AN: Hi guys. It's been a while since my latest update. This chapter took a while to think up, but I did it eventually.

By the way, for those who've seen the latest Bleach manga chapter, it was really epic. I hate Aizen's look, but Ichigo looks awesome. I felt kind of sad when Ichigo said… that thing about his powers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Xxx0o0xxX

So cold.

My body's still cold. Numb, searing from the bite of the ice.

It hurts. It hurts like hell.

How long have I been sleeping?

My head hurt more than any other part of my body. Not a sharp pain like a headache, but rather as if there was someone grabbing my head with a strong hand.

The bed I lay on was bad quality, and the room was far too dark to be the treatment room. The only light was from a flickering candle at the side.

"This is… Inuzuri?" The rundown house was unmistakably the one that I had lived in before leaving for the Seireitei. Approaching the candle, I realized that the grey flame was not a trick from the distance.

I looked closer to the candle. "It lacks color," I said to myself. "That's right… this is my inner world."

A breeze whistled in through the door, the wind carrying a bundle of rags.

The black cloth began to twitch, and rose into a familiar figure. "Kurokage…" my voice called out to the zanpakutō instinctively.

Strangely, the robe's back was turned to me. "You know our name this time?" It asked with its two opposite voices, almost mockingly. "You have grown," Within an instant, the distance between us was closed. "And learned."

I took a step back, uncomfortable with looking into the black void under the hood. "It's been ages since I've been here. And that was when…"

"The battle against Arturo Plateado," Kurokage finished my sentence. "When you learned our name."

"That's right," I rubbed my head, still aching. "Why… has it been so long? I've called you, known you were there, but you haven't responded. Why haven't you called back to me?"

The ragged cloak-figure began to hover away, keeping a distance again. "You… haven't understood yet. We have been waiting. We wait for the time you find the strength to learn more. About us, our power."

I watched the ends of Kurokage's rags move. "What do you mean?"

"It's a pity. We have been returning your call, but it's your own mind that repels us, blurring our words, just like how we first tried to give you our name."

"What-" My words were cut off by the feeling of the black cloth brushing against my chest.

"Want us to tell you what we mean? It is your hesitation. We ask you this, Kiyashi. Are your thoughts clear on your path?"

I blinked, surprised at being asked such a strange question. "Of… of course!"

Kurokage turned away, as if ashamed to face me. As it began to leave the house, I followed. "You deceive yourself." Before I could respond, it spoke again. "Watch. This is your hesitation."

I stopped, shocked as my surroundings began to distort, as if everything was an illusion. No, not an illusion… I corrected myself as I felt the ground beneath me seemingly move slowly. "What is this?"

Kurokage turned its hood. "I told you once, no one knows you better than we. We said this is your hesitation. Everything in this world is formed by your mind and heart. If you are sad, this world will darken. If your mind is hesitant, this world distorts."

I lost my balance, falling to my knees with my head spinning from the distortion. "How… is this possible? I do not even know what I am uncertain of."

"There are two paths before you," the apparition began to turn around. "The path that looks right, and the path that is right. That is the reason for your uncertainty."

"Two… paths?" I looked desperately at the zanpakutō, needing the answer. "Are you saying the path that I walk right now is wrong?"

Despite only being a mass of cloth, Kurokage seemed to look at me. "Perhaps. The path that is right is difficult to walk, because it is always covered with the façade of being wrong. With the true path, you will not realize the truth until the end. But if you walk the false path, you are only deceiving yourself." A sleeve waved up slowly, gesturing at this world. "And this world is a reflection of you… being caught in between these two paradoxes."

The words rang deep in my head. "I am deceiving myself? Does that mean that I know this path is wrong?"

"Do you?" Even as he spoke, the hem of his robe began to dissolve. "We will wait until you finally make the decision. For both our sakes, we hope you make the correct one. It is only then that you will possess the strength and determination to learn…"

The final parts of Kurokage disappeared before the final words came out, and as the pain in my head grew unbearable, this shadow of Inuzuri… shattered.

Xxx0o0xxX

My awakening was abrupt. The headache I felt seemed to have vanished, my body no longer cold.

"What…" From the looks of the room, it was not the 2nd Division. "The daffodil emblem on the wall… the 10th Division?"

