A couple weeks passed and the Seireitei was more or less back to normal. Many of the buildings were repaired and some were still in the process of being rebuilt. All casualties were taken care of. Some were still healing, whether it was from physical or mental injuries.

The soul reaper named Ichigo, who came to save Rukia and was dropped of all charges, left for his own world a week ago. He was dubbed the substitute soul reaper and was given a pass so other shinigami would know who he was.

But enough about him. This chapter starts with Renji, who is currently scouring the streets of the Seireitei for a certain third seat officer who was due to be released from her time at fourth division.

"Where is that woman?" the red headed assistant captain shouted angrily as he stomped about the streets.

He continued to walk around, looking for Tsuki, but found her nowhere. It was time to move on to a new location. Continuing on, he remembered that morning when his captain told him to look for her…

"Tsuki-san is due to be released from the relief station at fourth division." Byakuya told Renji earlier that morning as he went through the paperwork on his desk. "I would like to talk with her. Would you escort her here?"

Even though he asked it, it sounded more like an order, so Renji had to obey. Without another word, he left the office to head over to fourth division…

A little later, Renji arrived in an empty room at the fourth division. The bed was made and there was no Tsuki to be seen. Suddenly he heard a female voice behind him and looked back to see a four foot eight tall blonde with two different colored eyes – one was blue and one was purple. She wore the pink nurse's uniform and held a note pad.

"Oh, vice-captain Renji." She said with slight surprise. "Tsuki-chan just left. You just missed her actually."

"Really?" he said with disappointment as he scratched the back of his head. "Did anyone come to pick her up?"

"Actually, yes." The nurse answered after some thought. "She left with Matsumoto-chan. I don't know where they went to…"

After sighing, Renji turned to leave. "Thanks for letting me know." He said as he waved goodbye. He then left to go start his search.

Back to the present, the assistant captain of sixth division continued to look around in a new location. Just when he was about to quit and tell his captain that he couldn't find Tsuki, someone called out to him, "Yoo hoo, Renji!"

He looked around for the source of the voice and found it. It was Matsumoto, hanging out of the window of a building nearby. She waved to him, continuing, "Wanna have a drink?"

He walked right over to her and as soon as he was within earshot of her, he asked, "Where's Tsuki? I heard you picked her up from the fourth division."

"Oh she's right here." Matsumoto replied, pointing to a seat across from her at the table.

He looked in through the window to see Tsuki, leaning over, her head resting on the surface. "What did you do to her?!" he shouted with worry.

"Don't get angry!" Matsumoto stated with a pout. "She said she wanted to go anywhere but the sixth division when I came to see her, so we came here to get a drink. She had one after another and ended up like this."

Renji sighed and entered the building. "At any rate, I need to take her to sixth division." He stated as he moved towards Tsuki. "The captain wants to talk with her." He made to grab her, but she shifted away and sat back into the chair, giving a mean look to him.

"Leave me alone Renji." She said drowsily with narrowed eyes at him. "I…don't want to go… And you can't make me."

"You know he won't take no for an answer." The red head stated firmly with a frown. "Now come on!" He continued to grab for her, but she managed to dodge away from his attempts. In his final attempt, he grabbed her around the waist and hefted her over his shoulder.

"No!" Tsuki protested, punching and kicking at him, but he never let go. "Let me go!"

He turned to leave the room. "Keep in mind that she is drunk!" Matsumoto warned him as he kept going.

"The captain wants to see her, whether she is or not." Renji replied, leaving the building and heading over to the sixth division with a kicking and screaming Tsuki over his shoulder.

"What is all that racket?" Byakuya asked as Renji entered the office with a tired but still kicking Tsuki.

"She didn't want to come see you," the red head replied, setting her down and turning her around. "So I picked her up and brought her here for you. It wasn't easy you know…"

His captain raised an eyebrow, intrigued at Tsuki's features. Her hair wasn't up in its usual ponytail and it was a little messed up. She wore a simple blue kimono that ended slightly below her knees and was tied at the waist with a darker blue sash.

"You didn't have to drag me over here, Renji!" She stated with an annoyed tone as she fixed her hair. "I would have come here…in my own time." She then crossed her arms and was going to look away, until Byakuya caught her eye.

