Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach, but I get to own Hatomi, Kidanji, and....wait, that's it!? T.T I need to make more OCs so I can make them do whatever I want!

Pre-Chapter A/N: Here is my longest chapter to date! Over 7.5K woooo...just a random fact, it took me FOREVER to write this chapter, not because of it's length, but the difficulty of finding the right words. Could I be coming down with the contagious 'Writer's Block' Syndrome?! Noooo! Never =).

Let's Recap: Hatomi sealed the Senzaikyu, talked with her grandfather, met the eavesdropping Byakuya, went to his home and left after calling him a stalking bastard. =) Caught up yet? Lets get going to chapter 7 then!

Chapter 7_

Seireitei was chaotic when she left the sixth division taicho's home. There were shinigamis running in every possible direction and orders were being given out non-stop. 'Had they gotten into Seireitei already?' she wondered about Rukia's human friends. As a male ran passed her she grabbed onto his arm quickly, causing him to stop.

"Hey, what's going on?" when she asked this he gave her a look that said he was worried about her intelligence level.

"Are you serious?? The ryokas got into Seireitei. There are direct orders to capture them immediately. Sheesh, are you even a shinigami, how can you not know this?" His look changed to one of suspicion.

"Ah…heh heh…gomen I'm new, so people don't tell me a lot of things. But arigato-gozaimasu!" she faked her best 'I'm a nice girl' voice. It seemed like he brought it because he gave her a nod and with instructions to go back to receive orders, which she thanked him again for. Once he was gone, Hatomi continued her trek towards her organization's buildings, careful to step out of the way for rampaging groups of shinigamis running amuck.

"So they did get in…not sure if that's a good or bad thing." She muttered to herself, still feeling the aftermath of her anger towards a certain raven haired egotistical captain. Kuchiki Byakuya was by far the most irritating, hard headed, single minded, exasperating man she'd ever had the displeasure to meet. Why all the woman in Soul Society privately, and quite openly sometimes, longed to be in his presence and talk to him was beyond her. Sure he was the perfect image of a god personified, but boy, when he opens his noble mouth, what a big disappointment that is. After four disastrous encounters with him, Hatomi was pretty sure that she'd fill her 'Meet the Handsome Kuchiki Byakuya' quota for the rest of her life.

"Talking to your imaginary friend again? Is she giving you tips on your love life?" an amused voice said from in front of her. Looking up, green eyes saw familiar shaggy brown hair. Apparently she'd arrive and did not notice it, because her lieutenant was standing outside the building gates. When his words registered, she frowned at Kidanji.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were talking out loud Hatomi-sama, something about a 6th division captain being handsome?" there was so much mirth in his voice that the woman in question did not know whether to kill him or hide from embarrassment.

"I..I was-…okay! So I did say he was handsome, but who wouldn't? Besides, if you listened to the context, you would see that I did not mean it in a good way either," his female leader defended herself. He only nodded in mock understanding, while the look in his eyes told her that he did not believe her at all.

"Well, I'm glad you're not having guy troubles, that way you can concentrate on how to deal with this." Kidanji handed her a letter with the seal of the Central 46 Chambers on it. The two shinigami exchanged knowing looks as she took it from his grasp.

"Is this…?"

"Hai. It's a direct order." He replied.

"Lets talk about this inside my office, there's a lot of things I need your advice on, my little lieutenant." Without even looking at the letter, she patted his shoulder while walking past him into the building. The taller male followed behind her with a frown on his face for being called such a diminutive term. Inside her spacious office, Hatomi flopped down stomach first on the wooden couch while Kidanji lounged on the opposite seat.

"What can I help you with this time?" green eyes flashed towards him when his tone indicated that she always needed his advice; which is true, but he didn't have to sound so smug about it!

"What should I do…?"

"You should do what you should do." He answered smartly, but she was in no mood for his witty tongue.

"Yamanashi Kidanji, you are testing my patience…" she warned but he was unfazed.

"I'm not exactly sure what you are asking me Hatomi-sama, which is why my answer was vague."

"Should I follow their orders?? By doing so, I would be playing a big hand in killing Rukia, which you know I don't want to do. If I just refuse then-"

"You would be punished, which I don't think you want either." Her faithful friend answered before she could finish. He was right of course. To blatantly go against the orders of the law enforcers of Soul Society would be suicidal. But…

"Kidanji, you know me better than I know myself. In the end, what do you predict I would do?" turning onto her back, she spared him a serious look before facing the ceiling, her greens eyes clouded with indecision.