I couldn't remember what I was doing here, but the events of the battle last night made the reason clear. That's right… I was fighting Kira and then…

The door was open. Someone had left the room without closing the door. I picked Kurokage off the floor and made my way to leave the 10th Division building.

In the end, I couldn't take a step away from the recovery room before I was stopped.

"Going to leave without leaving a word, Kumo?" the cold voice of the 10th Squad Captain froze me in my steps.

I decided not to turn around to look at him. "I didn't want to disturb your duties."

Hitsugaya-taichou stepped forwards and grabbed my wrist. "I was just going to apologize for almost killing you yesterday."

"You don't have to apologize," I told him. "You couldn't have known… and Ichimaru would have killed you if you held back." Finally, I faced the captain. "What happened… after I passed out?"

The captain sighed. "Ichimaru almost killed Hinamori. Matsumoto stopped him."

It was a surprise. "Rangiku-san… she stopped…"

"I don't know why. With Ichimaru's strength, it was an easy thing to just kill the both of them. But he stopped his attack, and left."

I looked down. "Do you think he still cares for…"

Hitsugaya shrugged. "It doesn't matter. More importantly, I took this letter back from Hinamori. It would have been dangerous if anyone else found it."

Reaching out to take the letter, I unfolded the paper. "This…" my eyes widened. "Hitsugaya-taichou… you…"

The captain's eyes- if possible- grew more intense. "That letter… I am almost certain that someone modified it. But how much of it is a lie… and which parts…"

"Could the… could the part about the Sokyoku be true?"

The hand grabbing my wrist tightened. "If it is, we must stop this execution… the execution of Rukia Kuchiki… at all costs."

He let go of my arm, turning to leave.

Kurokage's words returned. The path that seems right… the path that is right…

Xxx0o0xxX

Before I left, I had decided to visit Rangiku-san. It was a while since we had talked to each other properly, and Ayame was there as well.

To my surprise, the vice-captain was not drinking and getting wasted by the table, but was rather sitting in melancholy, watching the sky through the window.

"Rangiku-san?" I asked, afraid to disturb her.

Whatever she was thinking, my intrusion had interrupted it. "Kiyashi? You've woken up at last. Take a seat."

I sat down opposite her, following her icy blue eyes as they went back to looking out the window. "Wait… what do you mean by 'at last'? How long have I been sleeping?"

Rangiku seemed reluctant to tell me. "Three days."

My eyes widened, and I felt my hand begin to shiver uncontrollably. "Three… days? What's happened with the ryoka incident?"

She sighed, pulling out a small jug of sake from under the table and absently pouring it in two cups. "It's a big mess. Yesterday, Zaraki-taichou was defeated by the ryoka, and they're advancing closer to the Senzaikyuu."

"Zaraki-taichou… defeated?" I took the sake cup and drank it in one gulp. "I saw him, after I got away from the ryoka before. I didn't think… a person like him…"

Rangiku drank her sake, her cheeks instantly flushing pink. "Who would've thought that an execution could cause all this?"

I had to approach the topic carefully. "Rangiku-san… do you still trust in Ichimaru-taichou?" At seeing her expression drop even more, I tried to take back my question. "I mean… never mind."

Rangiku put down the cup. "I wonder. Sometimes I can't tell whether he's still Gin. But his bad habit of disappearing without saying anything to me… still hasn't changed."

"Rangiku-san…"

The silence was cut by the footsteps of several shinigami who entered our room. "Matsumoto-fukutaichou! New information on the ryoka have been found!"

"What is it?"

The messengers kneeled. "Hai! The ryoka, Ichigo Kurosaki, after his battle against the 11th Division's Zaraki-taichou, has completely disappeared, but the other two ryoka have entered the Senzaikyuu!"

Rangiku was about to talk back, but was stopped when I immediately took my zanpakutō and flash stepped away. Her voice was fading as I left.

"Wait, Kiyashi!"

Xxx0o0xxX

The Senzaikyuu, near the Sokyoku Hill, was a long distance away from the 10th Division building, and it was a long time before I even made it to the stairway.

The craters and damaged ground from Kurosaki's battle against me and Renji were still there, but I ran past all of them without stopping.

