A/N: A month without updating. Wow. I so sorry guys. ;^;

Sadly, I'm not going to reply to reviews today, so yeah.

Warnings: Byakuya being an ass, mild violence, pissed off Hayato, full-on verbal murder by Ichigo, depressing thoughts.

To Narnia!

Sit down

Shut up

And listen to me speak

"I see them!" Yoruichi shouted over her shoulder.

I nodded and took a deep breath.

"...ICHIGO, WE'RE HERE TO SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS!"

With that, Yoruichi swooped in, wrapped Byakuya's zanpaku-to and proceeded to plunge her hand into Ichigo's stomach.

"ICHIGO!" Rukia screamed.

I was suddenly thankful that Yoruichi had had a cloak that I could wear (God knows I didn't want to know where she had been hiding it though.). Rukia didn't need another person to worry about right now.

So as Yoruichi and Byakuya had a battle of the wits, I decided to go and talk to Ukitake.

"So, who do you think will win this merry little battle of ours?" I murmured, never once looking at my white-haired friend, who jumped at my presence.

It took him about to seconds to figure out who I was.

"Do you mean between Yoruichi and Byakuya or the fight in general?"

"I mean this whole shit bowl."

Jushiro sighed. "I can't answer that."

"I can."

"Of course you can. You're Hayato Niigata, the most confusing girl I've ever met."

"Damn straight. Don't forget it bitch."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"But just know, Ukitake, that I know we're gonna win. You know why? Because we have a Flash Goddess, a damn good speed fighter, and a hella cute mascot."

I saw Yoruichi getting ready to leave.

Juushiro rose his eyebrow in amusement. "Oh? And who would that be?"

I grinned at him cheekily. "Me."

With that Yoruichi and I sprung off.

"Catch!" Yoruichi yelled, tossing me the strawberry's limp body. "I'll distract Byakuya. You go back to the hideout."

I nodded, supporting the boy in my arms. "Got it."

God, he was heavy. What did he eat?!

Needless to say, we got back to the hideout in record time, and I dropped him unceremoniously onto the ground.

I frowned and sighed, looking at him.

His spiky ginger hair was in wild disarray, and his usual scowl was gone, replaced by a gentle almost-smile.

I sighed and ran my fingers over the cut bandage on his cheek.

"I wish I could give you something worth fighting for," I said lowly. "But I can't. Not here. Not in this world. But I can give you advice, Ichigo Kurosaki. If you can hear me, listen very closely."

I leaned closer to him so that my lips were touching his ear and whispered:

"The second you get Rukia, run and never look back. Something evil is going on here Ichigo, and if you don't run and run fast, then it'll suck you up and get you involved in this to. Go back to the World of the Living and lay low. Hell, even change your name if that'll help you stay away from the Soul Society's clutches. Forget all about me. Forget you even met me. There's a reason I ran from this place all those years ago. Because once this place has got you tangled up in it's web and threaded on, it'll. Never. Let. Go. So hold on Ichigo, and be prepared to hold on tight."

Someone was speaking to him, saying words. Ichigo's jumbled mind couldn't make them out clearly. He strained. Strained to hear.

"...I can give you advice, Ichigo Kurosaki. If you can hear me, listen very closely..."

Someone leaned closer to him. He felt cold lips on his ear and fought a shiver. He could feel someone's breath tickling his ear.

Hayato...

"The second you get Rukia, run and never look back. Something evil is going on here Ichigo, and if you don't run and run fast, then it'll suck you up and get you involved in this to. Go back to the World of the Living and lay low. Hell, even change your name if that'll help you stay away from the Soul Society's clutches. Forget all about me. Forget you even met me. There's a reason I ran from this place all those years ago. Because once this place has got you tangled up in it's web and threaded on, it'll. Never. Let. Go. So hold on Ichigo, and be prepared to hold on tight."

He heard desperation in her voice. Felt her anger and confusion. And hated her for it.

