Yayyyy! Final chapter for today! Thank you so much for being so patient with this story, I know that my updating has been seriously shitty. xox

And no hating on the Elvis quote; this song is my favorite *sobs in a corner* *whispers* so beautiful...

Enjoy!


"Take my hand,
Take my whole life, too
For I can't help falling in love with you"

- Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley

Chapter 9

Kisuke felt Kumiko's arms wrap around his waist, pressing her lips to the back of his neck. He heard her chuckle as he shivered under her lips.

"Whatcha doing?" She whispered, looking at the chalkboard admiringly.

Kisuke smiled, a warm feeling enveloping him as she stared at his work with pride. He set the piece of chalk he was writing with down and turned to face her, "Just working out a few kinks on a project that we're working on."

"Sounds exciting," She chuckled as they both sat down on the couch in his office, "What's it about?"

Kisuke wasted no time diving into a full explanation of what he and his department were working on. He told her about the types of tests they were conducting, explaining what each other of them were about and why they did them. He grabbed his notebook and showed her the test subjects they had been using and went through each test in detail, summarizing what he thought it all meant. Though halfway through showing her the data tables and graphs, he stopped and knew he had lost her.

"Where did I stop speaking English?" He grinned, closing the graph program down and turning off the computer.

Kumiko laughed, "To be honest, right from the second I asked you what it was all about."

"Sorry," Kisuke ran a hand through his hair, "I get carried away. You should have said something."

He looked up when Kumiko leaned forward, "No, I like it when you talk all nerdy. It's sexy."

"Never had it described quite like that before," Kisuke grinned, grabbing ahold of her chin and brushing his lips against hers. She closed her eyes and waited for him to kiss her again but he just continued to watch her.

She slowly opened her eyes, biting her lip excitedly and Kisuke smiled as she began to blush. She was so different around him, all her guards were down and she let him see all of her. He grabbed ahold of her soft jaw again and kissed her gently on the lips, his lips tingling as they met Kumiko's. He felt her spiritual pressure rise a little bit and he chuckled, kissing each of her cheeks and her nose.

After covering her face with soft pecks Kisuke pulled her in and lay them both down on the couch, "I don't want to sound sappy—"

"Too late," Kumiko smirked, resting her head against his chest.

"—but I just want to hold you like this right now," He smiled when Kumiko lifted her head again to look at him, "I just want to hold you like this and never let go of you."

"Kisuke…" she murmured, kissing his chest, "Thank you."

"For what?" He snuggled into her, feeling his eyes getting droopy.

"It's just…no man has ever just said he wants to hold me," She admitted quietly, catching Kisuke's attention, "You're so damn perfect and I don't know how I got this lucky."

Kisuke laugh, "Ah, my love, you're too cute. You really shouldn't be stroking my ego like that."

"I'm being serious Kisuke."

He met her gaze and grinned, watching the feisty beauty lying on top of him, "I am too. I love you."


Kisuke opened his eyes to find himself lying underneath a pile of paperwork again. Sitting up, he watched the papers scatter to the floor and rubbed his eyes. His back was killing him from slouching in his chair for so long.

Opening the door to his lab, Kisuke tried massaging the knots from his neck and headed for the kitchen. Tessai was already making breakfast for Ururu and Jinta. Kisuke was relieved to see that the coffee pot was full. Kisuke patted Tessai on the shoulder, grateful for the caffeine.

"You're awake," Tessai said, stirring the porridge he had made for the two kids.

"Barely," Kisuke mumbled as he emptied the pot into a giant mug. He slumped into the seat next to Jinta and took a sip of the coffee, "This is magical stuff."

Jinta rolled his eyes, "Of course he would get addicted to coffee. Look at what you've done Tessai!"

"It's better than alcohol," Ururu said, smiling gently at Tessai when he placed her breakfast down in front of her, "Thank you, Tessai."

Kisuke sat there sipping away at his coffee while watching Jinta, Ururu, and Tessai all bicker as usual. Normally he would join in on the fun but he couldn't shake the dream he had had. He hadn't had a dream about her in a long time now but he understood why he had. Today was her birthday.

He sighed, trying to remember how old she would be turning today. If he was right, she'd be a hundred and twenty-seven years old…

"Urahara-dono, we have a visitor," Tessai tapped Kisuke on the shoulder.

