Hey lovely readers! I once again apologize for the delay. I should get the award for worst updater ever. Seriously, I'm awful at that BUT I have good news. To make up for my crappy updating abilities, I have been writing up a storm the past few days and almost have the rest of the story written. It's all planned out which means I know exactly how many chapters are left and what's going to happen in each one of them. It's crazy to think, but this story is only a few more chapters away from completion! This chapter and the next two are primarily the climax and hopefully a lot of your questions will be answered. I'll try and tie up all lose ends but there will be one noticeably big one that I won't get to until the very end ;) I hope you guys like this chapter! There's a lot of setup but the action is heating up for sure! Enjoy!

Ichigo grunted in frustration as he, once again, heard the familiar sounds of Yuzu's voicemail message on her phone. He had been trying to call his sisters for the past half hour and hadn't been able to reach either one of them. It was almost seven in the evening now as Ichigo had been working tirelessly for hours after his conversation with Rukia gave him an extra burst of energy. Yuzu and Karin had told him they wanted to look around the city and do some shopping while he worked. He was planning on either picking them up if they were still out and taking them to dinner or meeting them back at his penthouse so he could make them dinner.

He tried his best to hold back his increasing worry, telling himself that if they had been out all day they probably wouldn't have been able to find a charger or some other excuse for why they wouldn't answer their goddamn phones. Despite the reassurances he gave himself, he couldn't help but imagine the worst.

He decided eventually it would do no good to sit around his office and wait for one of his sisters to answer their phones and gathered his things to head back home. As he was making his way out of his office, Ishida suddenly waltzed through the doors with an uncharacteristic scowl on his face.

"Have you seen Rukia recently?" he asked with no other introduction or background information. Ichigo certainly hadn't expected his friend to say that when he saw him appear.

"Not since around lunchtime, why?" he asked.

Uryuu sighed and said, "Dammit."

"What's going on, Ishida?" Ichigo asked, the worry already brewing because of his sisters now increasing tenfold. He didn't like the look on his friend's face or the direction this conversation was heading.

"Orihime called me not too long ago asking if I knew where she was. Apparently, they were supposed to go out to eat or something, but Rukia never came home. She's been trying to call her phone for awhile, but she's not answering."

Ichigo's heart started to race at his friend's explanation. He tried desperately to calm himself down, but it was nearly impossible given the thoughts currently racing through his head.

"My sisters won't answer their phone either," Ichigo said, dread filling his stomach.

Ishida's eyes narrowed suspiciously at that. "You don't think…" he trailed off, not wanting to think about the implications, but knowing the possibility still existed.

"Goddammit if that bastard did anything to them I'll-," Ichigo began as the worry turned to anger at the only person he could think of that would have anything to do with Rukia and his sisters being missing.

"Calm down. Let's think about this rationally and try to cover all our bases before we jump to conclusions," Ishida interrupted, knowing that if his friend became too hotheaded, he could do something he'd later regret.

Ichigo began to pace back and forth. "Have you talked to Ukitake?" he asked, wondering if Rukia's boss may know where she was.

"He left not long after lunch for a meeting. He probably wouldn't know," Uryuu said.

"How long has Orihime been trying to call her?" Ichigo asked.

"At least the last hour or so. Rukia usually gets off around five and she probably left early because Ukitake wasn't in. Even if she got caught up somewhere, she should've still gotten home by now."

Ichigo became even more concerned at that, but he reminded himself to keep his head straight. He had to think. Who else would know where Rukia might've gone off to? Who else would she be with?

Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "The dance instructor!" he exclaimed.

Ishida looked at him strangely. "Huh?"

"Rukia's dance partner at the studio. Yumi-whatever his name is. Maybe he would know where she is. Though I don't have his phone number. Maybe we should just call the studio," Ichigo spoke, trying to formulate ideas.

"I'll do that. You should go home and see if your sisters went straight there. We need to gather all the facts we can before we assume the worst."

"Right," Ichigo said, more to assure himself than his friend. He rushed out of his office and dashed down to where he parked his car, desperate to know where the three most important women in his life had disappeared to.

