It's been a while since my last update, but hey, college calls. In return, I've prepared a somewhat longer chapter for you, and I've introduced someone new. I appreciate your support thus far, and I would like to keep my updates monthly at the least. Realistically you will see an update every month or so, maybe even sooner depending on my workload and whatever inspirations might strike me.

On another note, I've developed character bios for Mathis, Silas, and Kale, and will be creating bios for all original characters as well as my interpretations of the Bleach Universe characters. If you'd like to check them out, feel free to visit my profile, where I've listed them.

I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, and, as always, all constructive criticism is welcome. You guys have been very generous in your reviews thus far, and I very much appreciate your feedback. I will do my best to live up to your expectations!

Mood Music: Romance for Journey - Daishi Dance (Beginning and End)

Fade to Black A06 - Sagisu Shirou (Middle)


Chapter 9

Ichigo blew on his own cup of hot chocolate and grasped it tightly in his glove-encased hands for warmth. Rukia was now drinking her fifth cup, due to there being no such drink in Soul Society.

"I'll never have enough of it," she replied when Ichigo asked her if she was planning on stopping after her third cup.

The two were taking a stroll through the half-deserted Karakura, talking about matters that ranged from serious to downright ridiculous. At one point they were discussing the fate of humanity and Soul Society, and a minute two later Ichigo found himself arguing over bunnies being adorable with Rukia (again).

Times like this made both of them wish for peace. They'd both made it clear that pleasant conversations with close friends were always the best. It was hard to ever top something like that. Neither had many friends to do it with, but that made it all the more special. With the rise of the so-called 'Legions,' Rukia had pointed out that they would probably have little to no time to do anything aside from fight, let alone have long, redundant talks about the cuteness of anything that remotely resembled Chappy.

This back-and-forth conversation continued and would have gone for several minutes had not a girl that very strongly resembled Yuzu ran past the pair. Ichigo immediately turned his head and yelled, "Don't run so fast, you'll trip!"

The girl skidded to a halt in the snow and turned to shout back, "Sorry! I'm just in a bit of a hurry, you see!" Ichigo then noticed that she was not Yuzu at all, but someone else. He'd assumed that her hair had been wet because of the snow, but in reality it had just been brown. Her blue eyes were as bright as Yuzu's, if not brighter, and she had a cheeky grin on her face. Ichigo blushed at his mistake and replied, "My bad, I thought you were my little sister for a second. I didn't mean to yell at a complete stranger."

She laughed and said, "No, it's fine! It was good advice!"

She turned away to continue walking to wherever she was going but stopped herself. After a moment's thought, she turned back to Ichigo and Rukia and asked, "I don't mean to intrude on your date, but could you—."

Rukia spluttered at the word 'date' and hastily coughed to clear her throat. Ichigo gaped at the brunette, but quickly recovered and said, "We're not dating. We're just friends."

"Y-yeah," Rukia hacked, "just friends."

The girl raised her hands to her mouth and squeaked, "Sorry! I didn't mean to assume or make things awkward or anything!"

"Get to the point," Rukia snapped, half-embarrassed at the use of the word 'date' and half-upset that she'd wasted hot chocolate.

"I was just wondering if either of you knew a Mathis Jericho?"

This time, both Ichigo and Rukia let their jaws hit the ground. This girl? This klutzy, bubbly girl knows Mathis? they both thought to themselves.

But out loud Ichigo replied, "Yeah…What's it to you?"

"I'm his little sister!"


"Passw—oh, it's you. Come, we have much to discuss," Silas said from behind the steel door.

The door swung open and Ichigo began muttering under his breath. "No way in hell…"

Silas raised an eyebrow. "Is something the matter?"

Then the brunette, whom Ichigo and Rukia had found out a few minutes prior was named Sarah Jericho, popped out from behind Ichigo and waved at Silas brightly. "Hi!"

Silas's expression changed immediately to that of recognition, and he graced her with a smile.

