Rukia sat on the outcropping of Urahara Shoten, absently stretching the legs of her gigai. It had been a while since she'd been in one. Too long, it seemed. She knew she didn't really need one as far as Ichigo was concerned, but as she was visiting him at school for the first time, she'd thought it best if he not look crazy by talking to someone nobody else could see. After all, how many others could there be at his university who were spiritually aware?

She'd arrived maybe a half-hour earlier, only to be told that he still had a class to attend before they could spend time together. That was what she'd truly come for, though ostensibly it was to retrieve him for Captain Ukitake's debriefing. She still wasn't completely comfortable with her ulterior motives – she felt as though she was taking advantage . But he knew, right? He'd all but told her to take some time to see Ichigo, hadn't he?

She hoped so.

"Hi, Rukia-san!" Yuzu Kurosaki's cheery voice rang out from right beside her, making her jump. She hadn't even noticed that the girl had sat down next to her. Her hair was longer now, styled in two pigtails.

"Oh, hello, Yuzu," Rukia replied. She couldn't help being a little nervous. Did Yuzu know why Rukia was here? Did she know what Rukia planned to do later?

Did Rukia?

"I haven't seen you in a while," Yuzu said in a chipper tone.

"Indeed, it's been quite some time." Rukia had been going to end with Since I've been here, but as that wasn't true, she'd just stopped short instead.

Yuzu turned her face to the sky as she began swinging her legs back and forth instead of letting them simply hang off the outcropping. "You're here to see Nii-san, right?"

Rukia's spine became a steel rod. "Y-yes," she answered truthfully. "It's official Soul Society business," she finished, not as truthfully as she'd started. She immediately hated that it sounded like such a rehearsed explanation.

"Rukia-san, are you Nii-san's girlfriend?"

Rukia's face became very hot as she clutched at the hem of the sky blue sundress her gigai was wearing. That was a very good question, one Rukia honestly could not answer.

"I...don't know if I'd say that..." was her reply.

"Oh," Yuzu exclaimed. Her tone was whiny and her expression the very definition of disappointment. "That's too bad, I think he really likes you."

God, was Ichigo that obvious?

"Oh. Well I guess...you might say – I mean, it's not – what I mean is...um...we have kissed," Rukia finally confessed. She refrained from telling Yuzu just how well she knew the taste of her brother's mouth.

Yuzu squealed. "Really?!" she asked, taking both of Rukia's hands up in her own in a rather sisterly way. "That's great!"

It was? Well, that had certainly gone differently in her head.

"Tell me, Rukia-san, what kind of things do you do together?" Yuzu asked with all the innocence in the world. Either she really was that naive or she was trying to force out some incriminating confession that would haunt Rukia the rest of her days. Not that they'd done anything that drastic yet.

Just the thought of it made her redden even more.

"Well, we talk" And kiss "and go on walks" Then stop to kiss "and sometimes we just sit quietly and enjoy each other's company" And lips. "...Why do you ask?"

Jeez, were they really so single-minded?

"Oh, just curious, I guess," she told the sky, but Rukia noticed a blush rise in her cheeks.

"Is that so?" Rukia asked pressingly.

Yuzu brought her shoulders up as she fiddled with her fingers. "I think...I might have a boyfriend too," she said, right before slapping her hands over her reddening face.

"I see," said Rukia with a smirk, happy the tables had turned before she'd been incriminated. "Somebody from school?"

Yuzu frantically shook her head, her face still in her hands.

"Oi, Yuzu!" came a youthful but gravelly voice. Rukia looked to the source: Jinta. He jogged over to where they both sat as Yuzu slapped her hands back down to her lap, looking like she was forcing them to stay in place, as she focused on them instead of the boy who had called to her.

Jinta's hair no longer stood in three points and was tamed back, and he was quite a bit taller. He probably would have looked much more mature if he wasn't blushing and looking so nervous.

"Um...I'm done my work for today, so..." he began, then seemed to hopelessly stall. Neither of them said anything for a long moment, so Rukia did instead.

"Did you also remember to put prices on all that new candy you got?" she asked, and Yuzu seemed to snap out of it as she looked excitedly at the red-faced boy.

"Oh! You have new candy already? What kinds?" she asked. Jinta looked as if he'd been caught off-guard by her enthusiasm and remained frozen for a moment, before finally nodding stiffly.

"Wanna come see?" he asked in monotone. Yuzu nodded and popped up as Jinta turned with all the grace of a weather vane in the wind, leading her to the goods. As they walked, Rukia saw Yuzu take his hand, and noticed him shiver. In his back pocket – looking as though it had been placed with much care, as its little arms hung out as if it were going for a ride – was a small, home-made stuffed animal: a little green cat with buttons for eyes.

Urahara snapped his fingers, finally pulling Karin's eyes away from Rukia, where they'd been the past few minutes.