"You put too much faith in my ability to predict your actions. You've always been more spontaneous than predictable." He reasoned while crossing his arms.

"Perhaps, but just take a guess."

"Then I suppose I would expect you to…go through with the order." She wanted to tell him no, tell him that he was wrong, but Hatomi couldn't find the courage to. Because she knew that he was right, in some cruel twisted way. Rukia has become a friend, but to discard everything she has worked so hard to achieve for a slim chance that Rukia might survive…a saint would have trouble deciding, much less her.

"But…" he continued, which surprised the laying female, "that doesn't mean you will sit back and let things get that far. If I know you as well as you claim, then you already have some plans concocted in your head to help the ryokas save Kuchiki Rukia." Actually, she didn't have any plans, but he didn't need to know that. 'That's right! I don't have to directly stop the execution…if I just give them a small push in the right direction, maybe they will succeed, and I won't have to do anything.' Her mood was lifted by the new prospect.

"Pretty good Kidanji, I'm impressed by your analytical skills; though it is kind of frightening how well you do know me. Have you been reading my diary again?" In much better spirit, she was ready to return to their comfortable interactions.

"No, sadly. You stopped updating about 3 months ago, hence diminishing my daily bout of entertainment." Shocked by his answer, the blue haired woman sat upright and pointed an accusing finger at her 'little brother'. She was just kidding about him reading it; obviously that was not the case.

"S-so you HAVE been reading it?!"

"Of course, when you leave it lying on your desk with the words 'DO NOT OPEN' on the front like that, it was just begging to be read. I think it was calling out to me personally." He graced her with a small satisfied smirk. Horrified, she leaped over the couch in a flurry of black robes and ran to her office desk. Pulling out the last drawer, Hatomi plucked her precious journal out and quickly scanned its contents for anything that he might've read that she did not want him to. When she reached a specific page, her worried face turned instantly into a full blown smirk.

"Sooo, if you read everything, then you probably read the page which explained in detail about that one day where you got drunk and almost molested all the girls in the building." It was comical to see Kidanji's normally bored face light up in redness. It was almost as funny as seeing him drunk that day; almost, but not quite there, since that day topped the charts.

"You shouldn't lie in your diary. I would never do something degrading like that." He sounded so eerily similar to the noble captain, who was currently on her hit list, that Hatomi scoffed out loud. 'Deenniiaalll.' She wanted to taunt but decided not to.

"Uh huh…you just keep telling yourself that dear. Didn't you ever wonder why all the females kept avoiding you the two weeks following that night? You didn't buy my excuse that you smelled bad, did you?" He must be asking the gods why he was graced with such a cruel leader, because his face turned skyward with a frown.

"No I did not buy your lame excuse. I…I had a feeling something was wrong, though my guesses weren't even close to the things you wrote down. Did I really kiss Fukui Ayano all over her face like that?" His redness had died down, but there was still a fairly visible blush on his young face. Feeling sorry for her otouto, she gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better Kidanji, it seemed like she enjoyed it. A lot." Her supposed-to-be helpful statement was ruined when she burst out in merry laughter. The victimized young man only glared at her uncharacteristically.

"No, it does not make me feel better, Hatomi-sama."

"Oh Kidanji, you should be happy that girls like you kissing them. If they didn't, then you'd have a problem. Anyways, don't be so stiff and boring all the time! Keep it up and you might turn into a certain Kuchiki I know."

"You mention him a lot you know. Is there something that you are not telling me?" Never one to miss an opportunity to turn the table on his cruel female leader, he jumped at the chance instantly. As the male expected, her sharp emerald eyes were summoning daggers to his forehead and her teasing manner disappeared.

"Not in the sense that you are talking about, baka. He's impossible, you know that? Today I was called to seal the Senzaikyu," his face turned serious, since he too knew its implications, "and afterwards when I saw him, actually he was waiting for me outside ojii-sama's office like a stalker, I told him what would be her new fate. And guess what he said Kidanji, give it your best shot." She waved her hand vaguely in the air while pacing around.

"Nothing…?" he ventured a guess, amused by her ranting.

"Worst! If he said or did nothing, that might've meant he was too affected to say anything. But he said 'Souka'." The last word was spoken in a tone that was supposed to imitate the stoic tenor of Kuchiki Byakuya, but it sounded too exaggerated so it came across as comical instead. Since he knew it would not be smart to smile right now, Kidanji stopped the uplifting of his mouth.

"Souka." He supplied blandly instead.

