A/N: Still don't own any of the Bleach characters. The plot is mine. Several of the characters are mine.

"Do you ever wonder why we exist? I mean, aside from sending people to soul society." Yumuru lay beside her with a blank expression on her beautiful face. Her eyes stared daringly into the sun without blinking.

Oshiriku inhaled deeply before rolling onto her side so that her brown eyes were on the face of her friend. She smiled widely. "We exist to keep order and balance." The answer seemed like a logical one. Her hands planted into the ground; she stood with a loud sigh.

"We've been here for five weeks. I have yet to master shunpo."

"You're almost there. The hollows make for good practice with your zanpakuto, no?" She laughed when Yumuru nodded in agreement. Her bare feet felt deliciously free in the deep brown dirt underneath her feet. She raised her hand over her head with a loud yawn. The wound from her surgery had healed completely, but she couldn't help but stick her hand in her kimono at some moments and wonder if she would truly remain sick until her death. Death? She smiled at the thought of dying after being alive for over one and a half millennia. Her full pink lips stretched into an even wider smile when she saw three people approaching them from the north. No one knew they were there. Well, unless they could pick up Yumuru's reiatsu, which was basically pouring out at any angle it could.

Ishirio clutched a white cloth in his arms as he trudged beside Mikabozu and another tenth division member in silence. The two had already showed him how they felt about his conversation when each of them had punch him in the mouth whenever he tried to speak. His face brightened at the sight of Oshiriku standing beside a girl who was almost as beautiful as she. He pressed a kiss against his wife's cheek before shaking the girl's hand. He recognized her from someplace, but he just couldn't quite place her. The girl gave him a firm handshake before turning her attention to the two men that walked with them. She skillfully maneuvered them away from Oshiriku and Ishirio so that they could engage in a conversation. Yumuru told crazy jokes and managed to catch Mikabozu attention each time his eyes wandered over to where Oshiriku stood.

The sun felt unbearably hot against her smooth skin as she smiled at her husband chatting away about his greatest invention being perfected by Urahara. Oshiriku nodded hesitantly, but fought back the images blurring in front of her. She wrapped an arm around Ishirio's waist so she could rest against him. They sat down in the grass where they shared a cup of sake. Oshiriku rested her head against Ishiro's warm chest and let her eyes fall closed. He thought she'd fallen asleep. So, he held her until Mikabozu began to complain that they might be missing good hollows to be there. Ishirio planted a lingering kiss on Oshiriku's forehead. Just as he adjusted her so she was comfortable on the grass, a huge hollow appeared behind him. He scooped Oshiriku into his arms and jumped out of the way just as a clawed hand slammed into the ground. He pushed her into Yumuru's arms.

Yumuru looked down at her captain with concern. "She's very pale."

Ishirio broke into a run with Yumuru following close at his heels. He marveled at how fast Oshiriku had taught the girl. After shoving his bag into her arms, he left her standing in the cave. She kneeled beside her captain and began waving odd things underneath her nose. Oshiriku's eyes flew open when Yumuru held the salts underneath her nose. The girl let out a loud sigh before helping her into a sitting position. Her hand massaged Oshiriku's neck as she silently prayed the ruckus would be over soon. Yumuru left Ohsiriku with a flask of tea in the cave. She ran towards the battle. The hollow was huge. It was bigger than the one Oshiriku had killed with her zanpakuto the day before. His white mask looked like it could have been the mask one wore to a masquerade ball, but his body was like a huge hairless figure drenched in fuzzy darkness. Her eyes easily followed his movements for he walked only in the shadows. How could there be shadows without light?

A gasp escaped her when she saw Ishirio and Mikabozu charge the hollow at the same time. Mikabozu was knocked back, but Ishirio managed to cut the monster's arm off. Yumuru began to appreciate that her captain was married to someone who could be sensitive when it called and strong when it called for it. She pressed her hand over her eyes when the claws dug into the third man's back. Oshiriku appeared beside her with her black hair plastered onto her pale face and her lips in a tight line. Her eyes widened in surprise at the way her husband attacked the hollow with skill she didn't know he had. Her eyes roamed from Ishirio to the man with the sea colored eyes glaring at him with his sword drawn. They were attacking the same hollow, but anyone could tell there was tension between the two of them that was severing their cause. Oshiriku sat on the ground with her knees pressed into the dirt so that her mouth hung open slightly. She rested her head on Yumuru's thigh. Her dark eyes strayed from Mikabozu's strained face so that they rested on the hollow. Hollow?

"Ishirio. Mikabozu! Pull yourselves together. That's not a normal hollow." She stood to her feet shakily. The color slowly began to return to her face in response to the look Mikabozu was giving her. Ishirio was busy holding the monster off. Her heart's pace increased when Ishirio flew through the air so that he slammed into the higher branches of a tree before hitting the ground. "Mikabozu, stand down."

