Chapter 6: Truth

The first thing Amaya saw when she awoke the next day was a very familiar looking ceiling. The room was oddly bright for someone who had been sleeping. Amaya shielded her eyes with her arm and lied motionless.

"What happened. . ?" she asked no one. But before she could finish her sentence images of the previous day flashed through her mind. Amaya quickly sat up, and grabbed the sheets she sat on in frustration. Then she looked around and realized where she was."

"Kuchiki Byakuya . . .why?"

"It's a good thing to see that you have awakened Tawara- san," said Unohana as she walked into the room, her gentle voice snapping Amaya out of her thoughts. "Let me check your wounds." Unohana said and proceeded to examine her. Within a very few short minutes Unohana stepped back and looked at Amaya with a smile.

Your regeneration power is remarkable. You heal faster than anyone," Unohana said almost in an appraising way.

"Regeneration?" Amaya asked.

"Regeneration is the power to reverse damage and turn something back the way it originally was. It's one of the powers most cherished by the Carrier," Unohana replied

"Regeneration is Yomigamis ability. She's always conscious even if you are not, however, the healing is faster if you are the one willing it," Amaterasu stated.

"Could I cure someone?" Amaya asked, thinking of Ukitake's illness.

Unohana shook her head sadly.

"You cannot cure him, Tawara-san." Unohana replied, automatically knowing where Amaya's thoughts were coming from. "However, you can heal the damage the disease has done. You're ability restores, it does not destroy."

Amaya nodded, a bit saddened by the information. She had wanted to help Ukitake, and wanted in some way to pay him back for taking care of her.

"I see." Amaya said quietly.

Unohana, quickly picking up Amaya's gloomy mood quickly added, "I'm sure he will be grateful with whatever you can do for him."

Amaya put a smile on her face.

"Right!" she exclaimed. But as soon as the word was out of her mouth the smile began to melt away.

"If only I could have done this sooner I could have avoided coming here" she thought bitterly to herself. Then Byakuya's face flashed across her mind. "No! This was his fault!"

"Tawara-san, is something wrong?" Unohana asked, snapping her out of her trance.

Amaya shook her head. "No I'm fine." She said hopping off the bed. Amaya quickly bowed to Unohana. "Thank you for everything. Good bye," Amaya said then quickly left, not wanting to take anymore of Unohana's time.

Once she was outside Amaya's demeanor became more serious as her thoughts returned to Byakuya. Amaya clenched her fists tightly, and against all reason, and the growling of the wolf goddess, Amaya found herself marching right into the sixths squad headquarters. Without hesitation Amaya slammed the door to Byakuya's office wide open.

"Byakuya!" Amaya shouted at him, throwing away any thoughts of formality and continued to march towards his desk.

"You will call me by my last name with . . ."

"Shut up!" Amaya said, interrupting him and slamming her hands on his desk. A group of Shinigami in the hallway summoned from all of the noise looked on with a mixture of awe, horror, and some even with a gaping mouth, because not one among them believed that the noble captain had ever been told to "shut up". "After last night I will call you by what ever I choose! Don't forget I am your superior!" Amaya shouted back.

Byakuya calmly picked up the piles of papers he was working on, tapped them on the desk to even them out and calmly said " You are nothing. The Spirit of Amaterasu is the one with the rank, and seeing as you are too pitifully weak that you cannot summon her or even use a fraction of her powers state that you are no higher than a Rukongai beggar." Byakuya's eyes shifted to look at Amaya. "It seems that Ukitake has not fully carried out his orders," Byakuya stated.

"Orders?" Amaya asked.

"Ukitake was ordered to watch you and inform you of your duties, and report everything significant to Yamamoto-sou taichou. But it seems that all he's done is let you run amok," Byakuya explained, his eyes were no longer on Amaya and instead were on the new stack of papers in front of him. Had he been looking at Amaya he would have easily dodged the hand she swung at him. There was a loud audible slap as Amaya's hand connected with Byakuya's face.

"How dare you. How dare you spew lies and try to stain Ukitake-sama's good name!" Amaya said, shaking furiously. "You can beat me. You can even kill me, but you do not say anything negative like that about him in front of me!"

"Did you honestly believe that a captain would willingly take on a burden as yourself when they already have so much important work that actually has a meaning? You are a foolish girl." Byakuya replied.

"You're wrong. You're lying. He didn't . . ." Amaya rambled, her voice becoming weak, and her hands going back to her side, balling into fists. She quickly shook her head. "That doesn't matter. You attacked me, cut me with your sword. Beat me, shot me with kidou! What excuse do you have for that?"

