A/N: This chapter was a little hard to write, so I hope it turned out okay. There will be a few chapters of downtime before the plot picks up again. What I'm thinking of doing is alternating between downtime and plot arcs until the plot finishes.

Musings of a Muse, each member of Kusanagi and the New Dawn is one of my OCs. I'm not currently accepting submissions, because I don't want too many of them, so I just create them as the story needs them.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. At all. Kusanagi and the New Dawn and the plot are mine though, please don't steal.

Chapter 10: The rightness of your words

The walk back from the First Division was tense. Byakuya kept his eyes straight ahead of him as he walked, his expression once again serious and impassive. He was dressed in his shihakusho, scarf, and haori again, and she found that she wasn't sure she liked the change. In the living world, he had seemed almost…accessible. But whatever ground she had gained with him seemed to be lost now.

Yuzu walked beside him, her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes on the ground. She knew that at least part of Byakuya's dark mood was because of her, and she wasn't ready to get called out on it.

Maybe he wouldn't. Maybe he would just decide to let it go…

"…Kurosaki," he said, as the two of them passed the Fourth Division.

Yuzu tensed. So much for that. "Hai, taicho?" she asked.

"…You left the shooter alive," he said, not turning his head towards her. "You will explain your actions."

"…I didn't want to kill him…" she said quietly. It was the best excuse she had. She had fought to, in the beginning, but had changed her strike at the last moment, when she was looking in Jin's eyes and he had raised the gun towards her. Before she even thought about what she was doing, she had snapped the fan in her hand shut, attacking with the blunt side instead of the bladed one.

"You have killed before."

"Hai, taicho," she said. "But Hollows are different. I know that the Hollows I kill are being purified, sent to Soul Society. It's not so much killing them as it is allowing them to transition…to move on…"

"Human death is a transitory phase as well."

She bit her lip, shaking her head as she kept her eyes trained on the street in front of her. "…It's different," she said. "…Shinigami are supposed to protect humans, living and dead. What kind of a person would I be if I killed Jin and then insisted on saving his soul…? At least that's what I thought about then…"

Byakuya's voice was cold, and it held no sympathy, only harsh truth. "You have allowed your emotions to interfere with your duty," he said. "In doing so, you have failed to neutralize a threat. Jin may kill another in the future. Are you willing to accept that as the consequence of your actions?"

Yuzu frowned. "I just wanted to give him a second chance…" she said. She took a deep breath, deciding to say what had been on her mind since running into the New Dawn. "I think they're being manipulated by the Arrancar, taicho. I don't think they fully know what they're getting into."

"Very well," said Byakuya. "…I will accept your reasoning at this time. But should the New Dawn attack us again, it is to be treated as an act of war. Are you prepared to accept what that entails?"

Yuzu didn't respond, twisting her fingers together nervously. She didn't know what her answer would be. She had been prepared to fight against the Arrancar, but when faced with another human…faced with someone who was the same as she had been, she didn't know if she could do it. She remembered her own death. It wasn't a pleasant memory. She had been willing to blame the Hollows for it, willing to grow to fight them.

If a shinigami killed a human, wouldn't they also grow to fight the shinigami?

But at the same time, war was war. She was a vice-captain of the Gotei 13. She couldn't falter here, not when everyone in her Division was expecting her to help lead the fight…

"I…" she began, hesitant.

"Oi, Byakuya! Yuzu!"

The two of them paused, looking up at the sound of the familiar voice. They were passing the Fifth now, and Ichigo was walking out the gate, heading purposefully towards them. Yuzu blinked.

"Ichi-nii," she said, turning towards him.

Byakuya frowned, but said nothing, turning to face Ichigo as well.

"You're back," said Ichigo as he reached them. "How was the mission?"

"We…er…ran into some slight complications," replied Yuzu.

Ichigo's expression grew slightly more serious. He glanced at Byakuya. "Complications?" he asked.

"It would appear as though the members of the New Dawn are allied with the Arrancar. Hitsugaya-taicho and Kurosaki Karin are questioning an informant as we speak."

Ichigo's frown deepened at those words. He glanced at Yuzu for a moment, his eyes widening. "Yuzu, you're bleeding," he said.

Yuzu's eyes widened in surprise, and she turned her arm over, staring at it. She had almost forgotten about the cut Jin had given her, in the confusion of Hanako's attack and their return to Soul Society. It wasn't too bad, just a graze, but it was starting to sting. "…Right," she said. "I forgot about that…"

"What happened?" asked Ichigo.

