Tite Kubo owns bleach

Hollow King – Chapter Fourteen

Going Home

Gondra woke up from a very sound sleep the next morning. He looked over to see Isane sleeping soundly, all curled up next to him. With a content sigh, Gondra pulled the covers over her naked body then threw on his clothes. His mind was still dizzy from the night before. Gondra exited his room and quietly closed the door, not wanting to wake Isane. After some preparation in the kitchen, he sat down on the couch with a glass of iced coffee and turned on the TV.

"I'm so proud of you, Jack. Didn't know you had it in ya." Tyler chimed inside his head.

"You two looked great together." Sunaryuu added.

"Don't tell me you guys were watching?" Gondra asked, slightly disturbed.

"Are you kidding? We wouldn't miss a scene like that for the world!"

"You both are perverts! Shut up and let me drink my coffee." Gondra growled, trying to wake up completely.

He flipped through the channels, trying to find some anime to watch when he heard a knock at the door. With a grumble Gondra went and opened it to find a short kid with silver hair and a serious look on his face standing next to a bombshell with a beauty mark and strawberry blond hair. Gondra noticed that they were both wearing shihakushos.

"Mind if we come in?" the blond asked in a playful and somewhat seductive voice.

"Holy shit Jack! Look at the lungs on her!" Tyler cheered.

"Those cant be real.." Sunaryuu grumbled.

"Jealous? Mosquito Bites?"

"Fuck you! I'm a C cup!"

"Whatever emo, Jack! Forget about Isane and go for this chick! It'd be worth your while! Seriously Jack, come on! You know you want to!" Tyler ranted and raved.

"One sec." Gondra said to the two waiting at the door.

Gondra walked over to a particularly sturdy wall and began to repeatedly smash his head against it while screaming,

"Shut the fuck up!"

He then walked back over to the woman and kid, who had sweat drops running down the back of their heads, while a trickle of blood was running down his head with a big Kenpachi style grin on his face.

"Sure, come on in."

The two walked into the middle of his apartment as Gondra wiped the blood from his forehead.

"So, you're Gondra. It's nice to meet the cute guy behind the name. I'm Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto of Squad Ten." the strawberry blond said with a wink.

"Fourth seat Durden, you have orders to report with Lieutenant Kotetsu to Orihime Inoue's house at once along with all the other members of the Hitsugaya Advance Squad." the kid ordered.

"You would already be there if you had your soul pager on, instead of sleeping in." he then added.

"Hey! I don't take kindly to being talked down to by some fuckin' little kid!" Gondra roared.

The kid looked overtaken with rage as his eyebrow twitched and a anger mark appeared on his forehead.

"Ki...ki...kid?" he stuttered, looking royally pissed off.

"Oh, you've done it now." Rangiku muttered, shaking her head with her eyes closed and her arms folded across her chest accentuating her giant breasts.

"Gondra, that's Captain Hitsugaya." Isane called out from the bedroom doorway, now fully dressed.

Gondra looked at Isane and back down at the kid with a what the fuck kind of look on his face, finally noticing the captain's haori he was wearing.

"Oh shit. I'm sorry, captain. When they told me the captain of Squad Ten was a child prodigy, they really weren't kidding." Gondra stated while scratching the back of his head.

"Isane!" Rangiku cheered as she ran up to the girl, giving her a big hug.

"Cute beads. Did Gondra give you those?" Rangiku asked, noticing the small skulls on the ends of Isane's braids.

"Yes, he did." Isane replied giving Gondra a smile.

"Oh, so are you two seeing each other?" asked Rangiku asked, looking over at Gondra.

With a confirming nod from Isane, Gondra replied,

"You could say that." Grinning over at Isane, he felt himself getting lost in her foggy gray eyes.

Toshiro then cleared his throat, causing Gondra and Isane to break eye contact and turn their attention to him, blushing. Rangiku laughed and muttered something under her breath about new relationships, before catching the serious look on her captain's face.

"So, who's Orihime?" Gondra asked while looking at Toshiro.

"One of Ichigo's friends. We think something might have happened to her. You two need to leave your gigais and come with us."

XXXXX

On there way to Ichigo's house, Tyler took the liberty of reciting all the things he liked about his new crush.

"Long strawberry bond hair, long legs, nice ass, beauty mark, rosy skin, and lets not forget giant breasts which hung enormous, the way we think of gods as big!" Tyler went on and on.

"Tyler, I will take a power drill to one of my temples, if you don't shut up" Gondra stated in his mind, as the four of them walked.

XXXXX

The four shinigami along with Ichigo arrived at Orihime's apartment. Gondra entered the room last noticing that Ikkaku, Yumichika and Rukia were already there. Gondra looked to his left, noticing an unfamiliar face.

"Who are you?" the red-haired shinigami asked.

Gondra glanced over at the guy for a moment before replying. He had red hair pulled back into a spiky pony tail with slightly visible tribal tattoos underneath a white cloth bandanna.

"Oh, that's right, Renji. You haven't had the pleasure of making our new fourth seat's acquaintance yet." Yumichika stated in a slightly less upbeat tone, causing Gondra to notice the tense atmosphere in the room.

"My name's Gondra. I'm the new fourth seat of Squad Eleven." Gondra replied with a nod.

"Introductions can wait for later. How's the spiritual interference removal going?" Hitsugaya asked Rangiku.

"It seems to be complete." She replied.

"Connect us." he ordered.

Matsumoto then hit a switch causing a giant monitor, obviously designed by Kurotsuchi, to switch on and display the image of a captain with long white hair.

"Ukitake? Where's the Captain General?" Toshiro asked the man.

"I'm talking in his place." Ukitake replied.

