~Bleach/Frozen A1 Ch3~

Thursday...

"Ooh, this is amazing, Ichigo! It's so comfortable! And smooth! And swively!"

"I don't think swively is a word, Anna," Ichigo commented as he observed Anna move about in her wheelchair in his infirmary, the corner of his lips slightly upturned in amusement.

"Who cares? This is so fun!" Anna exclaimed. "Whee!"

Ichigo face-palmed as, after panicking– hilariously, in his opinion– Anna crashed into a wall. Luckily, she hadn't hurt her leg further but instead had somehow twisted so that her back took the brunt of the impact.

"Ouch," Anna rubbed her back as best she could to sooth the sudden pain. "Can you fix me up, doctor?"

"No," Ichigo said flatly. "Hopefully, you'll learn not to play around in your wheelchair. Though, with your track record, I sincerely doubt it." That last part was said under his breath so that she wouldn't hear him.

"What are we doing today, Ichigo?" Anna asked. After a whirlwind morning of being bathed–for the second day in a row, no less!– a quick though satisfying breakfast, and getting used to her wheelchair, she was ready to go out and do something fun. As much fun as her wheelchair was, her arms were tired from having to practice rolling herself around for an hour.

Ichigo raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Didn't you need to buy a sewing machine?"

"Oh," Anna said dejectedly. "Do we have to do that today?"

"What else would we do today?" Ichigo asked, bemused.

Anna thought hard for a moment. "Play in the snow!"

"You're in a wheelchair. You can't exactly play in the snow," Ichigo commented. "Besides, you have a stronger chance of catching a cold. So come on, you won't learn how to sew by doing nothing."

"Can't you at least push me?" Anna pleaded.

"Fine," Ichigo relented after she unleashed her puppy-eyes. "Wouldn't want you to get burly arms while still having scrawny legs. No one would go for you then," he teased.

"Hey!"

...

"You want... the sewing machine?" Ichigo couldn't blame the shop owner for his incredulous voice; sewing machines were fairly expensive, especially since they were imported from America. Only nobles, wealthy merchants, and of course, the royal family had the kind of wealth to afford them without breaking the bank; commoners couldn't exactly afford it without starving for a week. And, of course, there was also the fact that it was he, a guy, buying a sewing machine. Apparently, in this time, sewing was more a female thing than a male thing.

Ichigo shrugged. He didn't really care what the shop owner thought of him or his purchases. He nodded out the window where Anna was chatting with a couple of children. "The Princess doesn't really know what she's looking so I'm helping her out."

The shop owner peered out of his window with a look of awe. He was selling a sewing machine to the Princess. Before a calculative gleam could even begin to enter his eyes, the orange haired man– castle doctor, he reminded himself– spoke up.

"Of course, I'll have to test it before buying it. I wouldn't want to buy a faulty machine," the slight jab at the shop owner's possible inferior goods sparked him into action.

"Of course, of course," the man said. "I will provide you the thread, of course. Here, why don't you sit down and I will bring you some momentarily."

Ichigo rolled his eyes once the man had disappeared into the back and sat down on the offered chair in front of the machine. He observed it with a critical eye. It wasn't too difficult to figure out how to operate it as old as it was compared to modern sewing machines so long as one had a modicum of common sense. He internally sighed as the image of Anna– a girl who seemed to lack that– flashed in his head for a brief moment before continuing his inspection. There was a hand crank– Anna couldn't very well use a treadle sewing machine– and of course, the tiny hole where one put the thread, and so on.

This time Ichigo sighed audibly. One of the few things Ichigo hated about time travel– other than not being able to talk to anyone or bounce ideas off of, not being able to exert as much power as he needed for fear of being hunted and executed in the name of stamping out sorcery or some other bullshit like that, not being able to see friends and family since they either didn't know him in his current time or they hadn't been born yet– was that the human world was so far behind technologically compared to the future. Things were being invented now since it was the Industrial Revolution but what he was used to wouldn't be around until after he was dead. Hell, people still didn't bathe regularly. Even that greedy store owner– the term 'humble shopkeeper' being reserved for Kisuke and Kisuke alone– stunk to the high heavens. He wasn't sure whether to be glad that he had gotten used to the stink or horrified that he had gotten used to the stink.