Yuzu gave her brother a sheepish smile. "I might have…gotten shot?" she offered. Ichigo's brows shot up.

"With what?" he asked.

"With a gun," she said simply. "…It missed though."

Ichigo looked like he might have said more, but Byakuya interrupted him, glancing at Yuzu out of the corner of his eye.

"Kurosaki, report to the Fourth," he said. "Return to our Division when you are finished." His expression told her quite plainly that they were not finished with their earlier conversation. Yuzu winced inwardly, but nodded once in response.

"…Hai, taicho," she said.

"Kurosaki Ichigo…" said Byakuya, frowning at her brother. "I would like a word."

Ichigo frowned, folding his arms. "I'm listening," he said.

Byakuya's eyes passed over Yuzu again, and then moved to the right, where a pair of shinigami were walking past, talking with each other about something. "Your office," he finally said.

Ichigo frowned, but nodded once. "Aa," he said, tilting his head in the direction of the Fifth Division. "It's this way." He turned towards Yuzu as the two of them began to move, heading into the Fifth Division. "Yuzu, you better go get that checked out."

Yuzu watched as the two of them walked into the Fifth Division. She sighed, staring down at her hand. Byakuya's words were still ringing in her mind.

"Jin may kill another in the future. Are you willing to accept that as a consequence of your actions?"

Did I do something wrong, Jungetsu-chan…? she asked quietly, her fingers brushing over her zanpakutos hilt.

There was no response for a while, and then slowly, words began to form on the inside of her mind.

You did nothing but make a choice. Learn to stand by the decisions you make.

It didn't answer her question, but she knew Jungetsu enough to know that that was the best answer she was likely to get. Jungetsu didn't usually give straight answers or opinions, instead turning Yuzu's dilemmas back towards her. She had never heard her zanpakuto spirit refer to anything as right or wrong either. She spoke of morality in terms of choices and decisions, of resolution and determination.

It made her wonder what that said about her, that her zanpakuto spirit acted in such a way…

By my very nature, I bend truth, wrote Jungetsu, as if sensing her wielder's inner thoughts. So by my very nature, I know no truth. I am only a mirror. I reflect the truth in your heart. But if the truth you show me is vague and uncertain…what image am I to reflect? I see the hearts of others.

If you truly wish to control me, you must define your own.

Yuzu frowned, but said nothing in response, removing her hand from Jungetsu's hilt and making her way to the Fourth Division.

The Tenth Division's administrative office seemed quiet without Matsumoto occupying the other desk, although the piles of paperwork on Toshiro's desk were as large as they had always been. Karin shut the sliding door behind her, stepping inside and setting the can of soda on the coffee table in front of Kaito.

"Thanks," said Kaito quietly, picking up the can and opening it with a hiss. He seemed mostly recovered from his ordeal, but he was still slightly pale, and was still dressed in his living world attire. The chain of fate had disappeared from his chest the moment they crossed into Soul Society, and he now looked just as he had when he first came across them.

Karin shrugged in response, taking a seat across from Toshiro.

"So this is the afterlife?" asked Kaito, taking a small sip. "Somehow it's less…peaceful than I imagined."

Karin snorted. "You're telling me?" she asked. She sat back, leaving the interrogation to Toshiro. Keeping Kaito alive had been her job. Now that he was in Soul Society, it was time for Toshiro to play the part of a captain.

He didn't respond, setting the can back down on the table. His expression grew serious, and he turned towards Toshiro. "So what happens now?" he asked.

"You'll get the same thing Kusanagi's members were promised, if they happened to die in active duty," said Toshiro. "Housing in one of the First Districts of Rukongai, and the opportunity to try for the Shino Academy if you wish."

"I see…" Kaito clasped his hands in front of him, staring down at the notepad set casually on the coffee table in front of him. "But I'm assuming this comes with a catch. I never fought for you before today, so there's no reason to treat me like a longtime ally."

"We need the information you have about the New Dawn," replied Toshiro. "And we need to know your involvement in it."

"The New Dawn approached me a few weeks ago," said Kaito. "They wanted me to join their ranks. I did. But I began to notice that something was strange about Kiyomizu, and about the other officials as well. When I realized Kiyomizu wasn't human and I saw her talking to those…Arrancar? Is that what they're called?" At Toshiro's nod, Kaito went on. "…I ran off. I watched people like you for a while—shinigami. Once I discovered you were fighting Kiyomizu, I decided to offer my information to you."

