Yeah, Another chappie finished, shorter than the others, but there is a thing called writers block, sighs oh well, thank you to my reviewer, and now on with the story
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On the way back to the clinic, everyone was silent, each thinking their own thoughts. Sesshomaru was thinking over her decision to keep Aizen's proposal a secret. She knew that would probably come back to bight her on the ass, but hopefully by that time, everyone would trust her more. 'They already trust you, I mean seriously, Byakuya just put you in command, and lets see um, that command has three captains or former captains, and at least two other people on captain level. They are all putting their faith in your plan, which you haven't told them' thus did Kelly make her opinion known. Sesshomaru mentally sighed.
Ichigo was having a lovely little talk with Hades. 'You know she wasn't telling the full truth' 'No shit, no way Aizen just wanted to kill her, and how the hell did she know it wasn't an illusion?' Ichigo asked his hollow, not like he would have an answer. 'Search me' 'Perhaps she can see through Aizen's illusions' Zangetsu's voice echoed in Ichigo's head. 'Didn't Aizen say that was impossible?' Ichigo asked. 'Yes, but Unohoha managed to see through the illusion, at least partly, maybe Sesshomaru can as well.' Ichigo had to concede that what Zangetsu said made sense. 'Your thinking to much, wait until she tells you what she wants us to do for the little plan, I can't wait to see' With Hades last remark hanging in the air, Ichigo pulled himself back to reality as they all arrived back home.
In Sesshomaru's room, the group of four looked at each other. "Ichigo, I don't know how much Soul Society knows, but I figured that if they didn't know already I wasn't going to tell them, but at least Renji and Rukia need to know about your hollow. The reactions in the room would have been down right hilarious at any other time. "Hollow?" Renji sputtered/choked/yelled, Rukia was calmer, she'd already known, but inside Ichigo's head was a whole different story. 'Holy fucking shit, how the hell did she know about me?!' Hades yelled. 'How should I know' Ichigo yelled right back, as he tried, unsuccessfully, to keep a straight face.
Letting the three settle down a bit, Sesshomaru looked Ichigo in the eye, "I'm gonna take a stab in the dark here, but your hollow is probably freaking over the fact that I know, and you are all probably wondering how I know" Nods all around, "Well it was simple there were some hints in your reitsu, but I wasn't sure until tonight, when you let you hollow fight that arrancars. I noticed it chasing after Aizen." Ichigo nodded, and Sesshomaru turned to Renji, who was an interesting shade of puce. "When Ichigo got his shinigami powers back, a hollow awoke in him," Renji nodded, ingesting the information.
Turning back to Ichigo Sesshomaru asked, "Does you hollow have a name, and can I talk to him?" "Yes I have a name, its Hades" So saying, Hades appeared beside Ichigo on the bed, causing everyone but Sesshomaru to jump three feet in the air. "How long have you been able to do that?" Ichigo yelled. "Just a few minutes ago, Zangetsu helped, and I can't get to far away from you" Ichigo nodded and turned back to the others in the room. Renji and Rukia were trying to get used to seeing the bleached version of Ichigo. "Umm, this is my hollow, Hades" Ichigo said into the silence, voice a little uncertain. 'How do you introduce your inner hollow to your best friends?' Ichigo thought. "Err, pleased to meet you" Rukia addressed the hollow, who returned the pleasantries. "You would be Rukia, and that's Renji right?" Hades looked to Ichigo for conformation, and he nodded.
"Alrighty then, one thing down, lets move on, I'm assuming that since Hades can materialize and you let him fight a battle you two are working together?" The two nodded. "Good, If you two would continue training together, that would be great, also Hades, if you don't mind, please spar with Rukia and Renji" Hades raised an eyebrow. "Ah, you want them to be prepared, facing hollows that have human forms might make thing harder" Sesshomaru nodded, "That and you and the arrancars share similarities in powers," The three others in the room nodded in understanding.
Sesshomaru then turned to Rukia and Renji, "I know that Renji is here as my guard, and I am not as thick as Byakuya thinks I am, so I know that part of the reason you're here is to guard me, and keep me from doing something stupid, like attacking Hueco Mundo on my own." Rukia nodded. Renji coughed, "Would you really do that?" Sesshomaru just looked at him. "You Kurosaki's are the most insane, stubborn, reckless, and down right stupid of all the people I know" Sesshomaru and Ichigo smirked, "It runs in the family" Rukia and Renji rolled their eyes. Hades just snickered, "If you don't need me, I'll return to Ichigo's inner world" Sesshomaru nodded, and Hades disappeared. "Alright, time to turn in!" Rukia laughed at Ichigo's announcement, and the two left for his room, where Rukia established herself in the closet. Renji also went into his closet, knowing full well he wouldn't sleep, and wondering about all the questions Sesshomaru had left unanswered.
