Ichigo had been absent from school for three days now. Uryu, Chad, and Orihime walked home together at the end of the school day. The sky was covered with more clouds than usual, but it was still sunny out. They walked in silence for a while, none of them really knowing what to say about the matter that was on all of their minds. "Have either of you heard from him at all?" Orihime asked them finally.

"No," Uryu said bluntly. "We're all in the same boat on this, Orihime."

"I… I know," she said quietly. "I just don't know what to do…"

"He hasn't been home at all either," Chad said. "I went by his house yesterday and his sister told me they hadn't seen him. They didn't seem too worried, though…"

"That's just the Kurosaki's. They're all laid back," Uryu said. They don't know what happened in Las Noches…

The three friends came to an intersection. Chad and Uryu went one way, and Orihime went the other. "See you after the weekend," Chad said, waving.

"If you hear from Ichigo, let me know," Orihime called back. Uryu nodded, and they parted. Orihime's house was a decent walk away, but she wasn't exactly sure if she was going to head home or not. Maybe Shinji knows where Ichigo's been… She thought to herself, rounding a corner. She walked right into somebody, and she fell on her butt.

"Watch where yer goin'!" a gruff voice shouted at her.

"Sorry, sorry!" Orihime cried, embarrassedly climbing to her feet. "I wasn't paying attention. Are you alright?" she reached out to the person she bumped into.

"I'm fine," the rough girl said, swatting Orihime's hand away. The tall girl had a tomboyish appearance with short green messy hair and a fairly built body. She wore a furry white jacket that cut off above her midsection, but under that she wore a white shirt to cover her belly. She had black jeans on and sandals, and around her neck hung a shark's tooth necklace.

"S-sorry again," Orihime stammered.

The tall girl looked her up and down. "Wait a minute… You're Orihime Inoue, ain'tcha?" She finally said, grinning with pointed teeth.

"Oh… Um, yes," Orihime said, surprised. "Do we know each other?"

"Naw, naw we don't. Th' name's Domino Yeltz Boone. But ev'ryone calls me Yeltz. Put 'er there," the tall girl put out a hand.

Orihime shook it. The tall girl had an incredibly strong grip. "Um, excuse me but… How do you know me?"

The tall girl looked surprised by the question. "Huh? Oh, er… Urahara sent me t' find ya! He was lookin' all over for ya!" She finally stammered, looking pleased with herself.

Orihime lit up. "Oh! Does that mean he's found Ichigo?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Yeltz patted Orihime on the shoulder. "We should get goin', ya know? They're both prob'ly worried 'boutcha."

"Right!" Orihime said, and she followed the tall girl around the corner.

Chad had split up from Uryu, and was walking alone to his house when he heard loud wailing. He moved quickly over to the source of the sound, which was the park. He found a little girl with long purple hair sitting alone on a park bench sobbing. She had a large star pin in her hair, and she wore a large pink sweater that was too big for her so it covered most of her body and her arms and hands. Chad walked over to the bench and knelt down. "Hey there," he said gently, putting a hand on the girl's leg. "What's wrong, little girl?"

The small girl sniffled. "I… I lost my mommy…" she said, wiping her face with a long sleeve. "I don't know where she is and now I'm all aloooone!" She burst into tears again.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Chad abruptly picked the little girl up and set her on a shoulder. "I'll help you find her. I'm Yasutora Sado, but you can call me Chad."

The girl seemed to open up once she heard his name. "I'm Tinlinn Georgicks. It's nice to meet you, mister," she said quietly, but she smiled.

The two of them walked out of the deserted park and back onto the street. "What does your mom look like?" Chad asked the girl.

"Um… she looks like a hentai princess!" the little girl exclaimed, and then she burst into a fit of laughter.

A hentai princess?! Why does she know about stuff like that? Chad wondered worriedly. "Uh… Does she look like you at all…?" he asked her.

