Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Bleach or Get Backers or anything affiliated with said shows.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

Ichigo yawned and threw the blankets off his body with a big stretch. Rubbing his eyes, he stifled another yawn as he slowly got out of bed. "Yo Rukia, time to get up." He called out towards his closet while he straightened his sheets. Patting down the blankets, Ichigo rolled his eyes when he didn't get a response. "I know you're in there, now get your ass up. I need to get ready for school, and you're supposed to head back to Soul Society with Renji soon." Still there was no sound and Ichigo sighed in annoyance. "Dammit Rukia, I'm not your babysitter." He grumbled, throwing open the closet door. "Would you get u-…uh, Rukia?" Seeing no sign of the dark haired woman, Ichigo nudged the sleeping stuffed animal that was sprawled across her pillow.

"That's nice Rukia." Kon mumbled sleepily, a small drop of drool rolling down the side of his face.

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo picked the stuffed lion up by its tail and shook him harshly. "Wake up you stupid animal." He said annoyed.

"Ow ow ow!" Kon cried out as he hung upside down by his tail. "That hurts you idiot!"

"Shut up." Ichigo said, glaring at the annoying toy in his hand. When Kon crossed his arms and huffed, Ichigo continued. "Just tell me where Rukia is and I'll put you down."

Kon stuck out his tongue and turned up his nose. "And why should I tell you?" He asked haughtily.

"Because I'll tear your stuffing out if you don't." Ichigo growled impatiently. Raising a hand menacingly, he smirked when Kon's eyes widened.

"O-ok, I'll tell you! No need to turn violent." Kon muttered.

When he didn't continue, Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "…well."

"…I have no idea." Kon said after a few moments of silence. "She must've left while I was asleep."

Ichigo's head dropped and he sighed. "I really should've expected that." He said, shaking his head slowly as he dropped Kon on the floor. Picking up his backpack that he'd tossed near his door last night, Ichigo headed out of his room. "Oh well, I guess she'll come back when she's done. No point in worry about it, she can take care of herself." Heading into the kitchen, he nearly ran right into someone.

"Good morning Ichigo!" Orihime cried out cheerfully. "How are you today?"

Taking a few steps back from the peppy girl, Ichigo smiled slightly. "I'm fine Orihime, how about you?"

"I'm great." Orihime replied. "I was just on my way to school and I thought that since I was early maybe we could walk together."

"Sure, why not." Ichigo said with a shrug. "Give me a second to grab some orange juice and we'll head out." Opening up the fridge, he took a gulp from the orange container and tossed it back onto the shelf. "Well, let's go."

As she followed Ichigo to the door, Orihime couldn't help but notice how quiet it was around the house. "Hey Ichigo, where is everyone?" She asked curiously. "Usually your dad's trying to kick your head in every time I come over, but I haven't seen him since I got here. And Karin and Yuzu aren't here either."

"Oh, dad took them on a trip to the ocean for the week." Ichigo said as he held the door open for Orihime. "I didn't feel like spending the week in a tent so I chose to stay here."

"I see." Orihime said as she walked through the door. Pausing, she cocked her head in thought. "Wait, where's Rukia? I haven't seen her either. Don't tell me your father convinced her to tag along with them; doesn't she know that's dangerous?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Beats me, I haven't seen her since yesterday morning. But I doubt she'd have gone with dad, she's not that stupid."

Orihime tapped her chin in thought. "How strange." She muttered. "Usually Rukia always says goodbye to me before she leaves. I wonder why she left in such a hurry."

"Don't worry about her; I'm sure she's fine." Ichigo said as he glanced at his watch. "Now let's go or we'll be late for school."

"Alright." Orihime said, glancing up at Ichigo's window before turning around and following after the orange haired teen.

ooooo

The school day passed by quickly and soon Ichigo found himself standing outside the large building talking with his friends. "I'll see you guys later tonight then at my place right?" Ichigo asked, and seeing the nods of Chad and Ishida, he waved and walked through the gate of the school. Yawning, he stretched his arms above his head. "Man, I'm beat. Those stupid teachers always make everything so damn boring." He muttered to himself.

"Ichigo, wait up." A voice called after him.

Pausing, Ichigo turned back towards the school to see Orihime running after him. "What's the matter Orihime, did you need something?" He asked politely.

"No, I just thought I'd walk home with you and see if Rukia was back yet." Orihime said with her ever present smile.

With a shrug, Ichigo turned back around and continued on his way home. "Whatever."

The short walk to his house was quiet since neither teen seemed interested in talking. Ichigo was far too tired to make small talk, and though she hadn't actually said it yet, Orihime was really worried about Rukia.

'I wonder why she left so suddenly.' Orihime thought. 'It's not like her to just leave without telling me anything. We are friends after all.'

The minute Ichigo unlocked his door, Orihime brushed past him and ran inside. "Rukia, are you here?" She called out. "Rukia?" Running upstairs, she ran into Ichigo's room and threw open the closet door. "Rukia?" Seeing no sign of the dark haired shinigami, she picked up Kon and gently shook him awake. "Kon, has Rukia come back yet?" She asked.

Rubbing his eyes, the stuffed lion blinked several times before letting out a cry of joy and burrowing into the large chest in front of him. "I've missed you both so much." He cried happily.

Ichigo walked into his room just in time to see Kon launch himself at Orihime's chest. With a growl, he stomped over to the two and harshly pulled Kon away. "You stupid animal, keep your paws to yourself." He said angrily. "Stop trying to grope every girl you see, it's annoying."

