A/N:Hey guys! Sorry if I kept you waiting, but I have amazing news! MY BOOK IS GOING TO GET PUBLISHED! Yep, I wrote a book and about a month ago I was told it was going to get published, and so I've been incredibly busy working on that, and so I entered in a hiatus. I'm really excited, my dream is coming true… but still I have some others stories to unfold! And I'm not leaving this one behind!

Well, it's been sometime since I uploaded chapters… where were we? Oh, yeah! Tatsuki and Rukia just met with Byakuya! More of the intricate plot is going to unfold soon, and I'm planning for this to be a story of 40 to 50 chapters, so we still some time left! But the most important thing is for you to enjoy! So let's keep going on!

Trust's Sword

"Brother?" Tatsuki asked puzzled "Did your bother just attack us? You must have some family issues…"

"Not now Tatsuki." Rukia replied as she stared at Byakuya "Brother… why have you attacked us?"

"Brother?" Byakuya asked "Just, who are you?"

Rukia was a little bit shocked by the response, however she did expect something like that to happen, after all she did also lost her memory once, still… this time it seemed that the person in front of her was someone entirely different, and she could tell because there was nothing in his eyes, and it wasn't his usual calm that he always expressed as a cloak to hide his feelings, there seemed to be really nothing in him, just like if who he once was just disappeared.

"Rukia, did he…?"

Rukia didn't answer, she merely extended her arm in front of Tatsuki as she drew her sword and prepare for battle.

"No way!" Tatsuki replied as she raises her fists "I had it with leaving Orihime behing! I'm not ditching you too."

"I can take care of myself" Rukia replied coldly "so please, let me settle this myself."

But Tatsuki didn't listen, she lowered Rukia's arm and smiled.

"You have a serious issue with pride." Tatsuki commented "There is no use in dieing with pride; if you are going to battle, battle to win or to survive! Don't go in a battle ready to die, be ready to live!"

Tatsuki was about to say something else, but Byakuya quickly slipped through their senses and appeared behind them, but Tatsuki, who was trained by the master of shunpo, was able to sense that movement anyway and grabbed Byakuya's wrist, deflecting the blade's direction and then she punched Byakuya in the waist, forcing him to step backward.

"There are always people waiting for you at the end of every battle." Tatsuki said "So you can't die! And if someone can help you out, you should accept! You don't have to carry the burden all to yourself!"

Rukia was moved by those words; it was the first time in a long time that she felt she could really rely on someone. She hadn't felt that way since the days where she and Ichigo fought together, and it was nice; it was really comforting knowing that a friend could help you out, even while dealing with the most personal conflicts.

"Thank you Tatsuki." Rukia said smiling "I needed that."

Tatsuki smiled back as they prepared for battle.

Byakuya released his zanpaktou and the cherry blossom petals flew towards them, but Rukia quickly froze them. That gave them time to fall back as the frozen petals broke through the ice to chase them. Tatsuki noticed some of them were about to reach her and she quickly extended her hand in order to cast a Soukatsui, and a great blaze of blue fire was able to drive away most of the petals, however she was taken by surprise by Byakuya's quick move of shunpo and was almost hit by a white lightning that came out of his fingers, yet she was able to gracefully dodge by flipping and she kicked Byakuya's face as she recovered her stance; Byakuya quickly resembled the petals to restore the blade's shape and tried to stab Tatsuki, but she was fast enough to not only dodge, but also hit his cheek with might, forcing him to step backward, falling in Rukia's set up: the floor quickly froze and he was soon sealed by a huge ice pillar.

"Well, that wasn't too hard…"

"It's too soon to speak." Rukia said "He's breaking out soon, so I just bought us some seconds to think."

Just as Rukia said, they were mere seconds. Byakuya broke free from the ice pillar, which fell apart around them as she raised her blade; those seconds helped her to formulate a plan, still she needed to get Tatsuki to move forward or she would be in danger.

