Ichigo left the monastery during the night whilst Renji was resting. He thanked the priest and left on his motorbike. He called Urahara for any new information, but he had none. Ichigo took out a map and checked for any particular locations around the area. He noticed some ruins and beyond them he recalled that there was an abandoned village; Hueco Mundo. The village had been abondened some years back, due to a plague. People always steered away from this village because it was rumoured that there where high levels of radiation. Ichigo folded his map, and decided to drive to this village and check it out for himself.
What better than a ghost town would a fugitive find to hide himself?
It was a three day drive, so Ichigo planned on stopping in a village, which lay halfway to Hueco Mundo, and gather as much information as possible. The former was a poor and barren village, inhabited only by old people. There was only one inn and a couple of farmsteads that had seen better days. Ichigo found an old man staring at the road upon arriving in the village. As he asked him about Hueco Mundo, the old man eyed Ichigo greedily and motioned for him to pay. After paying him, the old man started to mumble slowly what he knew about the barren and isolated town.
"Nobody goes there anymore. There are only abandoned houses and a locked up but forgotten facility."
"What kind of facility?" Ichigo asked curiously.
"Hmph. They used to take children there. I believe they used them for testing and experimentation. It was always full of armed guards and dangerous people. Once there was a huge explosion. But I believe the explosion was a cover-up. Everyone had been killed before the explosion." The old man started hacking and reached out his hand for more money.
After pocketing the money, the old man continued. "Some days before the explosion a child walked out of there. He was a bloody mess. But he had a scary and vacant look in his eyes. He just looked… murderous. So small and yet so fierce; no one talked to him and he kept going. He didn't stop once but walked right through the village. The day before the explosion, a truck passed through to the town, then left exactly before the explosion."
Ichigo felt sweat trickling down his neck as he worried about the situation and its meaning.
"Thank you, old man." Ichigo said as he looked in the direction of Hueco Mundo.
"You looking for someone?"
Ichigo nodded and showed him Rukia's picture.
"I don't know about him, but a young kid did pass through the village some days ago. I didn't see his face but it could be this brat here."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow and chuckled to himself as the old geezer referred to Rukia as a male. He then left for the inn where he spent the night on the balcony of his roof. He couldn't sleep as he tried to figure out what was going on, and whether the old fart had said the truth and if it was somehow connected to Rukia. When he did sleep, he got nightmares of that fateful day; ten years ago.
The next morning, as Ichigo's figure faded on the horizon, two figures stepped into the lonely village and talked to the old man. He told them the same things and added for more money, that a tall bounty hunter was looking for a certain guy in Hueco Mundo. The couple decided to let Ichigo catch the bounty and on his return, they would kill him and take the bounty for themselves.
"It isn't a pretty way of dealing with things. So cowardly, in fact, to let him do the dirty work while we sit here."
"You have any better idea?"
"Not really. Such a dry place will only have a negative effect on my beautiful skin."
"Hmph… I'm going for a drink. You're coming along?"
"I'm going for a shower. All this dust isn't good for my soft hair!"
Ichigo wandered around the ghost town where most of the houses had been blown off in the explosion. Ichigo felt very tense and alert, his reflexes were ready to spring in case of any danger as he approached the intact facility. It was grey, and extremely imposing, to the end of the town. Ichigo drove up to the fence and ignored the warning signs to keep out f its perimeter.
Ichigo climbed up the fence and jumped to the other side. He checked his guns and walked towards the main entrance. It was barred and wouldn't budge. So he walked around the grounds until he found a side door slightly ajar. He un-holstered his gun and entered silently. He waited some time, till his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and then started looking around the old building. He spent half a day wandering around the facility, but he didn't find any clues. The building was full of torn up records and burnt files. Ichigo was about to leave, when he heard a crash from the right wing of the storey below him. He went to check out and entered a small room which had once been an office. The floor was strewn with shredded and burnt documents. Behind the desk, there was a small and dark figure crouching down and shuffling through some old photos which had survived the shredding and burning. Ichigo put his gun to her head as Rukia looked up in surprise. She hadn't heard him coming as she was shocked at what she had just found. She got up slowly as her big violet eyes met his intense brown eyes.