"There! Like that!" Whirling around she pointed her index finger at him again. "You sound exactly like him, I don't like that." Hatomi frowned.

"I highly doubt that I sound anything like Kuchiki Byakuya. You just have him on your mind a lot, so now everything reminds you of him."

"No, don't even imply what I think you are implying. He's evil! I hear he kicks puppies…!" she whispered conspiratorially while Kidanji rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of Kuchikis, don't you have a certain prisoner you have to help save?" he gave a general glace in the direction of the Senzaikyu. Hatomi slapped her hand to her forehead for forgetting about the more important things.

"You're right, you're right. I don't have time to talk about a stupid man who has a stick-up-his-behind. Now, if you will so kindly handle things around here, I think I have some ryokas to capture."

"You are gone so often nowadays, leaving me to do all the work. Maybe I can ask to be promoted to your position instead Hatomi-sama." He said jokingly.

"You go try that Kidanji, and tell me how that goes. In the meantime, round up the people necessary for the releasing of the Sokyoku in case things fail and I have to follow orders. I want only 8th level team leaders and above on the force; any lower and they might die from over exhaustion." It was back to the 'firm leader' mode, he realized. Sometimes he wanted to ask Hatomi-sama if she has a multiple personality disorder, but then common sense would kick in and his survival instincts prevailed over curiosity, so he never did.

"Hai. Are you taking Asami with you today?" At his question, she looked across the room and emerald eyes landed on the dark blue zanpakuto resting upon a stand on the wall.

"Iie. Let her rest, I probably won't use her until the day of the execution so that she will be in top condition."

"Souka. Well then, good luck. There is no chance that I will have to visit you in a jail cell because you were caught helping the intruders, will there?" His superior narrowed her forest green eyes at him.

"What do you take me for, a rookie? Do you know how many concealing spells I know?"

"Hai, hai. You should go now, before the rookies find you and ask for advice or something. They've been asking about your absence a lot." He reported.

"Tell them I won't be available soon, but I will try. See you later then Kidanji." With that said, she swept out of the room.

-- - --- ---- ----- --- ---------- ---

"Ano, Inoue-san…you've looked down the same directions 10 times now…I think it is safe to go that way." A young male pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose by force of habit. The girl in question was still peering slowly around the wall she'd plastered her back against to see down the road.

"Iie Ishida-kun! You can never be too safe." Orihime reprimanded him with a wag of her finger. The quincy who was standing besides her wanted to bang his head on the wall.

"Demo, if we keep staying here, we'll get caught…!" Uryuu whispered not so quietly while darting his head and eyes around to look out for their captors. His female companion had a look of deep contemplation oh her face until she nodded her head thoughtfully.

"You are right, let's go now!" Stepping bravely from the protection of the wall, Inoue Orihime entered the wide open road of Seireitei and smiled brightly to her friend. "There's no one here, you can come out too Ishida-kun!!!" she screamed loudly while he had a look of disbelief.

"Er….Inoue-san….that was a bit loud, what if someone hear-, AH! Behind you!" Apparently her exclamation had effectively revealed their location for all of Soul Society, because there was a huge swarm of black figures racing towards them from three directions.

"Run, run, run!!" Together they raced down the only direction that didn't have people coming at them.

"Gomenasai Ishida-kun! I should've waited a bit longer before going out like that!" The orange haired girl apologized sincerely. 'But that wasn't the reason why we were discovered!' Uryuu wanted to tell her, but decided not to.

"They are catching up to us! We have to stay and fight!" he replied instead. Orihime nodded and waited for his command to stop running. Deciding that it would be better to fight in an intersection since it has more mobility room, he motioned for them to run a bit further until one appeared. When one did, the pair stopped and stood bravely to face their attackers, who were advancing quickly from their behind.

"This is it Inoue-san. Our journey might end here." The remaining quincy told her gravely.

"Iie… we're not done yet until we save Kuchiki-san, we won't lose here Ishida-kun." Orihime answered in an unusual bout of confidence and coherency. As if her faith has given him all the reassurance he needed, his doubt faded and the familiar feeling of anticipation for a fight returned. The army of shinigamis was approaching steadily, some battle cries could be heard from them, but it did not waver the two human's resolve.

"Here they come…on a count of three, we will both attack. One…two…thr-AAHH"

"Whoaa!!" Everything happened so fast to both of them. One minute they were standing in the middle of the two intersecting roads, then the next both felt a strong pull on their shirt-backs and the feeling of being dragged to the side. As the jumbling movements stopped, both turned simultaneously to face their aggressor, and met blue hair and sharp emerald eyes.