"Sarah!" he said warmly, extending his arms to either side of himself, which prompted Sarah to almost leap into his arms, knocking him back a bit. His expression changed to one of minor surprise, before he broke the embrace and met the dumbstruck gazes of both Ichigo and Rukia.

"What?"

Sarah looked innocently at the two of them and then back at Silas.

"She's…really…Mathis's sister…?" Ichigo mumbled.

The girl cocked her head to a side in confusion. Rukia wanted to scream a little. There was no way that this adorable little girl was directly related to Mathis Jericho.

"I do understand your confusion," Silas said. "It seems unlikely that such a sweet child would be related to…erm…Mr. Jericho."

Sarah almost purred like a cat at Silas's compliment. Ichigo was completely flabbergasted. This flirty young girl was actually Mathis's sister? And then a sidethought: I wonder if Yuzu's gonna be like her in a few years. I wouldn't be surprised.

"Is Matty here?" Sarah asked. Ichigo blanched at the pet name.

"He's in a Wasteland base right now with Kale. Let me show you the way," Silas said, motioning for Sarah to follow him. To Ichigo and Rukia he said, "You come along with us too. There is much we have for us to discuss with you."

Ichigo and Rukia knew they should've been able to get over this small fact, but it was just too unbelievable. Sarah and Mathis were perhaps the most dissimilar siblings either of them had ever met. As they followed Silas, Ichigo couldn't help but whisper, "One of them must have been adopted."

As they strode through the underground dome, Rukia marveled at the variety of facilities that were hidden here underground. It was a veritable fortress with an unexpected cover. A perfect base of operations for a covert force such as the Underworld.

More importantly, Rukia noted the wariness in Silas's eyes when he'd made eye contact with her earlier. Though it might have just been his natural gaze playing tricks on her, Rukia was sure that it was connected to the fact that he was deliberately keeping her out of the loop. Silas had not said anything directed towards her; as of yet, the only words he'd spoken to the pair of them had been directed towards Ichigo.

Do they know? Rukia wondered. No, there's no way…But I should tread carefully nonetheless.

They reached the translocation room, which Ichigo had already become acquainted with. Rukia, on the other hand, was alarmed when Silas began speaking to a computer screen that had extended from the ceiling. She heard something about 'translocation' and 'temporary approval', and chanced a guess that Silas was making some kind of exception in the system for her to travel with the others to…wherever the hell this Wasteland was.

Ichigo put his hand on Rukia's shoulder, which elicited a small, inaudible squeak from Rukia, and he said, "It'll be jarring the first time, so brace yourself."


Rukia didn't even have time to process the sensations brought about by the translocation before the sudden, savage barrage of sand scoured her from head to toe. She was vaguely aware of Ichigo moving off to the side, and managed to keep track of him and tag along inside.

Once she'd brushed the sand from her clothes, she looked up to examine the building they were in now. Ichigo had apparently not been in this building before, as he looked equally as curious as she felt.

The interior was gigantic; easily dwarfing the underground dome they'd just left behind, and even that had been a fairly large construction. Most of this building, however, seemed to revolve around open space, as opposed to the dome, which had been very packed and space-efficient. Rukia saw that dojo floorboards covered the entirety of the floors, and noticed with some confusion that the ceiling and walls were covered in mats of some sort as well. By the walls were benches and tables, not unlike those she'd seen in 'gymnasiums' of the Living World.

Before she could continue her observations, however, Silas motioned for them to step aside. Not a moment too soon, Rukia sidestepped, unknowingly dodging Kale, who'd been hurtling towards them at high velocity, clad in some kind of dojo uniform. He landed with a loud smack on the springy floor.

"Ow."

Silas snorted and offered a hand. "Still as harsh as ever, I see."

"No kidding," Kale responded with a whistle, pulling himself up with the proffered hand. He then noticed Sarah and grinned brightly. "What's up, princess?"

Sarah smiled back chipperly and said, "My brother!"

Kale looked confused a moment before her words registered. "Oh shi—."