He mentally scolded himself as he drove home, thinking about what might've happened. He should've known not to let Yuzu and Karin just waltz around the city by themselves, especially when there was a sadistic mastermind running around trying to get anything he could to bring Ichigo down. He should've known Aizen would eventually come after his sisters to try to get to him. He should never have let them come to the city while things were still tense.

Ichigo arrived at his lavish apartment building, parked his car, and rushed to his home on the top floor. He burst through the door and began frantically searching for Yuzu and Karin. The more he searched, the more anxious he became. There was not a single indication that they were there or that they had come back since they had left that morning.

Before his mind could conjure up any more terrible scenarios involving Aizen kidnapping his baby sisters, his phone rang. Ichigo picked it up without checking the ID hoping to whoever was listening in the cosmos that it was either one of his sisters or Rukia.

Unfortunately, it was Ishida. And, he had no headway regarding Rukia, making Ichigo panic even more. Ishida had contacted the dance instructor and he had apparently not had a clue as to where Rukia might be. Then he called Orihime again to confirm that Rukia still hadn't shown back up at their apartment. Ichigo's mind raced as to what all this could mean. It was too much of a coincidence that both his sisters and Rukia would disappear without contact at the exact same time. This had to be the work of Aizen.

Ichigo couldn't remember the last time he had been this furious and terrified.

Rukia tried to keep her body from shaking in fear as she exited the sleek back car and walked into what looked to be an abandoned warehouse building on the outskirts of town, flanked by two of Aizen's large men. They entered the building until they reached a large open area where an old desk and a couple of chairs were arranged. Light from a few nearby torch lamps illuminated the scene in a way that screamed sinister.

What was truly frightening was the man sitting at the desk looking like an old 1920s mobster with his hands folded underneath his chin and a sly smirk adorning his face. Behind him stood the snake-like Gin Ichimaru and a darker-skinned man Rukia knew to be Kaname Tosen, another accomplice of Aizen.

"Hello there, Ms. Kuchiki," Aizen said calmly as if there was nothing suspicious about the meeting or the set up.

Rukia contemplated her next course of action before she decided to play along and see what Aizen wanted. "Well, I cooperated. What do you need to talk to me about?" she asked.

"Have a seat," he replied as he motioned to one of the chairs facing the desk.

She was wary, but eventually she relented and moved to sit down uneasily on the chair. Before she could though, Aizen raised a hand to stop her. "Ah, I almost forgot one quick thing. Search her."

Rukia's eyes widened as the two body guards walked over to her. "Wait a second, what? You can't do that!" she exclaimed indignantly as the men roughly began patting her down and searching through her pockets. She would've felt violated had she not been so furious.

"What do you mean I can't? Your reaction alone is enough proof that this is necessary. I wouldn't want anyone else listening in on our conversation," Aizen remarked slyly.

Rukia glared but said nothing else, trying not to give herself away as the men continued to search her. However, despite Rukia's defensive reaction, the men didn't find the small device hidden in her pocket. She didn't know how they missed it, but she was thankful for the small victory.

"Now that that's settled, let's get down to business, shall we?" Aizen said as Rukia finally sat down in the chair.

"As professional as ever. What an outstanding businessman," Rukia replied, her voice dripping with the heavy sarcasm.

"Thank you," Aizen replied, giving a small chuckle at her feistiness. "Now, I wanted to go over a few of the more recent developments with our situation."

"Such as?" Rukia asked, trying to sound as uninterested as possible.

"For one, I'm very curious about your relationship with Ichigo Kurosaki."

Rukia had to resist the temptation to roll her eyes. "You already know everything about that. You've been listening haven't you?"

"Yes, I have, but there's an aspect to it that I can't ascertain via audio files."

"What aspect?"

Aizen paused, contemplating his next statement before he unexpectedly asked, "Do you love him?"

Rukia was taken aback by that and had to compose herself so as not to reveal too much of her true feelings. Did she love Ichigo? She didn't think she could at this point even though she still had very strong feelings about him nonetheless. Regardless of what she actually felt, there was no way in hell she would ever reveal any of that to Aizen.

"Why the hell do you care?"

"I just wanted to make sure your relationship with Mr. Kurosaki wouldn't make you more inclined to forget our agreement."

