Okay~ Sorry about the last chapter being a little off. I was having some major writers block.

Thank you guys for the reviews! I really liked reading them.

Thanks For Reading!

~Evil E~


Karin stared at the cup of sake in front of her and sighed, thinking about the mission. A spy in the ranks? It seemed possible, but keeping it a secret from most of the seireitei? It didn't seem like the right way to go, but hell, Karin was only a lieutenant. Noashi had been here longer and thus was wiser to the world.

"Karin what are you thinking about?" Rukia nudged her friends arm to gain her attention. "You've been quiet this whole time."

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed in a worried tone. "That's unlike you, Karin."

Toshiro brushed his knuckles against her upper arm, a sign that meant he was worried too. She just mentally sighed and put on a sheepish smile.

"Oh I was just thinking about the new recruit." She lied, she wasn't worried in the least about the new guy. Noashi picked her recruits for a reason, no one had ever dropped out of her division despite the harsh training once every week. Karin knew why Noashi picked who she did. It was to help them grow as a shinigami. "The training we do each week just might kill him."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Rukia laughed. "Noashi may seem tough, but really she only wants to help."

Ichigo snorted at this and laughed. Rukia went to hit him and he moved, almost causing the bottle of sake to be knocked over.

"Watch it Rukia!" He snapped. "You might knock something over."

"You shouldn't be laughing!" Rukia growled back, she stood up for all her friends. Even when it was Ichigo picking on them. "Noashi has always been a good person and she only wants to help."

"Help?!" Ichigo scowled. "She almost got Karin killed the first week of training! I don't think that's helping."

"Ichigo," Toshiro sighed, keeping calm. "Noashi would never willingly put one of her recruits in a situation they couldn't get out of."

Karin though back to the time Ichigo had referred to and couldn't really pick a side. True it was a harsh exercise, but Toshiro had a point to. Noashi had even offered help when she was having troubles, Karin was just to stubborn to accept it.

"She did offer me help." Karin looked up at her brother. "I was just to stubborn to accept it."

"And she did attain shikai with Noashi's help." Rukia said, if only to get the last word in. "You know Ichigo, I think you're mad only because Noashi made Karin a shinigami worthy of a lieutenant spot, and you don't want that."

Ichigo spluttered at Rukia. Her assumption was correct but he would never admit that. Not that he actually needed to.


Yoruichi sighed. This is not good. She thought to herself. Noashi was currently glaring at their unexpected guest, as if the mere act could make him go away.

"So nice to have you visit," Yoruichi broke the tense silence with a pleasant tone. "Noashi and I had just got done with a spar."

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at Noashi before speaking.

"Interesting." He took a sip of his own tea. "I find it hard to believe that Noashi could have so much energy left after such a long mission."

Here we go. Yoruichi rolled her eyes when Noashi scowled.

"It would have been even longer if I had chosen to use Kido to gain the information."

"Worth the wait." He growled lowly. "Wouldn't you rather have gotten done with mission with a shred of pride left?"

Neither Noashi nor Byakuya noticed Yoruichi get up and leave at the moment.

"So like a Kuchiki to bring up the subject of pride." Noashi rolled her eyes. "Let me explain something to you, Kuchiki. That old man you call Head Captain, he's all I have left. The only blood relative that wasn't murdered. I took that mission because he asked me to, because saying no would have been equal to failing him."

"You didn't have to take Karin." He interrupted swiftly.

"Let me finish." She heaved a frustrated sigh. "He requested I take Karin with me. She needed the experience. Now not only did I have to worry about myself but Karin as well. So I'm sorry if I didn't want to risk her life in order to keep my pride in tact. I'm sorry I didn't use a damned kido to get information. And I am sorry that you now have the misfortune of being close to someone who has no pride."

She didn't wait for him to respond as she got up and stormed out. Byakuya stared forward, at the space she used to occupy and sighed.

"You realize you're an idiot right?" The seemingly tired voice of Yoruichi came from the doorway. He ignored her and stood, brushing past the cat-shinigami as he too, left. "You should try to see things from her point of view," He stopped and turned to her, "Noashi isn't as tough as she lets on, Byakuya." She smiled. "Though you already knew that."

