Hey amazing readers! I know you've been waiting to hear what happened to Yoruichi and I hope the wait was worth it. Enjoy and don't forget to review!

Gray part II

Byakuya and Kaien were so full they were nearly sick. "How does that demon-cat do it," moaned Kaien rubbing his stomach, "I can't believe she could eat 30 bowls of this. We barely made it halfway."

Byakuya leaned back against the wall. He was still worried about Yoruichi but food and Kaien's easy going disposition had improved his mood. His stomach was slowly unclenching and he did not feel nearly as sick. "I probably should go home now," he told his friend.

Kaien made a face and was about to retort something when suddenly the door blew open and a huge gust of wind swept through the tiny restaurant. Alarmed, Kaien and Byakuya rushed outside to see what was going on.

The sky, which upon their arrival at the restaurant had been a clear blue, was now an angry gray. Storm clouds rolled across the sky and lightening flickered in the distance. Kaien and Byakuya gaped at the storm stricken sky in utter amazement.

The owner of the restaurant came outside, swaying in the fierce wind. "This is no regular storm," he told Byakuya and Kaien darkly, "This here's a Devil's storm."

When they looked at him in confusion he explained, "A hollow's storm, from Hueco Mundo."

Byakuya studied the storm with growing apprehension. If the owner was right and it was a hollow storm then that meant it was coming from the Rukon District. Without even thinking he took off running.

"Byakuya! Where are you going?!" shouted Kaien, "What do you think you're doing?! It's storming!" But Byakuya didn't even look back. He just kept running.

Sighing, his friend started to run after him. Knowing Byakuya, in this state, he would do something rash and very, very stupid. He had to go along to keep him out trouble.

It was no easy task keeping up with Byakuya. He'd already had a head start and his shunpo much faster than Kaien's thanks to years of lessons with Yoruichi. Kaien had to settle for keeping Byakuya in sight and shouting at him to slow down.

The storm was getting worse and worse- at least that's what it seemed like. Soon Kaien realized they were just getting closer to the heart of the storm. He was having a harder time being able to see Byakuya in the dim light and it seemed that despite the storm he was going even faster. Kaien was starting to get tired. This was the longest distance Kaien had ever run using his shunpo.

Byakuya on the other hand, had run five times the distance with Yoruichi so it didn't even faze him. In a strange, warped way, Byakuya was comforted by the run. He was chasing her again like he had done so many times, like nothing had changed in the past few weeks. Only this time, it wasn't for training or because she had once again ticked him off. It was because he was scared, more scared than he had ever been in his life. He was scared he wouldn't get there in time.

It wasn't until he had finally stopped at the edge of the Rukon District and was staring down at the city did he even realize Kaien had been following him. Kaien came to a stop next to him, panting and leaning over with his hands on his knees, "Dammit Byakuya, when did you get so fast? You're not even breathing hard!"

Byakuya stared at his friend in surprise, partly because of his sudden appearance and partly because of Kaien's shortness of breath. "This is nothing," he said curtly.

Both of them stared down at the mayhem before them. Hollows and Soul Reapers were fighting intensely all over the Rukon District. It was such chaos they could hardly make out who was winning and the storm was helping. "Do you see Yoruichi?" asked Bykuya anxiously, looking around desperately for her.

Kaien shook his head, "No but I can barely see anything as it is. We'll never find her in this mess." Frowning, Byakuya drew his Zanpakuto and shunpoed forward. "Byakuya wait! Ahh not again!" Groaning wearily, Kaien followed Byakuya. Byakuya was clearly not thinking straight the moment.

Yoruichi was not having a good day. What had started out as a fairly easy mission that should have only required two Soul Reapers had progressed into a full out battle. To top it off, a ferocious storm had begun and the wind and dim light had made it harder to see. She wasn't sure why so many hollows had gathered there but at the moment she was too busy to really give it some serious thought. Her squad had just arrived so it was definitely much more even but now she had to worry about protecting them. She shunpoed effortlessly between the hollows striking and dodging as she went. Hollows shrieked and dissolved in her wake.

Then suddenly she had to make a sharp right turn as a huge, lightening fast claw blocked her way. She leaped around to face her opponent and stopped in midair and gaped at it. It wasn't from fear or shock, it was just that it was so ugly. It looked like a blown-up misshapen crab with razor sharp claws and too many eyes. It was almost funny. She wrinkled her nose at it and made a noise of disgust.

She was just about to strike when an unexpected noise made her heart stop and turn around. "Yoruichi!" It was her one mistake, but sometimes it only takes one. While she had noticed the claws she hadn't seen its long barbed tongue. She didn't notice that until it had pierced through her abdomen with a sickening squelching sound.

Byakuya stared in horror at the sight of Yoruichi speared like a fish on a hook. No, he thought wildly, this is all my fault! He leaped forward with his Zanpakuto raised and started hacking away at it.

Kaien had just dodged a particularly nasty hollow when he saw Byakuya maniacally attacking a hollow and, to his horror, Yoruichi speared on the end of its tongue. Feeling slightly sick and overwhelmed, he raced over to help them.

"Byakuya!" he yelled, "Fight like you know how to use a sword you idiot! Cut off the tongue! Cut it off dammit!" By some incredible miracle, Byakuya heard him over the din of the battle and the uncontrollable rage that had consumed.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura!" he shouted desperately. He had to shunpo out of the way of a massive claw but the deadly blossom petals sliced its tongue easily and cut through the hollow wherever they landed. Yoruichi dropped like a rock but Byakuya caught her carefully in his arms before she hit the ground and shunpoed her over to the edge of the Rukon district.

Kaien barely had time to register the rescue before it was over. All he had seen was hundreds of tiny petals and suddenly Yoruichi was free and safely in Byakuya's arms. "That was fast," muttered Kaien under his breath and shunpoed to where Byakuya knelt on the ground holding Yoruichi.

The tongue was still wriggling in her abdomen and Kaien felt nauseous. Yoruichi did not look good. She was unconscious, her eyes half-shut and her face a little green. She was completely covered in blood. "This isn't good Byakuya," murmured Kaien, ashen faced, "She's lost a lot of blood."

Byakuya didn't answer; instead he used his sword to cut away as much of the tongue as he could before pulling it out. More blood gushed out of the gaping wound in her abdomen but she did not open her eyes. Kaien decided to count that as a good thing because she would have been serious pain if she woke up.

"We have to get her back to the Seireitei," said Byakuya in a calm voice that surprised Kaien. He expected Byakuya to be freaking out like he had during class but he just looked more grown up. With a cool assurance that unsettled Kaien, he picked Yoruichi up again and shunpoed in the direction of the Seireitei leaving chaos behind.

Kaien watched him in amazement for a second before beginning to follow him. Kaien had a feeling that in the last few hours Byakuya had matured drastically.