Why do you care? You lied. You lied to me and everyone else and now Ganju is hurt. Hanataro is going to be locked up. And all because you were too fucking self-absorbed to help us out! You don't deserve to help us. You don't deserve to be called a shinigami. Who the hell are you to pretend to be so hurt inside but really be fine?! Do you know what it's like to be broken?! You have no fucking idea what we had to go through to get here, and then you come waltzing in, acting like you can save us all. Do you really expect all of us to bow down to you. Oh look, the words of God. You have no fucking idea how much we had to sacrifice to get this far. Maybe you should try it sometime. Don't just bow down because it'll save your pride or your secrets. Weren't we...weren't we allies? Friends...?

He heard her laugh silently.

A laugh full of pain.

"Yeah, kid," she whispered. "I know. Get some sleep alright? I don't want you to get hurt Ataciara(1), yeah? Get some sleep. For me. Of if not for me, then for Rukes. She needs a hero to rescue her soon, ne Ataciara-kun?"

And with that, he was asleep again, his last thought being that he couldn't bring himself to say the thing that really mattered.

...I'm sorry.

I didn't mean it.

I watched as Ichigo's eyes fluttered open. Yoruichi had gotten back an hour or two ago, and we had been waiting for him to get up.

I sighed. This was taking too long.

"OI, BITCH! WAKE UP!" I shouted.

That got him up.

Yoruichi grinned. "Thank god. You've been out for hours."

Ichigo paused. "For hours?"

"Mmhm."

He paused. "I could have saved her!"

I groaned as the two started yelling at each other.

"The reason I took you away is so you could train! If you had died then, no one would have been able to take on Byakuya! You're the only one with enough potential to do so!"

"What about you or Hayato?"

Yoruichi sighed. "I don't do that kind of combat. I was leader of the Stealth Force, remember?"

"What about Hayato?"

I shook my head. "No can do, kid. I'm too out of practice. Plus, I'd have people trying to get in my way. If it was me of Yorui fighting, people would try to shove in 'cause they want to pick a fight. Like Kenpachi. Yoruichi and I'll hold all the others off."

His eyes flickered to my face.

"Fine," he said. "But if I get in trouble, I'm gonna need you to have my back."

I blinked. Was he seriously telling me to fight with him?

A ghost of a grim, determined smile made its way across his face.

Yoruichi crossed her arms over her chest and grinned. "Good. Now let's get going."

"This looks like the training grounds under Hat-n-Clogs's place!"

"Where do you think he got the idea from?" Yoruichi asked, amused. "We used to play here all the time when we were kids."

I looked around in awe.

"Wow," I breathed.

"Oh, come on Haya. You've been here before."

"Well, yeah," I replied, "But that was once...what three hundred years ago?"

Ichigo started choking on air. "Th-three hundred?! How old are you?!"

I held a finger to my lips and laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head.

"Okay," Yoruichi announced. "Hayato, you know what I'm going to do right?"

"Hn."

Yoruichi nodded. "Okay. Would you like to stay, or would you like to train by yourself for now?"

I thought about it for a moment. "I'll go train by myself for now. Call me when it begins?"

"Training? What training?" Ichigo asked. "You don't even have a zanpakuto!"

I stared at him.

Yoruichi smirked. "Hayato is very...secretive about her powers."

"But she doesn't have a zanpakuto."

I laughed. "Baby, you don't know what I got."

Yoruichi winked at me.

"Now then Ichigo, you know of shikai, the first release form of a zanpaku-to. Your Zangetsu is in permanent shikai which makes it incredibly strong, but in order to defeat Byakuya, you're going to need to work to achieve bankai. Bankai is the final release state of a zanpaku-to that usually takes ten years to obtain, but Kisuke and I have created a method that will allow you to achieve it in three days. This is how you'll be learning it."

Ichigo started forward eagerly, but the violet-haired woman stopped him.

"There's only one thing."

"What?" the strawberry snapped impatiently.

"If you don't achieve it in three days, you die."

A/N: Meh. My writer's block still isn't gone, so yeah, this kind of sucks...

(1): Ataciara- Inuit name (or nickname) meaning "(a) familiar spirit"

Loved it? Hated it? Review if you want :D

~ KAi