Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

I AM DEEPLY SORRY, EVERYONE. I've taken almost a yr to update, haven't I? I want to thank all of you who have reviewed, especially those who continued to contact me and encouraged me to post up another chp :D

ARIGATOU, ALL OF YOU! Now, please go on n read. It's not much, but I will make sure the nex chp will be much better!

-Bleach-

Chapter20: The Beginning of a Plan to Success

"All right, I take it the search has been a success?" inquired the easy-going man. He accepted the mini black book from a grinning Renji. They were at Kisuke's shouten.

"Che, I was the one who found it," grumbled the orange-haired delinquent beside them. His famous scowl appeared.

Renji smirked in return. "Cmon Strawberry, don't be such a grump."

"Che, shut up Tattoo-face," the substitute shinigami retorted, clearly annoyed.

"Easy there, fellas," Urahara chuckled. His eyes flickered left to right. "By the way, where did Soi Fong disappear to?" He arched an eyebrow in question.

"Oh, Fong-san? Well she found a book too but she said she wanted to check it out first. I think it had a lock, so…." Renji scratched his head and shrugged, not knowing what else to say. "She drove home with her zanpaku-to."

Ichigo added, "Fong-san assumes it's Yoruichi-san's diary."

Surprise lighted Kisuke's features. "Diary?" he repeated, puzzled. "That's quite interesting… Remind me to ask her about it later."

"Sure," Ichigo replied. "Does that mean we're free to go?"

"Well," Urahara said amusedly, "Tatsuki's not here to make you stay, so feel free to leave if you please."

"Awesome!" Renji grinned and turned to the orange-headed racer. "Yo Carrot-head, I'll meet you in your room."

"What!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Why the heck are you heading to my room? Oi!" He ran after the eager soul reaper, leaving Urahara blinking.

Renji is meeting Ichigo in his room? How, uh, interesting…

"I want to see Rukia! Is it that hard for you to get it through your puny brain?" Renji laughed mockingly while pointing a finger and continued to sprint.

Oh, I see! So it wasn't a secret affair after all. Silly me! Urahara snapped out his fan to hide his giggles.

"Say what? I do not have a puny brain, you baboon!"

The two argued loudly as they continued running (Ichigo more chasing), leaving Urahara to regain his composure from his small mirth and rack at his brain to stop thinking juvenile thoughts. Once calmed down, Kisuke looked at the book in hand and contemplated the chances of it containing a clue of Yoruichi's whereabouts. 'Slim, but not at all impossible,' he decided with a satisfied nod. He strode towards the exit where the hotheaded racers had gone and clicked off the lights as Kuukaku had instructed him to. 'Oops, almost forgot to lock the door. Kuukaku will kill me if I leave it open again,' he reminded himself. Whistling a cheery tune, he turned the lock, made sure he hadn't left anything behind, and went his merry way.

'My creative wits versus the sharp intellect of Aizen Sousuke. Let's see who comes out the victor.'

-BLEACH-

Yoruichi growled beneath her breath. She wasn't inhabiting that same, comfortable room Aizen had forced her to live in. No, she was in a cellar, complete with bars n gray bricks with only dim light to keep the darkness at bay. Why was she thrown into this stinky, goddess-forbidden place?

She attacked her 'caretaker,' Ulquiorra.

At first she had the upper hand of surprise, but then all of a sudden her vision blurred and the world around her spun. It's been a few days and she still couldn't fathom how she was beaten so quickly.

The once-stripper had her fingers impatiently drumming on the floor and unconsciously embraced the cold atmosphere to relieve herself from tension. She then buried her head into her arms, her knees bent up as she sat on the ground.

'I hate this place, I hate Aizen, I hate all those men who screwed up my life, I hate this all, I hate how the world is, n I hate…' Yoruichi blinked, her honey golden eyes widening at what she was about to say mentally.

'I hate all of this but…I love only you, Soi Fong.'

Involuntarily letting out a small whimper, she shook her head furiously n slammed a fist into the brick floor; it hurt enough to make the woman think she broke a few fingers, yet still this pain wasn't enough.

"I'll get out," she said in a low whisper, "And I'll be the one to hunt you, Sousuke Aizen."

Are you going to save me from this manmade hell, my little bee? Or am I truly alone in this world?

-BLEACH-

Soi Fong was in her living room walking back and forth in front of the coffee table, her face concentrated in deep contemplation. The book she had found in Yoruichi's bedroom was on it, begging her to open and read its pages. Ironically, Soi was hesitant with acting on her desire.

Heaving a sigh, she paused and glanced longingly at, what she guessed was, Yoruichi's diary. 'No, stop,' she scolded herself. 'I'd be invading her privacy.' Even so, her curiosity and hope for a place of where the goddess could be flooded her mind and slowly made her give in. "Dammit," she cursed, shaking her head rapidly. "I can't…I can't just…Argh!" The young woman clenched a fistful of hair in frustration.