Ignoring the interruption, Orihime asked again. "Kon, have you seen Rukia? Has she come back from Soul Society yet?" She asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Nah, I haven't seen her since last night." Kon replied absently as he continued to nuzzle into Orihime's chest. When the arms holding him began to squeeze him tightly, Kon gasped and began waving his arms wildly. "H-hey, I can't breathe here." He squeaked out.

Chuckling at Kon's predicament, Ichigo blinked when he heard sniffles. Turning to face his friend, he was surprised to see tears falling down her face. "Orihime, what's wrong?" He asked worriedly. "Did he hurt you?" Narrowing his eyes at Kon, he was about to tear the toy limb from limb when Orihime spoke.

"We have to save Rukia!" Orihime cried. "She could be hurt, or maybe she was kidnapped and is being held hostage. What'll we do?"

"…um, I'm sure she's all right." Ichigo said slowly. "This is Rukia we're talking about after all. I highly doubt she's gotten hurt, and as for being kidnapped, who would want to kidnap her." When Orihime simply continued to stand there crying, he rubbed his head with a sigh. "Ok, we'll go and find her. Would that make you feel better?"

"Really?" Orihime sniffled, and when Ichigo nodded she smiled brightly. "That's great; I'll go get my coat."

"Wait I never said right now…never mind." Ichigo called out, but Orihime had already run out of the room. Glancing over at Kon, who'd been thrown against the wall when Orihime had taken off, Ichigo shook his head. "I just know that this is your fault somehow." He muttered to the unconscious animal. With one last sigh, he headed towards the kitchen. 'Man, this sucks. Rukia is so going to owe me one when we find her.' He thought in annoyance.

Slipping her arms in her jacket, Orihime smiled. "There you are Ichigo. I'm ready to go now."

"Ok, let's get going then." Pulling on his own coat, Ichigo once again opened the door for Orihime and the two walked outside.

They'd only gone a few feet when Orihime suddenly spoke up. "Hey Ichigo, I thought you were banned from Soul Society for awhile. How are we going to get in if you're not allowed through the gate?" She asked.

Ichigo froze and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Heh heh…oops, I forgot about that." He said with a small chuckle. "Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait for her to come back then. Mr. Afro Shinigami won't let me through and there's no way he'd let you through either. We have no choice but to wait for her to return." Turning around, he was about to head back inside when the sound of tears stopped him.

"B-but what about Rukia?" Orihime sobbed. "How can you just leave her in the hands of her kidnappers? Don't you care about her at all? And I thought she was your friend!"

"Whoa, calm down." Ichigo said, waving his hands in front of him. "I didn't say that I don't care about Rukia, but there's nothing we can do." When Orihime continued to cry, Ichigo rubbed his forehead slowly. "Fine, I'll find someone who can go to Soul Society and look for her. Just please stop crying."

"You will?" Orihime asked with a sniff.

Ichigo sighed. "Yes."

With a small smile, Orihime wiped her tears and headed back into Ichigo's kitchen. "If you don't mind, I think I'll wait here until she's found. I don't want to be alone right now."

"Whatever, make yourself at home." Ichigo said distractedly. "Right now I have to try and find someone who'd be willing to go to Soul Society and bring back a shinigami who's probably not even missing. How the hell did this day get so screwed up." He muttered to himself as he walked up to his room.

Throwing open his bedroom door, Ichigo racked his brain for possible solutions. "Chad can't go since he's not allowed there either. Ishida's out of the question. I can't ask anyone from school, they'd think I'd gone insane, and there's no way I'd ask my psycho father. Great, I've just ruled out everyone. Dammit, why did I have to tell Orihime I'd find someone to send." Plopping down at his desk, he dropped his head to the table with a groan. "This sucks." He whined as he stared blankly at his computer screen. Minutes ticked by and Ichigo was about to go down to give Orihime the bad news when he had a brilliant idea. "I'll just search the net for someone. I'm sure there are people out there who like to do dangerous things. Maybe I can get one of them to go to Soul Society and look for Rukia." Sitting up, he nodded his head in determination and began his search.

It didn't take Ichigo long to realize that his amazing idea was not getting him anywhere. "No matter what I search for, all I get are sites for these stupid corporate companies. I can see it now. 'Hey there, I know you're a huge company and all so I was hoping you'd be able to send a few of your guys to Soul Society to bring a shinigami friend of mine back'…yeah that'd go over real great. Up till the point they call the men in white coats of course." Growling in annoyance, he tugged at his hair in frustration. "There's got to be someone out there who'd be willing to do the job."

After searching for a few more minutes, Ichigo was about to give up completely when a small ad caught his eye. "Hmm, what's this?" He asked out loud. Clicking on the link that would lead him to a group called the Get Backers, he was slightly surprised to see it led to a plain white page with nothing but a phone number and a line that read 'Get Backers, we get back what was taken'. Shrugging, he almost missed the small line of text that was tucked down near the bottom. Scrolling down a little, he blinked several times at the tiny chibi image of some blonde guy giving a thumbs up sign next to a line that read 'You should definitely choose us, we're broke…oh, and we have an almost 100% success rate too!'. "Against my better judgment, I think I'll give them a call. Since they're broke they might be desperate enough to do it for cheap. I don't have that much saved up after all." Grabbing his phone off the desk, he punched in the numbers and waited for someone to pick up.

Several rings later, a woman's voice answered. "Hi, this is the Get Backers right? I have a job for you." Ichigo said into the receiver.