"What are you-"

"Urusai!" the woman commanded so sternly that Orihime and Ishida felt like children being reprimanded so they immediately shut up and stood rigid in her grasp. As the bespectacled boy took in his surroundings, Ishida realized that they had not moved much at all, instead the trio was just plastered against a side wall, feet away from his and Orihime's earlier position. The horde of 'ryokas seeking' deathgods stopped right in the intersection and looked around confusingly.

"Oy!! Where'd they go?!"

"They were just standing right here!" similar comments rang out among the group, and this surprised the two humans, since they were standing right next to some of them! 'Why can't they see us? Did this woman do something?' the quincy marveled. Since their targets were no where to be found, the large group dispersed in different paths to continue their search, leaving behind the three unseen figures. Deeming that it was safe to talk, their rescuer turned and gave them both reproaching looks.

"Are you both idiots??" to add to her statement, she gave them two good knocks on the forehead.

"Itai!" Orihime touched her assaulted head and pouted with teary eyes while Ishida grumbled some incoherent curses.

"Humans, really, think they can do anything. Doesn't even realize that they were about to face an army of ARMED shinigamis. Bakamono." With less painful foreheads, the two highschool students gave her curious looks as the female shinigami ranted to no one in particular.

"Ano…excuse me…shinigami-san…" Feeling oddly brave, though a bit fearful of the strange woman, Orihime stepped closer to her and attempted to tap on the muttering female's shoulder. Before her fingers made contact though, her offending limbs were captured by a firm hand, causing the girl to yelp in surprise.

"Didn't you learn any manners in the real world? When a woman is ranting, don't interrupt." The only male present wanted to clarify how that is not really etiquette but his senses told him not to anger this older stranger any more.

"H-hai…" Orihime replied, glad to have her hand back.

"Alright, I think it's safe now." With a wave of her slim hand, Ishida felt the air fuzz a bit till it returned to normal. Realization dawned on him.

"That was a kidou spell, used for concealment, right?" His lineage implied that he was well verse in the area of spirit particles and the manipulation of it. Now it made sense to him why their captors had not seen them.

"Right. Very impressive, I'm surprised you noticed the change at all. Not bad for a quincy." Ishida would have been surprised that she knew his ancestry if he'd not notice his own garb. 'I am literally a walking QUINCY sign.' He realized grimly.

"Arigato-gozaimasu, for saving us, shinigami-san!" Finally feeling more at ease around the foreboding stranger, Orihime decided to show her gratitude enthusiastically. The quincy only nodded in accord, still not fond of shinigamis in general.

"Don't mention it, Orihime, right? And you must be Ishida." Shocked that she knew their identities, the two friends gave each other confused looks.

"Hai…demo…how do you know our names?" he questioned suspiciously. Before the woman could answer though, his friend spoke up instead.

"Ah! I know! You must be an oracle, like a shinigami one that can see the future and knows everything. But…don't oracles usually dress in kimonos and glow with a white aura? You glow…sorta…but I think that's just the sun light behind you…" The presumed 'oracle' gave her a look that was reserved for those with the mental capacity of an elephant. Shaking her head to rid of some disturbing thoughts, the woman turned back to Ishida.

"Okay…? You guys are a bit…odd…but who am I to talk right? Anyways, to answer your question, I've heard a lot about you guys, from a certain inmate that I'm guessing you're trying to save? Unless…you two got bored and decided to invade Soul Society for the heck of it, then I just might have to kill ya." She narrowed her eyes at them.

"No, no not at all! We're here for Kuchiki-san!!" they both exclaimed while shaking their heads frantically.

"Good, then we are on the same page and side. Come, this isn't a safe place to linger, I'll explain who I am on the way." Motioning for them to follow, she led them down another path, and the two scurried after her, glad to have found an ally in this dangerous world. Down several walkways they stealthily moved, hiding behind walls and darting left and right, though it was a bit unnecessary since there was not even a soul present (literally). Their guide had them move that way out of pure amusement, to his greatest chagrin, Ishida discovered. Soon, the three reached what seemed to be an abandoned weapon shed and the odd female threw the teens in before going in herself and shutting the door. Orihime and Ishida were both sprawled on the ground from her rough handling and were righting themselves when they heard an evil chuckle.