"Agreement?" she sputtered. "You mean the threat to murder my brother?" she said, her words becoming angry.

"Yes, that," Aizen replied calmly.

"Nothing between me and Ichigo would make me forget about my brother's life," she replied quietly and truthfully. She had feelings for him sure, but he wasn't more important than her only family. Unfortunately, that's what had worked in Aizen's favor.

"I certainly hope that's true. I've been hearing some troublesome things that made me question otherwise."

Rukia immediately knew what he was referring to. "Ichigo is passionate. He gets worked up about a lot of things," she said by way of explanation.

Aizen chuckled. "Yes, I was rather amused by his request that I 'go fuck myself'. He's truly an unusually uncouth man for a leader of such a large and successful company. I suppose you find that attractive, though. Your cool indifference goes rather well with his hotheaded spontaneity. You do really make a good pair. It's such a shame that I must do what I have planned to him," he said with no sign of remorse.

Rukia narrowed her eyes at that.

"Perhaps you can have mercy on him when he's left with nothing and your brother's company is restored. It might be a reverse of the 'prince and the pauper' theme you two seem to have but it sounds as though it would work."

"You know, Aizen, I have a sneaking suspicion that you didn't call me over here to give me relationship advice," Rukia said, sick of having the man before her mocking her feelings for Ichigo and wanting to get to the point.

Again the businessman chuckled. "Yes, you're right. I have something else I need to talk to you about."

"Which is?" she asked through gritted teeth. She hated how this man beat around the bush.

"Well, it's actually more of a request than a discussion. You see, all this crosstalk between you and Kurosaki and you and I is becoming bothersome. I'd rather know for a fact who you actually answer to before I put the final step of my plan into motion."

If Rukia wasn't afraid for her brother's life, she would've told Aizen flat out who she actually answered to.

"What do you want?" she asked cautiously.

"Well, Ms. Kuchiki, I want you to use your connection to Ichigo and his personal life to lure the final bait here."

"And just what the hell do you mean by that?"

"You met Kurosaki's sisters today right?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue.

She would've lied to him had she not known that he already knew the answer so it was pointless to tell him no. "Yes," she replied.

"Such pretty girls, aren't they? And I'm sure even during the small amount of time you spent with them you could see just how much they mean to Mr. Kurosaki, right?"

A nagging feeling of unease and dread filled her stomach as she started to think about where this might be going.

"You see, Kurosaki's sisters don't come here to visit very often what with their busy school schedules and all so it's rare to have the opportunity to observe them with their older brother."

"What do you want Aizen?" she asked again, not wanting to deal with all this bullshit.

"You can tell just from the way they interact that they have a strong sibling relationship. One, very similar in a lot of ways to the one you have with your own brother, Ms. Kuchiki."

Rukia's suspicions were confirmed. She knew exactly what Aizen wanted.

"And, just as you were willing to join forces with the person who brought ruin to your family's company, I have a feeling Ichigo Kurosaki would act similarly given the proper motivation," Aizen's voice became lower and more sinister.

"What. Do. You. Want." Rukia asked for the third time, emphasizing each word with her anger.

"I want you to lure the Kurosaki twins here so that I can use them to get Ichigo to sign over all the assets for his company.

"What!? That's crazy! I would never do that!" Rukia exclaimed, her indifference slipping away to pure rage.

"Oh? Not even when your own brother might be at risk?" Aizen asked her calmly.

"You have no right to mess with people's lives like this for money! It's sick! Those girls are innocent. They've done nothing wrong!"

"That's a bold thing to say when you don't even know what kind of things their older brother or their parents did before they died."

"I don't fucking care about any of that! I will never hurt those girls so you can get what you want. In fact, I won't let you even touch them. If you want to get them, you'll have to go through me, not use me," Rukia said confidently.

Aizen was silent for a moment, as he seemed to contemplate something before he turned toward her and sighed. "What a shame," he said.

That gave Rukia pause, as she had no idea what he could be referring to. "I had such high hopes for you," he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked apprehensively.

"That, Ms. Kuchiki, was merely a test," he stated simply.