"My captain is in Seireitei." He glared at her before dodging a blind attack from his opponent.

Oshiriku took a deep breath and began stalking towards the fight with her fists tight. Yumuru followed behind her at a safe pace. "Iki Nare. You've come for me. I'm here." She felt Yumuru's hand press into the small of her back. The arrancar's golden eyes turned to her. Was she mistaken or was there a deep smile on its face? He began to walk towards her.

"This is my fight. My glory. Go wallow in your sickness someplace." Mikabozu ducked just as another clawed hand swung at his head.

Oshiriku stood beside him suddenly and knocked him out of the way as sharp white objects had shot out of the arrancar's hand; he hadn't been expecting that one. She turned in time to see Ishirio shove her out of the way so that she landed on her behind. He ducked, but one scraped him on the shoulder. She didn't know how he did it, but he dug up spirit energy from someplace so that when he brought his sword through the air it slashed the monster into two halves. The body fell back into a pile of dust so that it disappeared. Ishirio turned to her with a smile. She was so beautiful.

"You're even beautiful with that look of terror on you fa--" His words were cut short by a dagger that had lodged into his chest. Another flew at his stomach, but he sidestepped so that it grazed his side. He fell to his knees gasping for air.

Oshiriku stood and ran to him. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and buried her face in his dark green hair. It reminded her so much of the grass she and Yumuru had danced in weeks earlier. She clutched him against her tightly so that they fell to the ground together with her leaning over him and pulling the weapon from his chest. She pressed a handkerchief against his chest wound. "Yumuru? Bring his bag." She looked up some minutes later to find her third in command at the end of Mikabozu's sword with the bag in her hand. Oshiriku's eyes widened. The daggers had come from him? Her eyes brimmed with tears as she looked down at her dying husband. She glared at Mikabozu. "I can forgive so much."

The anger in his face retreated slightly but was replaced with a gleam two times as strong in his eyes. "It's no fun always being second or third."

Oshiriku's hand slid around Ishirio's. She pressed her face into his warm neck with a groan. What should she do? Her eyes bore into the hazel ones staring at her. Her bloodied hand touched his face. She pressed her lips against his gently. Ishirio smiled against her mouth. "I love you." Her grip on his hand tightened. She slowly put his head onto the ground as to not further his wounds. After attempting to wipe some of the blood on her kimono failed, she forced a smile as she turned to Mikabozu.

Her voice broke when she spoke. Her arm extended slowly so that she did not appear a threat to him. "Give me my officer and the bag."

"No. Don't you get it? We're no longer fighting hollows. This is personal. I grew up listening to my parents brag on how wonderful your family was. My mother wanted me to be someone great so I could serve underneath your cousin on the special corps, but I didn't even make the team. They hated me."

"I don't care. He's dying. Give me the bag, Yumuru."

Mikabozu's sword grazed Yumuru's neck when she lifted the bag. A line of blood traced down her skin until it was on the sharp silver blade. "Learn to care."

She kneeled beside Ishirio when he began to tremble. Tears welled in her eyes again as she pressed her lips against his cheek. She'd just learned to love him the way he deserved and here he was about to be taken away from her. "Hold on, Koto-chan. For me. Please." Oshiriku kissed him gently before turning to the man glaring at her. She pressed her lips together. Her dark eyes glimmered with anger, but there was more fear there than anything else he could see.

Mikabozu released a very masculine laugh that made the hair on Oshiriku's arm stand. He lowered his sword an inch from Yumuru's neck and stared at his adversary with a sadistic smile. He lifted his chin slightly. "You will die today. It's the only way."

Oshiriku sighed. "It's pointless." She took a deep breath and gazed at him curiously. "Fine. You kill me in exchange for letting Kotogotoku live."

Mikabozu laughed again. He moved his sword from Yumuru's neck. She fell to her knees in relief. He slapped his knee. "You are in no position to bargain. Besides, I want all of you to die. If he lives, you'll die happy. You see? I know you've moved on from Ukitake because Ishirio has been so happy the past few weeks. No, he will die. Then, you will die."

"What purpose will that serve?" She asked the question with a frown.

"I can't kill Yoruichi. I can't even dream up a fantasy insane enough that would allow me to get close enough to her so that I can kill her, but you, you're her cousin. I will kill her through you. But first, I will kill you." He stepped back when she walked towards him, but he didn't move when she stepped forward again. The smile on his face disappeared and was replaced by that ugly smirk of his. His sea colored eyes gleamed in the light as they burned with hatred for her.

