I'm almost done with this story...I just have one more chapter to write up and then I just have to post. I had fun with it though. Anyway, I hope the explanation of what they are is understandable. Ask if there is something you don't understand. I'll be happy to try an explain it in a better way. Hmm, I don't have much else to say, probably that this ended up more of a 'adventure' in some sense story than a romance story. Romance is like a background for this. Dunno, anyway, Enjoy!


You have no idea,

Those words rang in Rukia's head as she sat in Ukitake taichou's office. She wasn't sure where Hitsugaya was getting his lecture and from whom, but she knew she was either going to be feeling immense guilt over the man she loved to death or she was going to be the happiest person on the planet when she walked out of the office.

She frowned slightly and stared out of the office window. It made no sense. Rukia's never seen the girl before and from what she's gathered by merely watching Hitsugaya, neither did he. Whatever reason she had for hating him, couldn't be plausible. She shuddered, not only did he have the insane girl to worry about; he also had that other guy to worry about. Rukia didn't want to say much, but it pretty much looked like Hitsugaya was screwed sideways on an open fire spit.

Rukia sighed. They were strange, truly and utterly strange. What sort of shinigami couldn't be sensed? It was like they weren't exactly human. Like they were made of something other than flesh and bone, it wasn't normal. Rukia shuddered as she thought of them. It was as if a cold, dark hatred surrounded them. Childish as the girl was, there was something about her that said she was far more grownup than she acted.

The shoji door to the office slid open and Kiyone stepped into the room, pressed her hand against the ground beside her knee and kept her head down. It was odd to see the third seat in such a respectful position in front of her. "Kiyone-chan?" she questioned softly.

The girl glanced up at her, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Sotaichou-sama requests your presence immediately." Rukia's heart hammered as she nodded her head and got up. Her knees felt weak, like she'd fall if she tried to walk on her own. She stood in front of her seat for a moment, just stood there and breathed in and out as if it would help. She couldn't not go. That would be a sign that she regretted having this relationship and if there was anything she didn't regret it was this.

And turning Ichigo into a shinigami, but she wasn't sure how to feel less guilty.

She exited the room and walked as fast and as slow as she could go at the same time. Her heart hammered incessantly and she wondered for a moment when she had become so…afraid of everything. She frowned and shook her head. She wasn't scared. She honestly wasn't scared. If they revoked Hitsugaya's status, they would have to revoke hers as well. And if Hitsugaya had to leave – which in their current situation she doubted would happen – so would she. She wasn't some impassive, easily conned girl who was merely dating her superior because he demanded to have a sexual (which wasn't even the case) relationship with her.

And if she would, she would fight for what she thought was right.

With her mind made up she marched towards the First Division. Upon arrival she discovered that every taichou and fukutaichou and Ichigo and Orihime were present. Hitsugaya was standing in the center, between Matsumoto and Hisagi. With a deep breath she stalked right up to him, listening faintly as the door thudded shut behind her, spun him around and kissed him full view of the whole room. Her hands were tightly gripping the front of his haori and her mouth pressed hotly to hers and for a second she just lost herself in the feel of him. The way his mouth moved against hers even though a moment ago they had been slightly uncertain. She slipped her hands up and into his hair, because God he had nice hair, and made a soft sound when his tongue slipped into her mouth.

A second later he was pulling away, chest rising and falling slightly faster than was normal. "Rukia?" he murmured lowly.

She ignored him and tightened her arms around him in a hug and glared over his shoulder – she had to stand on her toes to accomplish this – at the Sotaichou. "I don't care about your stupid laws or your stupid rules or your stupid punishment." She said firmly. "I love him." Had Byakuya-niisama been capable of emotion, he would probably have looked on the display in horror. "And if you plan on sending him away, I leave with him. I'll stick with him no matter what you say."

There was a long pause, a deep silence that was starting to make her think that the conversation they had been having had nothing to do with her and Hitsugaya. "Kuchiki fukutaichou, I don't care." The old man stated firmly.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked shocked, stepping out of Rukia's arms. "We're breaking one your most ancient laws and you don't care?" he was clearly confused. Rukia glared at his back, confused about why the hell that was a bad thing! "Shouldn't there be some sort of punishment?"

"I do not have time for the trivial matters of children, Hitsugaya taichou." He said calmly, in that commanding tone of his that suggested if people didn't shut up soon they were going to be wishing they had. "However, if you are eager for punishment, discuss it with Kuchiki taichou."

"No. That's…I'm sorry for…" he just trailed off, waving his hands around in a nervous manner. Ichigo started to snicker as Rukia raised her fist and hammered it down on his head. "What the hell…" he glared at her.

"That's for wondering about it!" she snapped and hurried to her place before they really got into trouble.

If the Sotaichou wasn't going to punish them for breaking the law, then she wasn't going to complain. It almost meant that Ichigo stood a chance with Matsumoto. She beamed up at Ukitake taichou as the Sotaichou cleared his throat and Hitsugaya returned to his place. She wondered for a moment exactly why he had been standing there if it wasn't for the fact that he was in trouble.

