I promised myself and promised myself that I would never write an Aizen/Hueco Mundo fic because it will just get mauled by the Manga at some point, yet here I am, writing an Aizen fic. This idea came to me and it was just too good to waste, despite the fact that it depends on Aizen. I'm going to try really hard not to write about the Winter War because I really don't want to, but we'll see where the fic takes me. Anyway, enough of me, on to the story.

Note: This story starts sometime after episode 132, but before the war with Aizen. Obviously.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.

Aizen was furious. Ok, so Aizen never really gets furious, but he was damn close to it. He stared down from his seat on his thrown at a very petrified Arrancar. His eyes were popping out of his head and he was shaking like mad. He glanced nervously over his shoulders, waiting for someone to come and deliver the death blow.

"I believe," Aizen began in his usual calm voice. But despite his tone, his eyes were on fire. "I believe I told you to bring me Kurosaki Ichigo and 10th squad's taicho." Aizen waved a hand at the two unconscious, bound and gagged figures lying in the corner.

"Does that look like you have fulfilled my request?" he asked coldly. The Arrancar struggled desperately to find his voice.

"How…how was I supposed to know it wasn't them?" he stuttered. Aizen smirked.

"First of all," he drawled, "the people I sent you to find are both men. Those two do not look like men to me."

"But, it was an honest mistake!" the Arrancar squeaked, wringing his hands together. Aizen chuckled.

"I understand." The Arrancar's face lit up with sudden hope.

"You…you do?" he asked, unable to believe his good fortune.

"Of course," Aizen continued with a bitter smile. "It is an honest mistake. Instead of Kurosaki Ichigo, you have brought me Kurosaki Karin. And in place of the 10th squad taicho, you have brought the fukutaicho. You were following your orders to the best of your knowledge. But," Aizen's smile changed to a grimace, "what I cannot forgive was you mishearing the orders in the first place."

"But…" the Arrancar cried, but he didn't have a chance to finish.

"Way of destruction number 31, shot of red fire," Aizen said lazily, and the Arrancar was gone in a flash of red light. Aizen sighed, then leaned on his arm, staring at the figures in the corner with interest.

"Perhaps I can find a use for them after all," he mused to himself.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Meanwhile, in Soul Society, Hitsugaya was looking for his fukutaicho. The overflowing pile of paperwork on her desk had reached desperate proportions, and he wasn't in the mood to do it for her. He also hadn't seen her in two days. Not that that was wholly surprising, since she usually spent her entire existence avoiding the office, but still, it was unusual for him to go so long without seeing her once. She usually had to decency to at least tell him she was skiving off work. He wasn't particularly worried, but he was curious about where she disappeared to.

He started with Kira, thinking that she might be wasting her time being, well wasted with her old drinking buddy. He knocked on the door to the 3rd squad office.

"Come in!" Kira called. Kira was up to his elbows in work, having to act as a taicho in Gin's stead. Rumor said he also wasn't sleeping very well, his guilt about helping Aizen escape and, what's more, allowing Hinamori to be injured ate away at him, but he was putting up a brave façade nonetheless.

"Ah, Hitsugaya taicho!" Kira said with a smile, and Hitsugaya could see the bags under his eyes. "What brings you here?"

"Have you seen Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya asked. "I can't seem to find her." Kira shook his head.

"Sorry, Hitsugaya taicho, but I haven't seen Rangiku-san in a while. I've been so busy with running the squad, I haven't had much time to get out."

"I see," Hitsugaya said, in a tone that was a lot less sympathetic then it could have been. Hitsugaya hadn't entirely forgiven Kira for what happened. "Thank you."

"You might want to check 11th squad!" Kira called as Hitsugaya slid the door shut. "She likes hiding out with Yumichka when she doesn't want to work." Hitsugaya scowled. He knew Matsumoto's hiding places better than anyone else, having painstakingly sought them out over the past god-knows how many years.

He ignored the sounds of immense pain coming from the 11th squad dojo and went to find Yumichka. He and Ikkaku were sprawled on the porch. Ikkaku was drinking sake and making rude comments at terrified looking rookies, and Yumichka was fixing his hair.