"Yumuru, take care of him." Oshiriku said thickly. Mikabozu didn't see the girl kneeling beside Ishirio until Oshiriku stepped aside. Her white haori with her division's number floated to the ground. A strong breeze blew her thick black hair into her face, but she did not move to push it away. She was taken by surprise at the quick hike in his reiatsu. Her lips opened slightly as her eyes widened.

"You didn't think I had been just resting all these years, did you?" The smirk on his face turned into a smug grin. He raised his sword.

"As the senior officer present, I acknowledge you, Mikabozu Nakkuko, to stand down." She glared daggers at him.

"No."

"If you attack me, I will kill you. Stand down."

Mikabozu lifted his sword again. "Hishinuma, flood."

Oshiriku frowned at the sudden increase in air pressure of the atmosphere. She balled her hands into fists but did not draw her sword. Her brown eyes darkened when her opponent smiled again and disappeared. Shock pulsed through her veins when she felt the tip of his sword against her neck. His arm was wrapped around her waist as he would steal kiss, but the sword pointed at her. The realization that he was serious and had, in fact, been working very hard to increase his skills quickly smothered her other thoughts. The blood in her veins went as cold as the reiatsu flowing from his body. His arm tightened around her waist in an almost caring manner.

"Yumuru, is he dead?" She asked in a monotone voice. She heard the girl behind her gasp.

"He…no. He says that you shouldn't kill Mikabozu-san."

Oshiriku closed her eyes. Tears slid down her cheek. She inhaled a shaky wave of air before letting her own reiatsu burst forth. The energy made Mikabozu stumble backwards. She touched the hilt of the sword and felt the charms hanging there. It was the one Ukitake had given her and the ring Ishirio had bought her to celebrate their five hundredth year of marriage. "Take him and move. Yumuru."

Mikabozu laughed. "She can't move, idiot."

Oshiriku turned to her officer. The girl was crouched over Ishirio trembling with a look of great discomfort on her face. She wrapped her arm around Yumuru and lifted her so that she was over her shoulder. She carried Ishirio the way a husband would carry his new bride. It took her few seconds to make it to the caves. After lying Ishirio on the ground, she placed Yumuru beside him. She pressed a warm hand against the girl's face. Yumuru groaned as she came around. "Watch it." Her eyes darted to Ishirio, but she spoke the next words to Yumuru. "You can rest until I come back."

Mikabozu leaned against his sword with a look of pure boredom on his face. Oshiriku slowly pulled her sword from its sheath and released a large amount of spirit energy at the same time. She could tell from the tension on Mikabozu's face that he had probably underestimated her. Her foot moved forward a fraction, but she did not run at him. Her katana gleamed as she switched from her right hand to her left hand. Why was she having trouble deciding which hand she wanted to fight with? Mikabozu's reiatsu flared to life, overpowering the energy she'd released. The ground around them shook slightly, but Oshiriku smiled at her opponent kindly. Her reiatsu lifted again; she decided she wouldn't hold too much back. The energy pushed the man down to one of his knees. She laughed heartily. "Perhaps I could kill you by crushing you with my reiatsu? That would be a nicer death."

Mikabozu stood to his feet. Sweat had appeared on his forehead, but he wiped it away with a flick of his hand. He closed his eyes and his reiatsu rose again to an almost equal amount. "No, we will fight. You will die."

Oshiriku nodded thoughtfully. "Well, you better stop hiding your energy." Another burst of energy flew from her body. Mikabozu stumbled back. "I intend to make it worth both our whiles."

Mikabozu smirked again before running at her with his sword raised. She easily blocked his attack. His reiatsu rose again. "Fine. Let's both be on our best, shall we?" He shoved her away from him with great struggle. The smirk never left his face. "Let's go." He ran at her again, brandishing his sword quickly from left and right, throwing kicks and punches at the same time.

Yumuru stood in the cave watching with her mouth open. She couldn't see what was going on, but she did know that two black blurs were fighting with an occasional stream of silver flying through the air. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Oshiriku stumble back but jump back into the fight. She turned to the man lying on the ground behind her. His hazel eyes stared at the ceiling of the cave with an almost sorrowful expression. Her kidou was not good enough to heal the really deep wounds. As a matter of fact, her kidou hadn't been good enough to properly close either wound. She knelt beside him. "Ishirio-kun? I'm sorry."

He smiled before looking at her. "No need to be. None of this is your fault."

"She's fighting him. I told her…" Yumuru's voice broke off. She began to cry.

"When you truly understand your captain, you will understand why I told you to tell her that." He turned his pale face towards the darkness that led to a path further into the cave. His hazel eyes seemed to dance as he watched an animal scurry from behind a rock and into the darkness. He did not turn to the sniffling girl, but he did ask her why she was crying.

"I can't help you. And… and I fear for Oshiriku."

Ishirio laughed. "Fear for Mikabozu." He smiled at the gasp the girl gave him in response. His eyes felt heavy, but he did not want to close them yet.

