Disclaimer: I still do not own Bleach...T_T
Author's Note:As I've said before, all comments and contructive criticism are most welcome and very much desired! A lot of people are clicking in to the story, and I'm delighted about that. But I'd very much like to hear what you think, and what you like and dislike so far! That will help me to edit and improve future chapters. Anyway, to show my appreciation for reviewers, I make sure to respond to every signed review I receive. And to the three people who reviewed last chapter (outlaw hunter, SleepingForce, and DarkJason): Thank you again!! I appreciated your comments immensely!

Rukia wandered aimlessly around Karakura Town, lost in thought. Her initial elation at the realization that Shirayuki had materialized had faded. Achieving bankai would be incredible. And at least Ichigo, Renji, and her closest friends would be impressed and proud. Rukia herself would be proud, and overjoyed to have strengthened her bond with Sode no Shirayuki that deeply. But what would be the point, besides personal fulfillment? She was blacklisted from ever obtaining even the lowest officer's seat, thanks to Nii-sama.

She had believed herself to be resigned to the lack of rank or recognition. She had even convinced herself to be thankful for her brother's protection. It was a sign that he cared for her, after all. To reject that care would be incredibly ungrateful. But now it stung deeply to realize that she might be capable of bankai and never even hold rank in the Gotei 13. She slowly lowered herself to sit on the front steps of a large building that vaguely seemed familiar. Resting her chin on her hands, she asked herself softly, "Is it even worth trying?"

"It's always worth trying, my darling third daughter!"

Rukia jumped, and whirled around. Behind her, just exiting what she now recognized to be the Ishida Hospital, was Kurosaki Isshin. Next to him was Ishida Uryuu, looking quite harried as he tried awkwardly to duck out from under the companionable arm Isshin had thrown around his shoulders.

"Everything is worth a try, even skinny-dipping! In fact, that's a must! Take Ichigo with you when you try that, alright, Rukia-chan?" Isshin threw her a dramatic wink, then moved down the steps to join her, dragging Ishida along with him. "Now, what is it you're thinking about trying?"

"Um, well…," Rukia stuttered, blushing at the thought of doing that with Ichigo. She shook her head to knock the idea clear, and wondered how she should answer. Isshin had revealed his shinigami heritage during the war, so that wasn't a problem. But was she prepared to mention this to anyone yet? Luckily, she was spared the decision as the doors were violently flung open and a frantic intern ran out.

"Sensei! Kurosaki-sensei! We have a patient needing immediate care! Come quickly!"

The intern ran down the steps and grabbed Isshin's arm, finally allowing Ishida to free himself. Isshin allowed himself to be led back into the hospital, calling as he went, "Tell me later then, Rukia-chan! I must go. Don't worry, my dear patients, Doctor Isshin is coming! I'll take care of all your owies!"

Rukia stared after him, blinking in bewilderment. Ishida, standing beside her, gave a sigh of relief. "That man is insane," he said in exasperation.

Rukia smiled at that. "He certainly is. I'm surprised he hasn't driven Ichigo insane as well."

Ishida raised an eyebrow at her, and pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "He has. Surely you're not saying you thought Kurosaki Ichigo, of all people, was sane?"

Rukia started laughing, but stopped quickly when Ishida continued, "Still, though, I think I'd prefer Kurosaki-san for a father than Ryuuken."

Rukia bit her lip, then responded, "Ishida, it's not my place to say, since I don't know the circumstances. But during the war, I thought it seemed that your father –"

"I'm aware of my father's feelings," Ishida interrupted. "It took me far too long to realize, but I finally know what it was my grandfather was trying to tell me. I understand what it is Ryuuken wishes to protect."

"Then why…?"

"Because I don't appreciate being insulted."

Rukia frowned in confusion. "What do you mean, insulted?"

Ishida looked away, the sunlight glaring off his glasses and turning them opaque to Rukia's eyes. "You should know, Kuchiki-san. Your brother does it too, in his own way."

Rukia's eyes widened, taken aback. "Nii-sama does…? What exactly?"

Ishida looked back at her, a little surprised by the defensiveness that had come into her tone. "He holds you back, claiming it is for your own safety. Ryuuken tried to hold me back as well, by convincing me I had no talent in the Quincy craft. Surely you've felt insulted, believed yourself to be talentless as a result of your brother's actions? Had I not had Sensei, I would have felt it even more keenly than I did."

"They're protecting us," Rukia protested weakly, though the young Quincy's words were striking a definite chord within her.

"Are they? Both you and I have still rushed headlong into danger many times, despite their attempts. We've gained in power and skill, taken on more and more dangerous challenges. They haven't prevented that. Only the acknowledgement of our power has been lacking. That isn't protection, it's an insult." Ishida sighed, and pushed on his glasses again. "Kurosaki-san set his son free, encouraged him to act according to his heart and his beliefs. Look what Kurosaki was able to achieve as a result."

