They both stood in fighting stances, for the most part. The first question in her mind was if this was the first fight as a couple, or as partners.
"Look, you could actually arrest me if you want, but right now all four people who have the best chance of figuring this out are locked in a hospital." he looked at her skeptically, allowing time for the person at the door to knock. They both faced the door as it opened. Soifon stepped in and noted Shinobu's reddening face.
"You look well." Shinobu commented after a second, realizing that Soifon hadn't been in the listened active captains.
"Minor injury. Captain Yamamoto requested the remaining Captains, Lieutenants, and Ryoka to come to his quarters."
"I'm not Ryoka!" Soifon didn't respond. Byakuya laid a hand on her back, and she sighed. She could vent her anger later. Soifon cracked her knuckles.
"You have permission to leave and have free roam of all squads, but if you break even the simplest law, Ryoka, you will be arrested. No one will be shown leniency." Soifon disappeared.
"I guess that means going against things you say is out of the question now." she muttered. She moved to one side of the room, and attempted to shunpo, only succeeding in sending a jolt of pain through her body. She fell to one knee and took a deep breath.
"Are you alright?" she nodded.
"I can't shunpo, but I can walk there."
"That's too dangerous."
"So what do you want me to do? Turn into a cat and ride your shoulder there?"
They came to a stop in Yamamoto's personal meeting room, where Kisuke, Soifon, Isane, and Unohana already were. Dropping down off his shoulder, she curled her tail around her feet and glared at him.
"Shinobu...?" Kisuke looked at her.
"What?"
"Why are you a cat?"
"Can't use shunpo." she looked at her ankle again, making sure that the silver band of fur remained. Byakuya stood behind her, and the others formed a line as Yamamoto entered and took his seat.
"As you are aware, this is the most elite group of people ever in this single room, and you happen to be the only ones still active. By now, it was leaked into one of the locked down groups what was happened. That squad was six." Shinobu could feel the tension arise from Byakuya behind her, could smell is fear.
"They've managed to take hostages, including Kuchiki Rukia." her fur bristled and she stood up.
"Why was Rukia there?"
"Looking for her brother when we locked down. There are various others taken hostage in there, but they're identities haven't been confirmed. Every single squad has been locked down, including every manor in Seireitei."
"Who are you using to lock everything down?"
"The King has lent us his Royal Guard." Her eyes widened.
"Kuchiki, and the Shihoins are to go to Squad Six. Be stealthy please. Soifon, Unohana, and Isane stay here with me." Byakuya looked at Shinobu on the floor.
"I'll stay a cat, thank you." she jumped up onto his shoulder again, and he shunpoed off. Just before letting her jump off, he hugged her as best as he could. She smiled.
"I solemnly swear not to get hurt." he let her down and she made her way around the barracks, then climbed her way up a tree and jumped over into the barracks. Landing hard on her legs, she sat down stunned for a moment. Someone looked at her.
"That's Captain Kuchiki's cat." they whispered to the person next to them.
"Did it just jump over the barrack wall? No normal cat can do that."
"If only they knew." she whispered, pushing herself back upwards and walked towards the duo, who watched her skeptically.
"Kneel down, now." she said, just loud enough for them to hear her. They knelt down and she looked at them both.
"Where are they holding the hostages?"
"You can talk?"
"Don't tell anyone. My name is Shinobu Shihoin. I've spent a fair amount of time here. Now, where are the hostages?"
"I believe they are holding them in the Captain's office."
"Good. I can get in there easy. Thank you, and I was never here." she bounded away, feeling each little jolt of pain in her legs as the new tissues were rewiring. Soon, she'd be fine. Quickly finding the venting system, she pulled off the cover with her teeth, slipped in, and pulled the cover back on. The tight vent was even a close fit for a cat, but she managed to move forward towards voices.
"Sasake-sama-" the voice was cut off by Sasake's, "No. We will not release the hostages. Yamamoto has no doubt already figured out a plan to get in here, but we can take whoever he sends down."
"Unless it's the Shihoin girl."
"Or Kuchiki-sama."
"SHUT UP." she crawled up to the vent and pressed her head against it to listen and look around the room. She quickly located Rukia, and others she had seen, but they had one person on the floor behind his desk.