Hitsiguya and Byakuya were at that particular moment, speaking with general, Yamamoto, and all the other captains, who had gathered, including one very pissed Kenpachi. "You were late reporting, did something happen?" Hitsiguya looked at Byakuya who took that as his cue. "Aizen, Ichimaru, and two arrancars attacked Sesshomaru, Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia. The four are unhurt, and the two arrancar's have been killed, Aizen, and Ichimaru got away, though" Silence followed his announcement as the captains all processed what had occurred. "I see, anything else?" This time, Hitsiguya responded to the general's question. He relayed Sesshomaru's requests. The general was silent for a while, pondering as the captains began to talk. "I like Sesshomaru's idea, finally some one who has the guts to do things right" Kenpachi exclaimed, as Ukitake questioned Byakuya, "Is it really a good idea to just trust Sesshomaru? She's smart, and a good fighter, but she is thirteen." "I trust her" was Byakuya's simple reply. At about that point, Yamamoto banged his cane on the floor, and attention shifted to him.
"I agree to Sesshomaru's requests. Tomorrow the limiters will be released, and she has permission to work outside of my control. Please let her know that if she needs anything from Soul Society, she need only ask." The two captains bowed, and the audience terminated. "So Yama-jii has decided to trust this girl" Shunsuie muttered more to himself than Ukitake. "Yes, although I see the wisdom in her idea, I'm still worried, Sesshomaru is a child" Ukitake's brow was pulled together as he frowned, "Lighten up, this kid knows what she's doing" his friend said, throwing an arm around Ukitake, and the two captains walked off.
Sesshomaru and Renji spent a sleepless night, worry plagued Renji he wanted to go out and do something, but until other orders were given, he wasn't moving. Sesshomaru was simply thinking about old times, and running through the plan in her head, something Renji had said came back to her, "You Kurosaki's are the most insane, stubborn, reckless, and down right stupid of all the people I know" A bitter smile flitted over Sesshomaru's lips, 'You have no idea how appealing it sounds to simply take care of this myself'
In Ichigo's room however, things were very different, Rukia was sleeping peacefully, and Ichigo and Hades were having a quick training session. "Ya know, that girl, Sesshomaru, she really is something." Ichigo looked over at his hollow counterpart with a raised eyebrow, "How many thirteen year old girls could even pick up the subtle difference in your reitsu for having a hollow, and how many could create a battle plan? Add all of that to the fact that when she gets into her fight, her posture is enough different that she practically screams nobility, and you do not get a normal child." Ichigo nodded, he couldn't argue with any of that. "I can see why Renji's falling for her" at the last comment, Ichigo jumped three feet in the air and sputtered/choked out, "Falling for her?" "You didn't notice, Renji's falling for her, as bad as your falling for Rukia"
The next day, Sesshomaru met up with Matsumoto, and the two went for a walk in the park. "So what did you want to talk about?" the bubbly woman asked. Sesshomaru sighed and looked up into the trees, "Childhood friends, yours in particularly" Matsumoto sobered, she knew where this was going. "I'm sorry, I have a pretty good idea this ain't your most favorite subject, but I need to know more about Gin" Matsumoto nodded, and looked off into the distance. "We met when I was still new to Soul Society, when I was starving, he gave me some food, and we were friends ever since" the woman told Sesshomaru everything about Gin she knew, and recounted all of their history together. It was a subject Matsumoto had been avoiding since that day, knowing it would hurt like hell, but amazingly, it didn't hurt as bad as it should, and Matsumoto suspected it had something to do with the young woman walking beside her. Something about Sesshomaru kept her talking, and kept the pain dull and distant. "Thank you, this is a help, I'm sorry to have to bring it up" Sesshomaru looked over at the other woman, it was dusk, the two had been talking all day. Matsumoto nodded, "I understand, and the story really needed to be told, because so many will only think of him as the man who betrayed Soul Society, not the man who was such a good friend" The last five words were broken by sobs, as the tears that Matsumoto had held in check since that day came running down her cheeks.