"You think I look like a hentai princess?" the girl said, suddenly serious. "You like lolicon, you pervert?"

Chad was utterly taken aback. "WHAT?! N-NO, I ONLY MEANT…" he stammered.

Tinlinn laughed again. "Just joking! I think I know where she went, though," she said, pointing. "That way, mister!"

What a strange girl… Chad thought, already exhausted. The two of them walked down the road and rounded a corner.

Uryu had been walking alone for a while through a crowded section of town. He rounded a corner, making sure to leave the crowd. He walked farther down the street, alone, and then rounded another corner into an alleyway. Once he was sure he was alone he said, "You can come out now. I know you've been tailing me for a while."

For a moment, nothing happened. But then, a man in a white hoodie and white jeans came from around the corner Uryu had entered from. His face was obscured by his hoodie. "How did you know?" the man asked in a deep voice.

"It was hard to miss you. You stood much too close to me to keep your presence a secret." Uryu tried to feel this stranger out. He seemed to just be a regular human, as he didn't have a strong reitsu at all. "What do you want?"

The man took off his hood, revealing a bald head and a face covered in piercings. "You are Mr. Uryu Ishida, correct?" The man asked. His piercing eyes made Uryu uneasy.

"May I enquire as to who's asking?" Uryu replied. He was trying to feel the man out, but it was hard to tell what he wanted. He didn't seem to be hostile, but something about him left Uryu on edge.

"I am DiAnglez Spenzir," the man said, bowing. "I am here at the request of Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki. Mr, Kurosaki asked me to find you and tell you that he is fine and that there is no need to continue your search for him."

Uryu didn't like that response. "Why would he not want us to find him?" he asked, being careful not to sound too concerned. He wanted to remain in control of the situation.

"Oh, please, do not misunderstand me," the bald man said apologetically. "I only meant that he does not wish for you all to worry about him. If you'd like, I can lead you to him."

Uryu was silent. This could be a trap, he thought to himself, but by who? Who does this man work for? Maybe he is telling the truth…? Uryu had been able to faintly feel Ichigo's reitsu still in the town. He could tell that Ichigo was trying not to be found, but he was still able to faintly track it. He reasoned that if he focused hard enough, he might be able to roughly pinpoint Ichigo's location so that he would be able to tell if the man was leading him into a trap or not. "Alright, I'll go with you," Uryu finally said. "But I think we should get my other friends first."

The bald man waved a hand. "No need. My colleagues have already rounded up the others. We will all meet up with Ichigo momentarily."

Uryu still didn't much like the situation, but he complied nonetheless. He followed the man out of the alleyway, and onto the street.

Ichigo sat on the roof of a building in Karakura Town. He had been wandering the city for days now, sleeping wherever he found himself at night. He hadn't eaten much, but he hadn't really had much of an appetite lately. He could feel his inner Hollow nagging at the back of his mind, trying to creep in and take over. He desperately wanted to speak with Zangetsu, but whenever he attempted to go to his inner world he felt overwhelmed by the Hollow's presence and opted not to go inside, fearing that the Hollow might take the opportunity to take control of his body and mind. What's going on? Ichigo had no idea how to handle his powers right now. It seemed that whenever he released any amount of energy, the Hollow only grew stronger and closer to gaining control. Ichigo had considered trying to summon his mask a few times, but anytime he did it either wouldn't come or it would break almost immediately. So Ichigo had simply decided to suppress his reitsu as much as possible. If he did not feed the Hollow, it couldn't grow stronger… right? I'm lost. Ichigo gazed at the sun, which was beginning to set. He felt like the increasing cloud cover in the sky was mirroring his mind, which was increasingly being clouded by the Hollow's presence. He could almost hear its cruel voice whispering to him, threatening him, telling him it was hopeless to resist, telling him that it would be easier to just let go. Just… let go? Ichigo stared at his hand. It was trembling. He balled it into a fist and slammed it on the ground. I'm lost.

