"Natsu…" The words whispered out to her and her eyes slowly blinked opened. She shut them again at the pain in her arm and the swamp of heat along her skin. "Natsu you need to release the barriers you put up."

She flickered over to Yoruichi who was holding her up by her right armpit. As she was about to say something she coughed up another load of black. Yoruichi shook her slightly and she heard the words like a memory along the ridges of her brain. Sekhmet was also speaking frantically, trying to push the fraying reiryoku into place.

Righ'…

Her eyes slithered closed and she hammered her right arm into her stomach. Years of practice and sheer obduracy to her actual state pushed through her. If reiryoku was like the air inside a ball, then her body was the skin of said ball. With a few punctures it would help lessen the tension of the fabric and instead let the reiatsu, the omittance of her reiryoku, to slither out slowly instead of trying to burst open a complete side. Through the fists of jolting reiatsu she could get the punctures into her own pores to deflate the hyper extension, but it was merciless and left her stomach bruised for weeks.

Her eyes fluttered over the red coating everyone was trapped inside and then at the individual ones that were still in place. Magnificently they had stayed in place even though she was already pushing so much out, and was borderline unconscious. She smirked slightly at the improvement to it, knowing that it had stayed in place since she wasn't near her deathbed and would retain its form even if she was placed in an unconscious state.

She wheezed in slightly and then snapped her fingers a few times before all the shards of the walls around came tumbling down into the air. They had no time to reflect the light as they disintegrated almost as soon as the reiatsu and blood that held it together vanished. Yoruichi was swiping her head around and then came back at her with a thin grin along her face.

Her gold eyes shot off again and narrowed as she opened her mouth. "The one around Ichigo is still up."

"Tha's 'ealin' 'im too."

"Girl, take a look at yourself." Yoruichi helped her settle down until her bum was on the floor and her legs were in that 'W' position that always made her knees ache afterwards. "Your arm was almost blown up and you're running on your last fumes… Plus, Orihime is already waiting to get started."

"Sucks."

"You hate work Natsu." Yoruichi chided out again and Natsu flickered her eyes over towards the girl that was settling over the boy to start working. Natsu felt herself being moved again until she was on her back and looking up at the returned blue skies. "Ironically you've been doing a lot for us."

"More's comin'…. But can I sleep?"

"Go ahead. I'm sure Unohana will get to you soon."

"Nah." Natsu shifted around slightly and drew out her tanto and then pressed it into Yoruichi's hands. The cat glanced down at it with furrowed eyebrows and then over to her. "Jus' hold it ta ma arm."

"Bu—"

"I's okay."

Yoruichi swapped sides instantly and held up the tanto centimeters from her skin; starting at the wrist. There was a quaver and Yoruichi flashed her a look with her lips pursed, but Natsu puffed out a little air. She narrowed her eyes onto the tanto and it let out its heat again. The heat wasn't visible, of course. Her heat never was unless she wanted it to be or it reached that overbearing stage where it was impossible to handle. But the feeling immediately clung onto her skin and there was a prickle on her skin, and a small shudder, since the sweat had been cooling her off once it stopped being dreary weight and started to actually react with the air around her.

"You did exceptionally… Although I don't like that you pushed yourself at the end." Yoruichi stated out plainly and Natsu tossed her head over at the cat-lady.

Just behind her was Soi-fon who was leaning in curiously, with her sharp eyes raking over the scene and her arms crossed. Natsu felt the sudden pound in her heart and shifted over again to stare up at the sky as she let out a grunt. She forced back the knot on her tongue with a harsh swallow, but it remained clinging somewhere in the hollow of her vocal chords as it tied up along there. She grunted again and tried to wipe her away the resistance with another swallow, but it remained as firm as a rock used to the rapids of water around it.

Yoruichi let out a small sigh and there was the sound of the tanto shifting around. "We're still going to need your help… This week will probably be me with the Sou-taicho and the rest of the captains. I can count on your for this, right?"

"Course." Natsu let out a small bark and then glared up at the clouds that slowly passed over her vision. "Tha's wha' I've been doin' fo' tha pas' forty years."

"So you found it then?"

"Like I said before…" Natsu siphoned her eyes over to the gold eyes that were as firm as armor over the heart. "Don't ya know who I am?"

"That's what I would like to know."

The sets of eyes widened and then Natsu flopped her head over to see the Sou-taicho had made his way up. His cane was between his two legs, acting like an ornament to his old appearance rather than an actual walking stick, as he stood before her in his strong glory. His beard fell down to his belly button, and was wrapping up in cords of purple to stay in one place, while there were strips that hung down from under his nose as well. The rest of him was bald, and there were two intersecting scars along his scalp.

