Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Ichigo soaked in the bath staring at the ceiling, hoping that some relief was in sight, though he knew that was ridiculous. He'd have to deal with this grueling mental marathon for a while yet and Byakuya had warned him about how strict he was going to be. Still, at least Byakuya wasn't as bad as Rukia's teacher with all those little pink marks. On the other side of the wall that separated them he felt a familiar reiatsu. All of the bath water was from the same source, but a large wall separated the sexes with a gap at the ceiling that allowed the sound to carry between both.

"Rukia?" he lifted his voice.

"Ichigo?"

"Yeah"

"How do you like the family springs?"

"They're really nice, but they seem kind of empty. Not that I'm complaining."

"Yeah, most of the clan likes to live out in the countryside for the better part of the year. Right now they're mostly in the valley estates enjoying the flowers of spring, but they'll move to the mountains come summer," she leaned against a rock.

"I thought they all lived in that hotel looking thing."

"That's only been built recently. Right now, you, Nii-sama, my sensei and I are the only one's here except servants. One of the elders drops by every once in a while, but that's about it."

"So that's why I haven't seen anyone."

LegendaryStrawberry hides the continuity spackle behind his back. "What?"

"Speaking of seeing Ichigo…" Rukia said in her best seductress voice.

"W-what is it?" Ichigo became keenly aware of his state of dress.

"Would…would you mind me coming over and joining you? We are betrothed after all. There is no shame in a little peek, is there?"

Ichigo's mind just about melted and stutterings were all that clipped out of his mouth. Rukia on the other hand just started to laugh hysterically.

"Rukia…" he growled a little, his face a full crimson now.

"You didn't think I'd actually do something so shameful?"

"Er…um, well I"

There was a sudden knock on the door between the washroom and the baths.

"Kurosaki," a voice called from outside the door

"What is it?"

"There's a call for you in Kuchiki-sama's study."

"I'll be right there," Ichigo started to step out of the bath.

"Hey Ichigo," Rukia called from the other side.

"What?"

"I love you," she said in the cutest voice she could muster.

"I know," he casually stepped through the door, a smirk gracing his lips.

"That arrogant little…"

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Orihime and Guren reached her apartment in record time. Orihime got down off of her back and opened the door, placing her keys towards the outside of her bag, so that she could recover them faster when she locked up.

"Come in. I'll only be a minute or two," she waved the soul reaper in.

"Thank you, but I'll stay outside in case I'm needed."

"Why would you be needed? Why did Kurosaki-san send you with me?"

"I see. I've said too much already. Just get your things and don't concern yourself with it."

"Okay…" Orihime entered her house and began packing for the night with a concerned look on her face. "I don't know what's going on, but it's kind of scary. Kurosaki-san seemed really concerned. He even sent one of his really strong guards. I'll try asking him later what's going on."

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His hair still slightly damp from the bath, Ichigo knocked on the study door.

"Come in. Ukitake-taicho wished to speak with you." Byakuya called from the other side of the door.

"Ukitake-taicho?"

"Hello Ichigo-kun."

"Hey."

"Trying a new hairstyle?" Ukitake questioned the water tamed hair Ichigo was now sporting.

"Hairstyle?" He thought for a second. " Oh, sorry I just got out of the bath."

"I'm not intruding am I?"

"Nah, don't worry about it/"

"Good"

"What brings us this unexpected pleasure senpai?" Byakuya guided the conversation.

"Oh, it almost slipped my mind. Shunsui and I were talking earlier and we thought it might be nice to have a little chat with Ichigo-kun and pass down a little bit of wisdom to the future captain."

"I leave it up to you, but be warned this means we'll have to redouble our efforts to make up for the time," Byakuya deftly shifted the weight of the decision, giving Ichigo a way out, which he hoped he would take.

"Oh come now, the Captain-Commander can't be in that big of a rush to get him instated. The lieutenants are doing a fine job keeping their divisions running. What's one lost afternoon?"

"It would be imprudent of me as a teacher to derelict my duties of training him up to par as quickly as possible for the good of the division he will be leading."