Kisuke nodded, standing up and stretched his neck out one last time, "Rukia?" Tessai nodded and Kisuke sighed, "She'll be here for her new shipment. I'll take first shift. Jinta and Ururu, I want you guys cleaning the house today with Tessai; make sure to help him, he's an old man."

"I am not!" Tessai protested indignantly, hands on hips.

Kisuke grinned, "Loving your apron."

He entered the shop and spotted Rukia easily. She was glancing over the coloring books, already holding a pack of markers and a sketchpad. To be honest, Kisuke only stocked the shop with art supplies because Rukia spent so much money on them. She alone could pay the shop's expenses with the amount she spent on sketchpads.

"Rukia, always a pleasure to see your beautiful face in my store," Kisuke chirped, grabbing the box that she had ordered.

"Hey Kisuke," Rukia place her art supplies on the counter, grabbing her purse and pulling out a few notes, "How are you?"

"Oh you know, you know," Kisuke rung up all the items, putting them in a paper bag, "Serving the masses, saving damsels, inventing new ways to screw with the Seireitei."

Rukia chuckled, taking the bag he handed her and giving him the money, "Yeah, sounds about right…"

Kisuke and her stared at each other. Rukia looked away first, coughing awkwardly and trying to ignore Kisuke's pleading eyes. She knew what he wanted to know but she couldn't pass on any information about the Kuchiki's, even her. Rukia had only met Kumiko a few times when she had visited Byakuya but she knew enough to know that she had had history with Kisuke. Byakuya had never defined their relationship but he had told her not to pass on any information about her; gossip about a noble clan was a punishable offense.

Not that she wasn't already in big trouble.

"Uhm, thanks for the shipment Kisuke," Rukia smiled, waving as she left the shop.

Kisuke gave a half-hearted wave, sighing as the store was filled with silence once again. He closed his eyes and tried to remember her, how she sounded. It had been so long since he had seen her that he was scared that he was beginning to forget her. He didn't know if she was dead or not but he had figured that he would have heard something about the infamous shinigami's death.

Still…he couldn't be sure unless someone confirmed it.


Byakuya was the quaintest sleeper that Shizuko had ever met. Renji snored loudly just like she did, which was a relief because she would have hated to be the only snorer; that would have been embarrassing beyond words.

Both the captain and lieutenant were still asleep but Shizuko knew it was time that they all had to get going. If they were going to catch Rukia Kuchiki then they were going to have to get moving. She had already gone out scouting for her but came up with nothing.

Unless…

Shizuko closed her eyes, concentrating hard on sensing her spiritual energy. She was surprised to see how many souls she located that possessed a fair amount of reiatsu, there at least seven of them. Two of them were grouped together, a third was heading towards them at a quick pace, while the other four were all together on the other side of town. Shizuko opened her eyes, staring out into the direction of where the four souls were. She couldn't be certain but two of them seemed to share very similar spiritual pressures. They could have been twins or even siblings that just happened to possess spirit powers…but Shizuko didn't want to chance it.

Standing up, she knelt over Renji and shook him awake then did the same with Byakuya.

"Is something wrong?" Renji asked, shaking his hair out before tying it back up. Byakuya, unsurprisingly, looked as though he hadn't just slept on the ground leaning against a tree trunk. Shizuko could understand why her mother find him a nuisance…

"I've located several possible contacts," She explained to them as they readied themselves, "Two of which share similar reiatsu."

"Which direction?" Byakuya asked. Shizuko pointed to where she believed the high school was and he nodded, "Good job."

Byakuya had left before she could say anything, and both Renji and her shared a dumbfounded look. Renji shook his head and laughed before following his captain, Shizuko hot on his heels.

They had reached the high school in no time and Shizuko was proud of herself for not falling behind. Shizuko closed her eyes again to locate the two souls but couldn't find them. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried harder but she couldn't pick them out of the mass of souls.

"They're being obscured by the other surrounding souls," Shizuko sighed, combing her hands through her hair in frustration.

Renji nodded then looked at his captain, "Rukia's your sister captain, can you sense her here?"

Byakuya stared down at the school, "She's there."

Shizuko wrapped her hand around her zanpakuto but Renji stopped her from unsheathing it. When she looked up at him confused, he explained, "We can't make a big commotion. We'll have to wait until she's isolated enough."

Shizuko nodded and let go of her sword. Byakuya caught her eye and asked, "You said that there were several more souls?"

"Yes; four of which are here but the other three are on the other side of Karakura," she confirmed, feeling self-conscious that Renji was staring at her.