His eyes were nothing more than thin slats as they peered down at her, but she knew that he was looking at her to dissect her. She felt the flurry of his eyes, from the tanto by her arm, to the tip of her head and then back down to her toes. He dragged up as much as he could before he made way back up to her face and opened his two eyes just a bit more.

"What is your name Shinigami?"

Natsu coughed slightly and looked away from the keen eyes to gather back her thoughts before turning back over to the man responsible for everything. "Kotomi Natsu, sir."

"I see." There was a small smack of his lips before his cane tapped slightly. "I will require your presence at the next captain's meeting… Bring along anything you deem important."

Natsu blinked a few times and stared at the suddenly retreating back of the man before turning over to the amused eyes of the cat-lady by her side. Then she huffed letting her smirk slink into place as she turned back up to the passing clouds. There were scuttles going around and ears picked up the sounds of sliding footsteps against the gravel with that soft zipper sound and then the pick up at the end of the note as the foot lifted and again and then fell back with a crunch which turned into the zipper sound all over again.

She let out a small hum and her finger tapped against the ground as she imagined the full cacophony in her head. Her tongue started clucking slightly and finger then started to move horizontally along a line back and forth like a metronome as she went along with her incomplete melody. Her brain rounded out the rest of the sounds going to the tempo, but her mouth could only let the main melody resound out through the area of her mouth as she pressed on with a 'da' sound.

Her eyes shifted to a small close at the ricochet of the sun in the sky, and how it brightened out the blue until it was nearly impossible to look at. She squinted up and up and kept looking until her eyes watered slightly at the brightness right before her face. She only moved along when she felt a foot right by her ear and she trailed over to see the soft concern of Ukitake looking down at her.

He let out a small shake of his head as he roved over her. "You overtaxed yourself, Natsu-chan."

"I'll be fine, cap." Natsu thrust her thumb out with a cheesy grin before pointing her index finger out and giving it a small waggle. "Nothin' keepin' me down."

"I suppose not."

Natsu flopped her hand back down, weightless in the air, onto the ground where it snapped in a small bounce before lying out flat. The captain's face was worn and there were still the signs of residue anger in the tense shoulder and the down turn of his eyes. His tone had been completely lack luster and had just the smallest traces of the shadows sweeping into it.

She stared at the blanketed face with a frown coming to her lips, before her eyes narrowed down. The deadened eyes and that quavering as if digging a horizontal line in the earth was enough to try and make sense of all the happenings. Her fingers tensed up and then jumbled against the ground before she pettily threw a few pebbles at his feet. His head tore over to her and she let out a grumble at the surprise in his eyes.

"Wha's wit' tha look, cap? Ain't no one dead." Yoruichi snorted slightly and Natsu flashed her a look which she rolled her eyes at. Natsu turned back over at Ukitake who watched the interaction with cautious eyes and a mouth slightly open. "Not wha' ya 'xpected righ'… I'mma not who ya 'xpected."

His mouth closed for a moment and a wrinkled smile came along his face as he let out a small nod. A few longer strands of his hair came over his shoulder and flopped with a loose snap, and brushed along his chest as he twisted his head back up to her.

"I suppose you're not exactly what I expected." His smile twined a bit tighter along his face. "It appears this is the second time I've been completely taken off guard."

Yoruichi made an easy transition of the tanto along her arm, but Natsu knew there was a small stutter from the way the tanto sounded as it was moved up. She felt her heart seep to black. There was a flush of the happy toxins from her pride and from knowing that the secret was out in the open. Replacing it was the acid in her veins and the heat of her own smoggy remedy. Perhaps it was even a bit of the lion in her that was growling out to protect her baby cub. She all felt like the dead at the man's words above her and the demolition on his face and his tone. Her eyes quivered slightly and then she narrowed them down as a dark sneer appeared on her face.

"Tha's 'cause ya ain't listenin'… Ya ain't eva been listenin'." Ukitake take a small step away from her spitting flames and she crept up onto the helping hands even at Yoruichi's insistence to lay back down. "Ya ears been covered since tha' day.

"Natsu."

Natsu turned her eyes on to Yoruichi and the cat lady's mouth immediately closed and then the gold eyes held steady but the wall in them creaked just a bit more. With a hurl she tossed her arm away from the healing heat and then came to a stand right before the white haired man who was nervously fluttering his arms, insisting that she - at the very least - sit back down. His movements dropped at the ceramic of her face when his words were doing no good to settle her back down. She took a small step towards him, and his eyes tightened as they stared at her beaten form.

"Well listen 'ere cap… I'mma comin' ta save ya, and fix all yer problems." Her eyes flashed over to Kyoraku who was stepping closer as well. "So make sure ya listenin' this time 'round."