"Shinobu will kick your asses, and you'll regret ever thinking up this dumb ass plan." she froze in place.
"Nanami," she breathed.
"Quiet!" Sasake struck her, but she made no sound. Shinobu grimaced, then turned tail and made her way back the way she'd come. She pushed the vent up, then sprinted over to the wall and made her jump, clearing the wall with a fair amount of pain. She landed softly on the other side, then laid down, back legs screaming at her.
"Byakuya!" she hissed. No sounds. She pulled herself out into the open, and laid on her side, eyes closed. Fifteen minutes later, someone put a hand on her side and her eyes snapped open.
"Dad!"
"Sh. What did you learn?"
"The hostages are in his office. Sasake is in there. They've got Nanami too."
"Alright. How are your legs?"
"Ow. But I'll survive. I need to change back, now. I can't do anything like this. Please!" he looked around, then picked her up and shunpoed back to her room in the infirmary, then shunpoed away. She changed back and pulled her clothes, on, then, managed to take her painful slow shunpo back.
"You could have waited."
"Sorry." she crouched down for a minute as Byakuya rounded the corner, then jogged over.
"What happened?"
"I came out. They've got the hostages locked in your office, but they're letting everyone else wander. Probably threatened them with killing them instead of a hostage if they tried to leave. We've got Sasake pinned in there."
"Did you shunpo back here?" the fire in her legs had dulled to a throb, but it still probably showed on her face.
"I'll be fine. We need to get over there. No one can stop all three of us together." silence for a moment.
"Miya, get up onto the barrack wall and run around to his office, and stop on the roof. Don't get spotted. Don't go in until you hear us inside, alright?" Kisuke explained.
"Okay." Shinobu straightened up and looked at the wall, then looked back at Byakuya. Him and Kisuke were figuring out their path inside. Her mind quickly formatted her plan.
"Byakuya." he looked up and she placed one hand on the back of his neck and kissed him. Breaking apart, she rested her forehead on his for only a moment, long enough to say, "Please be careful." then scrambled up the wall and make her way to his office. As she got there, she ran into a problem. It wasn't that his office's roof was too far, just that it was far enough to make it difficult to land silently. Taking a deep breath, she looked around for a closer roof, then jumped there, then to his. Once she landed, she pressed herself flat near a roof vent, listening to the plans inside. Nanami and Rukia both glanced up, and Shinobu didn't move fast enough before they caught sight of her. Why were they looking up? Surely my landing could only have sounded heavy enough to be a small bird. Shinobu rolled back over to watch the scene, knowing that Rukia and Nanami wouldn't look up again now that she was there, for fear of giving her away. She looked at the standing people, obviously part of the group, until she spotted a familiar blonde hair.
"Yoshiro, last time you saw Shinobu, how was she?"
"It was just after she got engaged, which means you've seen her more recently."
"Which means she should be in horrible shape still." Think again.
"Yoshiro, you're despicable." Nanami is awfully brave today.
"Shinobu trusted you! She taught you things, and enjoyed your company! Why are you doing this?"
"You should know why, Nanami! You know how it is to be treated like scum by the nobles! For all you know your precious Shinobu is silently laughing at you behind your back! You can't trust nobles!"
"Voices!" Sasake hissed, hitting them both. A few minutes later, Rukia spoke up.
"Are you just going to keep us sitting here like ducks?"
"This group of people is the only thing keeping the other Soul Reapers out. They don't want to lose anyone."
"Hm, well that's true." Everyone looked towards the doorway, where Shinobu couldn't see, but she knew her father's voice.
"Yamamoto really doesn't want to lose anyway. Our numbers are still down after the Winter War."
"How did you get in here?"
"It was really easy. You guys have no hand to hand combat skills." Shinobu gently lifted the vent cover up and placed it on the roof. The hole was big enough for her to fall through.
"Right Byakuya-kun?"
"Don't call me that." Now's my chance! She slipped down through the hole.
"You really need better observation skills." she said. Sasake turned around.
"How...?"
"The vent."
"How are you moving?"
"Oh. Apparently putting my new muscles in pain means making them rewire faster. Doesn't hurt too much anymore." Shinobu looked at Yoshiro, then crossed the room towards him and slammed him into the wall, hand on his throat.