"You know, I could report you for this," Hitsugaya said, causing both of them to jump. "I know perfectly well that you have better things to do with your time.

"Naw, Zaraki taicho doesn't care what we do," Ikkaku said with a smile. "I pity your poor squad members, Hitsugaya taicho, you must work them to death!"

"Oi!" Hitsugaya growled warningly. Ikkaku waved him off.

"Ah, lighten up Hitsugaya taicho."

"Would you like something, Hitsugaya taicho?" Yumichka asked politely. Hitsugaya sighed.

"Have either of you seen Matsumoto?" he asked. They shook their heads.

"Nope, haven't seen her in two days or so." Yumichka replied. "It's so unbeautiful of her to disappear like this, she even missed our hair appointment yesterday."

"Two days is hardly disappearing…wait what!?" Hitsugaya asked, stunned. "Matsumoto missed a hair appointment?" That was weird. He couldn't remember that ever happening before.

"Yes, second Tuesday of every month," Yumichka continued. "It's tradition! We always go together." Ok, now this was getting worrisome. As strange as it was that Matsumoto had missed a hair appointment, it was even stranger to hear that she had stood up Yumichka. Matsumoto simply didn't do that to her friends. What on earth was she doing that was more important? He couldn't even imagine.

But now, he was honestly starting to get slightly concerned. He left 11th squad and scoured Soul Society, searching in all her favorite hiding spots, places to drink, even the shopping district. But the last time anyone could remember seeing her was two days ago. Hitsugaya wracked his brain as he tried to think of some place where she might have run off to.

ooooooooooooooooooo

"Where is Karin?" insisted a rather impatient Isshin. "She is perfectly aware that dinner in this house starts at 7:00!" Ichigo looked at the clock and rolled his eyes. It was 7:08.

"I'm sure she just lost track of time," he said in exasperation as Isshin went on a rant about his children growing up and forgetting all about him. Ichigo did his best to ignore him and turned to Yuzu, hoping to share an amused look about their father's antics. Unfortunately, he was met with tears.

"Onii-chan," Yuzu said, quietly so that Isshin couldn't hear. "I think otousan is right. Karin-chan has never been late for dinner. Ever." She had a point, but come on, she was only eight minutes late. Ok, nine, but who's counting.

"She's fine," Ichigo insisted. Yuzu shook her head.

"I don't think so, Ichi-nii." Ichigo struggled to hide his annoyance.

"Alright, alright, I'll go find her. Happy?" Yuzu beamed at him.

"Thank you, Ichi-nii!" Ichigo grunted in response.

"Oh, sibling love, it's such a wonderful thing!" Isshin cried, to which he received a punch in the face from Ichigo.

"I'll be back soon," he called, tossing his jacket over his shoulder.

"Damn it, this is ridiculous," he complained as he headed towards the soccer field. It was the only place he could think of. "Karin's more than capable of taking care of herself." He reached the field and saw a group of her friends huddled together, talking in hurried whispers. Why they were whispering was unclear, but Ichigo was just glad to find them. Karin was sure to be among them. Boy was he going to make her regret making Yuzu worry. As he approached, he heard snippets of their conversation.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know! I mean, she just disappeared?"

"Who disappeared?" Ichigo asked, causing the speaker to nearly jump out of his skin.

"Ichi…Ichi-nii!" he gasped. He looked desperately at his friends for help, but no one intervened. Ichigo noticed that Karin was not among them. "Well, you see, Kurosaki, ah…"

"What happened to Karin?" Ichigo insisted, his face darkening. The boy gulped. Another bravely stepped forward.

"Well, Ichi-nii, we were playing soccer and all of a sudden, Kurosaki started acting really weird. She stopped moving, yelled at us to run, then started having a conversation with herself. Something about getting the hell out of here before you showed up and that she wasn't going anywhere. Then she got really scary and started screaming and kicking at the air, and then she just…disappeared. Like really went poof. I…we don't really know where she went…oi Ichi-nii!" he called after Ichigo who was already running in the direction of Urahara's shop.

