Chapter 36:

-Later on that day in the World of the Living-

Toshiro and Yoruichi walk out of the senkaimon and looked around their whereabouts as it closed behind them. They had arrived by the river the ran along the western side of Karakura town; "So what now?" Yoruichi asked with a tilt of her head.

Toshiro looked up at her, then over in the direction he felt Ichigo's spirit energy; 'He really has no sense of control, does he.' he thought to himself in amusement.

"We should check on Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends. Its too early for them to be out of school, yet they're heading in the opposite direction from it." he claimed, narrowing his eyes on where he could sense Ichigo's spirit energy.

Yoruichi looked in the same direction and nodded her head; "Alright. Lets go." she said, receiving a nod and a sudden shunpo from Toshiro.

-Halfway across the town-

Ichigo and his friends were facing off against Ryo Utagawa and his Doll Fried in a truck docking bay, with a young woman being held hostage by the Bount. But across the street; Toshiro and Yoruichi arrived in shunpoes and watched the events from behind the many trees in the forest; "Do you think we should help them?" Yoruichi asked with a glance over at Toshiro.

He shook his head, then looked over at her; "No, we should just let this play out for now. Yoshino should be on her way over here. So lets hide our spirit energy...before they figure out we're here." Toshiro said, as both of them did as he instructed.

"How can you be certain that she's going to listen to you? As far as she's concerned...you may be just another Shinigami trying to exterminate her kind. Why is she going to listen to you?" Yoruichi asked, once again looking over at him on her left side.

"Trust me Yoruichi. She'll do it." was his response as he too looked over at her and formed an assuring smirk.

"Of course I trust you. I trust you with my life...its her I'm worried about." she said, nodding and smiling at him, but then gestured over to her right, as if the person they were speaking about was right there.

Toshiro smirked wider, then looked around the tree he was hidden behind and saw a sudden fire ball hurling straight at Ryo; "Fried!" he called out and brought forth his Doll to shield him from the attack.

The ball of fire hit the snake, broke apart, and covered most of the immediate area in an inferno. But most of the fire still ended up surrounding its intended target, and also freed Uryu from the snake that wrapped around his body. Toshiro and Yoruichi looked up at Yoshino standing atop one of the trucks, with the now unconscious Uryu in her arms; "Ishida-kun!" Orihime called out frantically.

"That woman..." Rukia started but never finished from her surprise; "You bitch!" Ichigo insulted her angrily as everyone just watched her and her Doll with anxious and suspicious eyes.

"Yoshino, you escaped again, didn't you?" Ryo began as the flames that had engulfed him suddenly dispersed and left him just standing there unharmed, with an irritated expression.

"Please don't think that you will always be treated so specialy." he finished, glaring up at her and placing a hand over his face.

"Goethe, please take care of things here." Yoshino asked, to which her Doll responded with; "Request understood." in a deep yet rather humble voice.

"H-Hey, wait a second!" Ichigo called out, just before Goethe blasted three very large fire balls towards Ichigo and everyone else present.

Toshiro looked back at Yoruichi, gestured for her to follow him with a tilt of his head and began walking through the trees; "We better find out where she's going." he said.

Yoruichi nodded and followed him; "Yeah...but you know..." she began, walking in front of him, crossing her arms, then leaned against a nearby tree and looked at him with slight suspicion.

"Even though I am inquisitive about how you convinced her to help us...I'm more inquisitive of how you've been able to just walk around the enemy...without being attacked." she asked, keeping her suspicious look on him.

'At least tell me this Toshiro.' she all but begged in her own mind; "Well, from everything that I've done...its hard to see me as a good guy." he said looking down at the ground and began to walk around her.

Yoruichi sighed sadly and looked down at the ground; "I see. But regardless of what they may think...you are a good guy, to me." she said smirking at him, but whispering and looking away in embarrassment at the end of her sentence.

Toshiro immediately stopped, looked back at her with a slightly surprised expression, but smirked at her nonetheless; "Thanks Yoruichi." he said sincerely, before motioning for her to follow once more.

"We better hurry before she gets too far away." he continued, then turned back in Yoshino's direction and shunpoed toward her.

Yoruichi was a split second behind him and shunpoed right next to him; "What's your plan when we catch up?" she asked as they kept going.

