It's been a while since I updated anything. Mostly because I've had a load of work to do etc.

Anyway, today is Wednesday so we get a new Bleach episode :D. Another episode, another filler was what I thought but after I saw it I was shcoked to see how big Rukia's role was. She even fought an enemy and her fight wasnt overdone at all. (By 'overdone' i mean: usually when Rukia fights, they make her do too much and as a result, she doesnt do anything for about 50 episodes.) I thought 'Wow these producers have finally done what Rukia fans have wanted for ages: an episode where she is the main character. Also, Orihime wasnt in it so I was happy :P. It was quite funny to see at the party, Rukia, Hitsugaya and Sode no Shirayuki were the only ones who didnt get completely wasted. Even Senbonzakura was pretty 'out of it.' On a serious note, it was nice to see Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki talking with each other like that and was awesome to see them fight together like that :D. Moving on a little bit, I found the new ending theme a bit bad. I didnt really like the song and the video for it wasnt particularly good. Because of all the cherry blossoms, the characters could barely be seen. Overall, this arc looks alright so far. I would like to see where it ends up.

Anyways, enough of my rambling. Read the chapter!

Back to square one

Rukia had been taken back to where Aizen was now. She felt that she had no choice but to go along with them. She didn't want her friends to be killed in front of her. She thought that if they were coming to rescue her, she would have to allow them some time to get to her. They wouldn't have known where Aizen would have been.

'It is about time you returned, Kuchiki Rukia' Aizen greeted her. 'However, I didn't expect you to return here in that form.'

'What do you want now, Aizen?' Rukia asked simply. 'You should have known that I wouldn't have wanted to come back.'

'I still want what I wanted when I first talked to you here' he stated. 'I still seek the King's Key.'

'You'll never get it' Rukia said to him. 'Everyone from the Soul Society is against you. They'll stop you as soon as you go into Karakura town.'

'It is interesting that you brought that up' he commented. 'I'm sorry to disappoint you but that last part will not happen. I will get to Karakura town uninterrupted.'

'That's impossible' Rukia remarked. 'Everyone at the Soul Society will know when you get there.'

'It doesn't matter if they know I'm there' he said calmly. 'What matters is they will have to watch as they cannot do anything to stop me.'

'What have you done?' Rukia asked darkly.

'It isn't what I have done' he began. 'It is what you have done. One of your actions has kept them exactly where they are.'

'I would never do something like that!' she exclaimed. 'Moreover, I haven't done anything like that.'

'Your reaction is perfectly understandable' he said. 'It is clear that you can't remember doing this action.' What he had just said shocked Rukia.

'Can't... remember?' she said slowly. 'What did you make me do?!' This was the thing that was bothering her all this time. She knew her hollow had done something like this that would help him.

'It seems to have slipped my mind right now' Aizen smirked.

'Tell me! NOW!' she demanded.

'I may remember if I see the lifeless body of Kurosaki Ichigo delivered to me by you personally.' Rukia was shocked.

'No, I would never kill any of my friends' Rukia said. She didn't care what she had done. There was no way for her to bring herself to kill them. She would be able to find out eventually on her own.

'You had no trouble attempting to do so not too long ago' Aizen stated.

'I'll never betray them like that again' she told him. 'And that wasn't even me at that time. If that's all you wanted to see me about, I might as well go back. You should have known my answer to that question before you brought me here.' She turned and was about to leave but she soon found that a sword was just above her shoulder with its blade pointing at her neck.

'I'm afraid that you do not understand' Aizen said calmly. 'I'm not giving you a choice now.' Rukia turned around and faced him again.

'I'm not giving you any other answer' she replied.

'That is unfortunate' he stated. 'After all, I know something that you might want.' He showed her the Hougyoku.

'What makes you think that I'll want to become an arrancar again?' she asked. 'I'm not going to do what I did last time.'

'You are misunderstanding me again. Perform this task for me, and it will be yours.' Rukia was shocked. He would give her the Hougyoku if she did it? She had no intention of helping him again, but giving her the Hougyoku was a bit extreme wasn't it?