Rukia's look of bewilderment caused him to continue. "You see, I never had any intention of making you lure the girls here. I just wanted to see where your true loyalties lay. Now I can see that you won't be useful to me in the way I originally hoped. However, it should be interesting to see how you play into what happens next, Ms. Kuchiki," he said as he finally stood up from his desk and went to where a nearby door was closed shut.

"What are you talking about?" Rukia asked angrily.

"You see, I never needed you to lure Kurosaki's sisters here because, well, I already have them," he said triumphantly before he opened the door to reveal Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki bound and gagged, huddled close to each other inside a closet.

Rukia's heart immediately plummeted.

A handsome man with shiny black hair sat at a table in a foreign home, contemplating many different things. He wondered how the events of the day would play out and what role he would fulfill in all of it. He wondered how she would react upon seeing him or if he would even be able to make it to her on time. He wasn't one to typically worry, but the closest thing to it he could manage was brewing inside of him.

Another man wearing a black business suit with a contrasting light pink shirt beneath it walked up to the other man and set down a bottle of sake. "You could use a drink," he said.

"I have no desire for such things," the dark-haired man replied, his eyes never moving from their spot upon the wall.

"Well, more for me then," the other man who had a mane of brown, curly hair said as he stood off to the side. Truly they were an unlikely pair and the sight of them together like this must've been comical.

As the silence stretched, a cell phone suddenly chimed and interrupted the two men as they sat. The brown-haired man sighed and got up to go answer it, returning less than a minute later. "That was him," he started, his voice sounding more energized than it had before the call. "He said he traced the location on the listening device. They're in an old warehouse outside the city. If we hurry we should be able to make it on time," he said.

"Then let's go," the dark haired man replied simply as he got up from his spot at the table and the two walked to where the brown-haired man kept his cars, choosing the fastest one and immediately driving to the outskirts of Tokyo.

"It was Aizen. It had to be. Why else would they be missing?" Ichigo asked, frantically pacing the floor of Orihime and Rukia's apartment as Ishida and Orihime watched him.

"You don't know that for sure," Ishida reminded.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. It's been hours since anyone has heard from both my sisters and Rukia. They only have one thing in common and that's me, the person who owns the company Sosuke Aizen is trying to bring down. What else could it be?" Ichigo said, wanting to pull his hair out in worry.

Orihime looked at him sympathetically, not knowing what else to do.

"So what do you suggest we do, Kurosaki? If it was Aizen than we have no idea where they are or what he wants to do with them. If this is a kidnapping than we'll probably just have to wait and see what he wants as a ransom."

"I know what he wants. It's my entire goddamn company that he wants," Ichigo replied angrily, the thought of Aizen kidnapping some of the closest people in his life to get his company making his blood boil.

"Uryuu's right though. We have no leads until he contacts us," Orihime offered quietly.

"I have to find something. I have to get something. I need something to use to help me get to them faster. I have a feeling he doesn't plan on leaving them unharmed," he said, his voice growing low at the possibility.

"We'll keep looking," Ishida offered, knowing it would do nothing to calm his friend.

Before anyone else could say a word, Ichigo's cell phone rang. He quickly answered it while Ishida and Orihime impatiently waited to hear who it was.

"Ukitake?" Ichigo asked in confusion. Ishida also questioned why the white-haired man would be calling them right now until Ichigo's eyes widened.

"Wait, really?" he asked before there was silence as Ukitake presumably talked on the other end.

"Okay, I got it. I'll be there as soon as possible," Ichigo said suddenly before he hung up the phone, grabbed his keys, and made to leave the apartment.

"Wait! What the hell was that about Ichigo? What did Ukitake say?" Ishida asked as he and Orihime got up and rushed after their friend.

"He knows where they are," Ichigo said as they left and ran to his where his car was parked.

"What? How the hell does Ukitake know?"

"I don't know. I don't care. I just need to get to them," Ichigo said as the trio got into the car and Ichigo zoomed out onto the street. He would die before he let anyone harm either his sisters or Rukia. He had to protect them, even if it meant giving up everything.

Alright so stuff's finally going to happen! Yay! Let me know what you guys thought! And I pinky promise that there will be a TON of Ichiruki goodness in the next few chapters (though not quite as much in the next but definitely in the ones after that) that will hopefully make the last 26 chapters worth it :)