"And sorry, but you were horribly wrong. I love Nanami, like a sister. Almost like a daughter. And I did trust you. I thought you were an amazing cook. But apparently even the nicest people make huge mistakes." she dropped him, letting him sink to the ground while he coughed. Sasake started laughing and she spun around, realizing that they'd been duped. The person's voice changed back to normal as they spoke, saying, "You guys are so dumb!" then the person clicked a red button, and a ticking noise met her ears.
"No."
"Yes!" and they started laughing again. She untied Nanami, then headed towards Rukia, hand on her blade's hilt.
"Ripples Spread Across Still Water, Mizutateru!" the void spread and she picked everyone in the room up in huge water sphere's, except herself. Kisuke narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, his voice ringing out clear through the void.
"Don't do this." the ticking stopped and she threw the spheres together. The man nearby exploded into chunks, the blast throwing Shinobu into the wall of her shikai. The blast sped upwards, but didn't penetrate the huge sphere, just bounced off the roof and came back down, only to be absorbed by the water. Shinobu sunk into the water, quickly regaining her senses and checking over herself for injuries more than a few burns, and a couple bruises, but her water had protected her somewhat too, absorbing impact, and healing her worst injuries. She brought the sphere down and they all sat down on the surface of the water before getting up.
"Can someone give me a hand?" she called. Kisuke was busy checking everyone for preblast injuries, so Byakuya came over and she gladly took his hand.
"Are you alright?"
"A little burnt and bruised, but nothing I can't shrug off."
"Why did you do that?"
"Because I can't use my shikai abilities on myself. But it does heal me, so we'll never know how serious that could've been." he wrapped his arms around her.
"You have no idea how much you worry me." he whispered. She smiled.
"I'm sorry." he just held her tighter. Shinobu shut her eyes and wrapped her arms around his waist, loving the bliss moment.
"Miya." she looked up at her father.
"We need to report to Yamamoto." she sighed and let go, as did Byakuya, then pulled out her sword. The water on her evaporated and disappeared with the void, leaving Rukia, Nanami, and the Squad Six members confused.
"Rukia, go back to your barracks. I don't care if you have to jump over the damn wall, just go. Nanami, I'll take you to the Infirmary. Help out Mom."
"Alright."
"And-"
"I'll deal with him." she glanced at Byakuya.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright. I'll come get you after I drop office Nanami." he nodded, and Nanami jumped onto her back.
"Holy shit. Alright." she jumped up out of the hole in the roof, then took her painstakingly slow shunpo back to the infirmary. She hovered on Yoruichi's window, balancing precariously on the sill. Nanami knocked for her, and a nurse rushed to open the window. Shinobu dropped inside and let go of Nanami.
"Shinobu, you're burned."
"I know. Got caught in a bomb blast. Anyway, Nanami is going to stay with you guys. Alright?"
"I'm not alright with you running around with those burns."
"I don't care. There are two people who sway my decisions. Sorry, but while you're disabled and not in the same danger as the rest of us are, you are not one of those two. Nanami, I don't know when I'll be back, but I will, alright?" Nanami nodded, and Shinobu jumped out the window and landed quietly. Her muscles groaned, but didn't scream. Satisfied with the dull pain, she shunpoed back, speed increased a notch. She jumped back through the hole.
"This is convenient." she muttered, then looked at Byakuya. Yoshiro was unconscious now, and bleeding from a place on his forehead where his skin was split. Didn't take Shinobu long to figure out what happened. The wound was still bleeding, and turning really black around it. Byakuya picked the limp figure up, and they shunpoed back to Yamamoto's personal meeting room. He dropped the traitor on the ground, his head bouncing on the wood. Soifon sat on the railing, eyes closed. Unohana and Isane were busy giving instructions to people in the Infirmary, helping with Yoruichi's problems. Kisuke was leaning against the wall, napping. At the thunk of Yoshiro's head, everyone looked their way, and Kisuke woke up. Yamamoto looked at the duo.
"I see that you took care of the problem."
"What do we do with him?"