'Why- Why would you give me that?' She wouldn't believe that he would just give it to her if she co-operated even though she wouldn't go along with it anyway. 'You need it don't you?'

'I already have many arrancar' he began. 'Once you kill him, I won't need to make any more. One thing that I have noticed is that it has some of your reiatsu inside it.' Rukia looked at him and then at the Hougyoku curiously. 'This is due to the fact that it was inside you for quite some time. It slowly absorbed your reiatsu which is inside it now. You may have noticed that you became a highly ranked espada even though you didn't become a menos class hollow. I can only assume that this means that it is highly compatible with you because of your reiatsu.'

Rukia thought to herself. 'Is that why I feel stronger? Did it end up giving me some of the reiatsu that it absorbed from me? With that, I might be able to recover the reiatsu that I lost back then. But that would mean... No, I won't betray my friends again. I'll never make that mistake again. He can offer me whatever he wants. I won't help him anyway.'

'You want your reiatsu back, don't you?' Aizen asked. 'You can have it back and gain much more. You miss that power you gained before don't you?' He moved his sword down so it pointed at her heart. 'Your heart desires power and you cannot deny it.'

'You're right' Rukia admitted. 'That's what I want on the inside. But that's not how I want to get it. You can't tempt me with that any more. I know that my friends are here to help me.' Rukia paused for a minute. 'You could turn me into an arrancar again if you really want' she began. 'I wouldn't have any objections. If anything, it would work against you. I would be much more powerful and I have overcome the darkness of my heart. I would be in control when it's over anyway. You said told everyone that they were all trapped here earlier didn't you? If I became an arrancar that would no longer be a problem. I would be able to make a garganta and get everyone out of here and into the real world. So, by all means, turn me into an arrancar. I'm not scared.' Aizen smirked.

'I don't need to have you kill him anyway' Aizen explained. 'You will work just as well as a hostage. If I kill you in front of him, he will be overcome by rage and he will be killed easily. I hope that you won't attempt to escape this time. Unlike last time, I will kill you if you make the wrong choices.'

'Will I be staying in a room again or will I be under your constant supervision?' Rukia simply wondered where she will be placed this time. It wouldn't matter where she was anyway. She would probably be supervised almost constantly even if she was in a room.

'Gin will be taking care of you this time' Aizen replied. Ichimaru walked in.

'It's been a while, hasn't it Rukia-chan' he said with his usual grin. Rukia scowled. Despite all that she had been through, she still couldn't stand this man. Aizen probably arranged this to make her miserable. 'Yer not going to tell me that ya still don't like me are ya?' he said, replacing his grin with a somewhat disappointed face.

'I never liked you, Ichimaru' she said bluntly. 'I don't think I ever told you, but you're the most despicable man that I have ever met.' She turned and walked away. If no one followed her, she could escape but she didn't think that would work anyway.

'Shouldn't you follow her, Gin?' Aizen asked. It wasn't really a question. It was more of an order.

'Hmm? Oh yes, of course' he said. 'My thoughts were elsewhere. Anything I need to know?'

'Just make sure she stays alive' Aizen told him. 'You simply need to wear down her resistance. She feels stronger than before but she is deluding herself. Deep down, she is exactly the same as she was before. That's why I chose you for this. You can instil fear in others easily especially her. It shouldn't take you long before you can reduce her to what she was like before.'

'When ya say it like that, it makes me feel a little bad on the inside' he grinned. He walked off to catch up to Rukia.

'Before you leave' Aizen said which stopped him. 'Something has crossed my mind. Bring her to a room so that I can test my theory. I am interested to see the results.' After Ichimaru left, Aizen continued thinking to himself. 'I must thank you for your assistance, Kuchiki Rukia. After all, my plan is almost complete because of you. You may find out what it was that you did but by that time it will be too late.'

It was a bit short but it's still a chapter. I was happy to see the amount of reviews for the last chapter (there was 8 i think). It doesnt seem like much but to be honest, I would be happy with 5 reviews per chapter. So far (up to chapter 25) I have 125 reviews. Thats the exact amount i would have if i had 5 reviews per chapter :D (5x25=125 I know my maths :P).

Well thats it for this chapter.

'til next time