He leapt up and away from them, narrowly dodging Mathis, who had also come hurtling out of nowhere, also wearing a dojo uniform. His bandaged fist smashed into the floor, and he quickly looked up. He wordlessly looked at Silas, Ichigo, Rukia (at whom his mouth curled slightly), and then did a double take when Sarah jumped into his view. Ichigo and Rukia saw briefly a sliver of surprise in his eye before it returned to its normal, harsh glint. He leapt up and off the wall to continue chasing Kale, choosing not to say anything to Sarah.

"That's no way to greet your little sister…" Ichigo said, almost hopefully.

Sarah smiled and shook her head. "That's alright! He's been like that for a while. Besides, I know he's happy to see me."

Silas locked eyes with a flabbergasted Ichigo and gave a sympathetic shrug. "I know. When 'happy' and 'Mathis' are used in the same sentence I tend to lose my sense of reality as well. But you do get used to it after a while."

Rukia asked, "Where exactly are we?"

Silas looked her over, before replying, "We are currently in Stronghold, one of our major bases in the Wasteland and our central sparring facility."

"Wasteland?"

"Correct." Silas said curtly. He motioned to the door they'd just entered the building through. "Our landing point was in the Wasteland. As you can imagine, it is as harsh an environment as its name suggests."

Ichigo scratched his head and asked, "Is there any reason the pad's located outside?"

"Every time we've tried to build anything that encased the Wasteland-side of a translocator, the building exploded whenever matter was relocated. So the practice of leaving the landing points in the open became standard building procedure."

Ichigo nodded, kind of following what Silas was saying. The strategist turned his gaze on Rukia again, and he asked, "Would it be safe to assume that you are Rukia?"

Rukia swallowed and replied, "Yes. My name is Kuchiki Rukia."

Silas patted Sarah on the shoulder to catch her attention and said, "Go watch your brother spar with Kale. I am sure you will learn a thing or two from their match."

Sarah responded with a cheerful affirmative and ran to the side, where a door led to a viewing balcony several stories up. When Silas saw the door close behind the little girl, he turned and addressed Rukia directly.

"We have not yet been acquainted. I am Silas, Second In Command #1. I've heard a little about you from Mathis and Kale."

Rukia sighed inwardly. If he heard about me from Mathis, chances are this guy's gonna hate me too.

"Kale is not always the greatest judge of character, but his instinct has very rarely been incorrect. Last night, he surmised that something happened in your Soul Society that you may not be willing to share. Perhaps when you shared the information we gave you with your superiors, you were issued orders that may not strictly be to our benefit. So I advise you to avoid lying to us if you are unwilling or unable to give us the truth."

Ichigo and Rukia shared worried glances. Silas held up a hand and said, "You need not worry. We are not planning on making you are enemies for whatever you are hiding."

"That, however, cannot be said for your superiors." The young man fixed one of his cuffs and continued, "we may deem Soul Society an enemy and/or a threat to our cause, should whatever you are hiding be harmful to our organization."

"So...The two of us will be your allies…but Soul Society will be your enemy?" Rukia asked slowly.

Silas nodded. "If we find out that whatever you've been tasked with is unacceptable, we may be forced to take up that perspective. Though I assure you, we are not looking to fight a war on two fronts. I would think Soul Society would not want to do so either." His eyes narrowed accusatively, and Rukia blinked innocently in response. But in her mind, she grew even more anxious. He knows.

"For now, we will simply have to take what we can. But if our alliance is to last, you will share with us what Soul Society ordered you to do at some point, whether you like it or not. Just…not now. Much more important matters require our immediate attention."

"Which is why they're sparring…right?" Ichigo said, gesturing at Kale and Mathis.

Silas was either ignoring the sarcasm or was simply immune to it, as he replied normally, "Correct. Once Kale has finished his session, I will be following. It is our…preparation for what we believe is to be a great battle ahead."