Finally, the shop owner returned with a spool of pink thread and handed it to Ichigo. "Here you go. I look forward to seeing what you can make."

Ichigo didn't bother rolling his eyes as he went to work, hands working automatically as he began creating the same scarf he had given Yuzu though not in the same color– hers had been a deep red– and without the flower design he had made for her.

He had thought about his friends and family– his original timeline– on occassion, namely, the first month or so he had been here and whenever he had had more than a moment's thought to himself. He tried not to think about it, choosing instead to explore the city, talk with Zangetsu or Shiro, visit and care for his garden, and generally keep busy even going so far as to recreate basic items and objects from the future. But sewing a scarf didn't require much attention and so, his thoughts wandered to his friends.

He wondered about the Soul Society. Certainly, the Visored were in their Shinigami posts– Captains and Lieutenants– Aizen was still a manipulative bastard, Kisuke a member of the Onmitsukido, Yoruichi the Second Division Captain and so on. Okay, so he didn't wonder about them so much as envy their ignorance and general peacefulness. What he really thought about was how he was going to stop Aizen and, now that he thought about it, Yhwach.

Despite the five years he had been stuck in the past, he still hadn't come up with more than killing the bastards and eliminating any of their subordinates. Obviously, he couldn't do it alone– except killing the leaders, that he would do with glee reminiscent of Kenpachi during a good fight– well, maybe he could since he had battled Aizen's Hogyoku-empowered armies for hours on end but that was really besides the point. They were all weak– more like basic Hollows when compared to him but generally with the power of a Lieutenant-class opponent.

Ichigo shook his head and took notice of the completion of the scarf. About half-way. A small smirk grew on his face as he took in the store owner's gobsmacked look. His thoughts turned towards Elsa.

He had been in Elsa's immediate vicinity a few times when she had used her powers and he was impressed with her control of her ice. It had taken him years to learn the kind of finesse she had naturally– he was a little jealous of that though he wouldn't admit it to anyone– especially since she had the reiatsu of a Captain. He was envious though he wouldn't trade his experience and powers for the world. Even if he had died a couple of times.

"That's amazing, Ichigo!"

Ichigo was startled out of his thoughts by Anna's voice. He blinked and look downwards where a finished scarf laid in his hands.

He smiled slightly at the shop owner's astonished look and Anna's smiling face. He wrapped the scarf around her neck. "It's yours. You were sneezing earlier when we were entering town. I can't have you catching a cold."

Anna blushed and looked down to admire her new, pink scarf rather than look at Ichigo and blush even more. "T-thank you, Ichigo."

Ichigo turned to face the shop owner. "How much?"

A glint of greed entered his eyes and he licked his lips hungrily. "Ten speciedaler."

Ichigo snorted. "Two."

The shop owner frowned. "Seven."

"Five. That's as high as I'll go."

The shop owner sighed. "I'll go get a bag."

...

"I didn't know that you could haggle on the prices," Anna said, once they had both exited the store. Her fingers traced the softness of her scarf.

"Well, it's probably never come up since you can afford anything and everything being a Princess and all," Ichigo replied, holding a paper bag that held the weighty sewing machine. "Anyways, it's about lunchtime. Hungry?"

"We're going to the castle already," Anna pouted at him. "We haven't even been here for that long."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "No, Anna, we're not going to the castle. I'm offering to treat you to lunch. Besides, I have to go search for a dancing instructor and something to buy for Elsa thanks to you"

Anna stared at him wide-eyed. "Isn't that one of the stages of courtship? When the male and female spend time together alone?"

Ichigo lightly bopped her on the head. "Aren't we already doing that anyways, Anna? No, Anna, I'm not courting you either. Does it look like I've ever tried courting a woman before?"

"Well..."

"Don't answer that," Ichigo shook his head. "We're friends, Anna. Friends treat other friends to lunch sometimes. With no ulterior motive."

"They do?" Anna wondered. She hadn't ever heard that before.

"Well, it's how I was raised," Ichigo answered, the two of them entering a small cafe. "I guess you don't get out of the castle often enough if you don't know that."

"Hey!" Anna protested. "I have friends. Olaf, Sven, Elsa...you."

