Time passes slower in Hueco Mundo. The equivalent of a day in Las Noches would probably be around one week or so in Karakura time for this story.

x

Yamamoto Taichou leaned on his ancient looking walking cane, which acted as a cover for his zanpakutou within. He peered down from his seat at the two Shinigami who were currently bowing to him out of respect after their delivered bad news.

"The substitute has been kidnapped, you say?" Yamamoto tightened his grip on the top of his cane. "How very careless of him. And how is it that he was taken?"

Kuchiki Rukia kept her eyes trained on the polished floor as she answered the Head Captain. "We have no clues as of yet, Yamamoto Taichou, but we are positively certain that he was taken by the Espada."

"Reports say that he has been missing for two weeks and counting, now. His classmates have admitted to not seeing him at school, and upon visiting his home they said he was not present, either. Evidently something has happened, and we believe Kurosaki needs our help!" Abarai Renji's tone had more than a bit of panic and concern in it.

"Calm yourself, Abarai Fukutaichou. One cannot think clearly with a frenzied mind." Yamamoto stood up, facing the rest of the captains present in the throne room. "Very well. We shall begin our search for the boy at once. All of you will be divided into three groups – the research and progress team, the search and rescue team, and the on guard team."

A chorus of "Yes, Taichou!" reverberated around the room.

x

"They're here." Stark sighed and grabbed Lilinette by the back of her collar before she could scamper off somewhere to play. "What a pain this is."

"I can sense them, too." Halibel agreed quietly. "We'd best be on the lookout."

The reiatsu strands of Shinigami grew stronger, and the Espada finally caught sight of them a mere distance of twenty feet away. They seemed to be moving cautiously. Nnoitra spat on the ground and thumped the hilt of Santa Teresa on his shoulder, clearly anticipating the oncoming battle with glee.

"Hold on to the child, Grimmjow." Ulquiorra commanded quickly. "You are forbidden to fight. However, should any enemy get past us, you are to defend yourself and the boy accordingly."

"What? But I want to fight!"

"Think, stupid." Nnoitra sneered. "If the boy got hurt, what would you do?"

Unable to think of a witty comeback, Grimmjow stooped to gather Ichigo into his arms, holding onto him with a slightly possessive grip. The Shinigami were now appearing left, right and center, and they didn't look very pleased. Most were wearing grim, determined expressions on their faces, something Grimmjow didn't exactly like seeing, especially when he couldn't fight.

"Is that . . . Ichigo?" the short black haired Shinigami woman asked, keeping one hand on the hilt of her zanpakutou. "What have you done to him?"

Nnoitra sniggered. "The question is: what haven't we done to him?"

Beside the woman, a red haired Shinigami growled low in his throat. "You're gonna pay for what you did, bastard."

Holding up both hands in mock surrender, Nnoitra laughed. "Hey, I'm not the one who got hitched with babysitting duty. I didn't even do anything to the kid. Yet, of course, but that remains to be seen."

"Calm yourself, Abarai, Rukia." Byakuya ordered, eying the row of Espada coolly. "If they really intended to hurt the boy, they would have done it a long time ago."

"You're right, Nii-sama."

The redhead and the short woman nodded and made no move to protest as the ebony haired noble strode forward. Negotiating with the Espada was something Byakuya was good at because of his ability to remain collected – even in the face of danger. For the Espada, Ulquiorra was the first bet, and Szayel in second place. The third would probably be either Halibel or Stark, though one would be hard pressed to choose. All these jumbled thoughts raced through Grimmjow's mind as he cuddled Ichigo's small form close to his chest, shifting his weight when he felt his arm grow a little numb due to the same holding position. It didn't help that most of the Shinigami were staring in his direction – namely, the little bundle in his arms.

Oblivious to what was about to transpire, Ichigo slept calmly, breathing in Grimmjow's familiar minty scent. Here was his guardian, cradling him like his life depended upon it. He was safe, warm, and unperturbed by what was going on around him. Ichigo didn't need to ask for any more.