"Now I've got you right where I wanted…MUAHHAHA!!" came the voice of their 'rescuer'. Horrified, the pair twisted their heads and was greeted with the site of her advancing towards them with a devilish smile and hands rubbing together in the iconic image of I've-gotcha. 'Oh no. I was wrong, she's not an oracle, she's a witch! We're going to be cooked in a big pot and boiled alive!' Orihime cried inwardly.

"No! Please don't eat us! Kurosaki-kun has much more meat, so does Sado-kun!!!" Uryuu, who was coming up with a battle plan, was stunned that such words were coming from his companion.

"Inoue-san! You can't offer Sado-kun to her like that! Kurosaki, yes, but not Sado-kun." He reprimanded.

"You are right Ishida-kun, Sado-kun's skin wouldn't be too tasty anyways. It is very thick and chewy." The evil being in front of them had a small eyebrow tick at being ignored so easily. 'God, these people are more insane than I am.' She thought.

"Oy, oy. Did your parents drop the both of you on your heads at birth? There is something really wrong with you humans!" the room's third occupant yelled. Her rescuee's attention turned back to her.

"Us?! You're the one who wants to eat us!" the young girl argued, and received a bewildered look from the 'oracle-turned-witch' woman.

"Who said anything about eating you?? I was just…trying to be theatrical, geez you guys totally missed the drama cues." She waved her hand dismissively in the air while Ishida sweatdropped. 'I'm in a room with two crazy females…there goes my sanity out the window…'

"Ano...if you're not planning on eating us, then why are we in here shinigami-san." Orihime asked while looking around the dark room.

"You can call me Hatomi. And we are in here because…you can't be out there." She pointed outside and the two nodded at her simple statement.

"I'm a friend of Rukia here in Seireitei and was asked by her to find you guys. In her own words, she said 'Go home and forget about me, or else you'll be killed along with me!'" Her imitation of Rukia's voice was almost as terrible as her attempt of Byakuya's. When the two on the ground showed signs of protesting, Hatomi held up a silencing finger and continued. "But, I understand how that might be against your desires. Rukia herself is not aware of how bad her situation is, and I have no intention of letting her die."

"Where is Kuchiki-san?" the boy questioned.

"She's being held in a placed called Senzaikyu. You can not miss it. It's the tallest tower in all of Soul Society, in the center of Seireitei. I would take you there, but I can't." she explained.

"If you can't take us there, can you help us find our friends then?" Orihime requested since that was the next best course of action.

"Iie. What I am saying is that I can not accompany you anywhere after we leave this place. But, I can help locate them. How many came here?"

"Five, and a cat." Ishida answered blandly. 'A cat…is it...?' Hatomi thought hopefully to herself.

"You'll have to give me some descriptions of them; it'll help make the search faster." She decided to forgo asking if the cat was a certain someone, since they were running out of time.

"Kurosaki-kun has a lot of reiastu and a huge sword." the orange haired girl supplied.

"Sado-kun is very tall and of Mexican decent."

"Oh and the last person is Ganju-kun, um…he wears a bandana?" It was the only distinct fact that Orihime could remember about the Shiba. Although their descriptions were a bit vague, it would have to do. Similar to the 'Bakudou no Gojuuhachi (58): Summoning of Tracking Sparrows' spell, this one narrows in on targets but based on physical characteristics, not spirit pressure. Placing her palm outwards Hatomi called out its spell number and name, "Bakudou no Gojuunana (57): Tracking Mirror", once this was done, a bright light was emitted and a clear mirror manifested in the center. As if they were watching a movie about Soul Society, scenes flashed by in the mirror; a group of shinigami arguing about which way to go, a big captain with funky hair facing a dead-end with a pink haired girl on his back, another captain with a pink kimono and straw hat lying in a dark room, a bald guy with a very shiny head ("goodness that's blinding"-Hatomi) fighting some kid with orange hair, two girls gossip- ("wait wait, rewind a bit Hatomi-san!"). Sure enough, one scene back revealed Ichigo Kurosaki himself, beating up on the shiny-head shinigami.

"It's Kurosaki-kun!!" Orihime exclaimed. "He's hurt!"

"Oh? This is the infamous Ichigo? Not too bad looking is he?" Hatomi surmised with a hand on her chin.

"Where is his location? Can you tell Hatomi-san?" the quincy asked since they were not familiar with the surroundings. The woman in question regarded the mirror a bit more, and with a finger movement, she was able to shift the images to the left, right, up, and down.

"Hm…It seems like this is around…" she paused, "…I have no clue." Inoue and Ishida fell over on their backs theatrically.