"He'll stay here with me." Shinobu narrowed her eyes. That is so uncharacteristic of him... She narrowed her eyes further, and spotted a minute difference. There was a small black dot on his neck. That wasn't there before. She shunpoed behind him and plucked it off, looking at the tiny, black, machine. It squirmed in her grasp and she crushed it, then looked at Yamamoto, who blinked.
"Bind his hands and feet, and tie him to that pole."
"Now that's more normal."
"What?"
"Nothing." she dropped the little bits on the floor and watched them light on fire and burn themselves into tiny pools of silver metal.
"What was that?"
"A bug."
"The insect?"
"No. It's like, a tiny machine. I don't know what exactly it was doing, but it was changing your mind." he shut his eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath. New instructions.
"Soifon, Kisuke, and Byakuya, go to squad seven, then eight, and try to find traitors."
"Why not me? If there was four we could split up into pairs and do both divisions at the same time." Byakuya, Kisuke, Unohana, and Yamamoto looked at her.
"You're joking." Kisuke was the first to speak, and she furrowed her brown, confused.
"No..."
"Your muscles are still rewiring. Even if you can manage some speed in shunpo, pushing your speed with tear your old and new tissues apart. You need to rest. I probably need to heal you too, to help the binding process." Shinobu bit back her quick retort, and slid down to the ground, leaning on the wall, like a defeated teenager. So instead of being helpful for the time being, she would simply pout. Soifon rolled her eyes, and the trio was off, Byakuya offering one last glance of pity and consolation before disappearing. Unohana crouched in front of her and started healing her.
Half an hour later, Isane called Unohana away, a problem springing up. Shinobu, fairly certain she was fine, got up and looked at Yoshiro, crouching in front of him, hands falling limp off her knees. He had awoken a bit ago, but had remained silent. Now, being stared down by Shinobu, she could see him beginning to crack. Now she had to make sure to not let her anger control her actions or voice.
"What do you want?"
"I want to know how long you've been working for the group."
"I ain't telling you shit." She glanced towards Yamamoto, who said nothing. Shifting her focus back to him, then sat flat on the ground and looked at him again, more of a friendly stance than a predator stance.
"Since before you arrived. Just before I was hired." he was breaking faster. She hid her smirk.
"Tell me everything." he relaxed as he spoke, telling the story.
"I used to work in a small restaurant. Kuchiki-sama came often with Rukia-sama. One time, she commented that the food was getting even better. Before I knew it, they'd hired me as their chef. I had joined the group a week before, mad that I was completely disrespected. As soon as I moved into the Kuchiki Manor, they saw a perfect position, and so I became their agent to try and pry information from Rukia-sama, maids, servants, and the likes. Then Kuchiki-sama brought you back. I'd heard the alarms, and was secretly hoping the Ryoka would bring the Soul Reapers to their knees, little did I know that you were so... free spirited. After only hearing about you from the maids, servants, Nanami, and occasionally Rukia, I came to see things the way I expect you do. My views in the group changed, and I started slacking in going to meetings. I got yelled at, and the last straw was when I openly disobeyed a command. Then they threatened me. Sasake-sama told me that if I didn't do exactly as he said next time, that they would tell Kuchiki-sama, and have you killed. By then, I had already... already..." he paused, thinking. Yamamoto has started paying attention too, and Unohana's attention was even drawn.
"I had already fallen in love with you. It was a lose lose situation, but I wouldn't risk your safety, so I just went. When Sasake started talking about trying to kill you, he tried to get me to go with him, but other people opposed him. Then when he actually tried, well, I started attacking people. He came back and said he failed, so I calmed down. By the time you and Kuchiki-sama had gotten engaged, I was hopelessly in love. It was like there was two different yous. The you at home, all crazy and free. Then the you here, calm, calculating, still reckless, but you take risks. I couldn't fathom that the Shihoin they were always plotting against was the same immature woman I saw at the Manor. When they started locking down places, 'Sasake' and I were in the middle of trying to lure you in. The real Sasake decided I should have to kill you, finally finding a suitable punishment for skipping meetings and trying to drop out. What I screamed at Nanami, was lies. I knew you really cared about a lot of people, including me, so I was hoping you wouldn't come. And then, well, this." Shinobu fell back from her tense position and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. She was shocked. In love? Since when? How had she missed that? Shaking off her shock, she sat up.