Ichigo watched as the two fought, hand to hand. From what he'd gathered during their battle to protect Karakura the night before, Kale was a very fast, capable fighter. He reminded Ichigo a little of Yoruichi. He probably wasn't as fast, but was very similar in their style of fighting. His strikes were rapid and whip-like, with the occasional powerful hammer strike. He utilized both legs and feet in his attacks, demonstrating remarkable agility and acrobatic skill.

Mathis, on the other hand, moved somewhat slow in comparison with Kale. Ichigo had been overwhelmed by his speed before, but now he found that next to Kale, his motions were easier to read and track.

But it was clear that Mathis was beating Kale in their spar. For some reason, though he wasn't able to quite keep up with Kale's lightning-fast reflexes and attacks, his movements were abstract enough to evade all the blows in precise, fluid motions. More than once Ichigo saw Mathis spin through a strike to deflect it, then use Kale's momentum to drive his fist into his stomach.

Kale's face often contorted with pain, but he said nothing as the fight continued. It was evident that despite Kale's light build and speed-oriented fighting style, he was a sturdy fighter.

After several more minutes of watching them spar, a shrill whistle sounded. Both Kale and Mathis stopped mid-fight and stepped back from one another. They both took short bows, and once Kale stood straight, he strode off to the side, hands on his hips. Mathis remained where he stood, eyes closed and arms crossed.

"It is now my turn. Please wait on the sidelines with them. Kale will brief you on our situation."

With that, Silas turned and made for what appeared to be a locker room. Rukia motioned for Ichigo to follow her to where Kale was, and the two of them made their way over to the benches, where Kale was sitting. He was sweating profusely and fanned himself to try to cool off, clutching a bottle of water like it were a lifeline.

"You guys look a little better than last night," he said, pulling off a tired smirk. To Rukia, he extended his hand and said, "I'm Kale. Second In Command #2. You just met the stick-in-the-mud, Silas."

Rukia was a bit taken aback by how chipper he always seemed to be. Even the night before, following the battle, he had been pleasantly demeanored and calm. There was a stark contrast between him and Silas, one that Rukia found somewhat comical.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Kuchiki Rukia," she said, inclining her head as introduction.

Kale cocked his head to a side and said, "You know, aside from the fact that you seem like you're hiding something, you don't seem all that bad. You're even kind of cute."

Rukia was taken aback by the compliment and shuffled her feet. "Thank you…" Ichigo snorted.

Kale laughed at her discomfort and said, "Don't be such a stranger. I'm not entirely sure why Mathis doesn't like you, but you're a friend in my book."

"I've done nothing to incite his anger," Rukia said in confusion. "Why does he dislike me?"

Kale shrugged. "Beats me."

Silas stepped back out of the locker room wearing the same uniform as Kale and Mathis. As he approached Mathis, Kale began to speak.

"We've got a bit of a problem." He scratched his head as Silas and Mathis bowed and almost instantaneously began to trade blows. Ichigo absent-mindedly noted Silas's slower, more deliberate motions and heavier strikes. Mathis responded in kind, apparently slowing down to allow for more power in each strike and to adapt to Silas's harder hits.

"That last attack group was just an advance squad. We discerned this from the relatively weak defense of the translocator they were using and the strength of the demons present. You saw yesterday how there were only Minors, Raiders, and Specters, right?"

Ichigo thought back and realized what Kale was saying was right. The Specters had been the major threat in the entire horde of demons. He hadn't seen anything that seemed even remotely stronger than they were. "What does it matter?"

"It matters because we know they're going to send a bigger force. A much bigger force," Kale said, emphasizing each word with unusual gravity. "Normally this isn't a problem, but for some reason the Legions are focusing on Karakura Town. What are the odds, huh? Of all the places on this planet Earth, the demons of Hell chose your small, humble town. Kinda flattering, kinda insulting."

"Jokes aside, Karakura faces a huge threat if we let them go without doing anything. They're mobilizing as we speak. The possibility that we'll meet one of their generals in this assault battalion is high, so if we don't take the initiative and strike first, we're gonna be dealing with well over hundreds of thousands of demons, not to mention some of the biggest, baddest demons that were ever spawned. And we are nowhere near ready to deal with that kind of army."