"Not a lot," Ichigo noted.

"Oh yeah? How many friends do you have?" Anna challenged, quickly ordering the first thing on the menu when the waitress came.

Ichigo internally cringed. He hadn't been expecting her to ask. "Uh...Erik, Elsa, you..."

"Aha!" Anna pointed at him. "I have more friends than you!"

"Hardly. Olaf is everyone's friend," Ichigo retorted. "Besides, I had lots of friends..." Ichigo's face fell into a frown. "A long time ago..."

"What happened?" Anna asked softly. She wanted to know much more about Ichigo than what she already knew. He was a mystery that she wanted to figure out, a puzzle that needed solving.

And she had lots of time on her hands to do so.

Anna observed his face deflate, his brown eyes, normally so lively– though not to the point of being overly so– dull in sadness, and the small smile he had been wearing turn to a neutral expression. So this is his sad face...

"They died." He said these two words so quietly that Anna almost didn't hear him.

Anna wasn't a stupid girl despite what her outward personality might suggest. She knew a great many things, including that there was a time to cheer a person up and when they simply needed comforting.

This time was undoubtedly the latter.

On an impulse, she grabbed his calloused hand, his right hand since it was closer, and held it within her own hands. She noted that her hands were significantly smaller than his hand and much softer than his own as well. "It'll be okay, Ichigo. You can have new friends. I'll be one of them."

She was horrified– though she didn't voice it aloud– to see a single tear trickle down from his eye. In the short two– three days if today counted– she had known him, he had always portrayed an aura of calmness and fortitude, an unwavering strength, more than any person she had ever known except maybe her own sister. To see him break down, even if it was only a single tear, made Anna realize that Ichigo wasn't as unbreakable and strong as he was at first glance. Even he had issues.

Anna giggled internally. Even the doctor needed some doctoring, she supposed.

Almost immediately, he wiped the tear from his cheek and his normal gaze returned. He said quietly, "Thanks," before he removed his hand from hers and began eating his food.

Anna smiled at him before beginning her own meal.

Neither of them were aware of all the stares they had garnered since they had sat down or the many rumors that would start up that day.

...

Ichigo stared at the sight before him. Sure, he had been in town on many occassions but he hadn't ever seen this building up close especially, since until yesterday, he had thought it was some sort of professional prostitute building because of its name. Entertainment Guild. With a name like that emblazoned on the front of the large, two-story building– large in terms of the amount of land it stood on– who wouldn't think so?

Apparently everyone but him.

"This is where I'm going to find a dancing tutor?" Ichigo asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

"It's the entertainment guild! They have dancing a lot more things too!" Anna replied. "But I'm someone will be willing to tutor you."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get this over with," Ichigo groaned before he opened the door for Anna, who rolled through quickly with a smile in Ichigo's direction for his thoughtfulness.

"Welcome!"

Ichigo's ears were assaulted by a tirade of babbling from many different people.

"Are you here to join the Painters' Association?"

"Please, come check out our wonderful sculptures!"

Those were the only two clear sentences he could make out before the words of many people overlapped and resulted in him hearing nothing but babble.

Ichigo turned his head until he was looking down at Anna who was grinning excitedly and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, everyone," Anna hollered at them, clapping her hands loudly enough to be heard over the babbling voices. "We're only here for the dancing guild today!"

The two heard many good-natured groans before the majority of the crowd dispersed leaving only a single woman dressed in a purple outfit that revealed her stomach and most of her legs. It was an entirely unconventional outfit– at least, in terms of traditional dress in the current time period.

Ichigo rolled Anna up to the youthful looking woman– dark, blue eyes, shoulder-length, curly black hair, and a pretty face with sharp angles. She bowed to Anna. "Princess Anna, it is an honor."

Anna waved her hands frantically at her. "There's no need for bowing!"

"One must show respect to the Princess of the kingdom," the woman stood to her full height, reaching up to Ichigo's chest. "I am Heidi. How may I be of service to the Princess and her companion?"

Ichigo spoke up. "I need dancing lessons. Do you offer that here?"

"We offer lessons on many types of dance," Heidi spoke; she poked him in the stomach while grinning at him suggestively. "You fell like you have the right physique for learning Indian belly-dancing. Is that what you want to learn, handsome?"