But on my first step on the stairs, the sudden spike of strong reiatsu gave me pause.

"Kuchiki-taichou…" the reiatsu was unmistakable. I stopped to look at the 6th Division's captain.

His grey eyes were as impassive as ever. "Where are you going, Kumo-sanseki?"

I swallowed slightly. No matter how many times I saw the captain, it was always unnerving just being in his presence. "I'm going to the Senzaikyuu to stop the ryoka."

Kuchiki-taichou's eyes narrowed slightly. "There is no need."

My shocked expression did not change his. "But, Kuchiki-taichou-"

"I said there is no need," he replied. "I will go." The sound of shunpo was the only warning before he stood next to me, shoulder to shoulder. "Return to your division at once."

When I tried to turn my head, he was already gone. Did he suspect me? Did he think I was planning to help the ryoka rather than stop them?

The real question was whether I knew whether I wanted to stop the ryoka, or help them save Rukia-san. It was a painful feeling, now that even I knew hesitation was in my heart.

Rukia-san… what should I do?

Xxx0o0xxX

The latest report had been sent in the afternoon. Two of the three remaining ryoka were defeated and taken into custody by Kuchiki-taichou. The entire invasion was almost over.

Alone, I sat in the office, the moonlight shining through the window, past the night sky.

What should I do? I asked myself. I want to help… I want to help save Rukia-san… but I would betray everyone… Renji-kun… Kira-kun… Hinamori-chan… Rangiku-san… Hitsugaya-taichou… neesan…

The next thought stuck in my head. Soifon-taichou…

My feelings towards my own captain were uncertain. I've served under her for a long time, and she… I could believe that we shared a close bond that she had never had before. What could I call a feeling like that? Admiration? Friendship? Love? Love…

I shook my head. I'm being so naïve… it couldn't be…

Feelings…

There was no helping going back to the words Kurokage said. Cryptic as they were, it was still enough to shatter all the illusions I had of my path.

The path that is right…

Clenching my teeth, and continuously screaming my regret in my mind, I grabbed my zanpakutō and jumped out the window.

Xxx0o0xxX

"Where are you going… Kiyashi?"

I wasn't surprised that Soifon-taichou, of all people, would foil my pathetic attempt at sneaking out of the division.

"I'm going to the Senzaikyuu." I told her, ashamed, unable to face her. I knew how she was looking at me.

Three footsteps were heard, threatening me, almost daring me to go. "You will not. The Senzaikyuu is a sacred place. Someone like you could never go there."

I took one step. "I know that. But I must go."

"You disgrace yourself. Have you forgotten your duty already?"

My hand gripped tightly at my obi. "My duty to the Soul Society… the Gotei 13… the Onmitsukidō… is it really the right path?"

Soifon-taichou sounded fiercer, more demanding. "Kiyashi. You have no right to speak of what the 'right path' is. Regardless, a subordinate of mine will never walk out of this place, whether by their will or not."

At that moment, I knew I was going to die. "Forgive me…" My hand reached up, tearing off the Onmitsukidō badge and throwing it to the captain's feet. "Soifon-taichou."

Her hand grabbed my shoulder roughly, preventing me from leaving. As she forced me to turn, I waited for my death.

My eyes closed, I was struck with shock as her lips closed on mine, kissing me softly. This was the least expected thing I could have ever expected.

"S-Soifon-tai…" I could not speak, only stand in shocked silence. As her lips touched mine, I lowered my guard.

Biggest mistake I ever made.

The kiss ended abruptly, sharply, and the aura changed instantly. Dark reiatsu danced around her like leaves. I heard only one word. "Hakufuku."

My consciousness slipped, dropping me to the floor.

Damn it…

Xxx0o0xxX

AN: I wasn't going to make Soifon kiss my OC at first, but I really couldn't think of a better scenario for that part. It was partially a trick to get him to lower his guard. Actually, I thought that suited Soifon, since she'd probably do almost anything to do her job.

I am really, I mean really, sorry about how I'm hurrying this arc. Writing canon is boring as hell, and I'm still practicing on how to write well.

Please overlook any parts of Kurokage talking if I typed 'I' instead of 'we'. Continuously typing in plural format is difficult.

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