"Something wrong?" he asked. The girl had been on the other side of the table for a while now, but hadn't touched the tea he'd set out.

"Rukia-san came here to take Ichi-nii to Soul Society, right?" she asked suddenly. Urahara doubted very much that that was the actual reason, but he knew it was the excuse.

"Is that right?" he asked, feigning ignorance. "I would have thought they'd lost interest in him by now."

Karin fixed him with a very serious look, which at her age she probably shouldn't have been able to manage. "Don't play dumb, I know you and my dad helped give him his powers back."

Urahara said nothing, pretending to be distracted when he overheard Yuzu chattering excitedly about the new candies Jinta was showing her. He sighed, knowing that he was about to take a major hit when half the stock left the store at one-tenth of the price.

"How did you do it?" came Karin's serious voice.

Urahara realized that there was no use putting it off. "To be honest, we used a rather...unorthodox method," he told her.

Karin was silent for a long time, and Urahara had just about formulated his segue into excusing himself before she spoke again, picking her words carefully.

"...Would it work on me?"

He knew this had been coming, at not just since she'd asked to talk to him today. He removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair as he thought of the best way to respond.

"It's hard to say" was what he went with, and it was the truth. Sure, her powers had steadily increased in the past few years, but that didn't necessarily mean she was continuing the family legacy.

Though it didn't mean she wasn't, either.

"Your brother...is a special case," he continued.

Karin looked cast-fallen. "I know," she admitted. Now she spoke into the table. "But I also know that he's fighting again. He doesn't do it as much as he used to, but every so often I feel it," she explained, worry creeping into her voice. "I can sense when he fights those...things, yet all I can do is sit at home and worry until I see him again."

Urahara rapped on the tabletop twice with his finger to once again grab her attention. "Karin-chan, you know your father wouldn't approve of me letting you get into trouble," he explained gently. She nodded sorrowfully.

"He's one too, right? Like my brother."

"He was, yes."

"He doesn't think I can do it too?" she asked. She sounded more hurt than Urahara had expected.

"He's your father, he worries about you," said Urahara in a calming voice.

"But I used to – with Don Kanonji, I mean. I did okay..." she said, turning away from him again.

"Being a Shinigami is very different, I'm afraid."

"Are you one too, Urahara-san?" she asked suddenly, her eyes finding his.

Urahara didn't fight his smirk. She was a shrewd one. "That was a long time ago," he admitted.

At his answer, Karin's eyes widened a moment. "Really? But you're always such a goof," she said in surprise. Had she even expected him to say yes, or had she just been shooting in the dark?

Rather than showcase his disappointment in the unfair categorization, he instead deflected it with "And your father isn't?"

That gave her pause, alright. She smirked a bit too.

"Were you both very strong, like my brother?"

"I guess you could say that."

"So just how strong is he?" she asked. He thought she was probably working her way to asking how she might become as strong.

Well, he guessed there was no harm in telling her. Isshin probably wouldn't mind, right?

"Let me tell you about the Gotei 13..."

Even if Ichigo hadn't needed to use bankai, he was certainly furious enough to do so anyway. This damn Hollow! Coming out of nowhere, right when Rukia and he were –

At the moment, Aizen seemed like a high school bully in comparison to the evil of this...whatever-it-was. Ichigo had forgotten what Toshiro had called them, Adju-somethings. Whatever. They were the stronger ones, the leaders of the Gillian. He remembered only being told that they were smaller, stronger and smarter, and this guy had already proven to be those things, in spades. And he was especially fast.

Ichigo might not have even needed his bankai if the damn thing wasn't so quick. It knocked him on his ass before he'd even got in his first hit, and easily slipped past the tidal wave of ice Rukia had sent its way. You could only see it about half the time.

But when the thing had backhanded Rukia and sent her sailing across the street, the gloves were off. He activated his bankai without a second thought. He wanted the speed boost just to catch her before she hit the pavement as much as to take the thing down. But oh, how he wanted to do it now. So much. Too much; his head ached with the speed at which the blood rushed to his head. He set her down a good distance away before returning in a flash to stand before that absolute piece of shit.

His bankai felt different now, but that didn't matter, so long as it worked. He did care to notice that Tensa Zangetsu now had some extra reach, which he took full advantage of as he pressed the Hollow relentlessly.

Funny, it didn't seem all that fast anymore.

But it was still quick enough to dodge a few strikes, though its own attacks were no longer of any concern. It was a stalemate, and Ichigo couldn't help feeling ashamed at that. He should have been able to end something like this using bankai without much trouble, but only found himself getting in shallow slashes and knock-backs. Then he realized that maybe he was enjoying hurting the thing. No, he definitely was. It deserved every bit of it, after all.

And that thought scared Ichigo, enough so that the Hollow's fist grazed his cheek before he sped away.

Stop it, don't be like him.

It was time to put an end to this.

Ichigo grasped Tensa Zangetsu's hilt with both hands, and noticed it already felt hot. He briefly wondered if he even needed to say the words or just let his anger do it for him.

