Chapter 01.

"Brother! Brother!"

Silence; complete silence as the wolf's paws landed lightly upon the broken earth. He steps off first, and offers her a hand but she kindly refuses. She puts her first foot upon the ground and then the second follows. She walks slowly, almost gliding toward them. From each step she takes, an assortment of flowers blossom from the ground. Leaving a trail of footprints in bundles of flowers, almost as if Mother Nature herself refused to let her precious feet touch the cold, dead, earth on which Isien had stained with the blood of the innocent. They had risked their lives for a friend, a sister, and a comrade. Everyone was in awe; they were never told much about her nor had an encounter with her grace, but her presence alone said who she was. The Grand Master Kai stood before them. She knelt before Byakuya and lightly touched his forehead, upon impact his body pulsated and he gasped a breath like he had been awakened from death. She smiled as they made eye contact. His mind returns to when they first met.

"Your Grace, I am Byakuya Kuchiki and it is an honor to meet you."

Overtaken by her beauty, he boldly steps forward to kiss her hand only to be met with the scent of a steel blade. Toushiro stands in a nonchalant pose, his sword drawn against Byakuya's neck; his eyes glare daggers into his audacious opponent.

"You'll have to excuse Toushiro's sword, contrary to what you may think, it's for your own protection."

She steps back with the grace of a delicate bird. She glides toward the window, her blonde curls caressing her cheeks. The most powerful being in all existence stood mere feet away from him, and in the form of a woman no less. It all made sense to him; power is the most tempting thing in any man's life, the very thing that men lust for, that men kill for. Now power stood before him in a solid form, a woman. What could be more tempting?

"Her skin is her greatest defense. She alone is pure, and if someone tainted," he raised an eyebrow at Byakuya, "or someone of sin, were to touch her…their skin would burn with a fire more powerful than that of the sun. If one is pure, they will have a sensation of pleasure, tranquility and joy like no other."

Byakuya was bothered at the tone of familiarity that Toushiro used when he spoke of such pleasure, but quickly realized that it was not out of boasting that Toushiro told him this so openly. He knew this would present itself as a test, a test of how pure he really was. Byakuya understood what Toushiro really meant, that he would have to earn the right to become close to her.

"You'll be alright." She stood up and looked to Rukia. "Do take care of your brother, he can be quite reckless." Rukia nodded respectfully still in awe of who stood before her. The Grand Master Kai, Princess Ayeka, Her Majesty, all these titles she was commonly called all meant one thing. She was the highest of the high, the top dog of the spirit world, and the head of the soul reaper society. Her power could not be rivaled, until now. Ayeka walked over to the young boy surrounded by his human friends, the orange haired one desperately trying to heal him. She ran her fingers through her hair until one hair came loose between her fingers. She placed the hair in the boy's hand.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, tie this hair around the hilt of your sword, and your sword will have my protection." He drowsily accepted the long golden hair and collapsed back into exhaustion. As she began to walk away, Rukia used what courage she had left to speak up.

"What now!? Isien has power like never before, but what does that even mean!?"

Ayeka turned her head to the side and spoke calmly to the frantic soul reaper.

"With the little show that Isien just performed, he wanted to send a clear message. A clear message to me."

"And what message would that be?"

"Check."

Ayeka turns back toward Toushiro and her trusted wolf Suboshi who were waiting patiently. She mounts the silver wolf and leaves without a sound. The soul reapers desperately try to soak in the events of the day and then proceed back as well.

Toushiro enters Ayeka's private room and leans casually against an adjacent wall. Ayeka sits in the dark with one lone candle at her side on the window sill.

"You knew didn't you?" She looks in his direction. "You knew Isien was given the offer by them?" She laughs and runs her fingers through her hair trying to diffuse the knot in her stomach.

"I was the one who set things up. I allowed Isien to be put in the situation where he was given the offer. I honestly wasn't sure how he would respond." Her smile turned to a frown. "But isn't it funny how a man will throw away all he has, if given the chance to kill a woman who simply wants to help the flowers grow."