Byakuya mulled over this information before deciding what the plan was, "I will stay here and track Rukia's movements. Shizuko, find these other souls and confirm that they are not the human in question; Abarai, follow her."

"Yes sir," they both said before heading out.


Shizuko leaned against the wall with her eyes shut, confirming that the three souls hadn't moved. When she opened them again she found Renji watching her.

"Don't you ever need to blink?" She grinned, pushing off of the wall and walking towards where the souls' position was.

Renji joined her, "Sorry. Just never saw a low-ranked officer track spiritual pressure like that."

She laughed, elbowing his side, "Wow, you really know how to charm a lady, Abarai."

He went bright red, "I –uh –sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. You're just…you're good."

"Thanks," Shizuko said airily. He was actually really sweet when he was flustered, "My mother is better at her Kido than her Zanjutsu, so she taught me all the basics."

"Interesting coming from Squad Eleven," Renji said thoughtfully, "I met your mother when I was transferred briefly into Squad Eleven; she's a scary one but I never would have pinned her as a Kido gal."

"Yeah, she doesn't tolerate idiots," Shizuko agreed quietly, "To be honest, she's pretty crap at detecting reiatsu but she's an incredible Kido Master."

"So you got your tracking abilities from your father?"

Shizuko stopped, taking a deep breath and letting it out, "I…I never knew my father actually."

"Oh…sorry," Renji said just as quietly, "I never had parents, so I can relate."

Shizuko smiled at him, "Thanks, though I think you had the rougher end of the deal. That must have been hard growing up; where from the Rukon are you from?"

The rest of the trek to the three souls went much like this. Shizuko found herself opening up to Renji and felt a lot more comfortable sharing things with him. He hadn't always known what she was talking about but it was obvious that he tried to understand it. Besides that, Shizuko loved his boisterous behavior; he reminded her a lot about Ikkaku in many ways.

"So how do you know Captain Kuchiki?"

Shizuko looked up at him in surprise and smiled, "How did you know?"

He shrugged, that mischievous gleam in his eyes returning, "I make it my business to know everything about the guy."

"That sounds very creepy," Shizuko laughed, stopping to look at him in the eye, "My mother's father was Byakuya's uncle."

Renji's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "So you're a Kuchiki?"

Shizuko shook her head, "Yes and no. It's complicated to be honest. Basically, my grandfather refused to marry Yoruichi Shihoin and as a punishment he was made to marry my grandmother, Sachiko Kuna—" She jumped when a cat shot out from the pile of crates next to her. Renji laughed and she stuck her tongue out at him before continuing, "My mother and her late sister were both given the name Kuna because the Kuchiki Clan saw them as a disgrace. That changed when Kumiko became the only available woman to marry Sojun Kuchiki's eldest, Haku." She saw Renji's eyebrows drawn together and giggled, "I'll stop there because it gets even more confusing after that."

He scratched the back of his, smiling, "Yeah, that is. But you can't expect nothing else from the nobles; always having to put on a good show for everyone."

Shizuko grunted in agreement, stopping abruptly, "They're gone."

"What? Who?"

Shizuko looked up at him and then ran forward to where she had last sensed them, "The three souls we're following; they just disappeared!"

"Impossible, I didn't sense any Hollows in the area," Renji matched her stride as they raced around the corner and faced a house.

Shizuko heaved herself over the fence and hoisted herself up onto the roof. She scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement. Nothing.

"Shit," Renji growled, fists clenching at his sides, "They must have hidden behind a Kido barrier."

Shizuko gawked at him, "Kido? Why would a normal soul know how to use Kido?"

"Who said they were normal?" Renji said grimly, "I think we're dealing with more than just Rukia Kuchiki and a human here."

"Traitors?"

"No, exiled shinigami," he murmured before abruptly jumping off the roof, not waiting for Shizuko to catch up, "We need to tell the captain now!"


"What are you saying Yoruichi, slow down."

"Someone knows about my betrothal to Akio Kuchiki."

"So? Anyone in the noble or aristocratic circles knows about it."

"No, Kisuke, you don't understand! She knew about how he married Sachiko Kuna. She knew about the Kuna Family…and Mashiro and—"

"Kumiko."


"These arms of mine, they are lonely
Lonely and feeling blue

These arms of mine, they are yearning
Yearning from wanting you"

- These Arms Of Mine by Otis Redding


Tension is building as Kisuke starts getting his answers. See you guys soon! Thank you for reading :D