Rukia frowned. "So why not do what you did last night?"

"Send in a separate group to take them out?"

"Better yet, why not just send everyone in?" Ichigo added.

Kale tsk'd and replied, "And that's where we've got our problem."

"The location they're mobilizing? According to our scans it's only about a day's march from our nearest outpost. But between that outpost and their mobilization point is a huge chasm that our forces can't cross. We had the Prophet run scans on the area to the sides of where we initially found the canyon, and we found that it goes on for hundreds of miles upon miles. It'd take well over a couple of weeks to get around the thing, let alone get to the enemy camp, and that's if we were travelling without our equipment."

"Now the translocator that our nightclub is based around only has access to a certain region of the Wasteland. That region is synonymous to the land region of Japan. If we were to try to get to an outpost on the other side of the canyon, we'd have to travel to Europe. Specifically Russia."

Ichigo and Rukia both spluttered. Kale held up a hand to stifle their protestations. "Gimme a second to finish here. There's worse."

"Russia has a single translocation outpost that we can use to get to their camp directly before they manage to get all their boys together. However, we've lost contact with that outpost and a handful of other outposts scattered around Europe. Go figure. They all went dark starting from about three days back, and we're assuming that some elite demon squad is going around trying to shut off our access to the Wasteland."

"We need to go stop this gang and retake those outposts. If we don't, we might as well give Karakura up to the bastards on a silver platter." Kale sighed at the observation and added, "I hate being the bearer of bad news."

"Why can't you just bring the Underworld with you?" Ichigo asked. "Or if you're that big of an organization, why not have people in Europe take care of it?"

Kale shook his head. "I wish it were that easy. The people that are stationed in Europe have it worse than we do. They deal with attacks daily, and that's when they're having a good month. We're a very special division; we move around the world setting up bases and undertaking extraordinary tasks. Think of us as the SpecOps division. Our army stays put to hold ground, and we go around doing the things they can't in their place. If it weren't for us, the Underworld would have been pushed back a while ago, and if it weren't for them, we would be on the run, not taking the fight to the Legions."

Rukia nodded. "It's the same reason Soul Society only posts a few Shinigami in the World of the Living to deal with Hollows. We can't afford to budget too much of our military strength to the management of stray Hollows."

"So where do we come in?" Ichigo asked Kale.

Kale chuckled, but there was little mirth in the expression. "We're gonna leave most of our forces behind here as well, for the same reason. Karakura will be under constant pressure, and though I'm sure your allies are strong, Miss Kuchiki, I can guarantee that, if they are left alone, they will be overwhelmed by the Legions."

"So we're going to be splitting off a number of our few hundred to go with us to Europe. A special operations group within a special operations group," he snorted. "I'd estimate about 70 of us being on the move."

"That sounds like more reason for us to be staying behind to defend the town," Ichigo said. "I'm not leaving my family here while they're at risk."

"You two are very powerful fighters," Kale explained. "There's no denying that fact. You may do a spectacular job at defending your home, but if this advance team to Europe falls, you'll have wasted your time and energy in defense, as you'll be overrun by the incoming army. By entrusting protection of Karakura to our little joint force of…Soul Society, was it?" Rukia nodded her head and he continued, "—Soul Society and the remainder of our Underworld, which will still be a large, substantial force, they'll be able to sufficiently defend Karakura from attack while you help us prevent the Legions from massing a large enough force that will definitely overwhelm any number of forces we leave in Karakura."

"The best defense is a good offense." Rukia murmured.

"Damn right," Kale said with a small smirk. "Not bad, little girl. You know a lot about military tactics."

"I'm not a little girl," Rukia said pointedly. "I'm many times your age, boy."

Kale laughed once and replied dryly, "Sure you are."

Rukia let out an irritable 'hmph!' and turned her head to continue observing Silas and Mathis's sparring session. It was apparent that Mathis had the upper hand, as Silas was panting and attempting to parry Mathis's offensive strikes. He would manage to barely swat away an offending limb before getting hit by another that slipped neatly through his guard. It looked like Mathis was saying something as he threw his punches, and Silas would quickly nod in between blocks and respond.