Urahara sat in the dark laboratory. Although he couldn't see him, he knew that his captor, who had introduced himself as Lord Mu, was always around. He was being held captive in a large facility somewhere in Hueco Mundo. He had had his Zanpakutō taken, and something about the facility made him weak and unable to exert much of his reiryoku, so escape was all but out of the question. He had completed the special gigai days ago, but he was still being held prisoner.

"Are you ever going to let me go?" Urahara called out into the darkness. He knew that the masked man could hear him.

"Perhaps," the distorted voice replied from everywhere in the room. And suddenly Lord Mu was standing before him. "But not until you've completed your next task…"

"Next task-" Urahara began, but he was interrupted by the large front doors opening with a low groan. They both turned to see two figures walking in. One was a tall, effeminate looking man with a white rose pinned in his long purple hair, and the other was a short boy with red-rimmed glasses and spiky dirty blonde hair. Once they got closer, Kisuke could see that they were wearing Shinigami robes, and the taller man had on a captain's haori.

"Ah, you've both finally arrived," Lord Mu said, spreading his arms welcomingly to his new guests. The tall man glided over to Lord Mu and planted a kiss on each of his cheeks.

"Lord Mu, it has been too long, my dear." The man spoke with a soft voice. "We came as soon as DiAnglez told us the news." He drifted over to Urahara, who was sitting in a lone desk chair in the middle of the empty room. When he wasn't working on a project for Lord Mu, all equipment was put away so that he couldn't try anything. "So you must be the famous Kisuke Urahara!"

"Yes," Urahara said, weakly. This place drained him of his reitsu, but it didn't seem to affect Lord Mu at all. He could see that the boy was already feeling its effects, as he was sweating. "Why are you wearing the 5th Division Captain's robe and lieutenant band?"

The tall man gave a posh laugh. "Because I am 5th Division Captain Masato Kenrokuen," he said, "and this is my lieutenant Benjiro Natsumi."

Urahara couldn't help but smile. "So they filled Aizen's place already, then?"

"Yes, but not in the world you're thinking of," the masked man spoke up.

"World? What are you talking about?"

"We are in Hueco Mundo, but it is not the same Hueco Mundo you are familiar with," Captain Kenrokuen said with a smile. "Interesting, is it not?"

"I… don't understand," Urahara said. What they were saying didn't make any sense. "So there are two Hueco Mundo's?"

"In a sense," Lord Mu said. "You see, right now you are in a parallel universe opposite the one you live in. We exist as a sort of… Alternate future to your own."

Urahara was silent. This was ridiculous. "If this is a parallel world, then there should, in theory, be a Kisuke Urahara just like me here," he said. "So then why didn't you get him to assist you? Why travel to a whole new dimension?"

"The Kisuke Urahara of this world is long dead, along with many others," Lieutenant Benjiro spoke up now.

"This universe's timeline is currently about ten years ahead of your own," Captain Kenrokuen explained. "In our timeline, the battle with Aizen in Karakura Town did not go as smoothly as planned. Many people died…"

"Our world is in ruins," Lord Mu said. "Karakura Town is destroyed, and what remains of the Soul Society is barely held together by a thread."

"…Is Aizen still alive in this timeline?" Urahara asked after a moment of silence. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"Yes," Lord Mu responded. "But Ichigo Kurosaki was able to substantially weaken him at the cost of his own life. He is currently comatose in Las Noches right now, regaining his strength."

"I see," There was still something Urahara didn't understand. "So then… What's your goal? Why have you brought me here? Why are you trying to locate the others in my universe?"

"Simply put, we are trying to save your future," Lord Mu said. "I am determined to make sure that Aizen does not win this time around."

"And to do that, we need something from you," Captain Kenrokuen said, smiling.

What is it? Urahara couldn't bring himself to ask. Lord Mu answered him anyway. "We need a Hōgyoku of our own."