Ichigo gave Anna a deadpan stare. "I don't know what it's called. Why don't you tell her what I need to learn, Anna. I don't really know the name of any dances."

But I know the name of many fighting techniques!

"Ballroom dancing," Anna said. "Ichigo is Elsa's escort for the Christmas Ball!"

Heidi's eyes sparkled in mischief. "Oh, really? I didn't realize I was in the presence of a lord."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I'm a doctor. The castle doctor."

"Oh? I wonder how that happened," Ichigo didn't respond so Heidi sighed. "Ah, well, none of my business, I suppose. Now then, I assume the Queen opens her balls with the waltz?"

"The waltz?" Ichigo asked in confusion. "Isn't that an English dance?"

"Ah, so you do know something about dances!" Heidi exclaimed, adopting a sultry look. "Isn't that rare for a man?"

Ichigo shrugged, ignoring her winking eye and suggestive posture. "I've heard about it. It's supposed to be a popular dance in most of Europe."

"It is," Heidi agreed. "The Queen is likely to open with it since Britain is among the strongest of countries that typically visit the kingdom."

Ichigo nodded his head thoughtfully. It made sense to incorporate at least some dances to make the visiting dignitaries feel welcome. "Then I guess that's the dance I'll need to learn."

"Hold on," Anna said. "That's only the opening dance. What if Elsa wants to dance other dances?"

Ichigo gave the seated Princess a small scowl who in turn, only smiled cheekily at him. He sighed, "What other dances do you recommend?"

Heidi raised an eyebrow. "I don't mean to burst your bubble but these dances are rather complicated to learn. You won't be able to learn more than a dance or two in the two weeks leading to the Christmas Ball."

"I'm a quick study," Ichigo assured her though she didn't look very assured. "What dances do you recommend?"

Heidi frowned but ultimately shrugged her shoulders. It was his money after all. "I can teach you a pol and a springar; dances with a touch of Arendelle to them."

Ichigo took a half-step back. "Did you say, Sprenger?

He was wary of those, especially when Yhwach had reverted to traditional Quincy Ginto techniques in addition to his normal attacks to try and catch him off-guard.

Both Anna and Heidi looked at him, puzzled at his reaction to the name. "No, I said springar. Sprin-gar."

Ichigo resumed his place, half a step forward. "R-right." He shook his head. "When are you available over the next couple of weeks?"

"For you, doctor? Anytime," Heidi winked at him.

Ichigo ignored her wink. "1pm to 3pm for the next two weeks good for you?"

Heidi pouted at the lack of response she received from the handsome doctor. "I charge 3 speciedaler per lesson."

Ichigo mentally did the calculations in his head. 14 times 3 is...? He nodded. "Sure. How do you want to be paid?"

"After each lesson is fine," Heidi responded.

Ichigo nodded and shook her hand. "See you tomorrow then."

The former Substitute Shinigami put his hands on the handles of Anna's wheelchair and began wheeling her around and out of the Entertainment Guild headquarters.

Heidi watched them leave. "Too bad. It would have been fun to teach him belly-dancing."

...

"Where are we going now, Ichigo?" Anna asked as her doctor– not hers, she thought furiously, but the doctor– rolled her down the paved walkway.

"Metal shop. I have to buy a couple ounces of silver," Ichigo answered.

"Why do you need to buy silver?" Anna pursued her line of questioning.

"Don't I need to get your sister a birthday gift? Oh, and a Christmas gift," Ichigo added as an afterthought.

"A Christmas gift? Oh, no, I completely forgot about that too!" Anna shouted in horror, hands on her cheeks. "Good thing you reminded me so far in advance. I would have completely forgotten about getting Elsa a Christmas gift. Oh, and you!"

"That's right," Ichigo mused as they entered the store. "I need to get you a gift for Christmas too."

Anna pouted at him. "Don't tell me you forgot about me!"

Ichigo snorted. "Four days ago I didn't have to buy anyone gifts but Erik."

"Welcome, welcome," the shop owner said from behind the counter, "I am Fredrik, owner of this humble– Oh, Princess Anna! I didn't see you there."

The short and stout older-looking man bowed three times in rapid succession.