Yoruichi's grasp on her injured hand had her spitting around and hissing instantly. She let out a moan at the woman knowingly gripping onto a tender area. Natsu's whines increased as she settled for trying to pathetically twist her arm out of Yoruichi's grip; only to cause more grumbling. It only resulted in her being forcibly tugged down to the ground. She spluttered again and let out a small wail at the rough housing when she was already injured, but Yoruichi grinned maniacally at her and held up her own tanto threateningly.

"Ya such a meanie, Yoruichi…. Tha' rhymed."

Yoruichi poked at her shoulder and she hissed again, but the woman continued healing as she started talking. "You were uncharacteristically harsh on that one Natsu… Lay still and stop fooling around you child."

Natsu lingered on the stern look on the woman who had no patience for her whimsical childish side, before it was replaced by the slightly softened thankful look. Natsu swapped her gaze for the constant blue skies again and lay down silently.

Ukitake had already walked away and she was sure that Kyoraku was following, with Ise taking up the end of it. It was better for him to be out of her reign of fire. After a battle her blood was always pumping and she could hardly hear anything over the bloodlust of the lion that was prowling around in the sands of the inner world. It fueled all the rage she kept stealthily hidden away, but Ukitake had pressed at the small button. She knew that he was not talking about Aizen at all in that moment. The hurt in his eyes was too personal and the deadness spoke of someone almost intimate. She wouldn't have him bad mouthing people that were innocent under her watchful gaze.

Ain't no fuckin' way I'll let this continue.

You're being surprisingly sentimental.

… Ain't sentiment. Natsu puckered her lips up slightly and rolled over the cloud that was loosely shaped into a fish. I's ma orders.

Those were never your orders.

They were ma orders. Jus' not in so many words.

I see.

"Oh my—" Natsu shot here eyes up to see a very different blue as Ayako finally appeared at the scene. She was panting slightly and immediately dropped onto her knees by the use-able arm. "What have you done you idiot?"

"Che… Ya cryin'?"

"Honestly, I might."

Natsu let out another noise and looked over at Yoruichi who was watching the interaction with small flickers. There was a true blossoming grin along her fangs, before her eyes stayed riveted down at the wounds with a soft look. Natsu narrowed her eyes at the peacefulness in the cat lady's face. Huffing, upon not being able to read the cat's face, Natsu looked back at the woman who was still observing everything herself with very worried furrowed brows.

"Ayako stop… Ya suck."

"Stop instigating, child."

Natsu stuck out her tongue which received a smile followed by a small twist at her ear which Ayako knew she would never be able to get to. Natsu could only huff again and she kicked her leg up slightly as if she could throw a tantrum from her lying position. It only sagged back to the ground with soft tremors. Yoruichi was avidly snickering at the scene, and there was the soft burn of Ayako's faux ire at the taunt to sandwich her into place and capture her in one spot to stay for a long while.

"Do you know what to do with this?" Yoruichi gestured with her hand slightly at the woman, who immediately nodded and the two of them switched positions. "Thanks… I need to get my own rest."

"It's no problem Yoruichi-san." Ayako responded back diligently as her fingers slowly traced over the closing wounds a bit further down. "Has no one come over to set up the perimeter for reiatsu stabilization yet?"

Yoruichi was working out the muscles in her arm as her gold eyes lingered over the entire situation. The fourth division hadn't made their way over, and Yoruichi couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "It's probably because they think she's not so wounded. With Unohana putting her attention on Byakuya then no orders were issued."

"She always seems to be everyone's last thought."

Yoruichi turned over to the woman that was hunching slightly as she was taking her time to actually try and fix up all the damage. There was the canyon of wrinkles between her eyes and her lips were puckered up. One finger was trailing over the scars of the wounds that hadn't been healed over yet, and she was pushing her own kido onto them softly to not disrupt the heat that was Natsu's zanpakuto ability.

"We asked her to not bring to much attention to herself." The woman peered up for a moment and the hunched back down with rapture. "But it seems you took her under your wing."

"As much as she would let me at least." The woman twittered out and then let out another sigh, pushing back one of the pony-tails that had flopped over as she hunched down more. "I still think she's resistant to me."

Yoruichi smiled slightly and then turned her eyes to the fluttered eyes of Natsu, who head slightly tilted over to the side as she fell deeper into slip. The young woman's face slipped into smoothness and her mouth opened to show the true beauty of her teeth, which were actually just a normal set other than having a slight buck in her two front ones. Her lip had twisted slightly into a smile but it was mainly just a stretch along her skin, as it let out a few huffs of air.

"Now that's not true. You seen her hair?" Yoruichi pointed out and dragged up one of Natsu's pony-tails. "That's all you."

The woman jolted a bit with a small laugh and then nodded along with the smile remaining over her lips. "I'm Tachibana Ayako by the way."

"Nice to meet you Ayako."

