Author's note: I think I've made it quite clear that I do not own Bleach, yes? So no more disclaimers because they are getting tedious. So I want to thank you to all those who reviewed! And a special thanks goes to A Dream You've Chased! This talented author of several Byakuya/Unohana fics (or I'm sure you've already known that) is the one who taught me about "courtly love" (which Wikipedia defines as a medieval European notion about chivalrous love and admiration) and how it was so appropriate for what Byakuya feels for Unohana. I've learned other insights as well from this author which I am excited to use in the future chapters.

So this is the final chapter before Unohana discloses her deepest, darkest secret. We see a glimpse of what happened immediately after Unohana blacked out. We also learn a little more about Hisana's relationship with Byakuya, which she reveals to Unohana before she died. And last, Byakuya makes a decision that would change his relationships with both Rukia and Unohana, for better or for worse.

Not Just A Mother Figure

CHAPTER 10

Beams of sunlight dancing across the ceiling were the first things she saw when she opened her eyes. She had woken to the sound of birds chirping merrily outside. Any other day, this would have set her off in a good mood. But this particular day she felt nothing but confusion.

She closed her eyes again, her mind still shackled to the last dregs of black sleep. Strangely, her body felt weak and tired, despite just having woken up. She was tempted to go back to sleep, but curiosity reigned.

But what she really needed at that moment was something to quench her thirst. Her mouth was unbearably dry, and her head was slightly aching, She frowned. She could recite the symptoms of mild dehydration in her sleep. But associating these with herself felt peculiarly incongruous.

As if someone had foreseen her current predicament, there was a glass of water beside the mat she was lying on. The water was sparkling prettily from the light that refracted through the simply-designed glass. At that moment, she felt as if she had never seen anything as beautiful as that glass of water.

As she eagerly reached for the vessel of precious liquid, her trained mind automatically recorded several things. Among these observations was, one, she was in her room, in the 4th Division barracks.

Two, there were bandages wrapped carefully around her hand. (Surprised at this injury, she examined it curiously. It didn't hurt her. Whoever fixed her up or healed her had done a wonderful job.)

Three, there was a tiny card lying beside the spot where the glass had been waiting for her. There was nothing spectacular about this card, indeed, it looked rather plain. An ordinary person would have taken another moment or two to notice it. Unohana, in her current state of health and mind, had come dangerously close to overlooking it. But for the fact that she was a captain, skilled with ultra-sensitive bodily detectors and a keen eye for detail, she had sensed its presence even before her eyes landed on the said foreign object.

Question after question piled up on top of each other. Unohana was a straightforward, no non-sense person. She wanted answers, stable, concrete, factual answers. But first, water.

After she had drained the entire glass in one go, she pensively stretched for the unobtrusive piece of paper. The outside of the card had no design, no picture, no names, nothing, yet she could not deny that it had an elegant, expensive quality about it. Inside was a short, curt sentence—actually, it was a word—that did not sound far from a command.

Rest.

It was written in a beautiful, familiar handwriting. All strokes were delicate and precise. Perfect.

Her heart warmed and broke just a little, unaware that a gentle, bittersweet smile spread across her face.

He really could be so thoughtful when he wanted to, Byakuya did. She knew he wouldn't go as far as sending flowers, but this was probably as sensitive as he could get. Outwardly showing empathy has never been his habit. It simply wasn't his nature. But it made his more than rare moments of displaying genuine concern all the more meaningful and sincere when he tried. And she loved him all the more for it.

Frowning, she realized that this emotion really needed to stop. Getting up off her mat, she found another bandage wrapped around her ankle. Suddenly, the memories came flooding back to her like continuous flashes of lightning.

The sword!

She anxiously ran her uninjured hand through her unbound hair, to keep it away from her eyes and from getting in the way of her thorough examination of her quarters. She zoomed from room to room, searched beneath blankets and behind closet doors. From the bedroom, to the kitchen, to the tiny drawing room, she flash-stepped back and forth, becoming almost untraceable at the speed she was using. She could feel a pounding noise in her ears. Pulsatile Tinnitus. May result from accelerated blood flow near the ear or a heightened awareness of blood flow in ear.*

It wasn't there.

She felt as if she was in a dream. She fancied she was another person looking down upon herself panicking at the possibility that a shard of her history might have been revealed to whoever it was that rescued her from the cavern beneath the earth.