"Ah, but haste makes waste. If you're so insistent on him learning, why don't you make up a syllabus and we'll teach him as we go. Now you can't very well argue with that, can you?"

"Kurosaki-san?" Byakuya gave the question in his trademark chilly fashion.

"Sounds okay to me," Ichigo read the tone of his voice and decided to put Byakuya over the barrel.

"Then it's settled. How about noon tomorrow?" the white haired captain continued cheerfully, unaware of the hidden tension in the room.

"That is acceptable," a moderately annoyed Byakuya surrendered. Kyoraku and Ukitake would certainly not let anything befall him and it wasn't as if he couldn't defend himself, but the uncontrolled situation put him a little on edge.

"Tomorrow it is then. I'll meet you there," he waved his hand.

"Bye"

"Goodbye," Kuchiki said and the screen faded to black. "That was rather reckless," he turned to his young orange haired student.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Orihime knocked on the front door of the Kurosaki household as her escort returned to the position she had previously occupied with bag in hand wearing a smile that best hid her fears, so as not to give the twins undue concern.

"Orihime! Come on!" Inoue was sucked in through the door by the energetic Yuzu. Taking her up to her room she helped her get settled in. As she finished setting things out, Isshin came by and knocked on the open door.

"I'm going to be in my office for the next little bit because I've got an important call to make, so try to keep it down, okay?"

"Alright" Yuzu answered and Karin gave a wave from her bed and then placed her nose back into the book she was reading.

"You girls have fun," he waved cheerfully and started down the hallway.

Orihime peeked around the corner, "Excuse me Kurosaki-san?"

"What is it?" the pointy-haired patriarch turned his head back.

"Can I talk to you later about something," she asked with a small glimpse of concern on her face.

"Sure," he smiled and gave a goofy thumbs up.

"Thanks," she smiled gently a little relieved.

"What did you need to talk with Dad about Inoue?" Karin looked up from her book.

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it," she said a little frantically her arms crossing in front of her face.

"'Kay," Karin resumed her book, turning the page.

"What are you reading?"

"A book for class. I've only got a few more pages and I'll be done with it."

"Is it interesting?"

"Not really. It's an account of the Meiji Restoration, but it's more about the people than the battles."

"Oh, I see." Orihime replied with a smile.

"Come on, if we don't hurry we'll miss the beginning of the new drama!" Yuzu pulled Orihime along.

"Alright, alright," she laughed a little and followed Yuzu down to the living room.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

A knock came at the study room door.

"You've got another call," a servant called from the other side.

"Put it through," Byakuya said as he slipped out of the room.

Isshin's face began to glow on the screen.

"Is the room secure?"

"Let me check," Ichigo looked around the nooks and crannies of the study until he finally found Genshin hiding under the couch. He picked her up by the back of the collar and carried her toward the door.

"Hey! Don't carry me like I'm a sack of garbage. Put me down!" Genshin struggled to no avail.

"Sorry, family business."

"Whatever," she pouted a little finally giving in. He set her down outside the door and headed back inside.

"How's the security on your end?"

"Don't worry about it. Orihime-chan is taking care of your sisters for me."

"What's Inoue doing there?"

"Oh, she came by to help with the prep for the wake. Yuzu has gotten a bit attached to her, so she's staying the night."

"How are Karin and Yuzu handling everything?"

"Yuzu seems to be taking it as well as can be expected. She's thrown herself into the preparations and any housework she can find."

"What about Karin?"

"She worries me a little," Isshin stroked his chin, a sincere concern gracing the formerly cheery visage.

"What do you mean?"

"She's clammed herself up again, like she did after your mother died. She doesn't talk much, especially to me."

"Of course she wouldn't. You can't stay serious in front of them for more than two seconds."

"Eh, but they'd be more worried if I got serious all of a sudden," Isshin looked off at the corner of the room, scratching his head with his finger.

"I guess you've got a point there," Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck, looking down.

They both stopped for a few seconds until Isshin spoke up.

"The funeral is Wednesday," he stated in a calm, almost somber, tone

"Oh," Ichigo said, slightly uncomfortable with the topic.