"Crap, they've got Karin!" he said to himself. The boys may have had no idea what happened, but Ichigo understood immediately. Karin could see hollows, he knew that, and what was just described to him was definitely a kidnapping. Karin was in Hueco Mundo and Ichigo had to go rescue her.

"Why the heck would Aizen want her?" he wondered as he raced through the streets, bowling over several people and not bothering to apologize.

He raced into the shop, ignoring Ururu's cry of surprise at his sudden entrance, and ran straight up to Urahara.

"Urahara-san!" he shouted angrily. "My sister Karin's…"

"Been taken to Hueco Mondo," Urahara finished for him. Ichigo's jaw fell open in shock.

"You knew? How did you know already?" Urahara smiled

"I've been keeping a very close eye on the goings on in Hueco Mondo for some time now. I've devised a nice little machine that helps me detect reiatsu patterns there, and I noticed your sister's appear about an hour ago. Unfortunately, Soul Society doesn't seem particularly interested in my machine, still too angry at me I suppose…"

"This is not the time for that!" Ichigo interrupted impatiently. "I've got to get to Hueco Mondo. Now." Urahara smiled.

"Patience, Kurosaki-kun. You can't barge into Hueco Mondo in your current state. Besides, we're waiting for someone else who will undoubtedly help you." Ichigo was affronted by the insult, but he ignored it.

"Who…?" he began, but before he could finish, a senkai gate opened next to them and a hell butterfly flew out, followed by a rather angry looking Hitsugaya.

"Toushiro!" Ichigo said startled. Hitsugaya turned to Ichigo with a death stare.

"That's Hitsugaya taicho," he insisted. Then, turning to Urahara, he continued. "Urahara, has Matsumoto been through here? I can't seem to find her anywhere and I was thinking that she might have taken refuge in the human world for some reason or another."

"Rangiku-san too?" Ichigo asked. Hitsugaya looked to him.

"What do you mean 'too' Kurosaki?" he asked. Urahara looked at them both seriously.

"According to my information," he began, "Matsumoto Rangiku and Kurosaki Karin have both been kidnapped by the Arrancar and taken to Los Noches." Hitsugaya's eyes widened in surprise.

"We're going after them! Right Toushiro?" Ichigo asked frantically.

"Ah," Hitsugaya agreed, ignoring the informality. Matsumoto was kidnapped. How? Why? He couldn't believe it. As much as she annoyed him, Hitsugaya had a soft spot for his fukutaicho. She was his partner, on the battlefield and off it. He would do anything to protect her.

"Before you just barge into Huecdo Mondo," Urahara added, "I want you to think carefully. I can't imagine why Aizen would want Karin and Matsumoto specifically, but it may be to draw the two of you out. This must be a stealth mission. You must hide your reiatsu entirely." Hitsugaya and Ichigo nodded. Then they heard laughter and turned to see Jinta clutching his sides.

"Kurosaki, hiding his reitasu?" he snorted between fits of laughter. "That's about as likely as Kon swearing off women." Ichigo growled, but Urahara smiled softly.

"Indeed, Kurosaki, you will need some training before you can go." Ichigo's face was scrunched up in frustration and irritation, but he nodded anyway. Hitsugaya however, was none too pleased.

"Well, while Kurosaki is here learning the basics, I'm going to find my fukutaicho." Urahara ignored Ichigo's protests and looked at Hitsugaya seriously.

"Hitsugaya taicho, you know as well as I do that going into Hueco Mondo on your own without backup is as good as suicide. You need Kurosaki's help, just as he needs yours. Give me three days to train him. You are welcome to stay here and help as well. That may speed up the process." Hitsugaya sighed. He knew Urahara was right, but the thought of sitting around doing nothing while Matsumoto was trapped in a jail cell in Hueco Mondo was not appealing.

"Fine," he acquiesced. "Three days."

Next chapter I'll get more into the real story now that I've set it up. Please review and let me know if you think this is a good idea at all. Thanks.