Ichigo couldn't hear what they were saying, but it looked obvious enough; Mathis was giving Silas instructions on how to improve his martial skill. Ichigo had seen it in the time he'd spent in martial arts. Instructors tended to teach while sparring at higher levels, allowing students to correct small ticks in their fighting styles or make improvements as the spar progressed.

Soon Silas and Mathis bowed to each other and Silas shuffled off the arena, gait stiff with a slight gimp.

He settled down next to Kale, huffing as he caught his breath. He looked up at Rukia and said, "Miss Kuchiki. *Pant* Mathis wishes to spar with you."

Ichigo and Rukia both raised their eyebrows. "Me?" she asked to clarify, pointing at herself.

"Correct," he coughed, downing a swig of water. "He has fought everyone man-to-man here except for you, and he wishes to remedy that."

Ichigo frowned and replied, "Are you sure it's not because he doesn't like her and wants to express it?"

Silas shook his head. "He may not like you, Miss Kuchiki, but he is not the type to make a point of something through violence." He took another long draft from his bottle and let out a sigh of content. "He simply wishes to…get to know you. Perhaps this is his way of trying to mend his image of you, now that you are working with us."

Rukia stifled Ichigo with a hand and nodded. "Ok," she said with focus. She popped a small pill in her mouth and emerged from her gigai in Shinigami attire. Her body, now holding Chappy (a soul that Ichigo had come to dislike very strongly), bounced up and down and ran up the stairs to join Mathis's sister, all the while saying 'pyon' to herself over and over again.

Kale cocked an eyebrow and Ichigo shook his head. Kale shrugged and turned to watch Rukia as she stepped forward. She removed her sheathed Zanpakuto from her belt and made to toss it behind her, but Mathis shook his head. Rukia lowered her arm to her side, confused. Mathis intoned, "Draw your weapon, woman."

Rukia frowned at the hint of condescension in his voice, but complied, nonetheless. The steel of her Zanpakuto shone brightly, and she commanded her sword to take form. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."

The blade glossed over with pure white, forming an intricate tassel at the bottom of the hilt that trailed like a ribbon dancer's streamer. She took up a defensive sword stance, Zanpakuto in both hands and pointed towards Mathis's throat.

"Do not hold back, no matter what."

Rukia said nothing and nodded. Then she whipped her hand forward and shouted, "Way of Destruction #33: Soukatsui!"

By the time the blue ball of fire had left Rukia's outstretched hand, Mathis had moved. The fire whizzed past him, impacting the far wall but leaving little to no mark. Rukia instantly held her sword up to parry Mathis's counterattack—that never came.

She narrowed her eyes and watched as Mathis stared back, equally as focused. After dodging the kido, he had not moved from that spot.

Rukia shouted the mantra again, sending another payload of blue flame towards Mathis, who effortlessly evaded the attack…only to resume his staring contest with the petite Shinigami.

She felt slightly frustrated at his silence and motionlessness, but she knew better than to charge in out of irritation. Opponents like Mathis were very dangerous, and instructors had perpetually emphasized the importance of patience. Rushing in against such an enemy could prove to be fatal.

So for the next minute or so, Rukia sent several kidos at her elusive opponent, none of which connected. Despite her lack of success, she continued to fire off the spells, eventually coming to a stop when she began to feel her breath hitch a little.

The people watching began to murmur a little, but Rukia couldn't hear what they were saying, nor did she want to or need to. She was in a different dimension now; nothing could distract her from the man in front of her.

"Way of Des—," she began again.

Finally, Mathis sidestepped towards Rukia, and she rushed forward to meet him with her sword. A loud crash grated on the ears of those watching as the sword met Mathis's forearm. The two began a deadly dance that rent the air with the sounds of battle. Mathis effortlessly parried Rukia's attacks and occasionally threw in a couple of his own, quickly managing to overpower Rukia in a few well-placed strikes before going on the defensive again.