"So you were only a member of the New Dawn for a short amount of time?" asked Toshiro.

He nodded. "I can give you some information, though, about the people in charge of the New Dawn. My powers give me more insight into people than you would otherwise get."

Toshiro motioned towards the notepad in front of him. "I'm listening," he said.

Kaito picked up the notepad, flipping it open and picking up the pen next to it. He drew a circle in the center of one page, with a smaller circle on each corner around it. "The New Dawn is headed by Kiyomizu Hanako." He wrote her name in the center of the largest circle. "…You already know what I know about her. She claims to be a college student at Tokyo University, but her aura tells me that she's from a different plane of existence."

"Soul Society?" asked Toshiro.

Kaito shook his head. "No, but close," he said. "It's not…wherever the Arrancar are from, but I can detect some traces of it in her aura too. Like she lived there a while."

"What else can you tell me about her, from her aura?" asked Toshiro. "Tell me everything. Even if it doesn't seem important to you, it may be relevant."

Kaito frowned. "She's definitely not what she appears to be," he said. "I…I don't see concrete images when I read people. I see…images. Snapshots, for the most part…things that are open to interpretation."

"What do you see in her?" asked Toshiro again, writing things down in his own notes.

"…She's deeply devoted to a cause—completely emotionally invested in it. I don't think she's completely sane. I get the sense that she's bound…somehow…to someone or something, and that at one point, she was hurt very deeply." He shook his head. "It's confusing. There's just so much to her aura. With a human, it's a couple of years. With people like you…" He trailed off. "But that's all."

"She has two subordinates on either side of the coin. First, we have the human ones. Her third in command is Hamano Tomoe. She's in her third year of high school. Hamano acts as Kiyomizu's right hand on most days. She can control air and its ambient temperature. She is fiercely devoted to Kiyomizu, and won't hear a word against her. It seems as though she had a rough past, and Kiyomizu stepped in at the time when she was most vulnerable…"

"And her second in command?"

Kaito frowned, moving his pen over to the next circle. "…I don't know his surname," he finally said. "His first name is Yuichi. He isn't around much, and doesn't seem like the social type. I don't know his powers either."

"His aura?"

"…Different," said Kaito after a while. "I can't really place it. I haven't observed him long enough to tell. But there's a lot of hatred in him, and I can tell you this…He's from Soul Society. He's the man that interfered with your battle, from the rooftop."

Karin's frown deepened at Kaito's words. She remembered that man on the rooftop, the expression on his eyes and the amber blast of reiatsu he had formed.

Yuichi…

She and Toshiro exchanged glances. If he was from Soul Society, then he had probably been a shinigami at some point. It meant that there was a high probability someone in Seireitei would know him, but it also meant that he would know them. He knew how they worked and how they operated, and he was on Kiyomizu's side.

It was a dangerous thing to consider.

"And her other two subordinates?" asked Toshiro after a while, turning back to Kaito.

"The Arrancar," said Kaito. "Their names are Catalina and Siegel. I can't tell you much about them…other than the fact that they interact with the trusted members of the New Dawn."

"How many trusted members are we talking about?" asked Karin, interrupting the interrogation for the first time. Kaito frowned, looking up at her. "Hamano and Yuichi, the shooter Jin…I think that might be it. The New Dawn itself has about six members."

"Around the same size as Kusanagi…" said Karin, looking over at Toshiro.

He nodded once. "I'll send this information to Urahara and ask him to pass it on. It's highly likely that if the New Dawn attacks, they'll attack Kusanagi first."

"Are those guys ready for it?" asked Karin.

"They have strong fighters, like Yasui…" said Toshiro. "But some of their powers are purely support, like Yokota…It's hard to say. No one in Kusanagi stands a chance against the Arrancar."

"Yeah," said Karin, nodding. "What do we do?"

"Kusanagi has an open line to the Tenth Division. I think they're smart enough to call if they get in over their heads. We can send shinigami out to them on rotation, but we can't continually send high-level shinigami to babysit them. We might have to send a seated officer to them."

"…Like a fourth seat?" asked Karin.

Toshiro frowned. "Are you volunteering?" he asked.