Slowly her knees gave way, but two small arms came around her as she neared the pavement, "Its okay, you will always remember him as you have, and he'll always be that man for you" Sesshomaru whispered in her ear, trying to comfort the older woman. In truth, though there were some similarities, Sesshomaru had no idea how to help. Finally Matsumoto's tears ran dry and the two stood up. "Thank you" the vice- captain whispered and Sesshomaru turned puzzled eyes on her, "For what?" "For simply being there to hold me as I cried." Sesshomaru smiled softly, "Every one's knees buckle at some point, we just need some one else to carry the weight for a while, then we're back on our feet, ready to face the world" With that, the young shinigami turned, put her hands in her pockets, and walked away. Matsumoto watched as she seemed to simply melt into the night. "You really are something else" she whispered, before heading back to Orihime's.
Slowly Sesshomaru walked home, thinking about nothing in particular. Later she would carefully go through all the info Matsumoto had given her, catalogue it, and use it to find Ichimaru's weakness. But for now, she didn't want to think on it. She didn't really want to go home either, so she let her footsteps lead her away from the clinic. When she stopped walking, she found herself at the river bank. "My mom died here" the thought didn't hurt as it should have, like all things emotionally painful, her subconscious immediately dealt with them, freezing away her emotions, so she couldn't feel the pain and sadness that thought should have caused, only a small measure of anger, that she had never known her true mother.
Sesshomaru walked along the river bank, keeping her guard up, but more relaxed than she had been in weeks. Finally, she noticed that it had been dark for a while, and she headed home, to begin working through the information on Ichimaru's past.
When Sesshomaru hadn't returned by dusk, Ichigo, Rukia and Renji weren't worried, she was with Matsumoto, and so Renji crawled into the closet alone. Several hours later, Sesshomaru returned, to find a slightly annoyed Renji, and a silent house. "You took your time coming back" Sesshomaru nodded, "Sorry; you should have gone to bed." Renji shrugged, "Ain't been sleeping lately anyway" Sesshomaru nodded again, and went over to her desk, turned on the lamp, grabbed an interesting device, and sat down. "What're ya doing?" Renji asked confused. "I learned some stuff, and I need to sort through it and see how I can use it. Night is a good time for me to do this, so unless the light bothers you, don't complain" Renji nodded, and sat down on Sesshomaru's bed. The girl grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, and stuck the earphones of her I-pod in her ear. Slowly, she turned the thing on shuffle, and smiled at the first song. It was Paralyzer by finger eleven. Sesshomaru wrote down everything Matsumoto told her and began to reread it. Renji sat and watched Sesshomaru work.
Around four A.M. Sesshomaru sat back from the desk, took the earphones out of her ear, and sighed. Renji looked up, "Done?" "Yeah, it really is amazing, how close the two were, and how much this had to have hurt Matsumoto" Renji nodded, and Sesshomaru smiled at him, "But I guess all shinigami are like that, tough as a rock"
Matsumoto had gone straight back to Orihime's to be met by her captain. "You okay?" Hitsiguya asked, and Matsumoto nodded, "Sesshomaru wanted to know about Gin" she replied to his unasked question, and Hitsiguya nodded. "What did Yamamoto have to say?" "He granted Sesshomaru her requests, so your limiter was probably removed during your talk." Matsumoto nodded, and went into her room, got ready for bed, and curled up in a tight ball. As she had expected, now that she wasn't close to Sesshomaru any more the pain was worse, but remnants of Sesshomaru's magic must still have been working, because the pain still wasn't as bad as it could have been, and eventually Matsumoto slept.
The next day, Byakuya decided to stop by the Kurosaki clinic to inform Sesshomaru of Yamamoto's decision. Upon entering Sesshomaru's bedroom, he was met with the four shinigamis in the house having a meeting. He had the feeling that someone else had been there, but brushed it off. "Damn that was close, why the hell is he here anyway?" Hades yelled inside of Ichigo who mentally shrugged and began paying attention. "I'm going to assume there is a reason you decided to climb through my window?" Sesshomaru asked Byakuya who nodded, "The commander general has decided to grant your request, all limiters were removed yesterday, and you have permission to do as you choose, he says to tell you that if you need anything, you need only ask." Sesshomaru smiled, "Give the commander my thanks. Was that all?" Byakuya nodded and exited, again through the window. As soon as he was gone, Hades appeared. "That was to close" Rukia said, and Renji nodded, "Well, what's done is done, and since I know have the power to do as I choose, we can start moving ahead with those experiments."
The three others in the room nodded, "Why don't we relocate to Urahara's, Hades, Ichigo, would you mind if we told Urahara, there are some things I want to test?" Hades and Ichigo looked at each other. "Sure, why not. And yes we will participate in any ad all tests you dream up, this is your show, we're just here to follow orders." Hades told Sesshomaru, staving off her next two questions. Sesshomaru nodded, and the group relocated to Urahara's.
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Alrighty then, push the pretty purple button and review ;)