This couldn't possibly be happening to her. She buried her past in the deep darkness for so long. For a thousand years. How could it resurface now? How could a deceptively inconsequential excursion trigger such an unfortunate event?

At her right, the sliding door slammed open as Isane burst through, anxious with shoulders taut. Yet, as soon as she saw her captain standing, seemingly calm, relief washed through her veins. Unohana distantly noted her lieutenant's astounding transformation as the tension left her body in one rapid motion.

"Taichou! You're awake!" She began into one long, run-on sentence on how she felt Unohana's reiatsu shoot up and how she thought something had gone wrong and how worried she had been and how Unohana had been asleep for nearly three days and how sorry she was and how she should have not listened to Abarai-fukutaichou and how she's never going to take a nap after lunch and how—

"Isane, please, calm down. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

Isane still looked as if she was going to burst into tears at any second.

"Really, Isane. All I had was a cut and a sprained ankle. Nothing to worry about. I've had injuries exponentially greater than these," Unohana said, trying to make light of the situation, embarrassing as it already was.

"But it took you three days to gain consciousness!"

"I admit that I… had perhaps… pushed myself a little bit too far, with all the patients that needed healing and extra work that needed to be done. I may have, at times, forgotten to attend to my own personal health." Isane put on a disapproving, concerned look as Unohana said these words. She was about to give her a piece of her mind, but Unohana beat her to it. "I feel fine now." And she did, really. She no longer felt as nauseous as she had been. Every object in the room was satisfyingly stable and intact, not duplicating before her very eyes. She had woken up feeling sickeningly weak but nothing that a good glass of water couldn't fix.

Isane was immovable. "Taichou, you are not getting out of bed until I am a hundred percent certain you are healthy and strong again," she said firmly, reflecting the strictness that Unohana saved for misbehaving patients.

Unohana paused, momentarily taken aback by this sudden change in Isane. She was still reluctant to back down, though.

"Isane, as your captain—"

"Taichou, will all due respect, you are my captain but you are, at present, my patient. You know very well the rules governing inside the walls of Sōgō Kyūgo Tsumesho. All patients taken under the care of the 4th Division, regardless of stature, rank or position in the Gotei 13, or any other organization or institution, shall receive equal treatment and are required to abide—"

"To abide by the complete and medically sound jurisdiction of their delegated healer," Unohana hastily finished for Isane. "I know, Isane. I made that rule."

"Well, then. That's that," a triumphant, smug Isane said. She began to usher Unohana back to her unmade mat. Her eyes fell on the card that was now lying atop her discarded cotton sheets.

"Oh, that must have come from—"

"Kuchiki-taichou, I know," she said as calmly and casually as she could.

Isane's mouth broke into a conspiratorial grin then softened into a mellow smile. "He was the one who found you, you know." Her face reddened as she recalled what seemed to be an embarrassing moment. "I was barely awake when I felt someone grab my wrist. I was hardly able to recognize that it was Kuchiki-taichou when he flash-stepped out of the meadow—without any sign or warning—dragging me along with him. The next thing I knew, you were there, lying on the ground, bleeding and unconscious," she finished with a shiver. The sight had evidently been unsettling. And rightly so.

No subordinate should ever see their captain broken. It had a demoralizing effect upon them. Captains were untouchable, indestructible beings, the second highest attainable* echelon of power—the first being a member of the Ōzokutokumu*. That symbolic, yet tremendously essential supposition was what kept the Gotei 13, Seireitei and the rest of Soul Society in balance and fully functional. This was the chain and unity of command.

Unohana grew quiet, unsure of the extent of the details of the situation in which Isane had found her. But as far as she could tell, she did not mention anything remotely associated to a glass sword. She noted that Isane was still speaking.

"…quite a fright. So Kuchiki-taichou offered to take you all the way back to Seireitei on his own. The rest—"

"What did you say, Isane?"

"What? Oh, Kuchiki-taichou offered to…"

"No, before that."

"Erm… What did I say again? Oh yeah! Kuchiki-taichou said that if the others were to see you in that state, it'd have given them quite a fright. He saw no need to tell them about your…condition. He said you wouldn't have wanted to scare them with something that might not even be that serious anyway, though it did seem so as the time. He figured you wouldn't have wanted us to act the way Ukitake-taichou's subordinates treat him."