He decided to say them anyway.

"Getsuga...TENSHO!"

The Hollow vanished, but hadn't been hit. It had dodged the black crescent, and suddenly reappeared only a short distance from Ichigo. Good, but not good enough.

Ichigo yanked Tensa Zangetsu closer, and like a fish at the end of a line, the black crescent suddenly reversed direction to follow it. The Hollow only had enough time to look upon its impending doom before it was cut neatly in half, its torso taking leave of its legs at the waist. Then, it was nothing.

"Nii-sama..." came Rukia's stunned voice from behind. Ichigo turned and had been about to ask What when he noticed Byakuya Kuchiki, stiff as ever, gliding toward his adopted sister.

Ichigo Kurosaki's bankai had certainly changed.

There was still a black, red-lined coat, but it was draped over his shoulders rather than worn, leaving the sleeves to hang empty at the sides. It stayed in place by way of a small, four-link black chain near the standing collar. His entire torso and arms, save for the shoulders, were wrapped in pitch black bandages, with two blood red ones crisscrossing his chest to make a large "X" in the center.

The sword was more or less the same: a thin longsword, black from end to end, with a guard in the shape of the "Ban" character. There was only one small difference: where a length of black chain had been before, only two small rings came off the hilt's end. The first was black as night, and the one linked to it was white as snow.

Byakuya pulled his attention up from the sword to look Ichigo straight in the staunchly determined face. "Well done," he allowed.

"Hey, Byakuya," Ichigo replied, though his greeting was less than friendly. No matter. He wasn't here to see an old friend.

"Nii-sama, what are you doing here?" he heard Rukia aske from beside him. The shock in her tone was very unlike her. Very unbecoming of a Kuchiki.

"I merely came as a precaution, in case Ichigo Kurosaki failed to slay the Hollow," he explained. He didn't bother to catch his sister's expression, but Ichigo's was...indignant.

"Thanks, but I can handle myself," he said rather boastfully as he swung his sword up to rest across his shoulders.

"I see. I meant no offence. I only wanted to be sure Rukia was safe. Your powers had only recently returned, after all. It was uncertain whether or not your bankai had retained its former potency," he explained, not altogether lying.

"But Nii-sama, didn't Captain Ukitake trust me to assist Ichigo?" Rukia asked, sounding more than a little disappointed.

"In fact, he did. It was I who volunteered to go, regardless. This was an Adjuchas, after all."

Ichigo Kurosaki continued to look less-than-welcoming. "Yeah, well, we're fine. Thanks, Byakuya. Sorry you had to come here for nothing," he said, turning to leave.

"It wasn't for nothing. I also came to retrieve my sister."

Ichigo Kurosaki froze. "Has she done something wrong?" he asked without facing him. Byakuya took note of the hostility in his tone. He didn't care for it.

"Nothing aside from spending far too much time here accomplishing a simple task. I'm sure you're aware that Captain Ukitake wishes to see you, Ichigo Kurosaki. My sister was sent here only to facilitate that meeting, and yet she's been here for hours." He afforded his sister a look, which he made sure said to her all that he couldn't just then.

"Well, I was busy. She was just being thorough," Ichigo Kurosaki defended, weakly. Byakuya had his suspicions, and the boy's words rang false in his ears.

But now was not the time to argue pointlessly.

"Come, Rukia," he commanded, turning away from Ichigo Kurosaki to take his leave. He was acutely aware when his sister did not follow. "Now."

The word had been enough, as he'd expected. Rukia's light footfalls followed in his wake as he continued on.

A second later, Ichigo Kurosaki's hand was on his shoulder. He was still so insolent.

"Don't" was all he said. He'd managed to fit quite a lot of anger in only the one word. It seethed with it.

"I'm only doing my duty, so you'll have to excuse me."

"Bullshit," the boy cursed. Byakuya didn't have time to fully appreciate how uncouth it had been before he continued. "If Ukitake wanted her back, he could have just contacted her himself."

"I suggest you remove your hand, Ichigo Kurosaki," Byakuya said, ignoring his words. Instead of heeding him, the boy only tightened his grip.

Byakuya was behind Ichigo in no time, but was not fast enough to do anything other than parry the boy's swing with his own zanpakuto. The anger that rang from the black sword's blade was palpable.

"Now is not the time for this," said Byakuya simply, pushing the blade away. He took notice of his sister's worried expression and felt secure in the fact that the boy would not continue to press the issue, so long as she was present. Because he too took notice of her, and lowered his sword a little. Byakuya took the chance to sweep past him.

"Your invitation to meet with Captain Ukitake stands," Byakuya informed him, against his better judgement. "If you truly feel you must see Rukia again, I suppose you might do so during that time."

And that, he hoped, would be the only time he'd do so.

Byakuya ignored his sister's backward glance at Ichigo as he led her home.