Rukia was confused. She was doing well. Much better than she'd expected. She knew Mathis was much stronger than this, but for what reason would he hold back? Especially since he'd began the duel by telling her 'Do not hold back.'

But Ichigo knew. He saw, in Rukia, himself. When he had first fought with Mathis, Mathis had not taken him completely seriously. None of his blows had even come close to scratching the young man, and the handful of precision strikes that Mathis had bothered to hit made it painfully apparent that he had been holding back quite a bit during his fight.

"You see it, do you not, Kurosaki?" Silas asked, his breath returning to normal as he drank deeply from his water bottle. "Do you see how he learns?"

Ichigo nodded. It made sense now that he was observing someone else fight Mathis for the first time. Mathis was holding back his enormous battle prowess to learn more about how Rukia fought. This wasn't a spar; it was an interview. Mathis was analyzing every attack and block Rukia used in their fight to understand more about her as a fighter and also as a person. He recalled with irony the quote 'You never truly know someone until you've fought with him.'

Rukia felt her strength ebb whenever Mathis took up the offensive. She was simply not used to the way he fought, nor the strength with which he struck at her. She barely managed to block the blows in time before they hit her body, and more than once she felt the wake of a punch ruffle her shihakusho.

I can't keep this up. I need to get some range.

With this in mind she leapt backwards and was unduly shocked when Mathis perfectly followed her movements, dashing forward to keep the distance between them closed. He continued to attack, leaving Rukia breathless and flustered.

How—?

A loud clang and Mathis sent Rukia sliding backwards with a sharp blow to her midriff, which she'd barely blocked with Sode no Shirayuki. She dug her feet into the smooth, springy floor to halt her backward motion and panted heavily, the burst of power Mathis had just put out having taken its toll on her.

His expression remained the same, though Rukia imagined he was feeling smug about himself for overpowering her. The irrational child in her flared at this thought and she let off another kido at him.

"Way of Destruction #31: Red Fire Cannon!"

The ball of red rocketed toward Mathis, who, strangely enough, made no attempt to dodge it. He simply raised his hand and growled, "Negation, absorb."

A dark blue light covered Mathis's outstretched hand, and when Rukia's kido hit it, it increased in intensity and size, reaching up to Mathis's elbow. The red orb dissipated and was swallowed up into the dark blue light. Red sparks began to play around Mathis's arm, giving him an intimidating visage.

Rukia gaped. It was the first time she had seen a kido absorbed like that. In many fights she'd witnessed, she'd seen kido blocked or countered by another kido. But to see it simply consumed by a regular human…it sent chills down Rukia's spine.

"Your fighting style is easy to understand," Mathis said monotonously. She blinked and asked, "How so?"

He crossed his arms and replied, "You started our spar with several ranged spells and only chose to engage in close-quarters combat when I forced you to. Your attacks gave me less pause than your spells did, and when you began to lose steam, you attempted to separate yourself from me, no doubt to fire off another spell as you recuperated."

"What's your point?" Rukia said suspiciously. "A fight is a fight."

"In our world, we have battles, not fights. And these battles can either save lives or damn them. To dismiss the details of a fighter simply because 'a fight is a fight' will result in eventual defeat," Mathis said coldly. "Especially regarding oneself. To go into battle without understanding your limits, weaknesses, and strengths is suicide."

"Warriors such as yourself that rely on ranged combat and spellcraft face a serious problem against the Legions and their demons. They are overwhelming in number and will almost always engage you in close quarters. "

He lowered his stance slightly, prompting Rukia to raise her sword in response. She blinked and found Mathis almost breathing down her shihakusho, cold, blue eye burning a hole into hers. She couldn't move her sword, as Mathis's hand had it firmly gripped and pinned to her body.

"This is not a field trip," he said, eye narrowing. "If you cannot fix this flaw in your combat proficiency you will become a burden to the team."

Rukia smirked grimly and replied, "You're underestimating me."

