, I didn't wake up because of the overwhelming feelings, asking myself why over and over again. This time, I woke up because of an enormous amount of pressure on my neck, not enough to choke me, but enough to cause almost unbearable discomfort.

Once I opened my eyes, I was met with a man pressing his palm against my neck. However, as soon as he saw I was awake, he lightened his touch so it wasn't putting pressure on me, although the presence alone was a discomfort.

I knew exactly who the man was: Serdico. The arrancar who called me a pet. The one who also tossed me around as if I were just an empty gigai. Against my will, my body began to shake in fear. My emotions were already scrambled because of the dream, then being reminded of what happened made me show my feelings a lot more than I would like.

Before I could even begin to yell at the hollow before me, he pressed his palm against my mouth, his other one still hovering over my neck.

"Now, now, just relax. You're my lil pet now, got that?" He flashed a smile at me, one which showed every tooth in his mouth. "One thing I don't like in m'ah pets though, and that is someone more important than me. You got a lover or something?" He didn't remove his hand so I could speak yet, and a moment later he continued, a bit more seriously, if that were possible in the tone he spoke with. "An' who were you dreamin' about?" Once he finished, he finally lifted his hand.

I glared at him angrily, wanting with all my might to just tell him to fuck off, but if I wanted to survive and find some way to escape, I would have to cooperate. I sighed deeply before I spoke, "First off, I am nobody's pet." Never said I would cooperate nicely. After he arched an eyebrow but didn't move to choke me or retaliate, I continued, "I have no..." I felt like a child doing it, but even in front of an enemy, I couldn't help but blush as I said the next word. "lover. And I wasn't dreaming about anyone."

The arrancar grinned widely at my blush, but didn't comment on that; instead paying more attention to what I said afterwards, "Now, now, lyin' to me ain't that smart. You mumbled somethin' 'bout being sorry to sum Captain. Tell me who."

I averted my eyes. Why does my sleep talking always seem to cause me trouble? I sighed, looks like I really can't get out of this one. "It was someone who use to train me, about a hundred years ago." I sent him another hard glare, hoping that he would drop the subject there.

Serdico narrowed his eyes, rubbing his thumb along the side of my neck, right above the artery. "You've been asleep fer 'bout 23 hours, ain't ya wonderin' about that friend o' yours?"

My eyes widened, it didn't feel like I'd been asleep for even one hour, let alone twenty-three. However, that wasn't what made me hate myself for an instant. I was too absorbed in my past and what happened to me, that I didn't even think about my Substitute-Shinigami companion.

Quickly, I tried to sit up off the single piece of dirty cloth I was laying on. Unsurprisingly, the arrancar held me down.

"No need for that impatience, Missy. Your frien' is fine, fer the moment anyways."

I sighed. What can I do against someone whose so much more powerful than me? I don't even have my Zanpakutō right now. "What do you guys want with him? Is this some revenge plot for Aizen?"

Serdico raised his eyebrows at this, "Aizen, eh? Nah, I didn't even like that shinigami." He continued to stroke the area near my vein, which didn't help my shaking in fear. "For me, it's 'cause of my big brother. That orange-haired prat is the fuckin' reason he's dead. The others have some reasons, too; but I ain't looking into their fucked up business."

Well, at least he's very forth-coming with information. "How large is this team of yours anyways? Do you really think just a few of you will be able to take on the entire Soul Society? That's what's going to happen once they realize what happened."

This seemed to amuse the arrancar. "Hah! Just one of my crew beat up that strawberry you folks call the savior, why do you think we'd give a fuck if a couple more come our way?"

I bit the instead of my cheek, a habit I've had for as long as I remember, something I do when I'm extremely nervous. I was about to say something which involved quite a few curses when the arrancar leaned down to talk in my ear, which made me shiver in disgust.

"Look Missy, I wanna make this clear for ya. You ain't getting away, there is no chance fer ya to be rescued. Yer gonna be my pet for as long as you're still breathin'. Got that?" He pulled away when he was done speaking, staring straight at me, actually waiting for a reply.

I attempted to shake my head, but when I felt a sharp object nick my neck, I stopped immediately. His nails? . Dammit!Am I really this fucking helpless? I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself down, but all that accomplished was making me want to hit him more.

The arrancar holding me down sighed. "All I wanted was this ta be simple an' clean, but now ya gotta disobey me, huh?"

That statement just made me snap, before I even realized it myself, I'd lifted my arm and punched him as hard as I could right on his jaw.

Serdico seemed stunned, and before I gave him the time to react, I quickly ran. With only swordsmanship on my side the past 100 years, I also learned quite a bit of Hakuda, hand-to-hand combat, and mastered Shunpo as well. I put all of my strength into my legs and used Shunpo to run as fast as I could away from the arrancar who, no doubt, was chasing me.

I didn't even know where I was going, I just ran. I was obviously in the forest of Menos, but not an area I'd seen before. I couldn't see or sense anyone either, which was odd considering this forest was supposed to be crawling with Hollows left and right.

I tried to sense Kurosaki Ichigo's presence, but it felt almost like I was intoxicated. I couldn't feel any sort of reiatsu around me at all, which was impossible considering Hueco Mundo itself has it's own reiatsu that any Shinigami should be able to sense.

When I felt a tingling sensation over my chest, I stopped running at once. Did they put something on me?! I quickly patted myself, and I was shocked at the outline I found, an object inside my shihakushō's inner pocket. Something I remember putting there myself. A grin spread across my face when I recalled what Urahara said about the object, something that could send me back.

However, before I entertained that thought for another moment, a voice appeared in my head.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Yuuko?" said a deep voice, one I recognized as my Zanpakutō.

"Eh? What do you mean?" It didn't even occur to me to say that inside of my head, instead I simply whispered it.

I heard him sigh loudly before answering, "Well, for one, me. And another, your friend and the one you can here to save. It's taking all my strength to just communicate with you from so far away."

I shook my head quickly, "Yes, I understand that. But, those things beat me before I could even have so much as a look at them! How do you expect me to do all this by myself? I can go back to Soul Society, and get help from someone who can actually defeat them."

"You just said so yourself, they caught you off guard! You have a chance now that you know about them. I can still lend you my power even though we're far apart, at least for a little while. Be as stealthy as you can, I can lead you to myself, then to the humans."

As soon as he completed his sentence, I felt myself growing slightly stronger, as if whatever was intoxicating me was leaving my system. I could feel the dark reiatsu Hueco Mundo had, and I could very slightly feel the substitute-shinigami's presence as well.

When he felt my hesitancy, he spoke again, this time less demanding and more reassuring. "Yuuko, I still don't know if you're right for me, but I've seen you do these things a million times. Against stronger opponents, when the odds are all stacked against you. It's a simple in-and-out mission just like always. You can definitely do this, Yuuko."

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and I smirked. "I have a feeling you're starting to actually take a liking to me, huh?"

After hearing him laugh loudly, he answered. "Hell no, I just don't wanna be stuck in this damn place!"

I smiled again, "I see. I'll definitely get you, Ichigo, and Sado out of here. Thank you for having confidence in me."

I felt his approval wash over me before I began to ran again, this time towards the direction I just tried so hard to get away from.

"You can do this, Yuuko."

End of Chapter 6

Authors Note: Hope you all enjoyed, sorry for the short chapter this week, I've been a bit busy.

I'll also be out of town for close to 2 weeks as well, so next update won't be until between June 5th-8th.

Review to let me know what you think, enjoy! ^.^