"What kind of person uses a tracking spell without knowing how to find the location?!" the glasses boy asked bewilderingly. Hatomi gave them a sheepish smile.

"Eheh…you see, I'm not that familiar with the buildings in Seireitei, since they belong to mostly the Gotei 13, and I'm not part of that. But…AH-HAH! I can tell that it is near the 11th division!"

"How can you tell?"

"Um…there's an insignia with the number 11 on it right there," she pointed to the screen where the number eleven was in clear print on the wall buildings. "That must mean Ichigo is somewhere west." She concluded. In actuality, this was just a prediction, based on the fact that Ukitake Jushiro's division is on the west and since 11 is only two numbers away from 13, they had to be near each other right?

"So Kurosaki is west, what about Sado-kun and Ganju-san?" Facing the mirror again, the three kept a close lookout for the remaining two. More scenes flickered across their sites, until finally they located Sado and the Shiba man.

"Your big friend is running constantly right now, it'll be hard to find him. But it looks like he is heading towards the center of Seireitei. Maybe he figured out that this is where Rukia is being held." The older female explained to them while pointing at the Senzaikyu. "And for the other man, he's also in the 11th division district, so I suspect that is where you are heading next?" They both nodded.

"Arigato-gozaimasu, Hatomi-san! We never would've found them without you." Since she was feeling extremely grateful, Orihime gave the blue-haired woman a generous hug. 'Wow, for a weird girl, she sure can hug...'

"Alright alright," Hatomi pried the younger girl off her, "this is where we part I guess. Sorry to say that I can not help you anymore than this, but I am in a sticky situation with this whole thing already. The next time we meet, it might not seem like I am on your side, so do not give away the fact that we met today. Got it?"

"Hai." The pair nodded and answered simultaneously.

"Before you go out there though, let me give you something to help you maneuver around. Stay here, and no matter what you hear, do not open the door okay?" Without waiting for their responses, she turned and left the shed in a flash.

"What does she mean, 'no matter what you hear', Ishida-kun??" Orihime scratched her head in confusion because of their rescuer's odd choice of words. Ishida just shrugged unknowingly. Seconds later they were graced with the answer when a loud crash resounded on the door of the shed, causing the room's occupants to jump slightly from the noise.

"Oy! Lady what are you doing?!" a distressed male's voice cried out.

"Take off your clothes, you too." Both the humans recognized their friend's voice, and it seemed like she was addressing two males, not just one. 'What is she doing?!' Ishida wondered, blushing a bit by her comment.

"Take off our clothes?! Are you crazy!" indeed another voice rang out.

"Yes I am, and don't be shy, no one can see you or hear you, I have a barrier up. If you two do not hurry up, I will remove them myself. So what will it be?" The female threatened them. There was silence before Inoue and Uryuu heard a few pained whimpers, now both had shocked expressions on their faces.

"See, that wasn't so bad was it? Thanks!" finally the last sound they heard was two soft thumps hitting the floor. Moments later a smiling Hatomi stuck her head in the door and threw them two pairs of shinigami outfits.

"Wear these on and you should be able to walk around freely. Take anything else in here that you might need and if someone stops you and ask what division you are in, say 'Gotei Juusan-bantai under Ukitaki-taicho'. Got it?" Picking up the outfits tentatively, the two nodded.

"Ano…Hatomi-san…what happened to the two men?" poor Orihime and her kind heart wanted to make sure that they were fine after being harassed by the strange female.

"Oh them," the green-eyed woman waved a dismissive hand "I'll take care of them. Don't worry Orihime-chan, I won't molest them." The girl's face turned pink from the older female's teasing tone. "Well then. Good luck guys, I'm counting on you to rescue Rukia…since I can not do it myself. We will meet again, I am sure of it." With that said, she left them alone in the dark shelter.

"I liked her, did you Ishida-kun?" a happy smile graced Inoue's pretty face.

"Ah…hai…" When the quincy decided to embark on this mission to save Kuchiki Rukia, he did not plan to meet any other shinigami that he would befriend, how wrong he was.

------ -- --- ---- -------- ---

It was days like these that makes being a captain extremely vexing for Kuchiki Byakuya, who was in the process of filling out forms after forms of approval for his squad to take necessary actions against the ryoka's intrusion. His sour mood did not improve the situation much either. What he would rather do is take Senbonzakura and release its fury on a certain someone of the female persuasion. Thanks to her kind departing words from his manor, the staff at his household has been entertaining themselves with the latest bout of gossip. The woman had accused him of stalking her, and as if her word was the law, Byakuya had received many reprimanding looks from the older female servants and mirthful glances from the younger ones. No one had dared to voice their opinions of course, but looks had been enough to rile their lord's nerves. The esteemed captain had briefly considered explaining himself, but he decided that they were just staff members, so their opinion of him hardly matters. It is really too bad that Byakuya was clueless as to how far word of mouth can travel, or else he would've thought twice about not rectifying the rumors. Now it was too late, because someone important was already here to interrogate him about the news.