Anna sighed. "I guess that everyone's going to keep bowing whenever they meet me no matter what I say, huh, Ichigo?"

"You don't have to worry about me, Anna. I wouldn't want over-inflate that pretty head of yours," Ichigo teased before turning to converse with Fredrik.

Anna flushed in embarrassment. He thinks I'm pretty? Well, I–I think Ichigo's handsome too. Very handsome. But–but–but I just got out of a relationship. But he takes really good care of me! He's just so kind and caring and generous and–and–and–

When Ichigo looked at Anna after concluding business with Fredrik, he became alarmed when he saw her head tilted to a side, eyes closed, and spazzed out.

Ichigo quickly tried shaking her awake, "Anna? Anna? Anna?!"

Anna's eyes slowly fluttered open– having overheated from the embarrassment her previous track of thoughts– and met Ichigo's kind, vibrant brown eyes looking at her in worry. She immediately blushed furiously.

"H–h–h–hi, Ichigo," Anna said shyly.

"Are you alright, Anna?" Ichigo asked. He put his fingers around one of her eyes and opened it widely. "You don't appear to be stunned or anything."

"N-no, it's nothing!" Anna stammered out.

Ichigo gave her a disbelieving look but relented. "If you're sure, Anna."

"I'm sure!"

Ichigo gave her one last, long look before turning around to pay Fredrik.

Why does my heart beat a little faster when I'm around him?

...

The days leading up to her sister's birthday were a whirlwind of confusion for Anna. Each morning she woke up to a small smile from Ichigo and a teasing comment about her scent– though each and every time she adamantly protested taking a bath– and almost always blushed though by the time of Elsa's birthday– December 21st– it had trickled down to only a slight reddening to her already rosy cheeks. After that, it was a hearty breakfast, and after about a week, some crutches that Ichigo had fashioned for her because he had said that she needed to start exercising her leg so that the muscle on her leg wouldn't atrophy. Anna thought it was really kind of Ichigo to catch her every time she fell– even if it was his job as a doctor to make sure she got better. After all, he could have been a lazy doctor, only doing the bare minimum to heal him but instead– and thankfully– he did his absolute best to make her better.

After that, Ichigo spent anywhere from an hour to hours at the royal forge, sometimes with Erik and sometimes not, with all the silver he had bought. She suspected that he was crafting something or two somethings considering Christmas was around the corner, for Elsa, but she couldn't be sure since he would simply smile at her when she asked. It was infuriating that Ichigo wouldn't answer any questions about what he was doing at the forge– especially since she was so bored! She still hadn't found something to do while he was in the forge– and continued asking questions each and every day even if only to wear the orange haired man down enough that he would relent.

After spending the time at the forge, the two of them went for lunch, usually at the castle and Elsa would sometimes join them– Anna laughed each time Elsa begged Ichigo for some hot cocoa– but sometimes, Ichigo would treat her to lunch in town. Anna, during this time, usually asked questions that he would sometimes answer if he was in a good enough mood. Usually she asked about his homeland– to avoid any awkward silences– but sometimes she would ask about his family or his past. He answers were purposefully vague, never mentioning any specific location or date. The only time he was specific was when he was talking about his family– always with a fond smile and wistful look in his eyes– Yuzu and Karin– she had difficult pronouncing their names the first few times– were his sisters, both younger, with the latter taking after himself in terms of personality and the former being sweet, like herself– and a father, Isshin.

He never once talked about his mother and the only time she had asked, she had been horrified to see a look of pain in his eyes– one that she never wanted to see again in her lifetime because it was soon followed by a haunted, despairing look in his eyes as if he had recalled all the bad things that he had experienced in his lifetime and it must have been a depressingly long list because he hadn't looked away from the window in nearly twenty minutes and she hadn't the heart to get his attention because it had looked like he had wanted to remind himself of it so that he wouldn't ever forget what had made him, well. him– before he had finished eating his food in silence.

Elsa had sighed at her when Anna had told her later about her experience with the doctor and had told her to stop prying too much into the mysterious doctor's past. That he, like anyone and everyone else, had the right to their privacy unless it threatened the kingdom of Arendelle. Anna had frowned. She really wanted to know more about Ichigo Kurosaki.