Rukia glanced over the people in the room and finally noted one she hadn't seen earlier. It was a tall, brunette with large, innocent looking brown eyes. He was sitting in the far corner, eating chocolate chip cookies and looking mildly out of place in his white yukata and messy hair. He had an open face and a small nose and a plump mouth that seemed quite happy to devour the chocolate chip cookies that were more chocolate than cookie from the way his fingers were coated with it. He seemed happy to go unnoticed, so she decided to pay attention to whatever the Sotaichou was saying.

The old man was saying something that made little to no sense to Rukia. He was using terms and explanation she's never even heard of. Rukia glanced around the room and sighed in relief when she realized she wasn't the only one not understanding. Ichigo had this scowl on his face that said volumes about his understanding levels, Hinamori and Kira's faces were scrunched up as they tried to comprehend what was saying. Matsumoto was just staring at Ichigo, obviously not even listening. The busty fukutaichou was obviously not even one to just pretend. None of the taichou looked like they understood or didn't understand, but she was pretty sure the majority fell into the latter category – especially Zaraki taichou.

"Omae," the boy in the corner raised his head and sighed, sucking on his fingers as he got up and headed towards the Sotaichou. "Explain this to them."

Omae sat down, grinned cheerily and snapped his fingers. His bowl of cookies seemed to melt into the air and reappeared in his lap seconds later, in a move similar to the girl and her companion's disappearing trick. Rukia concentrated, allowed her senses to flow around him but picked up nothing. "I am an Other." He said calmly.

"A what?" Ichigo questioned darkly.

"An Other," he said again and raised his chocolate covered hands before any could ask anything, "I am like Hiro and Rei." He said smiling innocently. "Much younger, lots and lots of decades younger than either, but I am like them nonetheless."

"You don't seem like a sadistic, insane brat with a desire to hate us." Kira said slowly.

He blinked cutely before popping another cookie into his mouth. He sucked on his fingers for a moment and beamed at the blonde as if he was the nicest person the brunette has ever met. "No. Probably not, but if I was as old as they were I'd have probably been the same." He said and tilted his head to the side. "No I'm lucky; I'll probably die in a couple of days."

Rukia's eyes widened. "Why, why would you be happy about that?" she asked aghast. How could anyone be happy to die?

He blinked and frowned slightly. "Weren't you listening?" he asked softly. "An Other, comes into existence because of an unresolved issue. Something that torments and hurts and tears at the person that has the issue, most often an Other is created from fear, loneliness, worthlessness or feeling pathetic." He explained calmly.

"You keep saying Other, like it means something." Hisagi fukutaichou said slowly. "What exactly is an Other?"

Omae looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling. "Imagine it like this. When you close your eyes in day light, you can still see some light through your eyelids, right?" they nodded. "And when you close your eyes during the night with no lights turned on, you can't even pretend to see the motion of your hand going up and down in front of your eyes, which you'd have seen during the day, right?" again they nodded. "That is the difference between a Shinigami and an Other. Essentially we are the exact same being, but an Other, is second version of a shinigami. Shinigami would represent the light, while the Other would represent the darkness." He held up his hand before anyone could ask more questions. "We are everything our creator is not. If our creator is weak, we are strong. If our creator is strong, but doubt their powers, we are confident. The differences are there, but things like relationship, certain emotions, certain actions are the same as our creators. In the beginning we are exactly like our creators. You can almost say we're an alter personality."

"You said they're created from unresolved issues. And that you're lucky, that you'll die, how's that?" Ichigo asked.

He grinned. "Once a creator's issue is resolved, we disappear. We die. It is what any Other normally wants." He leaned forward. "My creator will probably finish resolving her issue in another day or so." He explained. "When a creator starts resolving their issues we become weaker and eventually we die."

"Normally?" the boy tilted his head at Hitsugaya's question, as if considering it.

"Normally. However, given time to grow, to simmer on the negative thoughts of a creator, an Other can grow so strong that no matter how fast you resolve the issue, they won't die. You'll have to kill them." Rukia's heart lurked. "Normally because Hiro and Rei are obviously the exception. From what I've figured out they want to destroy their creators and take their place.

"Then how do we discover who their creators are?" Hitsugaya asked crossing his arms.

Omae rolled his eyes and huffed. "You're being dumb, Shiro-chan." He whined. "Of all the questions you can ask, you ask the easiest one!" he whined. Rukia couldn't help but think how much Hinamori this guy was.

"Hinamori," Matsumoto said slowly, as if having read Rukia's thought. "Hinamori's your creator."

For a moment Omae seemed confused, unsure how the topic came up. He grinned innocently nonetheless and nodded his head. "That's true. Hinamori-chan is dealing with what created me, so I'll be going soon." He said simply. "But back to the questions at hand. Shiro-chan is Hiro's creator and Rukia-chan is Rei's creator." He said simply.