Suddenly her face brightened and a blushing smile appeared. "Bya-kun!" she said, happy and drunk (again) while she walked up to her captain's desk. "Bya-kun, I loooove you!"

Renji's eyes practically popped out of his head as he blushed whereas the one she was talking to just continued on working. "I don't think you know what you're saying, Tsuki-san." He told her indifferently.

"Of course I do!" she shouted with anger, slamming her hands on the desk top. "I love you Bya-kun, and I'll prove it to you!" She then planted her foot on Byakuya's desk, attempting to somehow climb over all the paperwork on it to her captain.

"Now, now, no need to get so crazy." Renji told her while grabbing her waist. Suddenly she keeled over, unconscious and the red head was confused and shocked.

"Whoa! What did I do?!" he asked, checking to see if she was okay.

"Apparently you've grabbed her by her tender area." Byakuya replied. "I've seen this once before when she got this way." – he stood up and moved around the desk towards Tsuki – "Don't worry; I'll take care of her. Return to your work."

Renji turned around and headed for the door, but Byakuya called his name. He faced his captain and saw he was giving a menacing glare and his captain ordered, "Any word of this, and you'll find yourself in your worst nightmare. Understood?"

The red head nodded nervously and quickly left the office.

A couple hours later, Tsuki woke up and sat up in one of the couches, not knowing exactly where she was. Before looking around, she thought to herself, 'What an odd dream I had…'

When she did look around, she found herself in Byakuya's office, though he currently wasn't in. "How did I get here?" she asked aloud, standing up. After pondering a little, she continued, "At any rate, I don't want to stay here…"

She made to leave, but before she could reach the door, Byakuya opened it and entered in. "So you're awake." He said to her, and she backed up and sat back down on the couch. Too late to escape now…

"Are you okay now?" he asked her as he took a seat too.

"Oh…Uh…Yes much better." Tsuki answered hesitantly while looking down at her lap. "How is everyone else?"

"Some are still recovering and Ichigo and his friends have already left back to the world of the living." Byakuya told her. "The girl healed you before they left, since you helped them out."

"Did Rukia leave with them?" she asked further with concern.

"No." he replied, seeming quite pleased. "She has decided to stay here."

"I'm glad…" she said with a relieved smile. "And what about Aizen and the others?"

"They've retreated to Hueco Mundo. We're keeping our guard up in case they strike again but we assume it will take some time before they strike." He stated with importance.

"We've got a war coming then." Tsuki stated sadly. After a long pause of silence, she looked up, worry evident on her face. "What about….What about Kioku? Did they find him?"

This was the question Byakuya had been hoping that she wouldn't ask, but she had popped it anyway. "Captain Hitsugaya found him in the chambers under central forty six." He replied while watching Tsuki's face brighten up. He didn't want to lower her spirits, but he had to tell her the whole truth. "He was found dead, by Aizen's hand. We looked for the body after Aizen left but it was no longer there." Her smile turned to a frown and she lowered her head a bit.

After a while she asked him, "Have you informed his family yet?"

"No." Byakuya answered. "I have decided leave it to you to inform them."

Tsuki nodded, and knew that she couldn't bring herself to tell them. She had also assumed Aizen must have brought the body with him to Hueco Mundo, so she decided to find out all she could about Kioku's status there and tell his family the bad news when she found out what really happened.

That meant no matter what, she had to venture out to Hueco Mundo. An item being handed to her brought her up from her deep thoughts and she looked up, seeing her zanpaku-tô in its sheath. She took it giving her thanks and hugged it, relieved to have Tsuyoi-ai back. Suddenly realization flashed across her face as she looked up to her captain with a look of shock.

"Wait." She said to him. "I thought I was going to be discharged for disobeying you."

"I understood the reasons for your actions and decided to let it slide." Her captain stated, using his reason rather than Rukia's (she wanted Tsuki to stay in the ranks). "As long as you promise to obey my orders from now on." He said this last sentence sternly, and she took it seriously.

Finally she stood up and bowed respectfully to her captain, saying, "I am deeply sorry for disobeying you captain." – she rose – "And to make it up to you, I'll go help Renji with the paperwork."

With that she left the office, Byakuya watching her leave with a look of concern on his face…


That's it for today, but I have a treat for you on Thursday! Since I'll be away from this Friday to next Monday, so I'll be posting four chapters on Thursday! I hope you look forward to it!