The two women sat seated next to the dozing girl, only disturbed once when Yoruichi had to get the annoying fly of a fourth division member away. Natsu was in a sleep and that was more important than setting up any perimeter, and Yoruichi had no need to get healed anymore. The reverberations of Natsu's red film had come over her at the first release, and had already healed up the small wounds that she had received from Soi-fon. The most impressive part was that it had wiped away at the homouka of Soi-fon's ability, but Yoruichi had paid no more than a quick second on the thought before she was flying to help Natsu with her old assistant right on her trail.

Yoruichi's gold eyes fluttered over the girl that almost looked cuddled against the other woman, although there was still a distance between them. She impressed the thought that the girl's innate healing ability had increased since the last time they had seen each other, and how she was trying to develop it into a full time shield, while looking at the scene.

"You know," Yoruichi spoke after a bit, "I think you've probably done more than you think."

Ayako turned her head up at the woman seeing as the last of the seams had finally stitched together, although it still needed a lot of tending. "What do you mean?"

"Actually… You look a bit familiar?"

"Yeah… I was in the sixth division as a third seat under Ginrei-sama. Currently I am at the fourth seat do the rearranging under Byakuya-taicho."

"Ah." Yoruichi mouth opened in a slight befuddlement and nodded her head along which nearly rocked her entire body. There was no need to get too involved in the affairs of the place yet. "So you know the Seireitei's version of events."

"Pard—"

Yoruichi merely floated her hand in place to stop Ayako from speaking before using it to swipe at a few strands of hair in her face. Ayako pursed her lips slightly but let the cat carry on to what she initially intended to say. "Natsu doesn't sleep like that around anyone… It's nice to see that she found someone that she could trust in all this."

"You gave her a large burden."

Yoruichi let out a snap of laughter before smirking at the woman who was trying not to give her the true accusing demand that was subtly stated. "She took it on regardless of burden. You make an excellent mentor for her, if not a bit too concerned."

"And you've never been worried about your subordinates?" Ayako snapped out immediately and placed down the tanto to the side, which was slowly morphing into the full length of the girl's sealed katana. She then held her two hands over the injured arm and let out those green lights to help heal it up more. "She's a tough one, I know that."

"You're right… I hope you see know how much."

Ayako trailed her eyes over the serene face that was turned over towards her and the girl's deep breathes as she swamped herself with rest. It was completely contrasting to the arm that was still very much injured, which was probably even very different from how it had originally looked. Ayako's eyes narrowed slightly and she frowned even more until she could make out the indents of her down turned lips.

"It's good to care about her." Ayako picked her eyes over to the gold eyed woman who was twirling a piece of her hair between her fingers and looking at them. "She's needed someone like you."

"I don—"

"She's never had a mother."

"How did you know that?"

Ayako felt a small flush came over as she tried to gather a more protection position of the girl that could no longer defend herself. It had taken years to get that information out of the girl herself and she knew that it was not common knowledge that she simply handed out. Nothing ever was with Natsu.

Yoruichi only smirked and then fell back onto her two hands. "I've known her for a long time too. But I also knew her father."

"Is it," Ayako began but the words clogged up in her throat. Yoruichi quirked a small brow but Ayako stared adamantly back down at her patient. Gnawing slightly at her bottom lip, her thoughts seemed to pulse with a life of their own beating at the wall of her lips. Before she even could truly comprehend the burning words, she sacrilegiously asked, "is it Urahara Kisuke?"

Silence fell like a thicket of snow over the two of them as Ayako peered almost nervously towards the feline, who, in turn, stared openly back. The frigid, cold environment seemed to permeate around them as the rest of the world quieted and even the words between them became stale. Slowly, Yoruichi turned her head to look up at the sky as her chest expanded and then contracted with a slow breath. Her gold eyes narrowing slightly. At the same time, Ayako tore her attention between healing Natsu and the ex-captain who seemed to not want to answer the question.

As Ayako's mouth began to open again, Yoruichi silenced her mouth at the sternness in her gaze. "It's not Kisuke, but she listened to Kisuke in memory."

"So he's dead?"

Yoruichi made a march along the small spike of hopefulness in Ayako's tone. "No. He isn't dead either."

Ayako swallowed deeply and looked down below her at the girl and closed her eyes feeling that well coming into her stomach. She didn't need to voice out her theory and she didn't really want to know. Her fingers slowly clamped around the girl's forearm and wished she could drag up the bruises and cuts so Natsu was left with nothing but unmarked skin. She supposed that's what a mother actually wanted to do too. Her teeth gritted because there were no balms for the injuries unseen.

"She's very fragile isn't she?"

"Yes." Yoruichi nodded again and then swung her arm at the other woman's arm. "But you'll take care of her, I'm sure… So I'll leave her to you when neither Kisuke nor I can get to her."