Author's Note: Yes, by now, I bet you're wondering what's going on with Matsumoto and Renji. Rest assured, it will all come back together in good time. And sorry I didn't update, I lost track of time...

Holding tightly to Hitsugaya's hand as if he was afraid that he would slip away, Ichigo hacked his way viciously through the crowds of Arrancar trying to deter their path to the room's exit. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kusaka, facing an even larger amount of Arrancar on his own with the aid of his zanpaku-to.

As he slammed Zangetsu into the stomach of a hapless foe, beheading another, he stole a quick glance at the white-haired boy.

He didn't expect to see the tears that just barely inched past the boy's lashes.

At this sight, Ichigo couldn't help but feel a slight pang of both guilt and jealousy. He knew that they were leaving Kusaka to a fate that, In a 4 out of 5 chance, would most likely end in death. That was the guilt portion. Although he knew it was incredibly rude of himself, he also was thinking that Hitsugaya rarely showed much inflection aside from his usual haughtiness, which left him jealous and wondering; if he was the one staying behind to give the other two a chance, would the former tenth division captain be crying for him as well?

Shaking the thoughts out of his mind as he gave Zangetsu another hard swing, he noted that the exit was getting close. Just a few more steps and they would be there.

"Get the hell out of my way," he growled as he cut down an Arrancar in front of him, while at his side, Hitsugaya successfully eliminated the final one. Their path to escape was now clear, but Ichigo noticed that Hitsugaya seemed hesitant to leave. He was constantly looking over his shoulder as they ran for the doors.

"Toshiro, come on," Ichigo urged, releasing his hand in fear that maybe he had been gripping on too tightly. "We're clear, so let's hurry and get out of here like Sojiro asked us to."

Reluctantly, Hitsugaya turned again to take a final glimpse of his fiancée.

Ichigo turned, too.

He regretted it.

Both boys looked back just in time to see Kusaka go down.

What had occurred was a blur of Arrancar bodies and zanpaku-to, and Ichigo couldn't see much except for blood, blood, blood, more blood, and oh – did I mention blood? It was unclear what exactly had happened, or which Arrancar had delivered the blow that would kill the young man.

However, it became apparent that his killer had not been an Arrancar.

It had been Aizen himself, which was evident by the fact that the man calmly was standing in front of the group as if nothing had happened, holding his sword, which was stained scarlet with fresh blood.

Hitsugaya's hands flew to his mouth to fight back the scream that was threatening to escape his lips, his eyes widening to the size of saucers and his face paling as he watched Kusaka's body hit the ground, a lake of blood spreading across the floor as shards of ice rained to the ground; the remnants of Kusaka's zanpaku-to.

"K…Kusaka…No…"

There was a pause before Hitsugaya spun around to face Aizen, Hyorinmaru clasped in his hands.

"Y-You bastard!" he screamed, completely losing it, not caring that tears were now streaming down his face as he was swallowed in his own fit of hysterics. "How could you!? You killed him! You murderer! You son of a bitch! I'll…I'll cut you into pieces! I'll kill you!"

Aizen, on the other hand, looked rather pleased with himself, and he was entirely unaffected by Hitsugaya's frantic screaming. He merely shook his head apprehensively, replying, "That's not very nice of you to say, is it, Hitsugaya-kun? That troublesome fiancée of yours was in my way. And those who get in my way have no choice but to die."

"You…"

Ichigo's eyes darted to the left. The Arrancar were already heading their direction.

"Stop it, Toshiro!" he shouted, clapping his hand over the boy's mouth. "Sojiro's gone. You can't change that."

By this point, the boy was struggling viciously, trying to wrench free from Ichigo's grip, intent on inflicting physical harm upon Aizen.

Dragging him towards the exit, Ichigo figured he had no other option.

"I'm sorry," he muttered quietly before slamming the flat end of Zangetsu against the back of his head with considerable force. It was just enough to knock him unconscious.

Wincing, Ichigo hoped he hadn't hurt him too much. He hastily hoisted the boy's motionless form into his arms, running off through the doors, painfully aware of the Arrancar that were following close behind. He turned, ramming his elbow into the doors, slamming them shut, hoping this would stall the Arrancar for a while as he ran down the corridors.

Frankly, he had no idea where the hell he was going.

He took a turn, nearly slipping as he did so, but regained his balance and continuing on, Zangetsu secured to his back, holding the unconscious Hitsugaya tightly against his chest.

He stopped abruptly as he saw a figure running towards him, his heart freezing in fear. He couldn't fight and take care of Hitsugaya at the same time.

However, he was relieved to find who it was.

"Renji!"

"Thank god," the redhead groaned in relief. "Right, so you've got the boy, and now, let's get out of here. I've arranged with Urahara-san to open a garganta of sorts for us to cross into the real world with…And then we'll take it from there, I guess…"

"What about Rangiku-san?" Ichigo interrupted.

"What, you haven't seen her around?"

"No, not at all," the strawberry answered. "And we can't leave here without her. We've got to find her fast before something else happens.

Matsumoto was painfully aware of two things.

One. There was blood running down the side of her face, and her vision was blurred into crimson blots as the liquid found its way into her eyes. The outline of Ichimaru, the former captain of the third division, was little more that a series of red splotches.

Two. She was most definitely on the losing side. Ichimaru seemed relatively unscathed, which was bad news. He simply stood there with that perpetually smug smile of his, as if to rub in the fact that he had long surpassed her since the old days of their friendship.

But at least he hadn't been lying to her.

It was evident that he had kept to his word when he had said he didn't want to kill her.

All of the wounds he had inflicted upon her were superficial. They hurt like hell, like most other wounds, but he had purposely aimed for areas that had not contained any vital organs or that would not severely damage her.

Her upper arms, her thighs, her hands, her legs, her face. And where he did strike vital areas, such as her stomach and chest, the wounds were long, but fairly shallow and didn't bleed much.

"Why?" Matsumoto demanded, gripping Haineko whilst keeping a wary eye on Shinso, lest the fox-face let it extend again. Her free hand moved cautiously to her face to wipe the blood away from her eyes. "Why don't you attack me seriously? Aren't I your enemy? Isn't it your job to kill me?"

"I don't know what yer talkin' about."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Stop lying to me."

"I ain't lying to 'ya, Rangiku."

"Yes, you are!" she shot back angrily, her voice rising. "Am I not worth your efforts!? Go ahead, Gin! Try and kill me if you want!"

"It ain't that simple."

"I don't understand. What obligation do you have to keep doing this!? It doesn't make any sense-"

"It was nice seein' you around, Ragiku," Ichimaru interrupted, turning and beginning to walk away. "You'd better leave this place while 'ya still can."

"Gin, wait…"

It was too late. He had disappeared.

Seconds later, she realized why he had departed so suddenly.

Renji and Ichigo were approaching; they had most likely tracked her down by her reiatsu, and now, they had stopped in front of her. She glanced at Ichigo, noticing he was holding something in his arms – which actually turned out to be a someone.

"Taichou," she breathed, relieved he was safe and sound, at least for the most part. He appeared to be unconscious, but relatively unhurt. "Thank you, Ichigo-san," she smiled gratefully, "Thank you for saving taichou."

"Ah, it was nothing," the strawberry responded sheepishly.

"Are you alright, Rangiku?" Renji asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern as he noticed the numerous injuries on her body. "Were you fighting an Arrancar?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "And no," she added quietly, "I wasn't fighting an Arrancar. It was…someone else."

"Did you win the battle?"

There was a pause before Matsumoto finally responded.

"I don't know."