Rukia slowly turned to look away, staring into the distance. Everything Ishida said made sense. But was she ready to reject her brother's protection, or to attempt to, at least? There was no point in training for bankai if she wasn't. Still, it was Nii-sama himself who had told her repeatedly that a noble does not take insults willingly. It is beneath them to accept any derogatory words. If insulted, the only decision a noble had was how to respond and repay the disrespect without lowering one's own dignity in the process. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she made her choice.

"Ishida," she said, standing, "thank you. You've helped me make a very important decision."

He looked at her curiously. "Oh?"

Rukia met his eyes, her own violet orbs now burning with determination. "I'm going to start training for bankai. And once I've obtained it, I'll force Nii-sama to allow me to become a seated officer." She paused, then continued, "No, not an officer. A fukutaichou. Ukitake-taichou still needs one, and I will be fully capable of the job."

******************************

Ichigo was lost. He had been doing pretty well, initially, at keeping track of his route in this maze of a city, but then he'd stumbled into the one courtyard he had wanted to stay far away from. He'd taken two steps into the dirt-covered area, wondering why the walls had ended, why this huge open space was right in the middle of the city, and, most importantly, why the dirt seemed to be rust-colored, with spots of darker crimson. Then suddenly a pink blur had appeared in the corner of his eyes. The blur launched itself toward him, and he ducked instinctively, then watched as it rocketed past him and came to rest on the ground several feet away. Immediately, he had paled.

The pink blur had coalesced into the very solid, very small and cute, and very frightening form of Kusajishi Yachiru, 11th division fukutaichou. She was dressed in a blood-soaked shihakusho that was more red than black, and was holding her unsheathed zanpakuto. She waved happily to Ichigo, beaming from ear to ear.

"Ichi! Morning! Ne, Ken-chan! Ichi came for a visit! Keennn-chaaan!"

Ichigo had turned tail and fled before she had finished shouting. In less than a second, though, he could hear Kenpachi's voice bellowing back to Yachiru, "Ichigo's here!? Where!?"

"That way! He ran that way, Ken-chan!"

"Ran! Dammit Ichigo, come back! I've waited long enough for my rematch!"

Looking around wildly, the orange-haired substitute ducked into the smallest alleyway he could find, sprinted down it partway, then turned down a different, even smaller street. He kept going, refusing to look back to see if Kenpachi was still following, taking as many turns as he could. Finally, nearly twenty minutes later, he shot out of the maze of streets into another open courtyard. Panting, he paused to look around. This one was covered with green grass, and some distance away he could see a well tended rock garden, surrounded by shaped and perfectly trimmed hedges.

The air was filled with a sweet scent, and Ichigo was sure there was a flower garden nearby as well. He was turning to the side, looking for it, when the peace of the scene was interrupted by another fast-moving blur, this one green in color and much closer. He yelped as a small body collided with his stomach and sent him flying backwards into the grass. Immediately, he heard someone calling over to them, "Are you two alright?"

Ichigo looked up, spotting the white-haired taichou of the 13th division, Ukitake Jyuushirou, trotting over from the flower garden he'd smelled moments before. He waved a free hand to indicate that he was fine, then looked down at the person now sitting in his lap. His eyes widened in shock as he recognized the green-haired child. She was rubbing her head, which looked tremendously odd without the mask Ichigo was accustomed to seeing. Then she looked up at him, with her gray eyes shining and a happy smile spread across her face, and spoke, "Sowwy 'bout that, mistew. I didn't see you."

"N-Nel!?" Ichigo stammered, staring down at her.

She cocked her head in confusion. "Do I know you, mistew?"

It felt to Ichigo as if he'd been slapped, even though he'd been told, the last time he'd seen Nel, that there was a chance her memories would be gone when she woke. She was looking up at him innocently, waiting for an answer, though, so he forced himself to focus. Pushing a smile onto his face, he told her, "Oh, it's just that Ukitake-san's told me about you, that's all. I'm Ichigo."

Nel's face cleared immediately. "Oh, I get it. Nice ta meetcha, Itsygo. Ukitake-san's gonna 'dopt me, did he say? He's gonna be my tou-chan!"

Ichigo's smile was a little more genuine when he lifted her out of his lap and said, "He'll be a good one for you, Nel."

Her smile widened even further, as she cried, "Yep!"

Ukitake stepped closer to Ichigo and offered him a hand up, as the green-haired child took off across the grass again. "She woke up a little over a week ago," he told Ichigo. "I should have let you know immediately, but I know you were hoping her memories wouldn't be affected by the purification. I wasn't sure how to tell you."

"Are they gone completely?" Ichigo asked gruffly.

"It seems so," Ukitake answered sadly. "We were all disappointed. But at least we can give her a happy existence here. I intend to do everything in my power to give her every advantage, I promise."

"She does seem happy," Ichigo admitted grudgingly, but then he scowled. "I'll bet Yama-jii wasn't disappointed her memories were erased."