"What happened to Kurosaki Ichigo?" Byakuya demanded to know, keeping his arms loosely at his sides. "Is this one of that foul traitor Aizen's dastardly plans? Drugging a teenager and taking him captive seems hardly professional to me."

"Like we give a rat's ass about what matters to you, shithead." Nnoitra spat out rudely, flashing two choice fingers in Byakuya's general direction. "Go have no fun somewhere else."

A nerve twitched on the side of the noble's temple, but he managed to keep his anger in check. Exploding into a furious rage before the enemy was not a very good idea. Immature acts like those were far beneath someone of his status, anyway. Byakuya raised his chin and sniffed in disdain as he ran his eyes over the sorry looking bunch of enemies before him. They would soon know their own place once he had a chance to give them a taste of Senbonzakura. Turning to the rest of his allies, Byakuya gave a small nod, which was the green light to let loose and rescue Ichigo.

"Let Ichigo go!" Renji hollered, stepping up with Zabimaru clutched in his hand. "I'll take you on, Grimmjow."

"I'm not letting him go." Grimmjow sneered, watching the Shinigami warily. "It would be a long fall down, don't you think?"

Snickering beside him, Nnoitra swung Santa Teresa and aimed it at Renji. "This one seems fun. Now I'm getting all excited!"

The battle was on. The sounds of clashing swords could be heard as the Shinigami collided head on with the Espada. Amid the frenzied yells and flying sparks emitted from opposing swords, Byakuya stood a few feet away from Ulquiorra, hands at his sides. Grey eyes met dark green ones, but neither made a move to draw their weapons. Both were contemplating while studying the enemy openly.

"Why is Kurosaki Ichigo in that state?" Byakuya asked as Ulquiorra watched him stoically.

"Suffice to say that the boy is now a child. He in unharmed – for the time being." Ulquiorra responded smoothly, keeping his face void of any expression.

"Why do you not draw your sword?" Grey eyes flicked curiously from Ulquiorra's weapon to his face. "Do you think you can defeat me without it?"

Ulquiorra snorted. "For a Shinigami, you certainly do not know your place."

They attacked each other in a flash, both men parrying each other's moves with quick slashes and equally fast actions. It was hardly a real fight; this was just a mere warm up session. Both of them knew the real fight would end only when one of them dropped to the ground below. It was a long fall.

Ikkaku grinned as he flash stepped in front of Szayel's line of view. "Heh, I think I just found someone who'd go well with Yumichika."

Szayel straightened up and adjusted his white rimmed glasses. "Who is that? No, I don't want to know. If we're going to fight, then let's get on with it."

Chuckling, Ikkaku shook his head. "Sometimes I can never get over the cocky brats I fight with. But then again, you're not a brat, are you?"

"How rude." Szayel ran a hand through his pink locks, tilting his chin in disdain as he eyed Ikkaku up and down. "I can't say you won't make a marvelous new specimen, though. Tell me, what is your ideal manner of death? Being brutally cut up and have your entire body explored, or drowning in my favorite fatal chemicals?"

Clearly disgusted, Ikkaku blanched. "Yuck. You're another Kurotsuchi-Taichou, aren't you?"

"Again, something I haven't had the privilege of knowing about." Szayel heaved a mock sigh, shaking his head in a depressed way. "Well, it doesn't matter; all I need to make me happy is your body on my laboratory table."

"That's just gross!" Ikkaku muttered, looking as sick as he felt. "Has anyone ever told you you're one giant creep?"

A few metres away from the squabbling duo, Yumichika was already battling it out with Halibel, who lazily ignored his remarks about the lack of beauty in Aizen's creations. Grimmjow stood next to Stark, waiting anxiously for a chance where he would be able to join in the fight and get his share of much needed action. Ichigo was stirring in his arms, blinking up at his face.

"Hungry." Ichigo murmured into the folds of his light blue blanket, which was wrapped around his body – to keep him warm against sudden cold winds, according to Szayel – and tugged at Grimmjow's jacket.

"Uh." Grimmjow looked at Stark, who shrugged in response. "The food is with Ulquiorra."