"Yoshiro..." he couldn't meet her gaze, and she sighed, then leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him the best that she could.
"I'm not asking for you to like me anymore. To trust me anymore. I understand if you hate me."
"I don't hate you! I was mad, sure. But you didn't want to do that. They didn't threaten your life. They threatened mine. More than one Sasake powered Soul Reaper would have killed me for sure. You were protecting one of the key players by staying in. Honestly, I'm not sure if that is considered treachery anymore, but you've redeemed yourself to me." she released him, then sat back flat on the ground. Unohana was smiling now. But the mood was killed quickly by the arrival of her father.
"Unohana!" her smile vanished as she looked at the ex-captain.
"Yes?"
"It's Byakuya-san." Shinobu shot to her feet.
"What happened?"
"He was pushing Soifon out of the way of someone's shikai attack and got hit." her eyes widened and she tensed.
"How bad is it?" Unohana took over questioning while Yoshiro, who had been freed by Yamamoto, took a hold of Shinobu's shoulders before she shunpoed off.
"Calm down." she took a deep breath, body shuddering with the ragged breath. She felt like a little kid who's dog just got hit by a car.
"Just come with me." Unohana followed Kisuke away and Isane helped Yoshiro in helping Shinobu to sit down, then restraining her from running after her father.
"Just calm down." Yamamoto stood up, and was gone instantly. A mere minute later, he returned and looked at Shinobu.
"Go join up with your father and Soifon. They're still in fighting shape. They stopped in the middle of taking out the people in Squad Eight. After you deal with them, you can go see Kuchiki." the corner of her mouth twitched, her mind turning slightly sadistic before she tamed her thoughts. Standing up, she took a deep breath.
"Yoshiro," Yamamoto threw a headset at him, and a mini mic at Shinobu.
"Tell her everything and anything you can think of that might help." she stuck the mini mic and receiver into her ear, and Yoshiro tested it, then she was gone, going in a beeline towards Unohana's Spiritual Pressure.
"Shinobu-sama, listen. Whenever I went to meetings, we always had hand to hand combat training. We knew we'd be fighting you and Ura-I mean, Shihoin-dono. Considering your his kid, you must be adept at contact combat. I've no doubt you can beat them, but be careful, they've got some nasty tricks up their sleeves."
"I hear you, Yoshiro. And I understand." she came to a halt and averted her eyes to look at Soifon.
"You, me, and Dad. Squad Eight. NOW." Kisuke looked up from farther away, then nodded and disappeared. She followed after Soifon, and they looked, aghast at the scene before her.
"What the hell happened here?"
"Like I said, Shikai." Kisuke slipped past and jumped over the wall. She braced herself, then did the same and landed softly. Blood was spattered everywhere, red streaks covering the wall, strangely looking like Renji's Shikai. She shook her head of such thoughts, then counted the bodies. At least ten already. Squad Eight's members were decreasing, fast. A masculine yell sounded and she could hear more blood being splattered. A girl ran out from behind a building.
"Help! Please help me! Ple-" before she finished, ten feet awake, something cut her in half. Blood splattered across Shinobu as the girls top section slid off, and all around could see her spine and organs. Blood gushed and Shinobu gagged.
"Deep breaths." Kisuke put a hand on her shoulder, and she did as told. Her stomach settled and she stepped over the body, blood still pouring from it. She started moving with feline grace, quickly and silently, towards where the girl had come from. Before she knew it, she was semi transforming into a cat. Fangs replaced canine, her ears sinking away into nothingness, fur covered ones growing form her head, and a tail snaking it's way out of her uniform. Her unsteady balance righted itself, and her vision grew clearer, sharper. She could hear someone's heavy breathing, and started toward them, quickly closing in on a bloodied man. None of which was his own blood, that much she could smell. He looked at her and she slammed him into the ground. No one cares if he dies at this point. They only care for themselves. She snapped his neck, a sickening crack sounding through the area. A little part of her brain felt like puking out her intestines at what she'd become. A fighting machine. Judging people's worthiness to live. Another, much bigger part, had taken over though. One that focused on getting rid of all emotion and feeling, and taking out the enemy. She'd been given orders, and would follow them to the dot. She moved on, more screaming registering. Before long, she started losing control of her own body. Something else was taking over. What's happening? Shinobu! Mizutateru? That stuff you tried out for Kurotsuchi had an effect he didn't tell you about. He made that specially for you. He'd heard of your tenancy to disobey orders, so he put something in it, so when you hear order, after you get it in your head to follow, you will. Damn. So a crazy scientist is piloting my injured body. Essentially. Just what I needed to hear. She took a deep breath. Take back over Shinobu.