"If you want to come, now is the last chance," he jabbed at Ichigo comically, knowing the answer long before he asked the question..

"Nah."

"Suit yourself. I'll just tape it and you can watch it later," Isshin said, pouting a little, and then tossing his hand back.

"You're going to tape it? Isn't that a bit creepy?"

"You may want to watch it someday. You know it can get kinda boring being royalty."

" Huh?"

"Well there really isn't much to do, and with our long life spans, it's nearly impossible not to get bored because you've done…well…everything."

"So we don't do anything related to government at all?"

"Nah, except save a few ceremonies with Central 46 and those are maybe once or twice a year."

"What kind of ceremony will the funeral be?"

"Oh, it'll be really nice. I'm telling you I should have been a mortician. It's much more creative than those 'traditional' wakes and funerals."

"What do you mean by 'creative'?" a nervous smile made itself known.

"You'll just have to wait and see won't you?" he gave him a sly grin.

Ichigo grimaced.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm going outside for a bit" Karin walked past them. Orihime began to speak up, but Yuzu signaled her to not say anything.

"She shouldn't be out this late alone."

"Don't worry about it. She's only heading for the little area behind the clinic. She'll be back in a little while."

"Why did she have her soccer ball with her?"

"You know our mom passed away a while ago?" Yuzu seemed to stare off into space.

"Yes," Orihime began to regret asking so many questions.

"Each of us dealt with it in our own way. Ichi-nii stopped smiling like he used to. I took up some of the housework to make it easier on everyone. Karin, well she decided not to cry. She didn't want to burden us with her tears, so she got tougher. Dad, well…Dad got even goofier to try to cheer us all up," Yuzu giggled slightly at the thought of her father.

Orihime began to think of how her own tears must have burdened Ichigo.

"Since Ichi-nii left she's been going behind the clinic and kicking that ball around almost every night. I looked out the window one night to check on her and saw her crying her eyes out kicking the ball around like she was trying to kick it through the fence."

"Everyone deals with these kinds of things differently I suppose. When I lost my brother I started wearing these hairclips everyday."

"You lost your older brother?"

"Yes"

"Why hairclips?"

"They were a gift from him, and also the source of our first real fight. He was in a car accident that day before we could make up and so I wear these clips to honor his memory."

"Wow," Yuzu was a little astonished at the connection between them.

"Are you okay?" Orihime questioned her with a soft tone in her voice.

"What?"

"You seemed so concerned over everyone else, but how are you?"

"I-I…" Yuzu seemed a bit surprised at the turn of the questions towards her. "I'm fine."

"Well, I'll be there for you if you ever need it."

"Orihime…," the tears dripped slowly from the gray eyes that tried to hold back their little raindrops.

"I guess it is pretty silly of someone to offer help when they can't help themselves," she laughed as she wiped away a tear.

"No… no it isn't," Yuzu hugged her and began to cry too.

"It's okay. I'm going to miss him too," she stroked her hair gently as little tears spilled from her eyes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"With that out of the way, I've got a lot of questions for you," Ichigo built up steam.

"I figured you would," he started gaining a more serious tone. "Now, on your wedding night with Rukia-chan…" he slipped right back into his goofy dad persona.

"That's not the question I had in mind you pervert!" he shook his fist at the screen. Noticing the bracer was going off he quickly pulled it off and threw it across the room. The servants passing by the room were flung back and managed to crawl away from the study.

"Now now. It's perfectly natural to think of your future wife that way."

"Why didn't you save Mom?" he yelled with a serious death glare as he squeezed his fist tightly.

"I see. I knew this day would come," Isshin solemnly stared down at his hand and then back up at his son. "You'll never know just how much I loved your mother and how I live with the regrets from that rain drenched day. I'd rather put it away and never touch it again, but I think you deserve to know why things happened the way they did," the storm rolled into his voice, " because you're the one the woman I loved gave her life to protect."

"Why weren't there any Royal Guard with us?"