"You are living a fantasy. This world is not heaven, where the dead come to live peacefully. You are part of a soldier's world now. You have to be prepared for the bloodshed and death." Byakuya replied calmly. "This is not a peaceful world"

" That doesn't matter! All of you, even a noble must adhere to the laws! And you broke that by attacking me! I will see you punished for this!"

"That is why I am here," said a female voice from behind Amaya. Amaya turned to see Soi Fon standing in the doorway.

"Soi Fon-taichou?" Amaya asked surprised.

"Kuchiki Byakuya. You have been charged with the near fatal attack on Tawara Amaya, the current Ôkami carrier. I have been ordered to take you to Central 46," Soi Fon stated. "How low the Kuchiki clan has fallen."

Byakuya's eyes flinched as the words reached him. He rose from his chair and looked down at the smaller captain. "Not as low as the Shihoin Clan."

Soi Fon's eyes narrowed and looked as if she wanted to retaliate, but instead she held her tongue.

As the two captains were about to leave Byakuya turned his head to look at Amaya, his expression confusing her.

"One cannot defend themselves if they have never been attacked," and without any explanation the two captains left, leaving Amaya alone, her mind swirling with all of Byakuya's words.

In a bit of a daze Amaya slowly made her way back to the 13th division.

"It has to be all lies, it just has to be," Amaya said to herself, not wanting to believe that she really was just an annoying assignment.

When Amaya reached the field where the 13th squad normally gathered and practiced the sight snapped her out of her daze.

The first thing she noticed was that a good deal of the members were missing, and that the remaining members were very solemn. The second thing she noticed was that both Ukitake and Kaien were missing, and even though Ukitake was sick often, and stayed home to rest, Kaien was never missing, especially if Ukitake was not around. As she walked around she found Kiyone and Sentaro drinking heavily and giving off a deep depressive vibe.

Amaya continued to walk through the area until her eyes laid upon Rukia, who was sitting under a tree. Her eyes were open but they were unfocused and looked at nothing. Amaya lowered herself to the ground and sat down in front of Rukia.

"Rukia – chan., where is every one?" Amaya asked with a voice filled with worry.

"They're all dead." Rukia's voice was flat and empty.

"Dead?" Amaya gasped. She grabbed Rukia by the shoulders. "Where's Ukitake-san, Shiba-san???" Amaya asked, her voice becoming frantic.

"Kaien-dono is dead," Rukia answered, her monotone voice cracking. "I . . ." She trailed off, trying to fight off tears.

"And Ukitake-san? Where is he?" Amaya became more panicked, and started to shake Rukia, forcing Rukia to look at her.

"I don't know."

Amaya scrambled away from Rukia, leaving the broken girl alone and started to run frantically through the 13th squad searching for Ukitake. She had asked every Shinigami that seemed coherent about his whereabouts; however no one was able to tell her. After each "I don't know" Amaya's panic raised one notch until she found herself at the exit ready to run back to their home. Her panic subsided however because before her was Ukitake, walking towards her and the rest of the squad.

"Ukitake-san!" she exclaimed happily and she started to run towards him, though further inspection of him made her stop.

His face was pale, like it was right before or after a sick spell. There was a mixture of sadness and yet more serious than she had ever seen him before. In his left hand he carried a zanpaktou void of any uniqueness.

"Ukitake-san?" she said again, only this time it was quieter.

"Amaya-chan. For now on you will train solely with me. Come." Ukitake said solemnly when he reached her. He continued to walk with Amaya following in silence until the reached an empty section of the field.

"Ukitake-san, where is everyone? Rukia said everyone died," Amaya asked. Ukitake sighed heavily.

"Last night a hollow killed Miyako, Kaien and several other squad members," Ukitake explained. With out waiting for her to respond he continued. "The events from last night, with you and Byakuya, and my quad and the hollow, made me realize that it is important that you learn how to properly defend yourself." Ukitake held out the zanpaktou in front of him and handed it still sheathed to Amaya.

"A zanpaktou is not just a sword, it is a weapon that with time merges with those with strong souls and becomes an extension of their soul. Theoretically you should be able to use one as a focus of your powers. Now," Ukitake said as he unsheathed his sword, "Come at me."

Amaya shook her head in horror.

"I could never attack you!" She exclaimed.

"You must. I am one of the first captains of the Gotei 13. You would hurt me. "

"No. I can't," Amaya said lowering the sword while fighting back tears.