Unohana nodded carefully, comprehending the reasons behind Byakuya's magnanimous gesture. She was extremely grateful that he had the good sense of keeping her sudden bout of illness as clandestine as possible. But there were still gaping holes in the logic.

"But surely the others would have questioned our sudden absences?"

"Oh, yes, they did. Kuchiki-taichou authorized me to inform them that the two of you had been unexpectedly recalled to Seireitei to assist on some unforeseen crisis. He said to make it as vague and ambiguous as I could."

"And they believed that?"

Isane shrugged. "What choice did they have? Besides, we were… I mean, they were too much in high spirits from the lunch Kuchiki-taichou sponsored to conceive of anything pessimistic or problematic about the explanation."

Unohana saw herself being carried atop rooftops by the 6th Division's captain and knew she was blushing furiously. "Do you know if anyone saw Kuchiki-taichou when he brought me here?"

Isane shook her head contemplatively. "As far as I know, only I and Kuchiki-taichou know of your… condition… er… I mean… indisposition." Her brows furrowed as she tried to find a delicate word for her 'illness.' "If someone had seen you, word would have spread out by now. It would have undoubtedly made it in Seireitei Tsūshin*."

She could just imagine the title that would be gracing the front cover. 4thAND 6THDIVISION CAPTAINS FINALLY OFFICIAL?

She seriously prayed that no one had seen them. She did not wish to face the horrors that would await them if they had been spotted. Besides, Yamamoto would never approve of such tabloid-like material in the Gotei 13's official paper. Or at least she hoped so. She tried to stop thinking about it. She still had questions needing answers.

"And how were you able to explain my three-day disappearance?"

"Well, actually, it is not unusual for Shinigami to withdraw from society for prolonged periods of time. Countless Gotei 13 officers are currently on leave from regular duties on account of Bankai training. Almost every Shinigami training grounds in Seireitei is fully booked for the next six months."

Unohana nodded, taking for granted the fact that everyone else was too busy to question her sudden sabbatical. But she did find it odd that none of her yonbantai officers suspected anything amiss in her absence. After all, if she recalled correctly, which is usually the case, she had not gone on leave in the last four decades.

Isane had already moved on to focus on another matter. "Oh! Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot! Please wait here taichou while I go get you your meal. You haven't eaten for days…" with that she slid back out of her room, the birds and the growing distance drowning out her words. As if Unohana's stomach had ears, it growled angrily in agreement.

She inspected herself. She was wearing a casual, lavender kimono. Even underneath the layers of cloth, she could tell that she had gotten thinner. But thankfully, her Shinigami captain's uniform offered extra bulkiness. If she wore it and covered the right parts, she was confident no one would detect her rapid weight loss. Feeling tired again, though she'd never let Isane know that, she settled back on her mat. Her last thought, however inappropriate it might be, was how it was such a shame that she was unconscious the moment she had the chance to be in Byakuya's arms.

Had it been lovely, having a taste of that forbidden fruit? Would the bittersweet happiness have overcome the intense torment? The pain being that which springs from two irrefutable things: the first being the knowledge that hers is a love that must not exist. And second, the acceptance that that which she yearns for is a love he can never give.

Yet in spite of these, she still wished to know what it had felt like to be in his arms, even under those circumstances, if only just for a while.

Minutes passed, one, five, ten, twenty, when Isane came bustling back carrying a tray laden with nutritious soups and medicinal herbs. But one look at her captain and she knew she had fallen fast asleep. She laid the tray beside the empty glass of water just in case she woke up, which she knew wasn't happening any time soon. Casting one last loving look at the sleeping figure, she left the room with a tender feeling tugging at her heartstrings.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She was in a large room, empty, save for the prone figure on the futon placed in the center of the barrenness. Windows were open on one side, revealing a beautiful garden, magnificent in autumn colors.

"Unohana-san…" a breathy voice called for her.

She stepped nearer to the sickly girl and kneeled beside the mattress. She knew immediately that this was a dream, a memory she had of the rare moments when she and Hisana were alone. Byakuya, she recalled, had been figuratively dragged into a meeting with his elders and advisors whom she knew had not a care for his seriously ill wife. Despite this knowledge, Unohana managed to put on an encouraging smile, without the pity she unmistakably felt for her. They had only been married for five years, a blink of an eye in the face of eternity, for none knew truly how long a Shinigami was capable of living.