Oshiriku kicked Mikabozu in the face and evaded his foot. Her sword stopped his during its attack but another dagger flew out of his hand towards her. Taking her by surprise, it scraped her arm. She smiled at such petty tricks. Mikabozu laughed. "You better be calling that pretty sword to life soon. Hishinuma!" His sword pulsed a color almost as beautiful as his eyes, but Oshiriku did not pay much attention to it. She blocked him again with a smile. He really did want to die.

"Dance, Kagura." The words had not rolled off her tongue completely in centuries. She clasped the hilt tightly as Mikabozu ran at her again. Her feet moved over the ground as if it did not exist. She continued to smile at Mikabozu as he brought his sword down on hers second after second. He managed to strike her sword hard enough so that he got a punch in on her face. Her palm collided with his shoulder, snapping the bone out of place. He pressed his lips together to muffle his scream. After lifting his arm and pushing it back into place, he gripped his sword tighter. He could feel some of his energy had died away during the fight already. Oshiriku stood feet away from him smiling. He would have to resort to desperate measures to destroy her.

He stood straight and pulled forth all the energy he had remaining. He smiled at the strained expression on Oshiriku's face. "Let the heavens of god cry onto my sword with strength. Waters calm this raging spirit. Bankai."

The ground seemed to turn into a great river. Oshiriku stumbled back, but caught herself before she fell. She gasped as the air around them compressed so tightly that she could not longer breath. Her hand went to her throat. The sky around them turned a blue that truly did reflect the color of Mikabozu's eyes. His sword extended so that it looked as if waves upon waves crashed over it. It was such a beautiful sword. Oshiriku did not move when he disappeared and reappeared beside her so that his sword cut into her side. Her eyes widened in surprised, but she could not speak from the great pressure crushing her lungs. Blood gushed from the wound onto the ground. She closed her eyes and pushed her energy out as hard as she could. Her reiatsu knocked Mikabozu back again and freed her so that she could breathe. She leaned onto her sword gasping for breath with one hand on her wound.

Her brown eyes turned ebony as she glared at him. "Bankai."

The words took Mikabozu by surprise, but his face did not show it until he was knocked onto his back by the sudden rise in reiatsu again. His head smacked into the warm ground underneath him. He struggled to stand to his feet. The wind had picked up greatly. His eyes went round at the sight standing before him. Oshiriku's long black hair flew out behind her as she floated on the air with a sword that looked as if it was a tornado. His mouth fell open when he finally saw why he was beginning to have trouble breathing. They were inside the middle of a typhoon. He looked around for a way to get without risking being cut to ribbons, but he saw no opening.

She took a measure step near him with her sword raised. "You could have been someone great."

Her sword disappeared, but it did not take Mikabozu long to know where it had gone. A cold feeling of dread slid into his chest before he lowered his eyes to his chest. Her sword was actually still where it had been, but a copy of it was lodged in his chest. He smiled at her again. "Hishinuma!" The air pressure in the typhoon increased. He fell to his knees trembling. What a stupid move. Her bankai was also composed of water. She was using his power against him. He screamed and ran at her. His feet stopped in their tracks as hundreds of pin-sized wounds shot through his body.

The only thing he could think of was how beautiful it looked to be trapped inside such a large marvel of water. He fell onto his back smiling. His hand tightened on his sword as he stood again. He used whatever energy he head remaining to dodge a typhoon that was smaller than the one that had encased him, but almost as strong. The water scattered out around them. He jumped into the air. His soared towards her, and his sword, still glowing beautifully with power, was lifted into the air. Oshiriku raised her sword, blocking his attack. She gave him a sorrowful smile. Another large typhoon slammed into him, sending him to the ground. Blood flew from his mouth onto the ground. He clutched his throat with eyes widened in terror; he was drowning. He caught the image of Oshiriku standing away from him with a distant, cold glare in her eyes. She stepped towards him, and the water scattered around him in a large puddle. He tried to move, but his body refused.

Oshiriku sheathed her sword. "You could have been a captain with something so marvelous inside your sheath." She smiled at him.

"I could have been, but you took that dream away from me. I did try." The smile he gave her was laced with misery and anger.

She sighed heavily. The anger in her seemed to leave her with that one move. Her eyes turned back to their complacent shine. "Well, you will find peace."

His hand moved towards his sword, but it had begun to disappear. She bowed to him before turning to walk away. Her eyes caught Yumuru standing in the opening to the cave with a look of astonishment on her face. When she made it to them, she picked up the bag and dressed her wounds. She stared at her officer with a smile on her face. "Sometimes, I still feel dead after I have won."

A/N: This is my favorite chapter. Took me long enough to come up with Oshiriku's bankai.