"So how do we…how do we figure out what created them?" Rukia asked slowly.

Omae smiled. "You think of the time where you felt most worthless, most pathetic, most unwanted, most lonely and you'll know. But even if you do, you won't be able to just resolve it and they'd be gone. They're too old."

"From where on does it become too old?" Hitsugaya asked slowly.

Omae studied him silently for a moment, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to answer it. "Well," he murmured softly, "the limit in which a person is normally given to resolve their issue is ten years." He sighed softly. "But Hiro and Rei had years to simmer with every insecurity or fear you've ever had. And combine that with Rei's utter loyalty to Hiro and his ability to command forces so well that they'd wet their pants on his command, you have a bit of a problem."

Rukia sighed softly and ignored the rest of the conversation. She stared at the ground beneath her and wondered momentarily when she could've possibly created Rei. She had always had friends surrounding her, when her and Renji's three friends died, she had accepted it as a part of life. She had lived with it. And when Renji was placed in the advance class and she wasn't, she had accepted it, she was proud of him. Happy for him.

Her eyes widened.

She had been at her unhappiest right after she had been adopted into the Kuchiki clan. She had felt worthless and pathetic and lonely. She had felt like she was seen as less than a person by the Kuchiki clan. As if she wasn't good enough for their ranks even though they had gone to her, she hadn't asked to be adopted into the clan. And she had missed Renji. He had been beneath her standards because of her new position as the Kuchiki princess. She had not been allowed to associate with him, she had graduated early and had left him behind. She hadn't talked to him in well over sixty years after her adoption until the point where she had met Ichigo.

"I've met her before." She suddenly whispered. "Right after I was adopted into the Kuchiki clan, about four weeks after my adoption."

She remembered the little girl now. She had been staring up and Rukia with the prettiest blue eyes and the biggest smile and the sweetest little pins in her hair that Rukia had wanted to hold her and hug her, but Byakuya-niisama had glanced at the girl with a reproachful look and she had walked by as if she's didn't even see the girl.

Omae stared at her with curiosity. "That's rare. No Other would approach their creator for any reason, normally."

"She looked about four years old." Rukia continued to whisper.

Omae seemed to sport a looking of realization. "That could be why. Most Others are created at a reasonable age. It's rare that we're created younger than twenty human years." He nodded towards Hinamori. "I wanted to visit her, tell her that I didn't mind being here and that I would wait until she figured it out, but Rei isn't going to do that with you. She will fight you and she will try to kill you and if you survive, I will be happy."

"If? Of course Rukia'll survive, no little kid created from her…" Ichigo trailed off when Omae looked at him.

"That little kid," he said slowly, "is my best friend." He smiled faintly. "She found me. She kept me alive when I figured I was going to go insane from everything that was running through my head and wasn't even mine to be afraid of, to hate to feel like shit for." He shook his head. "But Hiro's ideals weren't mine. And Rei chose him, not me."

"Why would Rei-chan choose someone who is plotting murder?" Hinamori asked confused. She winced as she moved the arm with the broken shoulder around.

Omae laughed softly. "Because I'm eighty years too late to try and stop her from Hiro's ideals. He's older than her. Did you know? He's been around almost four decades longer than her." He looks of sadly in a direction. "And besides, he's stronger. She's always been attracted to strong things and he was around first too. Can't fight what was around long before you were even created."

"How old are you?" Kira asked softly.

"Six," he answered. "I was created a little before Aizen's betrayal." He spat the name with pure, uncontrolled hatred. "She found me wandering in Zaraki. How I ended up there is beyond me. Rei had looked at me, giggled and shoved her fist through a guy looking for trouble. Then she promptly told me I'm the weakest thing she's ever come across that I would be the absolutely most adorable pet she's ever had. And Hiro taichou would not be able to say no after she made him say yes, over and over and over again. Her direct words."

Rukia blinked. "Over and over? I don't understand."

Omae smiled. "Well I pretty much got the gist of it when she shoved him against the nearest wall and kissed him in a way that would make any man wish they were him." He shook his head. "At that time she was already way older than me. I was the kid she could take care of. Hiro never needed taking care of."

"When'd you leave?" Hitsugaya asked slowly.

"Right after I figured out exactly what Hiro was planning. Round the same time Shiro-chan and everyone went to the Living world…"

"Would you stop with the Shiro-chan?" Hitsugaya snapped.

Omae blinked momentarily, he grinned. "No. Anyway, Hiro and Rei were mighty pissed off that Rukia-chan went after the Inoue girl."

"Tell us more about them," Unohana taichou said suddenly.

Omae shrugged. "Hiro loves Rei. Remember that. He will step in and he will hurt anyone that hurts Rei. He loves her more than anything in the whole world. And Rei loves him right back." He tilted his head up towards the ceiling.

"And no matter how easy you might think it is to kill an Other, it's not."