Byakuya's sword and Rukia's clashed and for the first time she was able to hear what seemed to be a resonance at the sound of the clashing katanas; they exchanged continues sword hits and every time something seemed to echoed, there was some kind of resonance every time the sword touched each other and she was able to feel something. The man in front of her wasn't her brother; and then she was relieved, and she pushed him forward as a smile crossed her face.

"Tatsuki, you might continue."

Tatsuki was about to reply, but when she saw Rukia she was relieved; she wasn't hesitating anymore about hurting that man, she was sure of her victory and she wouldn't hold back anymore. That alone was enough to trust her.

Before she could go, Rukia threw Kon- who hid clanging in her neck the whole time-, at Tatsuki.

"Guide her! I will catch up later!"

"Nee-chan!" Kon refuted "I want to stay with you!"

"Help Tatsuki!" Rukia ordered "We will meet later."

"Nee-chan!"

"KON!"

Kon became silent as Rukia gave him a quick calm and confident warm smile. That face was enough to wash away all his concerns, because- just as Tatsuki did- he was able to see that for the first on the time, since he knew her, she held no burden on her back. She was going all out, for the first time she would show her true power, her true potential.

"Make sure you kick his ass, Nee-chan!" Kon yelled.

"I will." Rukia replied smiling.

"Why do you have to hold her?" A male voice asked.

"Do you want to carry her?" A deeper voice asked.

"Not particularly, but I've just met you, I can't trust you yet."

"Then hold her."

"Hold on a sec!"

By the time she opened her eyes, her breast where all over Uryuu's face. She blinked twice as she readjusted and made Uryuu step backwards, whose face was red as a tomato.

"Ishida-kun?" Orihime asked.

By the time she asked she noticed that she said the wrong name; she should have called him Uryuu, but against all expectations Uryuu didn't seem to care being called by his family name, or at least he didn't mind her calling him like that, as he didn't show any kind of anger by being called like that.

"Until you awake!" Uryuu said sighing "Seriously, I was starting to think that technique of yours drew your whole spiritual pressure out."

That's true… I was in a battle… we were against… She turned around and she found out that Ulquiorra was with them. Her heart beat strong as she stared at the white clothes he was wearing, checking out for what seemed a cold face that showed deep green eyes, filled with emotion as he stared at Orihime. Even his white pale faced seemed to gain some color as their eyes met. Orihime walked towards him and she was quickly hugged, tenderly as Ulquiorra tried not to break her with the hug as she was the most precious thing in the world. Uryuu looked away as he seemed to be about to throw up by the corny moment; Orihime noticed that he didn't like that outcome and she tried not to remain around Ulquiorra's arm too long, not because she didn't want to, but to avoid hurting Uryuu.

"I'm so glad you're back to your usual self."

"I'm glad I found you again." Ulquiorra said calmly "After we met in the human world I was certain we would not meet again, but as long as you were safe it was ok, and then I came to forget…"

"Yeah, yeah, that's all a pretty lovely love story and all." Uryuu said while walking past them to lead the road "However, if you could cut that cheesiness and we could keep going we should arrive to Ichigo's chamber in no longer than a few hours."

Orihime looked around them; she was glad that they were no longer in the dark zone, yet the zone they were wasn't that good either. They were in a path stained with blood; narrow and made of weak wooden as in the sides laid rivers of blood. There was a crimson light filling the place that allowed them to see where they were going.

"Follow me." Uryuu said coldly.

And so they did, but Orihime could tell that Uryuu was particularly upset, yet what could she do about it?

As the fight continued the echo became stronger and stronger, and the more sure she was that that man wasn't her brother. Everything about him was absolutely misplaced, it was a mere cheap replica with the same skills and a different heart, and he had no mind of his own. Still it wasn't easy to battle against his brother's skills, he was a captain after all and managed to injure Rukia in both arms, opening some bad cuts, while Rukia was merely able to cut his ankles. But as soon as she wasn't able to feel Tatsuki's presence, she smiled.

"Good, Tatsuki is gone." Rukia said "Now I can really go out."

"Why wait?" Byakuya asked.

"Because this is too dangerous for anyone around me." Rukia answered as she lifted her sword "BANKAI!"