Two solid knocks interrupted the 6th division captain from his form signing.

"What is it?" he voiced irritably. The person outside did not answer as Byakuya would have expected from his subordinates; instead they opened the door casually and stepped inside the office.

"You are still as welcoming as ever, Byakuya." Spoke an aged voice. At the familiar sound of his name being called, the captain looked up and saw the office's former occupant.

"Jii-sama, to what do I owe this visit?" the grandson stood up and bowed deeply to his elder.

"Since when do I need a reason to visit my grandson and old office?" Kuchiki Ginrei took a seat at the captain's desk and made himself comfortable. Even in his old age, his presence was still as commanding as before, and Byakuya admired him greatly for his accomplishments. The 60 years since he relinquished both his titles to his predecessor had been kind to him. The stress lines that were mixed with wrinkles from years before are no longer present, gracing the elder Kuchiki with a soft grandfatherly look. Now, instead of his shinigami garb, he wore traditional clan clothing with a large haori adorned with the family symbol.

"Never, of course. I just find it unusually for you to seek me out at the division. Is something the matter though?" Byakuya took a moment to step outside his office and request some tea to be sent in for his grandfather.

"There is no problem Byakuya, just something I wanted to confirm with you. The Kuchiki House was quite noisy this late afternoon, even from my isolated wing I could hear the helpers chattering about something." Ginrei confessed. The narrowing of his offspring's gray eyes and the way Byakuya's tall form tensed up immediately was all the confirmation needed.

"I assure you jii-sama, that whatever gossip they have concocted since my departure from the manor is solely based on their overactive imaginations." The tea arrived, and was habitually served by the younger of the two.

"Oh? So you know about the rumors then?"

"Iie. I have not heard any specific ones, but I'm sure many are circulating." He answered blandly, as if the whole thing did not matter to him. Like his grandfather, Byakuya's demeanor was calm and collected, and no emotions was present in his intense eyes.

"Some were quite convincing, and paired with what I heard while coming here, I am inclined to believe them." Byakuya's grandfather's voice took on an uncharacteristically amused tone which of course caused him to be on alert mode.

"Perhaps you can explain that...?" he asked carefully.

"One in particular claims that you have interest in courting this mysterious blue-haired woman but she is most unwilling." Byakuya slightly choked on his tea at the outrageousness. "Which then prompted you to result to…stalking, yes that was the word they used, stalking the poor woman until she could take it no longer. You even forcibly brought her to the manor and when she left, it was obvious that she did not appreciate your company. I, of course, immediately concluded that such a tale is ludicrous because you would never do anything that would tarnish your reputation." Was that a jibe? Byakuya wondered. "So to clear up the matter, I came here to speak with you, only to receive more information from your division members."

"And what exactly did they say?" His tone promised retribution. The elder took a tip of his tea before continuing.

"Many confirmed that less than a week ago you were seen running down the division hallways chasing a woman. Again there were witnesses who verified that she was indeed a blue-haired female shinigami. Amusingly, they all thought you were playing some sort of game with her." This time Byakuya's tea really did go down the wrong pipe. Startled that his grandson was coughing so painfully, the older man reached forward and gave him two firm slaps on the back, right on top of the "6" symbol. "Are you okay Byakuya?"

"Hai…please continue." The captain managed out while trying to regain his composure and scrap up the last of his dignity.

"They were all confused as to why you did not use shunpo if you intended to apprehend her for causing trouble. Since you were running, it was assumed that you were merely joking around."

"I do not joke. They are incompetent if they mistook my fury for enjoyment. That day I did not pursue her to capture her. Instead, I had every intention of shredding her to pieces." Needing a change of setting, Byakuya rose to his full height and walked slowly to the window of his office and stared outside at his private garden. His blunt statement did not convince his grandfather at all.

"Oh? Then why was she still alive to visit the manor today? I do not remember you failing in anything you've set your mind to," his much too wise jii-sama retorted.