"Yoruichi, tell me why you let her do these things." He lifted a stoic eyebrow at her. "You obviously care for her well being. Why not stop her?"

"She isn't the type of person that takes no for an answer, Byakuya." Yoruichi responded cooly. "If I had told her not to take the mission, she would only take it then try to hide the fact that she did from me."

He internally sighed and muttered a soft 'Hn' before starting to leave again.


Karin and Toshiro waved goodbye to Rukia and Ichigo. Both sighed in relief. Those two really knew how to drain a person of energy.

"Karin," Toshiro turned to her suddenly. His features looking tired and some what apologetic. "I apologize for the way I reacted before. It was an overreaction."

"Toshiro you shouldn't be apologizing to me." Karin sighed, but smiled none the less. "Noashi was the one getting blamed for it all, she was only trying to help. Like Rukia said, she may seem tough but from my experiences with her, it really is only a front."

The both stayed silent for a moment, each thinking about what was said. Toshiro thought back to all the times he'd actually been able to fight at her side. The most recent was the Zanpakuto incident, he remembered hearing what Kazeshini and the other Zanpakuto said to her.

"How can you speak so fondly of us?" Tobiume frowned, suddenly it was connecting in her head. "You're only half of what we are, and they gave you the cold shoulder because of it."

"Yeah." Kazeshini scowled. "Didn't they scorn you for what you couldn't control? Didn't it make you mad!"

"Of course it did." Noashi admitted. "And I ran away, from what they said, and what they thought. But it didn't make anything better. I was still alone, and I was still thought to be a monster."

Toshiro blinked. That was it. He had heard of the situation but he hadn't arrived at the seireitei until long after it had happened. He remembered the day he had asked the Head Captain about it. His explanation was vague but it did give some insight.

"Forgive my asking Head Captain, but why did Noashi leave the seireitei?" Toshiro bowed to the old man and tried his best to keep his stoic expression in place. he was a new captain, and it seemed he was the only one who didn't know about it. "Many of the other captains have been speaking about it, and I was curious."

Toshiro sighed, wishing he could scold himself for sounding like a child.

"It was long before you came into our ranks." He explained in his usual grave tone. "Noashi was young, and she was different. She had a gift, she is what her Great Grandmother was, the in between of a Shinigami and a Zanpakuto." The Head Captain paused for a moment before continuing. "There was an accident in which changed the views on her gift. The clans soon thought it was a curse. They warned their children of her, some went as far as to request her to be executed."

At this Toshiro gaped, the cruelty of the clans people had never been known to him. He thought they were nice people.

"She heard their whispers when she passed. She saw the disgust on their faces when she asked for help with training, only to be turned down. She ended up being trained by the captains of the different squads. They were wiser than those Clans people, but even their help did nothing to council her. She believed herself to be the monster they made her out to be. Through it all, she had but one friend. Byakuya Kuchiki. Though his clan hated her the most he only listened to his Grandfather, Genrei Kuchiki."

Toshiro blinked. Byakuya Kuchiki? Stoic Captain of the Sixth squad? It was surprise to him, to say the least.

"When Genrei died the voices of the Clan elders became louder in the young Kuchiki's head. He cut her out of his life, and Noashi acted harshly upon the action. Without a friend nothing held her here any longer. Her family had been long gone, so she left. Leaving only a note that explained her reasoning. She had to get stronger."

"She has to be strong." Toshiro muttered to himself. Though Karin heard him. "Karin, she's always had to be stronger than everyone else. She thinks she has to prove herself."

"What?" Karin looked at him doubtfully. "Noashi doesn't care about what other say about her."

"Karin think about it. You've heard about her history right?" Karin nodded. "Her whole life has always been affected because of what others thought about her. It caused all the pain in her life, she puts up a tough front because she thinks she has to!"

"I'm proud you guys finally cracked the code."

Karin and Toshiro jumped and swiveled around to face Noashi. Her mask was in place over her face and her stature suggested she had just gone through 20 hollows and her muscles were finally being affected.

"Taicho what happened to you?" Karin asked in a bewildered voice. "It looks like you've been thrown through a forest."

"I was doing some late night training." She lied. "I was just walking back, would you two like to join me?"

Toshiro looked at Karin and they both nodded.