Mathis cocked an eyebrow.

"Some no Mai," she cried, circle of white glowing brightly beneath her feet. "Tsuki—."

Mathis scoffed and released her sword. Instead of retreating, however, he knelt and smashed the floor with the hand covered in blue flame, which intensified as the white circle grew brighter. After a few moments, the circle flickered and faded away, as Mathis's arm glowed with an even more intense blue.

Rukia felt flustered. Why was it that whenever she thought she'd had him he had a new trick up his sleeve? It was almost unfair how easily he was able to counter her.

As if he'd read her mind, Mathis spoke. "Your fighting style is linear and not suited for direct fighting, nor are you as well-versed in swordplay as your companion is. It allows someone like me to absorb your spells and magic and turn it against you."

Rukia blanched at his implication and stood at the ready, waiting for Mathis to attack.

He drew his arm back, channeling the dark blue flame into his fist, which slowly unraveled like a flower, fingers poised like cobras, holding a single orb of purple-bluish energy in place.

He whirled once, twice, and then hurled the ball at Rukia, who knew she wouldn't be able to dodge it even if she wanted to, and chose to stand her ground and take the brunt of the attack.

The moment the projectile hit her Zanpakuto, a loud boom rocked the building as an explosive shockwave propelled Rukia away from the point of impact and into the wall. She hit with a thud and collapsed on the floor, weak and weary, unable to continue fighting.

Ichigo made to run to her, fearing that Mathis was about to go too far, but Silas held him back.

"He's gonna hurt her!"

"Such may be his intention," Silas said calmly.

"The hell it is! I'm not about to stand by and watch her get mauled!"

"No pain, no gain, Ichigo," Kale added, watching Mathis intently. "How many times have you improved without discomfort or pain?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to reply, but the words would not come. As much as he wanted to argue, he knew Kale was right. He slowly sat down, hands balled into fists that practically glowed white from the force with which he clenched them.

Rukia stood up shakily and tried to regain her bearings when Mathis's silhouette overshadowed her. Before she could wince he lashed out with his right arm—striking the wall beside her head.

There was a pregnant silence as Rukia caught her breath and fully regained her sense of balance. The blow directly to the left of her ear had been a wakeup call; a jolt of adrenaline rushed through her system and bolstered her waning strength. But now the threat was over, her surge of fight-or-flight energy leveled out into normal consciousness.

Mathis withdrew his arm from beside her head, and his steel-blue eye glared into her violet ones unwaveringly again. She did not break eye-contact, unwillingly to back down even now.

"You may not be the most proficient fighter I've ever met, but you are clearly not lacking in spirit," he said softly. He turned and headed to the locker room, leaving Rukia leaning on the wall for support. Ichigo immediately came to her side, eyes full of concern. "You alright, midget?"

Rukia sighed and slid to the floor. "No. I'm not."

She felt crushed. Defeated. She remembered the night when Mathis had completely overwhelmed her and had held her up by her throat, using her to strike a deal with Ichigo.

She felt helpless, and she knew Ichigo could see it in her crestfallen eyes. Nothing he could say would change that, and he knew it, so he chose to sit down next to her instead.

"I think I know how you're feeling. It sucks," he said after a few seconds of silence.

Rukia sighed. "Tell me about it."

His tip of his pinky brushed her hand, but neither of them chose to break the contact. Whether it was fatigue on Rukia's part or Ichigo's innate stubbornness that kept them connected through their fingers, neither knew, but they both felt a little spark flare up from the miniscule contact, and in that moment, they felt close than ever.

As Sarah Jericho descended the steps from the observation deck to the sparring floor, clad in her own training attire, she glanced at the two leaning against the wall and saw them talking to each other, a certain serenity emanating from their eyes, though their expressions seemed grim.

"For people who aren't dating...they look cute together," she giggled under her breath.

Silas looked up from his quick stretch. "I didn't catch that, Sarah. Did you say something?"

"Nothing!" she replied cheerily, bounding off to a corner of the room with a somewhat confused Silas in tow.