Karin shrugged. "I wouldn't mind," she said. "I don't like the idea of leaving those guys alone. It'd be like throwing them under a bus."

"It will come down to what the soutaicho approves…" said Toshiro. "And whether or not your Division lets you go."

Karin snorted, folding her arms and leaning back in her seat. "Right. Because that'll be a problem." She couldn't imagine any of the people higher up than her in her Division having an issue with her running off into a situation that might involve a fight. If anything, Ichigo might have a bigger problem with it than the Eleventh would.

Toshiro sighed. "True enough," he said. "…Anyway, I have to give this report to the soutaicho. Can you take Asakawa to Rukongai and get him settled? It's short notice, but…"

"Sure," said Karin, getting up. She glanced at Kaito, who up until now had been watching the exchange between them with a slightly confused frown on his face. "…Come on," she said. "Worse comes to worst, you can stay with my dad for the night. But let's just say you should hope it doesn't come to that…"

Yuzu sat at her writing desk, staring out at the garden through the window in her quarters. She frowned in thought, idly running her finger down the bandage around her arm. Hanataro had healed her wound as best as he could, but it looked like Jin's bullets had been coated with some sort of reiatsu suppressant. The wound would heal normally, according to Unohana-taicho, but it resisted attempts to accelerate the healing process. If it had struck her in the heart, it would almost certainly have killed her.

Just another complication to add to what had become a disaster of a mission…

It was already after hours, and there was no sign of Byakuya. He probably wouldn't be back in today. It was too late at night to get any real work done. He would probably arrive first thing in the morning tomorrow, and he might be in a better mood then. She didn't think for a moment that he would let the issue with Jin go completely, but he might be more inclined to let certain things slide after a night's rest.

She knew that he was concerned about her level of commitment. She was concerned about her level of commitment. She also knew that there were very few lengths Byakuya would not go to to fulfill whatever he thought was his duty. She had heard from Shiyougi that he had once imprisoned Renji after he had lost a fight to her brother. He had changed slightly since then, to hear Ichigo and Rukia tell it, but what would he do if he thought his vice-captain would crumble under pressure and become a liability in a war?

She paused, her fingers tightening around her pen. Act of war. Both Byakuya and Jungetsu had used those words.

Was that what this would become?

As a shinigami, they were all ideally prepared for the prospect of war, but she knew that none of them were truly prepared for the reality of it. She, Karin, Kohaku, and Masa…the shinigami that had graduated after the Winter War thought the war was over, that it was before their time…

She sighed, rubbing at her eyes tiredly with the heel of her hand and setting her pen down. She had promised Hisagi-fukutaicho a small story to publish for the magazine, with another slow month approaching, but she couldn't seem to come up with anything to write. She had been full of inspiration last week, before all of this had happened.

She sighed, getting to her feet. She needed to clear her head. A cup of tea would help.

The Division was quiet. She could hear a few faint voices here and there and the sound of footsteps, but although the Rokubantai wasn't an unfriendly Division, it wasn't as boisterous or as loud as some of the others. It had always had more of a peaceful feel to it. Today, though, that peace seemed to be on edge. It wasn't the peace of rest. It was the calm before the storm, the peace of quiet contemplation and dark thoughts.

In this way, it almost seemed like the Division reflected the mood of its captain.

Like a mirror…she thought, remembering Jungetsu's words.

She entered the kitchen, rummaging in one of the cupboards for the teabags someone had brought from the living world. She normally brewed tea the old-fashioned way—Byakuya and some of the other officers preferred it—but if she was making it just for herself, it wouldn't matter. Yuzu used kido to heat the water in her mug. Most of the Divisions had some modern conveniences brought over from the living world. The Sixth did have a microwave someone had brought over, but it would be annoyingly loud in the current quiet, and she didn't want to wake anyone up. As she let the tea steep, she thought about that comparison.

The men and women of the Sixth might not realize it, but they did reflect their captain's moods. When he was tense, the mood was tense. When he was relaxed, the mood was generally relaxed.

The Sixth reflected Byakuya like Jungetsu reflected her. But Jungetsu couldn't reflect what Yuzu didn't show her…like the Sixth didn't radiate grief, because it didn't know about Hisana.

Jungetsu couldn't reflect her fully, because there were portions of her that she was hiding somehow. But what? Jungetsu was part of her soul. She knew everything that Yuzu knew about herself…

…The only things she didn't know about Yuzu were the things that Yuzu herself didn't know. The things that Yuzu had never defined…or had never wanted to admit.