"I am here, Hisana-san. How do you feel?"

Instead of answering, Hisana grew thoughtful, her eyes reluctant at first yet becoming increasingly determined. "Byakuya-sama is not here. I am afraid I will never get another chance to speak with you alone," she whispered. "I have a confession to make."

Unohana heard every word, yet did not speak. Did she want to be the burden bearer of the secrets of a dying woman? Before she could answer this herself, Hisana spoke again.

"Do you know of the Western stories that they call fairytales?"

Unohana nodded. The Kuchiki family had an extensive library. She had been constantly invited to peruse its contents. It contained novels, atlases, documents, tablets in every language that had ever been conceived, in both the human and spiritual world.

"Are you familiar, then, with Cinderella?"

Unohana once again nodded, already knowing where Hisana was going yet she couldn't bring herself to break her silence.

"I feel like her, like Cinderella," she said softly, turning her head to stare out at the garden. "Out of all the fairytales, she was the one…I disliked the most."

She paused. Unohana almost thought she would speak no more when she continued. "Of all the princesses, she was not a real one. She had been married to royalty. But it could not hide the fact that her blood was that of a commoner. And nothing, not even Prince Charming's great love, could change that."

She turned and stared at Unohana, her eyes sorrowful with tears. "And what did she leave her sisters in the end? Absolutely nothing. While she herself led a glorious, pampered life."

"Stepsisters," Unohana corrected, finally speaking. "Stepsisters who mistreated her for nearly her entire life."

"It does not matter. It does not change the fact that they were the only relatives she had left. And she forsook them…Just like I did…"

"Hisana-san, Kuchiki-taichou would not want you to be thinking of such…melancholic things," Unohana said, finding the most appropriate word to describe Hisana's dark thoughts.

But Hisana went on as if she did not hear what Unohana said. "The only difference is that Cinderella loved Prince Charming."

Unohana froze, confirming what her heart had already believed to be true.

Had she known at that time that Byakuya had a wife that did not love him? No, but she would not be honest if she said she didn't have her doubts. She had remembered meeting Hisana for the first time. Byakuya had been so happy. Even with the disapproval of all his advisors, there was nothing that could wipe the gentle, loving smile on his face. In those days, his eyes still held warmth which died the day she passed away, or so Unohana believed. But for all the passion she had seen in him, she found it lacking in the petite, raven-haired girl beside him. Instead, she felt a darkness overshadowing her. A sorrow that she couldn't place.

She felt her heart reach out to Byakuya. He had so much potential, so many possibilities that he could take. He had his whole career as a Shinigami ahead of him. It was only a matter of time before he was promoted to captain. He married the woman he loved, vowing to be together till death had them part. Who would have foreseen that death would arrive a little too early.

"I want to love him," Hisana said quickly, afraid of being misunderstood. She felt compassion in the healer that she was confident she would not judge her the way the others had. "He has made me so happy. He has given me everything I have ever wished for. All my childhood dreams, of marrying a handsome price, of living in a mansion, of having enough food on the table, he has fulfilled. But there was never a time when I didn't feel guilty, as if all these blessings, this happiness, was something I cheated my way into getting. I wanted to love him, to give him all of me, because that is everything I have. But even that I could not do."

"Hisana," Unohana interrupted gently. "I am sorry, but you are being silly. There is no reason that you should be feeling this way. You won Byakuya's heart, fair and square. All of these wonderful things, he gives to you as gifts to show his love for you. I have known him since he was a child and I am certain he does not ask for anything in return."

Hisana, instead of being appeased, started to shed even more tears. "I know…He—I am… I don't… understand how he could be so good to me…"

It was unprofessional. Yet Unohana thought it was the right thing to do. So she took Hisana's cold hands into her own, if only to provide her whatever comfort she was able to give. "I know the answer," she told Hisana. "And you know the answer as well." She gave her an encouraging smile.

"Because he loves you."

The two women held each other's hands in silence, becoming lost in their own thoughts. It was Hisana who disrupted the stillness. Taking Unohana by surprise—a mild yet pleasant surprise—Hisana gathered enough strength and sat up. Gently taking her hands out of Unohana's, she wrapped her thin, weak arms around the healer. Unohana, touched by her heartwarming embrace, smiled and hugged back.