Both Espada watched their leader parry swords with the Kuchiki noble. Ichigo squirmed in Grimmjow's arms, struggling to get down. He was ready to play and eat something, but this was a new place altogether, so he was dying to get a chance to explore the area.

"Let go!" Ichigo squirmed harder, then promptly sunk his small teeth in Grimmjow's arm.

It didn't hurt in the least. Grimmjow chuckled and lifted Ichigo up onto his shoulders so he couldn't escape. Stark nodded his approval and caught Lilinette by the arm before she could run off again.

"Try to distract the kid." Stark suggested to Grimmjow. "Talk to him about things."

"Don't slide off; it's a long way down to the ground." The Sexta warned, keeping a firm grip on the child's legs. "Look, this is your town. It's a pretty big place, don't you think? Of course, Las Noches is bigger. But there's just barren land all around, and sand for miles. Your place looks much more colorful, right?"

"My town?" Ichigo repeated curiously. "Wow. It's big, too."

Grimmjow pointed at a tall row of office blocks with a giant silver logo on its side. "Check out that neat looking thing."

"It's shiny!" Ichigo exclaimed, delighted. "Shiny like your sword."

"Yeah, that's right." Grimmjow agreed. "What other things can you see here that are shiny?"

While Ichigo scoped the area and pointed out other things that caught his eye, Stark tapped Grimmjow on the shoulder. He wordlessly nodded his head in the direction of two Shinigami who were headed in their direction, watching them warily. One was a busty woman, the other a short white haired boy who looked too serious for his age.

"Which do you want?" Stark asked softly. "The boy is wearing a captain's cloak. Shall I take him for you?"

"No, you take the woman." Grimmjow replied. "I don't like fighting chicks."

"Alright. Take care of the child."

Stark walked off to challenge the female Shinigami. The white haired captain advanced toward Grimmjow, watching him like a piece of meat. It was evident that he wanted to rescue Ichigo, but wasn't quite sure how to go about it when he was sitting on the Espada's shoulders.

"What do you want with Kurosaki?" the captain narrowed his eyes at Grimmjow, who returned the look as he kept Ichigo steady.

Grimmjow shrugged; the movement caused Ichigo to giggle and clutch onto his hair for balance. "I'm just waiting for him to grow up so I can fight him. What do you want with him?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The young Shinigami glared. "He doesn't belong with your kind. He's our ally; he's helped us a dozen times before. It's only natural we come to his aid now."

"Don't bother." Grimmjow shook his head. "He's a pain in the butt. It's taking Szayel forever to come up with an antidote for him."

The captain looked aghast. "So it was chemicals that turned him into . . . this child?"

"Yeah. He's a monster." Grimmjow carefully lifted Ichigo off and turned away, looking for a building to put him on. "Really, though, I'm the one who suggested keeping him. I haven't finished the fight with him yet. If you guys take him away, how am I gonna be able to do that?"

"What is your name, Arrancar?"

"Grimmjow Jeagerjacques, though you don't really need to know. You're going down anyway."

"My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, Captain of the Tenth Division in Gotei Thirteen. Our fight begins now."

"Wait a sec."

Grimmjow made Ichigo sit down in the middle of the nearest building and patted his head. "Stay here, eat this lollipop, and don't move anywhere. Don't let the bad people wearing black take you either, alright?"

"Why not?" Ichigo asked forlornly, holding onto Grimmjow's arms. "I want to stay with you!"

"Not now. But you can watch me fight. Anyway, the Shinigami . . ." The Sexta trailed off, trying to think of something suitable to explain the situation. "They don't have lollipops. They'll take yours away, so you gotta be careful of them. Shout for me if anything happens."

Ichigo was left staring at his candy on the deserted rooftop of the building. Grimmjow felt a little guilty for just leaving him there, but he wanted to fight so badly. Besides, the boy was safe if he didn't go near the edges of the building. And if he listened to what Grimmjow had told him earlier, things would go smoothly.

x

You wish, Grimmjow.