Shinobu started struggling to stay still, and not move. After ten feet, her body was reacting to her struggle like a rusty, dying machine. Her movements were jerky, her vision blurred. She could fight even this. One knee faltered and she fell to her knee. She resisted the burning desire to keep going.
"I want control." she whispered, then pushed herself to her feet. She was free. Quickly, she started to sprint. Control the problem. Get them all in a room and terrify them so they stay in there while Byakuya and Dad come. She located another person, sword drawn, threatening someone who's Zanpakuto was feet away.
"Oh, okay." No Zanpakuto. She shunpoed behind the person, and with a sequence of precise movements, incapacitated him. He slumped and she grabbed his arm to keep the sword from slicing the person. They thanked her, and grabbed their Zanpakuto.
"Alright, could you just, go somewhere away from trouble?" they nodded and scurried away. She looked over the person, and located a purple ribbon around their Zanpakuto's hilt.
"That's how we know." she whispered, sliding him into the bushes. She moved on, knocking out several, and putting them all in hidden places, then taking their ribbons as she went. Half an hour later, she caught sight of Soifon in hand to hand combat with someone. She pressed herself flat against a wall and watched as she quickly beat the person down, and dragged him over to a pile of bodies which, she hoped, were still alive. She slid out.
"Soifon!" she looked at her, then the blood across her uniform.
"Oh, sorry. Some poor girl got sliced in half in front of me. Okay, please tell me those are all alive." she gestured to the pile of bodies.
"They are." she let out a sigh of relief.
"Oi! Miya! Soifon-chan!" she twitched at the informal use of her name, then resigned herself. Kisuke ran over.
"Alright, have you two seen any normal squad members?"
"Three, I think." Shinobu answered.
"None." Soifon sounded like she knew what Kisuke was going towards.
"Which means either they found a place to hide, they're captive, or they're all Rebels." she nodded solemnly, figuring it out. Shinobu pulled out the purple silk ribbons from her pocket and showed them to the other two. "They tie these around the hilt of their Zanpakuto's to signify that they're a Rebel. That's how they know not to attack eachother. If you see them, take them." Kisuke put a finger on his chin in thought. "Shouldn't we leave them on?"
"No. We can tell them apart. If they're not dead and or hurt, they're a rebel." Except one. But someone will figure that one out, right?
"Shinobu-sama!" she winced.
"What, Yoshiro?" static followed, then the line went silent.
"Yoshiro?" she tapped the ear piece.
"Yoshiro?"
"Is he not responding?"
"No. I think someone broke his. Which means someone else is there." Kisuke looked at her.
"Go. But please, be careful." she nodded, and gave him a quick hug, then shunpoed off, feeling the strain in her legs as she moved faster than she should. She skidded to a halt in Yamamoto's quarters and uttered something that sounded scarily similar to a growl. Yoshiro was unconscious, and bleeding from a new gash on his head, his mic snapped in half a foot away. Unohana had formed a protective bubble of something around her and Isane. Yamamoto was no where to be seen. The person standing above Yoshiro was someone she really didn't want to see.
"Why, Shinobu, nice of you to join us. This is the last stand in my battle, you realize? All the Squads are locked down, and three people are in fighting order. One is near death, and MIA. Don't you see you can't win?"
"If I take you down, this is all over, right?"
"It won't be that easy."
"Oh trust me, it will." she cut herself with a fingernail, causing a drop of blood to run down her arm. She wiped it off with her finger and looked at him.
"Bankai." she could feel her Spiritual Pressure spike as the drop of blood purified into water, and grew immensely, covering an entire sphere around her of water. She moved her hands from a praying pose to having them spread apart like she was pushing against two things. The sphere widened, and she turned her hands into fists. The water froze, along with Unohana and Isane, forming tiny rivulets of ice, sharpened to points. Sasake laughed.