Hisana broke their hug and wore the widest, most cheerful smile Unohana had ever seen on her since the day they met.

"Thank you, Unohana-san."

"There is nothing to thank. I had only been telling the truth."

Hisana, if possible, smiled even brighter. She began giggling softly. Unohana, unable to stop herself, started to laugh as well. Pretty soon, the two of them had laughed their hearts out and chased the troublesome shadows away, or at least most of them.

"He will be sad, when my time comes."

Unohana could not avert her eyes from Hisana's wide, purple ones. She hesitatingly nodded. "Yes, he will."

Hisana nodded peacefully, already accepting that there was nothing the healer could do for her broken heart.

"Please take care of him, Unohana-san."

Unohana couldn't help but chuckle at that. "If he lets me, Hisana-san."

Hisana grinned mysteriously, as if there was another secret she had not revealed to her. She had a dreamy look on her face.

"He will."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a beautiful sword, though he had no doubt it was completely useless in an attack. He gracefully traced the edge with his finger, careful not to cut himself with it. He need not have worried though. His reiatsu was thick enough to avoid such negligible injuries. This led to the frightening deduction that Unohana had really been out of sorts when she cut herself with it. He knew whatever was plaguing her had a connection with this sword. Did she accidentally stumble across it? Or did she seek for it intentionally? Was this the real reason behind her excursion? And if so, was this why she did not want him to come along?

Question after question sprang forth from his mind like pesky mole rats popping up from the ground.

His finger reached the hilt where her family name was carved.

So many secrets.

It was as if the moment he uncovered a secret, another secret awaited him. Like opening a chest only to find another chest hidden inside.

Byakuya reflexively clenched his jaw as he recalled the sight of her prone figure, smelling of dirt and blood. It had taken him another moment to comprehend the reality that the unconscious woman was Unohana. His Unohana Retsu.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to shake the image away. But the despair and fear remained. Despair from the growing conclusion that he had failed to protect her. Fear from the revelation that she had needed protection to begin with.

Unohana Retsu, his strong foundation, beloved angel and benevolent savior. Loathe was he to admit but she had seemed so broken. It shook his entire being. All his life, he thought she was an immoveable object. Yet here he was, discovering an unstoppable force that could actually touch her. Though what exactly this force was, he had yet to find out.

He found it hard to believe. No, he was not even sure if he had accepted it yet. The truth had lain before his very eyes, in his own arms. She had felt too light, too tiny and insubstantial, not like the solidity he had expected. Like a broken-winged little bird one instinctively feels the strong need to protect. But what his eyes had seen, his heart could not understand.

So he took her injured state upon himself. If he had watched her more closely, made sure she had eaten enough, had slept well enough, had… She had always taken care of him. And when she needed him the most, he could not return the favor.

Kuchiki Byakuya was not a person who wallows in self-pity. But he was dangerously close to.

Fortune had given him another second chance. First, with Rukia. Then, with himself. Now, with Retsu. He was not going back through all that. He was not going to risk losing his loved ones anymore. And to seal his newfound resolution, he made a vow. Taking out a blank piece of paper, a brush and a jar of ink, he wrote his promise.

I, Kuchiki Byakuya, 28thhead of the Kuchiki clan and captain of the 6thDivision of the Gotei 13, swear to protect…

Those that he loved? Or should he write their names to be specific? He deliberated for a while before he continued.

to protect my sister, Kuchiki Rukia, and my…

What was Unohana to him? Mother figure sounded a bit too cumbersome.

my dearest friend, Unohana Retsu, at all costs, be it small or great, material or immaterial, from all harm, be it trivial or grave, to the best of my ability.

He stared at the words and watched the ink slowly dry. Was it ill-advised of him to make such a hasty promise? Especially after the clashing of the first two vows he had made? And the fact that an occupational hazard naturally comes with being a Shinigami?

Perhaps it was. But he was a man of ceremonies and formalities. Creating a vow was how he felt like he had a purpose again. It was how he had survived after his wife's death.

Moreover, the vow has been made, and there was no turning back now. He admitted that his promise made him feel a little bit better knowing he was going to make it up to Unohana and Rukia. If he would be completely honest, the vow was for Rukia and Retsu as much as it was for himself.

Speaking of one of said women, a soft knock came from outside.