Blowing out a mouthful of air, Soi made her way to the couch and slid into a comfortable seat. "Yoruichi, where are you?" she asked almost pleadingly, her eyes gaining a lost look. "How will I find you? I don't know where to start, where to go…" Her helpless gaze slowly landed on the book. "I want to save you… I want us to have fun like old times…and I want…" The waitress closed her eyes. "I want to be with you…please..."

Silence came for a few moments and then... "Dammit!" she swore again, standing up abruptly. "Should I open it or…" Soi Fong blinked. She forgot the book had a lock. Staring at it for several seconds, she slammed her palms on her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. 'I'm not going to open Yoruichi's diary, I'm not going to unlock it, I'm not going to read Yoruichi's diary no matter how much I want to, I'm not going to be nosy, I'm not going to unlock it, not, not, not, crap I'm going to unlock it. Shit.'

Soi immediately fidgeted and, nervously, placed the book onto her lap. Taking in a deep breath, she reached into her pocket for her 'unlocker' that Yoruichi had helped shape weeks ago and paused as she reminisced.

'I miss her…'

Trying not to think anymore gloomy thoughts, the young woman began to pick at the book's lock. "…It should open right about…now?" Soi Fong blinked when she found it was still locked tight. "Okay, maybe I did it wrong…" Trying the technique the mischievous woman had taught her two more times and failing, the Chinese woman let out a sound of disbelief. It was as if the book tricked her into making a fool of herself. "I can't open it." Soi Fong felt defeated and realization dawned that if she couldn't open it, she wouldn't be able to see what was inside.

"Great, I'm going to have to wait for someone else to unlock it. Just friggin' great." She groaned exasperatingly and leaned into the couch. Soi was back at where she was before: having no idea of what to do next.

-Next Morning-

"Hey Pretty Boy, what in the world brings u here?" Kuukaku crossed her arms and waited for Byakuya's reply. Whoever Kuukaku expected to visit her (which was practically no one since this was the Shiba province and not her garage), it was definitely not a Kuchiki. Maybe Rukia since Ichigo and Renji were included in their rescue, but certainly not Byakuya.

The noble before her remained stoic and kept his face emotionless as always. Figures. All was silent but right when Kuukaku had had enough and was gonna chew him out for appearing for no reason at all, the man spoke. "I am here because my younger sister requested it."

Kuukaku blinked and gave him a look over. So this was Rukia's work, eh? Smirking at the man, the engineer inquired, "And why would she request your presence here, hm?"

He gave her a short, simple answer. "To see that Kurosaki and Abarai do not come to harm." He reluctantly added, "I know of Shihouin's predicament. I am willing to help for what she has done for me in the past."

"Done for you in the past? What the hell, u know her or something?"

"That is none of your concern, Shiba."

She laughed. "Oh, I see. She taught you how to pole dance."

The Kuchiki didn't find her jest funny. "It would please me if you would keep your assumptions to yourself, Shiba. " Byakuya's eyes flashed. "I will repay my debt to Shihouin. That is all."

Kuukaku rolled her eyes after she had her little laugh. "Still got something stuck up your ass, I see, "she muttered to herself before threading her fingers through her ruffled hair. Settling with a sigh, she decided what the heck with it. "All right then," she said with a nod and cracked a wicked grin. "If ya feel up to it, I'm cool about this." Her emerald eyes glanced over to her left. "But what do you think, Kisuke? With Byakuya, we should be able to plan things just fine now, wouldn't you agree?"

The shopkeeper lazily revealed himself and stepped out of the shadows. He met the slightly surprised gaze of the Kuchiki and nodded, offering a friendly smile. "We'll need all the help we can get. Welcome aboard, Kuchiki-san."

-BLEACH-

John: Ok, would u rather be a sexy girl's mini skirt, or a sexy girl's tank top?

Me: Um…Dats hard cuz da tank top gets contact with her boobies, n da mini skirt gets to see her goodies… Gah, I guess mini skirt lol

John: Would you…rather be a chair or a table? XD

Me: o.O Well, er… A table gets dirty more easily except there r times when ppl hav table-sex… lol Then again, ppl could be doing nasty things on chairs like farting but then wat if a sexy girl sat on me? XD (I cleverly avoided da question!)

John: oh wow u rly thought on dat one lol Then, would you rather…

Me: Oi, why am I da only one answering?

John: Oh, alright fine!

Me: Yay!

A/N: Again guys, I'm sorry for this not chp not being satisfying. I've had this for awhile now but I never edited it like I wanted… So I decided to update anyway. I hope you all forgive me for my lateness. Like I said above, I will make sure to make da nex update way better! (just not rite now cuz I hav my skoo grades to worry about).