"This is your pitiful Banaki?" she shut her eyes and dropped her hands, then opened them. The icicles stayed in place for a moment, then moved at lightning speed, piercing Sasake's body, melting, then freezing, molding to Sasake's scared figure. His eyes were wide now, and he realized just how much danger he was in. She pushed an inch further, and his skin started turning blue, the water in his body freezing.
"I will shatter you. That'll end this whole thing, right?" she bent her finger and a sickening crack spread through the area, one of his fingers falling to the floor. She resisted the urge to vomit.
"Miya?" she blinked, trying to keep her concentration.
"Yeah?"
"Good, we got on the network. Okay, we finished up with Squad Eight. Is everything alright there?"
"Not really. Wanna stop by?"
"I'll send Soifon. Going to go check on Byakuya-kun. I know where he is."
"Alright." within seconds, Soifon arrived and gaped at the frozen figure.
"What is this?"
"My Bankai. I can't kill him until I give the final command. But I can put him in loads of pain. Where is Yamamoto, Unohana?"
"He said he was going to check on Byakuya-kun. Should be back soon." as she finished, to figures flashed onto the platform, one stopping behind Sasake, one in front of her. She blinked and looked slightly up.
"Byakuya?"
"Back up."
"I can't. I'll lose concentration." as she spoke, the ice cracked a bit, and she stepped back in front of him, allowing it to refreeze.
"This is...?"
"My Bankai." she felt pressure on her elbow, like someone was elbowing her.
"He's trying to break out through his left elbow right now."
"How do you know?"
"I can feel the pressure on the ice. Now I need some instructions." Royal Guard members appeared.
"Release him, and they'll take him, and restrain him. Central 46 will decide his fate." the ice started breaking off in chunks, starting with his face. As soon as he could breathe, he started laughing hysterically.
"You think they can take me on? Are you retarded? I'm more powerful than you, Yamamoto!"
"He's insane."
"Yes." Unohana glanced at her.
"And you need to be healed."
"Eh?"
"I can feel what Kurotsuchi did." she turned red.
"But I like my strength."
"You'll only lose the bad part." she sighed, and watched the Royal Guard haul Sasake off. Byakuya turned her around and looked at her.
"What did he do?"
"Nothing that you need to worry about. Just a little problem."
"You broke a man's neck, Shihoin." she winced, feeling sick again. Soifon's gaze narrowed.
"Just be happy he wasn't on our side."
"You make me sound like a monster."
"All Kurotsuchi's potion did to your brain was release the true fighter inside you. Apparently, that woman does exactly what she's told, and shows no mercy." she winced again. They made her sound like a barbarian.
"Unohana, how long will it take? We probably need to squelch a few more squads before we move on to fixing damages done."
"An hour or two. I'll have to talk to Kurotsuchi first. I don't want you to do anything to serious though."
"I get it. I'm under room arrest."
"Infirmary arrest." she paused, her face lighting up, like it only had once before.
"Mom's baby!" she shunpoed off, and Byakuya looked at Yamamoto.
"You're on leave too." Byakuya followed his fiancee.
Shinobu watched from her position on the wall as Kisuke cradled the baby in his arms. In amazingly stark contrast to Shinobu herself, the baby was as dark skinned as Yoruichi, with gray eyes. With her luck, he'd have the purple black hair of their mother, and couldn't transform into a cat. Just to prove how different children can be. Kisuke sat on the edge of the hospital bed, where Yoruichi was trying to get the nurses to let her get up, but they insisted she stay down. Byakuya stood beside her, seeming uncomfortable.
"You can leave if this is too uncomfortable for you." she whispered. He looked at her like she was crazy.
"I got it wrong didn't I."
"Yes." she sighed.
"You're too hard to get a read on." the corners of his mouth twitched, threatening to betray his appearance of calmness.
"WHY WON'T YOU LET ME UP?" she looked at her mother.
"Calm down. You really don't remember anything. Even I know that after you give birth, you're stuck with bed rest for like, a week." Yoruichi gave her first child the evil eye and Shinobu laughed.
"You're in no position to be giving me tips, brain damaged child."
"Say what now?"