"Nii-sama," a deep, almost masculine voice suddenly spoke behind the shōji doors of his study. He could make out a tiny shadow from the figure outside, cast by the diminishing day light.

In a blink of an eye, he had managed to flash-step to the far corner of the room, hide the glass sword and written piece of paper in a secret compartment beneath the wooden floor panels, and flash-step back behind his desk again.

The shōji doors revealed a small, dark-haired girl. The blow from how closely she resembled his late wife never lessened, even after almost half a century had passed.

Behind her, the hallway overlooked one of the many enclosed gardens that had been built inside the mansion. A manmade fountain was gurgling merrily under the fading light of the overhead sky. The two Kuchiki's were home earlier than usual that day, on account of the Soutaichou's decree that the Gotei 13 have a half-day to give everyone a small break from their intense training.

"A letter had arrived for you earlier today," Rukia said, holding out a small white envelope with both hands. "It bears the insignia of the 4th Division."

She passed the letter to Byakuya. He inspected it quickly. True enough, there was a printed bellflower on the corner of the envelope.

Byakuya turned to her adoptive sister who was eagerly waiting for his instructions. Unohana's words suddenly rang in his mind. What were they exactly? Be nicer, was it?

He mentally scoffed at such a common, seemingly frivolous and obsequious word.

But… he promised he would protect her, even if it was from his hostility.

He swallowed his pride.

"Thank you, Rukia. You may go."

Maybe he should have given more thought before he had made that vow.

Despite his rising misgivings, his efforts had not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. Rukia practically glowed with overflowing joy as she heard his words. She bowed and smiled so brilliantly, it was almost ridiculous. Byakuya, though he didn't show it outright, really wasn't comfortable with emotional gestures.

Rukia was still smiling. "Nii-sama, if there is anything else you need, I'll be with you right away." With that, she left his study with a noticeable spring in her step.

Hmm… He supposed he could get used to this. He would start with small changes with his behavior. Make short term goals. Heavens knew Rukia deserved it, after everything he did to her. And Retsu deserved it, after everything she did for him.

It was ironic. He had never been a human, unlike most of the others. He was born in Soul Society, raised to take after all the other heads of the Kuchiki clan, to take a seat in the 6th Division of the Gotei 13. His elders claimed he was the most powerful Shinigami that had ever been born into the Kuchiki family in at least nine of the last generations. Yet for all the greatness he had achieved of being a Shinigami, he still felt twinges of what they call humanityevery now and again.

Love, companionship, and friendship, they were of no use to a Shinigami. They were only troublesome emotions. That was what the Academy* had tried to ingrain in their hearts. But humanity was like a stubborn plant with deep roots embedded in all souls. One cannot exterminate it completely.

He opened the letter in his hand.

Kuchiki-taichou,

I am pleased to report that Unohana-taichou had awakened and is swiftly recovering her strength, though she has currently gone back to sleep. As you have requested, no one else is aware of her condition and no one has questioned her whereabouts as of the present. I can also tell that she still has a lot of questions, which I cannot answer. If I may say so, she seeks for answers that only you, Kuchiki-taichou, are able to provide.

Kotetsu Isane, yonbantai-fukutaichou

P.S. If I am not mistaken, she will not wake until after 7 p.m.

After reading it once, he crumpled it and threw it on the bed of coal under the clay pot of burning incense beside his desk. He then opened his leftmost drawer and took out a Chappy the Rabbit watch that Rukia had given him as a gift for his brthday.

He still had 2 hours to spare. More than enough time to go and have dinner.

Gin had told him about a Chinese restaurant near the 3rd Division Headquarters. Traitor though he was, Byakuya could not deny that he had good taste in food. He wondered if Rukia was hungry for some stir-fried noodles.

*Pulsatile Tinnitus- definition from Wikipedia

*Ōzokutokumu- King Subordinate Secret Service, also known as the Zero Division or Royal Guard.

*Seireitei Tsūshin- Seireitei Communication, a magazine published monthly and distributed in Soul Society, c/o the 9th division.

*Shinōreijutsuin- The Spiritual Arts Academy, founded by Genryūsai Yamamoto

Up next: Unohana Retsu has made a decision. This is the turning point. It may be a happy one, or maybe it is a sad one. But one thing's for sure, it ends in tears.

Please review!

P.S. I should probably apologize in advance. School's coming up and it's going to take me longer to update. So I'm sorry in advance...