"It's a long story, but one you need to know," he took a sip from the tea sitting next to him. " I was due up for my own marriage, so, as planned, I had my marriage interviews and selected a young woman from one of the more powerful smaller clans."

"Wait. You had another wife before Mom?"

"Well… no," he paused a moment. "The night we were to be married twenty-two years ago, a number of guardsmen turned on the royal family that had gathered secretly to observe the ceremony. They went after my father, the current Spirit King at the time, and managed to slay him, my bride and a number of my family. I would have been killed as well had my grandfather not stood and held them back. Without missing a beat he yelled at me to use my fiancée's family's gate and get to the world of the living, so that it would be harder for them to go looking for me without showing their hand. I managed to escape to the living world with the verification ring."

Ichigo's eyes shot wide in utter shock," I'm sorry…right in front of you… I'm sorry."

" I met your mother, we fell in love, and we had you three. I just couldn't get there in time.

"Anyway, that's why you're there and Orihime-chan is here.

"What do you mean?"

"We dealt with those involved in the coup, but we have information that suggests that a new wave is beginning to ferment towards trying to take the crown for themselves with me here in the living world. The nobles would never believe you as the prince, so it would leave a perfect opportunity for you to eliminate the threat in Soul Society by drawing all of their attention where you can take them out."

"What about Byakuya?"

"What do you mean?"

"Can I trust him?"

"Yes, he has too much at stake to do anything even if he wanted to. To have someone you were supposed to protect get killed is a great shame on a house, especially a royal. On top of that, even if he has a thirst for power, by not lifting a finger his sister will become a princess, so it's in his best interest to protect you."

"How does Inoue fit in with all this?"

"The nobles have seen the power that someone with hollow abilities has, and they have started to move on Orihime-chan to get the hogyoku back by forcing her to reverse her rejection of its existence."

"That's insane! Don't they know how dangerous that is? Without anyone to help them control it while they fight their hollow, they'll destroy everything in sight!"

"Unfortunately, hiding the methods and practices of hollowfication and subjugation of the hollow is a double edged sword. Only you, the Vizards and Kisuke know anything about it, so anyone attempting it would likely hollowfy uncontrollably . but it does make it harder for anyone else to try it in the first place."

"Won't that just draw more attention to yourself? If you couldn't handle them then, how can you stop them now?"

"I've called on some old friends of mine I know I can trust from the Royal Guard as well as contacting the Vizards and Kisuke. None of them are nobles, so they should be more interested in keeping us safe. I didn't take on guards before, because contacting Soul Society would mean risking my location being discovered, but I've found ways around it. Do you understand now why I did the things I did?"

"A little, but a couple things keep bugging me."

"What's that?"

"Why were you wearing a shinigami uniform and a haori?"

"Oh, that old thing? I was a captain for a while soon after the Vizards left and was promoted to the royal guard a few years later as an excuse to get me away from the rest of Soul Society just in case something were to happen. I only came back for my marriage interviews."

"How did you get those Vizards to do so much?"

"I simply promised them that you'd give them all a pardon as soon as I could get a hold of you."

"Wait. Shouldn't you be the one giving them a pardon?"

"I figured you'd want to do it yourself, seeing as you owe them a bit of gratitude."

"You're the king. I don't have the power to do any of that."

"Didn't Urahara tell you? The one who holds the ring is the one acting as the royal in charge. Anytime your grandfather needed to go somewhere in the past he would often hand over the ring to me and I'd handle the affairs of state until he came home."

"So you mean that I could contact someone and get them pardoned right now."

"Exactly!"

"Whoa," Ichigo had to sit down from the realization of the power that little glowing trinket possessed.

"Anyway, I need to go now, but there's something you need to tell Byakuya for me," Isshin continued.

"What?"

"Open the classified packet labeled 'Rising Son' and carry out the instructions inside."

"What's that?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Isshin laughed heartily and hung up.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Sorry about the wait. I lost my motivation for a while and the conversation between Ichigo and Isshin required a bit of research and thought to fit within continuity of my work and Kubo's. I'm back now and with a number of decisions made it should be a bit easier to continue.