"You need to learn how to defend yourself. Kaien was a seasoned Shinigami! A prodigy! And he was defeated! I know if you had been there you would have been dead. You would have had no chance of survival, not the way you are now. That's why I have to train you. I can not trust another captain doing what Byakuya did, so it has to be me. Now raise your zanpaktou." Ukitake ordered.

Amaya did the opposite and threw it on the ground.

"Were you ordered to do this too? To involve me in this blood filled life?" Amaya shouted at him.

Ukitake lowered his zanpaktou.

"Why would you say that?" He asked puzzled.

"Byakuya told me you were just ordered to take me in, to watch me. I didn't want to believe him, but now, with this, how can I not?"

"Yes, that is true but . . ." Ukitake started before Amaya interrupted.

"No." She shook her head and the tears she fought to hold back now fell freely. "I can't take any more of this!" Amaya turned to run, however using shunpo Ukitake moved in front of her and, without being quick enough to stop, Amaya ran straight into him.

Ukitake's arms wrapped around her, one around her waist and the other holding the back of her head as one would hold a child. Amaya placed her hands on his chest, trying to push away from him. But he would not budge. Instead he rested his chin on her head and spoke softly.

"When the captains met the night you came Yamamoto decided that one of the captains should watch you at all times until we could train you properly or remove the Ôkami from you. I asked to be the one to look after you. I knew that the other captains would treat you as a commodity. They would not care about the girl whose life abruptly changed," Ukitake said, softly and Amaya stopped struggling and clutched at his hiyori. "I did though, and I still do. Nothing I do or did whatsoever has to do to with duty as a Shinigami captain or an assignment. You were never an assignment to me."

"Ukitake- sama . . ."

Ukitake released Amaya who promptly wiped her eyes. The two stood in silence for a few moments, before Ukitake spoke again.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, never again. I have no idea what Byakuya was thinking. Him of all people. . ."

"Rukia-chan told me that he hated me because I am nothing except that I have the Ôkami powers and became higher than him," Amaya explained.

Ukitake shook his head.

"Rukia would not know the reason. For Byakuya to take such an action just simply because of supposed jealousy is not in his character. But the fact that you are the carrier makes me want to believe that he would be the last to ever harm you."

"I don't understand."

The last known Carrier before you was Kuchiki Kikyou, Byakuya's mother," Ukitake explained.

Amaya's eyes went wide.

"What happened to her?" Amaya asked.

"About a few months before you arrived, there was a disturbance in the living world. Several Shinigami were sent out one by one to check out what was causing it, however not a single one survived. After months of this Byakuya's father a vice captain to his father was sent out. When there was no report back, Kuchiki-sama decided to go herself. She believed that enough blood had been shed, and someone who was powerful should go. Everyone begged her not to go, however no one ruled her so she left. No one ever heard from her again. And then, just a day later after she left, you arrived."

Amaya looked down, then closed her eyes. For a moment she remained silent, absorbing everything.

"I understand now. To him I'm weak and unworthy of these powers, of this title, and because of that I bring shame to the past Carriers before me, including his mother. My own existence wounds him." Amaya spoke with a soft almost mourning voice.

"Still that's no excuse -"

"'One cannot defend themselves if they have never been attacked,'" Amaya said interrupting Ukitake with Byakuya's words, looking at the sky. "You were about to train me the same way, with combat, weren't you?"

"Yes, but I'd never do that to you," Ukitake replied.

"I know. I just think his . . .dislike for me pushed him further than he'd go. Besides, had he wanted to kill me there's no doubt in my mind that he could and would have done so." Amaya turned back to Ukitake. "Where's Central 46? Soi Fon-taichou said she was taking him there."

"Central 46? His trial must of started then. There's nothing anyone can do. No one dares to cross them."

"No! I can't let him get in trouble! Not because of me!" Amaya turned grabbing her newly given sword from the ground." I have to try, maybe if I go there and drop the charges he can go free,"' Amaya said hurriedly and turned to run, even though she had not one clue where Central 46 may be, but again Ukitake was too fast for her, stopping her from going further.

"You can't. You can't be killed but you could be imprisoned!"

"I have to. I won't allow my existence to cause any more pain. Not to him or anyone else. And with Kaien's death . . I don't know if I can let this happen to Rukia either,"

Ukitake sighed.

"I can't go with you. I can't protect you, if I do . ."

"It's alright. I'm "untouchable" right?" Amaya smiled and Ukitake just sighed again, this time in defeat. Overjoyed Amaya leapt and hugged Ukitake. "Thank you!" She released him and stepped back. "So, where is Central 46 again?"