Title: Recovery

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, except my OC's.

A/N: Nothing to report.


Byakuya stared intensely at the spot where the cloaked figure holding Souichiro once stood. He held his noble posture and emotionless façade, though his charred arms were burdened with the relentless stinging. Byakuya replayed the night's events in his mind as he continued to stare at said spot. He pondered who could have grabbed Souichiro and vanished without a trace.

'The only ties that brash boy possibly had were between his father and those two…'

"Captain!"

Byakuya was knocked out of his thoughts by a rapidly approaching Renji. He turned to acknowledge him by simply stating the Lieutenant's name. Renji was surprised to see the state of the town was in as well as his Captain. He already deduced a battle had taken place.

"Captain… Are you alright? Where is Souichiro?" he asked with concern on his face.

Byakuya could clearly see it was for the boy. "My injuries are of no immediate importance. Souichiro Katashi has evaded capture with an unknown individual's interference. I say this because I do not know if this individual was an accomplice or a kidnapper. I shall send a report to headquarters about this incident." Renji held his gaze with Byakuya during this briefing, as much as he tried to hide it, his eyes easily betrayed his emotions, emotions of concern, guilt and a twinge of anger showed within them.

"Yes, Captain."

"And one more thing Renji," Byakuya said. "Do not underestimate that boy. He could pose a potential threat to the Gotei 13." With that said Byakuya vanished and after he left, Renji couldn't do anything except let himself smile. 'Souichiro... Hopefully the next time we meet, there won't be a layer of dirt standing between us.'

"What in the world happened here?!" an elderly man yelled wide-eyed. Renji turned to see what the man was going on about and saw he was reacting to the large fissure in the middle of the street. The elderly man saw Renji's uniform and immediately blamed the Shinigami for all the damage. Then the old man started rambling on about other things. "…And back in my day we never had funny looking eyebrows, they were decent and normal and another thing…"

'Captain…You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" Renji thought, mentally cursing his superior as the old man continued to ramble on.


Byakuya had just arrived at one of the many Fourth Division centres spread across the area. He wanted to recover and get back to his duties as soon as possible. He didn't have time to sit around while that boy was still out there.

"Ack! Captain Kuchiki, your hands!" a small, dark haired and very fragile looking Shinigami cried.

"Yes, that is why I am here, 7th seat Yamada." Byakuya said calmly.

"Oh y-yes sir, please step this way." Hanatarou said leading the impassive Captain inside the medical treatment room. Byakuya removed his sword from his obi-sash and placed it against the wall and sat in the chair so Hanatarou could begin healing him. The chair was comfortably soft and it relieved some of the tension he was feeling as he slowly eased into it. Byakuya had almost forgotten to remove the documents from his inside shihakusho pocket and placed them on the table next to him.

"What are those documents Captain Kuchiki?" Byakuya had closed his eyes, letting a mental sigh of relief as the healing took its full effect. "If you must know, those are the request documents for-

"-For adding someone to the list of potential threats to the Seireitei, correct?" said a certain friendly looking, glasses-wearing Captain. Byakuya casually opened his eyes to address his fellow Captain.

"That is correct, Captain Aizen. Please excuse us for a moment Hanatarou Yamada."

"Of course sir," Hanatarou said leaving. "Morning Captain Aizen."

"Good morning Hanatarou." Captain Aizen said.

"So what brings you here, so far away from your own stationed Division?" Byakuya asked, getting straight to the point.

"I have business with Captain Unohana and also to remind all other neighbouring Captains of the upcoming Captains meeting in the Seireitei. So who have you now requested as a wanted man Byakuya?" Sosuke said looking over the documents. "Souichiro Katashi?" Captain Aizen said with astonishment.

Byakuya nodded. "That boy has now become a potential threat. He had evaded capture with either an unknown conspirator or kidnapper. It is still unclear."

"I see, but what I don't understand is why you've listed him under Yellow alert: First level and not Green: Third level, but I'm sure with you're better judgement that you are right in putting him under yellow alert status, though we only have a hand full of Yellow, that including most of the hollows."

"Yes, it has also been decades since we had the last Red alert, which you had personally defeated." Byakuya said. Captain Aizen smiled.

"This talk has been delightful Captain Kuchiki, but I'm afraid I must search for Captain Unohana now, take care- Oh and one more thing Captain Kuchiki?" Aizen said grimly with his back to Byakuya. Byakuya picked up on his tone and looked at Sosuke with interest. "Does the boy still carry hatred towards me? I know for a fact he still believes I had killed his oh so dear father."

"Yes, but the boy is delusional. He was young and probably in a traumatic state and saw a man who resembled you, who we have already caught and handed over to the Second Division. Besides it is impossible, you were seen retiring to your quarters by Captain Kyoraku and Lieutenant Ise when the incident occurred. Since he is nowhere to be found, I would advise you remain alert."

"I shall, thank you Captain Kuchiki. I just feel so sorry for the boy. At this moment he is full of a false hatred that shouldn't even exist."

"Indeed, hopefully he will be found soon, where ever he may be."


"Come on Souichiro, don't be a spoil sport!" A little brunette girl with big amber eyes whined. "You have to come, it will be fun." Souichiro just stood there with disinterest written all over his face.

"Yeah Souichiro, the Makiyama festival is when the town has fun for a change, it will really cheer your depressing mood up." A little boy with dark blonde hair with brown eyes also said, trying to win Souichiro over. "We kids need some excitement in our lives, you're only nine once."

Souichiro shifted his gaze to the ground, not wanting to look his friends in the eyes as he wanted to turn them down. Both children exchanged glances and grabbed Souichiro by his arms and dragged him through the town.