"Didn't Kisuke tell you? I thought he did, since he tells you everything." Shinobu glanced at her father, who was too fed up with the baby to pay attention.
"Okay, well, he was carrying you around one day, and you disappeared. He freaked out, then found you high up in a tree. Then you jumped and landed on your head." her eyes widened.
"Am I seriously brain damaged?" Kisuke looked up.
"That wasn't a proud parenting moment." Shinobu laughed again.
"Miya, promise me. When you have a kid, please pay more attention than your father did."
"I won't let him be as screwed up as she is."
"I'm still in the room." she rolled her eyes as her father laughed and said that he knew that. The trio of Shihoins fought for an hour on what to name the baby before Byakuya finally spoke up.
"How about Kazuya?" Shinobu paused and mouthed the name.
"It sounds perfect." she commented.
"Wow. Maybe you two should have a kid to see if he can do that again." the awkward silence was interrupted by a knock on the door. Unohana pushed it open.
"Shinobu-dono."
"Oh. Already? Okay."
"Wait, what's going on?"
"Nothing, Mom."
"Obviously it's something."
"No, it really isn't." she followed Unohana out, then looked back.
"And you! Stay here!" she smiled meekly at Byakuya, then flashed away after the Captain.
When she woke up, she was cold. Not like she was naked laying on snow cold, like she'd just changed into clothes that had been on top of a vent. And with that thought, she promptly checked her clothes, confirming that someone had changed them recently. The material was stiff, so it had been sitting still for a while, and it was considerably cold. The room she was in was bleached white, along with the table she was on. An operating room? She slid up, and her movements were shaky. She looked at a one way mirror, searching for a faint outline to tell her who was watching.
"Unohana?"
"Yes?" the voice came through speakers overhead.
"Why do I feel so unstable?"
"Give it a few minutes. The bug had attached itself to your motor function center. It was shaken up upon the death of the bug. Just exercise." Shinobu took her advice and placed her feet together, then pressed her hands flat to the floor, feeling the stretch in her hamstrings. Then, then spread her feet two feet apart, and put one hand flat against her foot, another on her ankle, her thigh stretching. She flipped, then moved into familiar stretches from when she played soccer when she was little. The Butterfly, Downer Dog, Quads, Arm Circles. She cracked her fingers when she was done, full motion back.
"Alrighty, I'm good to go. How long has it been?"
"Half an hour."
"That's good. Now why am I in pure white room?"
"We needed to observe you while you slept." a click sounded and she opened the door, then stretched her back, cracking that too.
"The others-ow-are still in Yoruichi's room, right?" Unohana stepped out of a room.
"Yes. But we thought you wouldn't mind if we did something else to your abilities." Shinobu's laid back mood disappeared, now on the defensive.
"What did you do?"
"We increased your muscle capabilities, and flexibilities. You could do back hand springs before, correct?"
"They were hard."
"Try them now." she made sure no one was behind her, and bent her knees, arms straight out in front of her, then pushed off, looked for the floor, landed in a hand stand, and pushed up again, landing on her feet.
"Woah that was easy."
"Now do you want to try a couple in a row?"
"This is a test isn't it." her happiness fell a bit.
"It is. But think of it this way, you'll be able to sneak around better." she grinned.
"Alright then." she braced herself again, and did four in a row, then moved onto front hand springs, and flips.
"This is really fun." she muttered.
"Alright. A front tuck, then a back handspring and we're good to go." She took a running start down the hallway that Yoruichi's room was in, then jumped, curling her body in, then spreading, rolling, and bouncing herself back up to do the back handspring. Unohana clapped.
"Good job."
"Can I go?"
"Definitely." she grinned and looked around to find everyone in Yoruichi's room staring her down. She opened the door.
"Can I help you guys with something?"
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
"What?"
"Whatever you just did!"
"I've been doing that the whole way here. Unohana increased my flexibility and strength again. So now I can do that stuff, easy peasy." everyone was still gaping.
"What?"
"That looked almost inhuman."
"My bad."
"How far back can you stretch?" Shinobu moved away from the wall and bend backwards wrapped her fingers around her ankles.
"Oh mother of Christ." she let go and sprang back up.
"You're like rubber now."
"Great for sneaking around."