"You've only ever seen him at his worst, haven't you, Ichigo-kun?" Ukitake asked rhetorically. "Genryuusai-sensei used to be a lot like you, actually. Idealistic, I mean. He founded the Academy and allowed students from Rukongai to enter, though the nobles of the time protested vigorously. He taught Kyouraku, Unohana, and I to fight for justice, just as you always have done. He would have delighted in teaching you, back when he was younger."

He smiled sadly at Ichigo's incredulous expression. "Unfortunately, he's grown old and weary. Obedience to the law has become something of a crutch, to allow him to save his waning energy. He still believes in giving rewards where they are due, though, whenever possible. That's why we handled Nel-chan's purification as we did. There wasn't a choice of not cleansing her soul, but we could and did anchor her to the 4th division, so she wouldn't become lost in Rukongai or risk being sent to a dangerous district. And immediate adoption into a noble family was approved even before I made the offer. In time, her power will allow her to take a high rank among the Gotei 13."

Ichigo looked away, still somewhat disbelieving. He would never be fond of the Soutaichou, and it hurt to think that Nel no longer remembered being his friend or a part of his team. Ukitake watched him silently for a moment, then changed the subject. "So have you been told about the Academy position?"

When the question was acknowledged with only a nod, he continued, "It would be good for the Soul Society if you accepted, you know. We're trying, finally, to make some long needed changes in the policies here. Your fresh ideas would be just what we need to pass on to our newest members."

Ichigo looked up at that, remembering the informality of the one councilman on the Central 46. "Those changes wouldn't happen to include putting real people in the government, in place of stuffy noble jerks, would it?"

Ukitake chuckled quietly. "I was hoping one of them would be allowed to head the discussion with you."

"Them?"

"The structure of the Central 46 is changing, yes," Ukitake explained. "The Rukongai has been split into 21 prefectures, each one with a governor who takes one of the seats in the council. The governors are all residents of their respective prefectures. At this point, they were all selected for their positions by the 25 noble members of the council, but in a year or so, once everything has settled down a little, we'll be organizing elections in each of the prefectures. We hope the elected governors will have enough backing from the Rukongai public to start improving the conditions there, even in the more remote districts."

Ichigo had turned to him fully, interested. The dismal conditions in Rukongai had always concerned him, especially thinking about his sisters, and worse, his mother, wandering some of those districts.

"There are a lot of things we need to do," Ukitake continued. "Your ethics, passed along to the next generation of shinigami, will help with that."

Staring out at Nel, where she was now jumping from stone to stone in the rock garden, Ichigo came to his decision. He'd liked the idea from the first, and he'd just needed a little push to accept that. What human career would he pursue, anyway? The only thing he wanted to do was protect, and this was definitely a way to do that. He needed to retain a connection to the Soul Society, if only to make sure Rukia would still be allowed to stay with him, but this way he'd still be in the living world, with his sisters, and that was what was important.

"Thanks, Ukitake-san," he said quietly. "I needed that. I'm gonna go tell them I accept."

Author's Note: Ok, so there are a lot of notes for this chapter. First of all, I hope that neither Ishida's nor Ukitake's dialogue seemed too preachy. There were a lot of things that needed to be said/explained, especially by Ukitake. I spent quite a while fiddling with both sections, but I'm not positive I was able to fix it.

Second, Rukia's decision. Yes, with bankai she could try for a taichou's position. I just think she would prefer to remain with the 13th, which is why I had her use fukutaichou as her goal.

Third, Nel. I'm sorry! ::whacks head against the wall:: I absolutely hate the thought of memory replacement/loss, so I'm furious with myself for doing this to her! On the other hand, those of you who like Nel might be interested to hear my main reason for it. I am in the process of planning out an IchiRuki sequel to this story, and once that's finished, I'll be starting on a third story in the series that focuses almost entirely on Nel. In order for the basic idea to work, I needed to have her lose her memory. I'm really looking forward to starting to write that one!

Fourth, the Central 46 and Yamamoto. I actually like Yamamoto, and I've been able to understand (and I often even agree) with his actions in canon. As such, I will not be portraying him as the heartless bastard most people do. Stubborn and a believer in moral absolutes, yes, but not cruel. I also am tired of reading about the Central 46 being reinstated after the war and immediately becoming as corrupt as before. I consider that a possibility, but not a guarantee, and I wanted to try a more sympathetic portrayal of them in this story. Plus, I do think that enough of the captains are open-minded and intelligent enough to recognize the flaws in the system now that Aizen's actions have pointed them out. It's hard to believe that they won't try to make some sort of improvements. That said, the new system is not perfect, and the problems with it is one of the focuses of the sequel I'm planning.

Well, anyway, next chapter will show the beginnings of Ichigo and Rukia's training! The way I've chosen to deal with it will hopefully be interesting and unique! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and see you on Sunday!