"Oo- ow, Ouch! Let me go!" Souichiro complained.

"No, you're going to have fun whether you like it or not." The girl said.

"Ami's right, you know. Don't worry, when I'm older and when I'm a Shinigami, I swear I'll help you prove Aizen is guilty, that's for sure!" the boy said proudly.

"Raiyuda…" Souichiro said, stunned by his words and stopped resisting completely. Raiyuda and Ami both allowed Souichiro to get to his feet and found he was now able stare at both of them.

"You can count on me." Raiyuda said showing a thumbs up with a big smile.


Souichiro's eyes cracked open slowly at first and they blinked a few times before he sat up. He brushed a hand through his hair as contemplated on the dream he had awoken from. He had been having many dreams like this for a while now, but for Souichiro these weren't just dreams, they were past memories. He dreamt of the joyful ones as well as the painful ones, but to him sometimes the joyful ones could be just as painful.

Souichiro tried to climb out of bed and as soon as his feet touched the ground his legs immediately buckled and Souichiro slumped against the side of the bed and began a coughing fit. When he finally stopped coughing he felt the muscles in his body caused him great pain every move he made. He clenched his teeth hard and embraced the incredible pain as he battled to stand up. Souichiro only managed to prop himself back on to the bed, not making any progress from where he started.

While Souichiro laid there in bed, getting his breathing under control, he wondered where he was. If he was a prisoner of the Shinigami he obviously couldn't escape, but the room didn't seem guarded, in fact in looked and smelt very homey. Souichiro noticed he was shirtless and bandaged up all over his torso and parts of his arms, he was wearing some old green slacks, not the blue jeans he was wearing before. He also had a plaster or two on his forehead and cheek. He recalled how the battle between the Captain and himself ended, it should have been instant death with that attack, but yet Souichiro is still exists on this physical plain. Before Souichiro had passed out, Byakuya's last words had left a permanent imprint on his memory.

"The fight was decided… even before I drew my blade."

Souichiro's head lowered at the memory. He hated to admit it, but he was completely outclassed. Byakuya had crushed him and it was painfully effortless on his part too. He desperately needed to get stronger than this. His revenge was everything to him. He wanted his retribution and since there was no justice, he had to grab every opportunity that appeared in front of him to get what he wanted. Every breath he took was a gift and not one he would waste. He would cling to life and rise above adversity. That's the way it was and the way it had always been.

Souichiro was snapped out of his daydreaming by the sound of a door creakily opening. He looked to where the door was and found an old man standing in the doorway, leaning on his cane. He looked to be in either his late sixties or early seventies. He had extremely long grey eyebrows and a long thick grey beard that stretched past his waist. He had plenty of scars on his head, but the 'x' shaped one was the most visible.

"I see you have finally awoken, young one." The old man said. His voice was elderly, but very deep and it had a commanding tone. "Your condition was very critical last night during your battle with a Captain, but it seems you have recovered significantly."

Souichiro eyed the old man for a few seconds before finally answering. "I guess you're the one who saved me then, huh? I really am grateful, but there's somewhere I need to go and I have to leave quickly since now I'm probably a wanted man."

"You will not survive out there in your current state boy. It would be extremely foolish to try-"

"Sorry old man, the last thing I need right now is a lecture, so I'll just be on-"

"SILENCE!" the old man roared. "You should learn to respect your elders, child." Souichiro shut up immediately, not wanting to anger the old man any further. When he had yelled, Souichiro felt the old man's reiatsu basically crush him. His body felt heavy and the feeling was like he was drowning in a vast ocean. Just who was this man?

"If you let me get to the point, you will see that this is not a lecture. When I meant your current state I was talking about your spiritual pressure not your health. Right now at this current level, your spiritual pressure is indeed laughable."

"Okay, how is this not a lecture?" Souichiro scowled, muttering under his breath.

"But I am willing to aid you until you have reached a point where you can properly defend yourself." Souichiro craned his head and narrowed his eyes as if to say 'why'. The old man read his body language and responded accordingly.

"I do not know why that Captain was chasing you nor do not know what your motives are, but judging from you reiatsu, you have goodness in you, a type of righteousness that could shatter all forms evil, but I also see a potential for darkness, slowly investing within you. Another reason I wish to teach you is because I sense in you what very seldom people have these days. Will. With that, your potential is limitless."

This was the first time Souichiro was encouraged by anyone in a long time. After hearing this, Souichiro sat up and used his arms to push himself to the edge of the bed. The strain was so intense, he could feel that some of the wounds he had were opening up and soaking through the bandages. The pain was as if his muscles were exploding internally. Souichiro was cringing in agony, sweat visibly running down his face, but he continued to push himself until he got his legs over the bed, feet touching the ground. Souichiro was panting heavily, hair shadowing his eyes, and he slowly proceeded to stand. Souichiro felt like his legs had daggers in them, his legs trembled frantically, the severing pain was unbearable. Souichiro leaned on the wall for support as he slowly made his way to the doorway, one excruciating step at a time.

"What do you think you are doing?" the old man asked raising his eyebrows.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Souichiro said, grinning as he met the old man in the doorway. Souichiro slowly got on both his knees and bent over. His head face-down and with his hands in front of him.

"I'm showing you… respect." Souichiro said as he bowed to the old man. Under all that facial hair the old man had a small smile on his face.

"Tell me your name, young one."

"Souichiro Katashi."

"Souichiro… That's a good name for someone like you." The old man said. He then banged his cane on the floor. "And I am Shigekuni Genryusai Yamamoto and I shall make you stronger than you ever thought possible."