Anna wasn't ashamed to admit that she hated the next part of the day. When that grubby little dancer got to put her delicate little hands all over Ichigo's body– she hated the day even more when Heidi had made Ichigo put some dancing clothes on: skin tight clothes that left Anna's mouth watering at Ichigo's sexy, toned, fit, body. Anna was jealous of Heidi's good fortune and wished that she hadn't broken her leg if only so that she could teach Ichigo how to dance herself. But then she wouldn't have met Ichigo...

It was all so very confusing to Anna.

Anna took small comfort– as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance each time Ichigo smiled at Heidi's sultry, teasing innuendoes and imagined making those same comments to Ichigo herself and making him blush– that she likely knew more about Ichigo than anyone in the entire world though that wasn't really wasn't saying much considering that she knew little more about him than the names of three of his family members and that he was once a warrior in his homeland.

After those two hours of dance practice– Anna was happy to see that what Ichigo had said about being a fast study was true– and a noticeable improvement in his dancing as the days went by, they spent the rest of the day doing a variety of things from visiting his garden– and what a magnificent garden it was!– to spending even more time at the forge to visiting her sister and brightening up her probably tedious day to going back to the infirmary and resting as Ichigo scribbled and drew a great many things in a journal he kept in his office and a whole host of other things.

'Twas unfortunate that Anna disliked two hours of every day leading up to Elsa's birthday because her halcyon days would soon come to a close.

...

The three years since he had been brought back to the Southern Isles and subsequently punished as if he were an impudent child had not been kind to Hans, but in the end, he had been made a stronger man, a man who would do everything and anything to obtain what he wanted.

Enough with the carefully crafted manipulations, enough with the lies, this last manipulation, this last lie, would be the absolute last...

Before he conquered the kingdom of Arendelle and slew both the Princess and the Queen.

He had done the same with his own parents after two years, with his own hands, after the Southern Isles had sunk into the worst economic recession ever seen by the Isles since trade had been cut off from Arendelle. His twelve brothers– now ten– had not dared attempt to lay claim to the throne of the Southern Isles, not after he had killed the two eldest brothers that had attempted to claim the throne.

He laughed at the irony. He had traveled to Arendelle in the hopes of claiming the title of King but it had only been after he had suffered for his "crimes" for two years, that he had finally gotten what he had wanted all along. To be a King.

Perhaps, he could have stopped there. Perhaps, he could have guided the Southern Isles into a new era. Perhaps, if he had been the man he had once been over three years ago. But no. The Southern Isles were stabilized, a little better than it had been since the recession. It wasn't as it could have been but it was enough for what he had in mind.

Six months after he had claimed the throne of the Southern Isles, he had conquered Weselton, a small, fairly successful duchy from that idiot duke. He had kept the duke on as a proxy ruler– even he couldn't be in two places at once– but with two of his better advisors– though it meant little since he trusted none of them– to make sure no uprisings or revolts occurred. After all, he couldn't afford any distractions at this late stage in his plans.

He was a changed man. Working alongside slaves in the fatal iron mines of the Southern Isles had given him patience, strength, and an iron will. It had molded him into the man he had become today– a man that was relentless in his pursuits, unyielding, and a man that would do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

And, it had made his desire for revenge even stronger than ever.

He would do whatever it took to get his revenge against that whore of a princess and that bitch of a princess.

He was no fool. His army large and skilled as it was, would be slaughtered in an instant against the mystical might of Elsa and his navy sunk long before they would reach the shores of Arendelle. Her icy powers were simply too strong.

So, what better way than to counter mysticism with mysticism?

"Alexander," Hans spoke to his brother, third youngest, who flinched at being addressed.

"Y-yes, my King?" Alexander kneeled to the man seated upon the throne. He cringed inwardly at his stuttering. His brother enjoyed taunting everyone of any weakness they showed.

"Direct these... Monks of Destruction to the throne room, won't you, brother?" A silence ensued as Alexander got up from his kneeling position. "And do try to cure that stutter before coming here in a few hours, won't you, brother?"

...

"Shihoin-taicho, if you would please enlighten the rest of us on your findings?"