"For what reason?"

Ukitake paused and looked down for a moment before replying,

"Because I was the last person to see Orihime Inoue before she entered the senkaimon."

Everyone seemed to be taken aback by the Captain's statement. Everyone but Gondra that is, who was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

The Captain continued,

"Judging from your reaction, it seems she didn't make it over there."

"What's going on, Ukitake? Where did Inoue disappear to? You guys know something, don't you?" Ichigo blurted out.

"I'll tell you what we think." Ukitake continued. "The two guards that passed through the senkaimon with her returned alive. According to them, they think that Orihime Inoue was either abducted or has already been killed by the arrancar."

"Killed?" Ichigo stuttered out.

"Captain Ukitake!" Rukia shouted.

"I know. I know." Ukitake continued in a solemn yet agitated voice. "I didn't want to say it either. I'm just talking about possible explanations. According to our information she was confronted by an arrancar and disappeared with him."

"Don't...don't give me that shit! You're saying she's dead even though you don't have any proof? Don't just say whatever the hell you want. Look at this!" Ichigo shouted raising his right hand up in the air for all to see.

"My wrist was badly injured in yesterday's battle. It was an injury no one here could heal." Ichigo continued to scream, the shock of his statement evident on Ukitake's face. "But when I got up this morning it was healed...without a scar! And there's still a trace of Inoue's reiatsu around the area. If you still think she died after seeing this..."

"I see. That is unfortunate." the cold rough voice of Yamamoto rang out as he walked onto screen.

"Captain General?" Rukia half-stated, half-asked.

"Unfortunate? What do you mean by that?" Ichigo demanded roughly.

"If your story is correct, then Orihime Inoue is decidedly alive. But at the same time, it suggests an act of betrayal." Yamamoto stated in a rough but low tone. "If she had been abducted, she wouldn't have been allowed to see you again. That is to say, the fact that she healed your wounds and then vanished means that Orihime Inoue joined the arrancar of her own free will."

"That's crazy!" Ichigo screamed but was stopped when Renji grabbed his shoulder from behind.

"Stop, you're just going to make it worse if you keep talking." Renji warned in a serous tone. Ichigo looked at him in surprise.

"I understand the situation, Captain General Yamamoto." Renji continued. "And from here on out, I Renji Abarai, Squad Six Lieutenant and member of the Hitsugaya Advance Squad, will go to Hueco Mundo in order to open the eyes of the traitor Orihime Inoue!" Renji stated, obviously trying to help Ichigo out.

"Renji...!" Ichigo stated in a surprised voice. Renji looked back at him giving him a small nod.

"I forbid it." Yamamoto barked, getting surprised looks form Ichigo and Renji.

"Now that we know the arrancar are prepared for war, I would like all members if the Hitsugaya Advance Squad, including the reinforcement team, to return immediately and assist in the protection of Soul Society." ordered the old captain general.

"Does that mean you're abandoning Inoue?" Rukia asked, the look of shock on her face evident.

"Indeed there is no point in weighing the life of one person against the fate of the entire world."

"My deepest apologies, Captain General but I cannot obey that order." Rukia hissed.

"I expected as much. I'm glad I prepared for this ahead of time." the old captain stated as a senkaimon gate opened in the back of the room revealing Captain Zaraki and a captain that Gondra didn't recognize, but from Renji's reaction gathered it was Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of Sixth company. Gondra looked around the room noticing the completely shocked reactions from his comrades.

"That's how its gonna be. Get going, you guys." Kenpachi stated flatly.

"Do not resist. If necessary, we have orders to bring you back by force." Byakuya added. Ichigo clenched his fist and turned to Yamamoto as he said,

"I get it. I won't ask the Soul Society to lend me its power. But at least, tell me how to get into Hueco Mundo. Inoue is our friend. I'll go and save her myself." Ichigo stated with determination in his eyes.

"I forbid it." Yamamoto barked again.

"What the hell?" Ichigo asked angrily.

"Your power will be needed in the upcoming battle. I cannot permit you to act selfishly and die like a dog. Stand by until you receive further orders. That is all." and with that last statement Yamamoto terminated the link, leaving nothing but static on the screen.

Rukia apologized softly as Renji led her through the gate. Gondra knew he had to leave, too, but had to say something to Ichigo first. He walked up, placing a hand on Ichigo's shoulder to get his attention.

"I can't tell you not to worry, Ichigo. But I promise you. I'll find a way to help you get your friend back."

"You should go, Gondra. You'll get in trouble if you don't." Ichigo stated, not looking up.

Gondra turned and left through the senkaimon at the end of the pack of shinigami, along with Isane. It was dead silent as the group walked through the severing world. No one was in the mood for talking. When they all reached the other side, the mob of shinigami separated into three groups.

Kenpachi started walking back to the Squad Eleven barracks with Ikkaku and Yumichika in tow. Hitsugaya walked away with Rangiku and Renji went off with Rukia and Byakuya somewhere. Gondra turned to see Isane by herself at the gate, looking down at her feet. She sensed his gaze and looked up into his eyes.

"It looks like we have to go are separate ways for a while." Isane stated with a melancholy smile. "I understand if you..." she was stopped in mid sentence with a chaste kiss.

"Hey Gondra, lets go. The old man has standing orders for us all to return to our squads." Kenpachi called out, causing Gondra to break the kiss and tense up, making Isane laugh.

With another kiss Gondra and Isane went their separate ways, back to their squads.

Sorry it took so long for me to update. I've been really sick and couldn't write. I owe this chapter all to coffee.

Thanks for the reviews. I hope I get some more. I'll reply to them. I promise.

Until next time.

Sandragon out.