"We engaged in battle, but stopped when she began to explain herself to lessen my anger. Today, I brought her to the manor to question her about other issues." He explained vaguely since getting into detail would be too long and complicated. Irritation coursed though Byakuya when he realized that she had slipped into his life long enough to 'complicate' it.

"Souka. Then the rumors are truly just rumors."

"Hai. Is there anything else you would like to talk about grandfather?" Walking back to his desk, he began clearing away the tea set.

"There is actually. The matter with Rukia and the invasion into Seireitei, how are things going?" Even though he no longer had direct ties with the Gotei 13, once a person reaches the stature of a captain, one can never cut off ties with the Court of Pure Souls. Besides, although Rukia is not his true granddaughter, she is still a Kuchiki by name.

"Things are still in chaos. Not one ryoka have been captured, and a report just came in that 3rd seat Madarame Ikkaku of the Gotei Juuichi-bantai has been defeated. As for Rukia, she was transferred to the Senzaikyu today, and her execution will be in 14 days." Byakuya reported to his elder emotionlessly.

"And you are fine with that?"

"Hai. The laws of Soul Society must be carried out." He replied and his grandfather nodded his head grimly.

"Very well then. I will leave you to your duties." When Kuchiki Ginrei got up to leave, Byakuya walked him to the office door and bowed.

"Please send my regards to the clan council." With that, the former captain left. Back at his desk, Byakuya tried to resume his task of signing forms, but had lost the concentration needed. His mind wandered back to the conversation he just had with his jii-sama and scoffed at how ridiculous the rumors had been. The day that he is interested in courting that evil minx, will be the day he use Senbonzakura on himself, which is never. Pleased with his deduction, he turned his attention back to the next paper. But before any writing could be done, a sudden blast of powerful reiastu in the distance caught his attention. 'Did he find the ryoka already?' the division leader asked himself. Instead of sitting at his desk to wait for the update, Byakuya got up to see to the matter himself.

---- ---- ---------- ---- -----

'What was that??' Hatomi asked herself as she flash stepped over the rooftops of Seireitei. She was on her way to the 13th division when she felt two spirit pressure released.

"Kuso…one of Rukia's friends must be engaging in battle, and from the looks of the reiastu level it is going to be a difficult battle. What should I do?" Meeting Ukitake-taicho will have to wait, she supposed. There was no point in talking to him if Rukia's friends all died in their fights. Reversing her course, Hatomi headed towards the source of the energy outburst, the center of Seireitei.

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A/N: My preemptive attempt to answer all your brewing questions:

1. Not a very exciting chapter, I know, but you need a few of these sometimes. If you didn't like this chapter, I can't blame you. I kind of felt like I got the characters out of sync somehow, but I'm not sure how to fix it. Any advice?

2. This was NOT, and I repeat, NOT an attempt to bash on Orihime. In fact, writing her has given me a new perspective on her, and I really like her now. I just wanted to bring out her wacky side that is actually very comical and cute in the anime.

3. Kuchiki Ginrei was not randomly added, that much is certain. My image of him is similar to that of Yamamoto just less stern. The scene with him and Byakuya disappointed me the most, but I just couldn't get it right. His purpose was to plant a tiny seed of awareness into Byakuya's head (unintentionally of course). Byakuya has been so caught up with killing her, not killing her, chasing her, and etc. that he does not see how out of character he's been acting and how she was getting involved in his life.

4. So much is going on, and I feel like I'm jumping scenes like a grasshopper lol. But I suppose that makes sense seeing how in the Soul Society Arc a million of things are happening all at once.

5. No Hatomi will not be in every scene saving the day, she's not a super hero, but I will be adding her to most scenes where Byakuya is so that they can have more interactions, YAY! No loving yet, in fact, they seem to be getting pretty worked up in violence! Hehe.

6. Estimate of how much longer this arc will carry out? Chapter 8 will definitely still be the same arc, but I might make it extra long so that 9 will start a completely new one. I can't wait, I have lots of plans for that new arc! As of now, Chapter 8 will be in two parts. Why am i splitting it? Um...it just calls for it i guess.

That is all, but this chapter was long so I can see where alot of confusion will occur. There's probably more things wrong with it, so I'm hoping lots of people will review to ask and comment! Especially on this chapter pleaseeee, this is the first time I'll be requesting reviews. =) Thank you again for all the receptions! I'm over 1,000 hits and 800 visitors! Whew…I love you guys!

xxxRainDropsxxx

P.S. Hop on over to my new One-Shot if you are an ItachixSaku fan, or just a Team Seven fan in general! =) thanks.