The normally playful Yoruichi Shihoin, Captain of the Second Division and Commander of the Onmitsukido, was uncharacteristically serious in her demeanor which grabbed the attention of the rest of the Captains currently present at the weekly Captains' meeting. The only Captain missing was the Captain of the Eleventh Division, Kenpachi Zaraki, the newest Captain added to the ranks only weeks ago and who still hadn't gotten used to all his duties.

"Thank you, Sotaicho," Yoruichi nodded her head to the man before continuing her report. "As you know, the obliteration of a soul can only be caused by a Quincy. While in recent times, the number has drastically lowered since the Quincy War sixty to seventy years ago."

"Yeah, yeah," Shinji Hirako waved a hand dismissively at Yoruichi. "Most of us participated in that war. The real question is why are ya telling us all this."

"I was getting to that," Yoruichi glared at the long, blonde-haired man for a moment before continuing her report. "Recently, the number of souls that have been permanently killed has increased significantly."

"So, there's a Quincy or three out there killing Hollows. Kill them to restore the balance and move on," the Captain of the Sixth Division, Ginrei Kuchiki recommended with narrowed eyes. "Unless, there is something prohibiting you from doing so?"

"Normally, I would do so immediately," Yoruichi agreed. "However, it's not only "a Quincy or three" killing Hollows but an entire group of Quincy hiring themselves out as an assassination force calling themselves the Monks of Destruction, a literal translation of the word Quincy. The thing is, there is too many of them for me to handle alone as fast as I am. And of course, there's the matter of the Humans they're hiring themselves out to. What should be done about them?"

"They must be killed," Yamamoto said. "No humans may have knowledge of the afterlife. Shihoin-taicho, I am tasking you, Shiba-taicho, and Hirako-taicho to assemble a team to deal with these rogue Quincy. Be sure that whomever you choose for your team is at least a fifth seat." He banged his cane. "Dismissed."

The three mentioned Captains gathered as they all filed out of the meeting room.

"Well, boys, you heard the Captain-Commander, I'm in charge," Yoruichi told the two Captains.

Shinji rolled his eyes, "Whatever. That means you can gather up everyone for the team. Send me a Hell Butterfly when you've decided on a date to leave."

Isshin saluted Yoruichi. "I guess I'm under your command for now. Be sure to grab a healer. Quincies shouldn't be underestimated."

Yoruichi nodded at the Tenth Division Captain. "I'll be sure to take your advice, Shiba-taicho."

Isshin slung an arm around her shoulders, surprising the younger Captain. "None of that now, Yoruichi-san. We're partners now, so just call me Isshin!"

A flying kick from a diminutive figure dressed in the standard black shihakusho of a Lieutenant sent the Tenth Division Captain flying into a building. "How dare you lay hands on the great Shihoin-taicho?!"

Yoruichi sighed. "Soifon..."

The woman immediately stood straighter at the sound of her name being called and swiftly turned around, bowing to her Captain. "Yoruichi-sama! Did that mongrel do more than touch you? I'll kill him! Only say the word!"

Yoruichi sighed as Shiba– Isshin, she reminded herself, came out of the rubble to launch a kick at Soifon, who immediately dodged and retaliated.

She got the feeling that no matter who she chose, this mission would be a huge pain.

~Bleach/Frozen A1 Ch3~

A/N:

StrawberryDeathGod15: Powerful, I would think. War with Aizen has made him stronger and he has regularly practiced his powers since taking the post of castle doctor. I think I mentioned that in a previous chapter.

Outoftheinferno: Thanks anyways. Ah, it doesn't really matter, I suppose. They'll both have a new last name in the end.

Yellow Flash44: Are you a mind reader or something? I had planned this chapter for a while but hadn't quite written it down. I thought it would be interesting too.

Originally, I had meant to release this chapter on December 21st which happens to be Elsa's birthday and include her birthday scene but, that didn't happen. Then, I postponed it to December 25th and thought I would include the Christmas Ball scene but that didn't work out either since I was debating what even should take place– either a party crashing scene by the Quincy or...something else that I may use at a later date so I won't mention just yet.

Then, I realized I have to actually set it up first.

So, I released it today. Enjoy!

Birthday and Ball scenes next chapter... probably.

As always,

Thanks for reading!