She sighed, blowing some of the steam off the top of her mug. That just brought up more questions, questions that she didn't want to think about at the moment…

"You are still awake."

She tensed, her fingers tightening around her mug as she turned her head. Byakuya stood in the hallway that led out from the administrative office, a frown on his face. He didn't phrase it as a question, but the question was evident in his eyes, now that she was getting better at reading them. He looked…tired, somehow, like the conversation he had had with her brother had wearied him. He held a book in his hand. She realized that he must have come here to take it from the shelves in the administrative office. She thought about asking him what he and Ichigo had talked over, but decided against it.

Someone would tell her if they thought it was something she needed to know.

"I was…thinking over some things…" she said. "I couldn't sleep, so I came out for some tea."

He frowned slightly. "…Things such as?"

"Such as the conversation we had earlier," she said quietly.

"Have you come to any conclusions?"

She shook her head, cupping her mug in both hands. "Only that I am being very unreliable," she said, with a slightly bitter smile. She watched the steam curl off the surface of the tea, taking a deep breath.

"…I'm not…much of a soldier…" she said. "…I fight Hollows, because I know what I'm fighting for. I don't know if I can kill Jin…or any of the New Dawn next time. I can't answer that question. But if it comes to war…I'll fight. I'll stand with Seireitei. With my siblings, with the Rokubantai..."

…and with you.

The words went unspoken. They died in her throat, like all of the other words that had formed in her mind in situations like this. She turned away, setting her mug down and reaching for another. She needed to do something with her hands, to disperse the tension in the air somehow…

"Do you want some tea?" she asked, changing the subject. "I know it's late, and you're probably heading back to your manor, but it's been a long day, and—."

"Kurosaki," he said, interrupting her. Her hand froze, halfway to one of the boxes on the shelf. She slowly turned to face him, a slightly guilty expression on her face.

"Hai?" she asked.

"…Will you now show me empty duty?"

She frowned, slowly lowering her hand and turning fully. "…Taicho?" she asked.

"…In your officer interview, you said that compassion was the basis of moral character. That without it, duty was an empty shell. I asked you to show me the rightness of your words. You are not showing me that now. It appears as though you do not believe in the words you spoke."

She smiled sadly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She remembered that. "It appears as though I'm uncertain about a lot of things now, doesn't it?" she asked, picking up her cup. "Between you and Jungetsu…You're both giving me a lot of questions I can't answer right now. All I know is that I don't want to let you down."

Silence hung in the air after her words. She took a deep breath, shaking her head. "Sorry," she said. "I know…I'm not making much sense now. I'll see you in the morning, taicho."

She bowed politely, taking her cup and turning to leave. She walked past him, making her way down the hallway.

"Kurosaki," said Byakuya again.

She stopped walking, but didn't turn to face him. "Hai, taicho?" she asked.

"…I would like some tea, before I take my leave."

She took a deep breath, but nodded once, a smile appearing on her face as she turned around.

"Hai, taicho," she said. "If you want to just sit at the table, I'll get it right away."

TO BE CONTINUED

Omake:

"Here are the things Kurosaki-san and Kuchiki-san had on their gigais," said Yasui, handing a small plastic bag over to Urahara. "They had some things at the hotel as well that I'll bring over in the morning…oh, and a plant from the flower vendor."

Urahara grinned. "You're working hard, Yasui-kun," he commented, opening the bag and examining its contents. "It's almost like you don't want to go home~"

"Ah, well," said Yasui, scratching the back of his neck. "You know how it is."

"Say hello to Mari-chan for me."

Yasui twitched, freezing up as he walked down the sidewalk away from the store. Urahara grinned behind his paper fan, looking through the bag of things Yasui had left. He frowned, pulling out the two Soul Candy dispensers.

"…Oh," he said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "They never used these."

"What did you switch them with, anyway?" asked Yoruichi from behind him, folding her arms.

"The new edition Rabu Rabu Made for Couples Soul Candy that the women's association put out," said Urahara with a frown, opening the dispensers and removing the artificial souls from inside of them. "I thought it would be fun."

Yoruichi frowned down at him. "Kisuke…" she said. "You need a hobby."

"But this is my hobby, Yoruichi-san!" whined Urahara as she walked away.