"Nothing. We're just seeing where she's going...just in case." Toshiro responded; "Hmm, don't you think we could have brought Soifon? We could just have had her do this so we could-" but Yoruichi was cut off as Toshiro came to a sudden stop in front of a large building.

She halted right next to him and looked up at the many dirty windows of the facility. She then looked up at the large hand clock on the top and listened to it start ringing loudly, for the old hour to end and a new one to begin.

"This is it." Toshiro said as Yoruichi glanced over at him him with a raised brow then back at the clock that continued to echo its ground shaking sound across the town.

"So now that we know where she is...what now?" she asked, stretching her arms behind her back and cracking her neck loudly; "Oh wow...that one felt good." she laughed out with a smile.

Toshiro glanced over at her with a raised brow, then in the opposite direction and narrowed his eyes into a glare, as if someone was on the other side of him; "You better not be here to start something." he said seemingly to no one.

Yoruichi looked around, yet found no one anywhere near them, she was about to question him, but she was interrupted when Jin Kariya suddenly walked out of the shadowed entrance of the large clock tower.

"Oh don't worry, I have no intention of fighting...till it is necessary." Jin claimed, smiling widely as he walked up to them with his hands in his pockets.

Toshiro and Yoruichi both glared at the man with distrustful eyes; "And how do we know that?" the purple haired woman demanded.

"Hmph, cause he knows that he'd lose. Isn't that right, Jin?" Toshiro said with a light yet somewhat smug smirk.

Jin's smile disappeared and a deep frown took its place in a split second; "Once my plans go accordingly...I will be more powerful then the Head Captain himself." he claimed, now glaring at the two.

"Is that so? Kind of hard to believe...considering how easily either of us could beat you right now." Yoruichi commented with a smirk and put her hands on her hips.

Kariya let out a silent growl in frustration; "You'll be begging for forgiveness when I rise to power." he said, now smirking once more, but keeping his eyes narrowed on her.

Toshiro stepped forward and glared icily at the opposing man; "You know Jin...I don't take too kindly to anyone that talks that way to Yoruichi. So, unless you have a death wish...you better bite your damn tongue."

Yoruichi looked at Toshiro with a surprised expression, but it changed to a proud one after a brief moment; "Fine then. But I request that she does not insult me as well." Jin said through gritted teeth, making it apparent that he wanted to say something else.

"Ha! Your request is denied! You lost the right to make requests to me when you sucked the soul from a human!" Yoruichi declared, becoming fairly angry now.

But instead of becoming offended, as Yoruichi thought he would, he suddenly gained a wide smile; "So your disgusted with anyone that kills innocent people?" Jin asked regaining his very smug tone.

Yoruichi looked at him as if he were crazy; "Obviously." she claimed simply yet annoyingly, as she didn't know why he was suddenly becoming so cocky.

Jin just smiled even wider and took a quick glance at Toshiro and his very icy glare; "If that true, then why are you best friends with the most famous...or infamous, it depends on how you look at it, murderer in history."

Yoruichi's eyes became wide and her attention immediately turned to where Toshiro had just been. But he had shunpoed right in front of Jin, grabbed his throat with an ice covered hand and began choking him; "I warned you to bite your damn tongue." he said, freezing the air with his voice.

"Toshiro...is that true?" Yoruichi asked with a rather shaky voice, to which Toshiro looked back at her with an ashamed yet still rather icy expression.

He then looked down at the ground, but still kept his hand around Jin's neck with an iron like grip. He then closed his eyes and ground his teeth together; "Oh..it's..defin..itely..true. All..of it." Jin claimed in a gargled and very strained voice.

"Shut up! I wanna hear it from him." Yoruichi yelled with a glare at the choking man, then turned back to Toshiro with an almost begging look on her face.

"Is it?" she asked once more; "Yeah." was all Toshiro said before releasing Jin and immediately shunpoing away.

"Toshiro!" she called out, but was too late to stop him; "You see?...If anything..he's far worse then any of us Bounts..combined." Jin claimed rubbing his sore neck, just before Yoruichi too disappeared in a shunpo to try and catch up to her friend.

She shunpoed across the town and almost ran into multiple people as she hurried through it at incredible speeds; "Toshiro!" she called out to him, but no answer ever came.

But then as she was passing by the Karakura park, she saw him walking down a pathway with his head down and his arms crossed across his chest; "Toshiro! Please wait!" Yoruichi cried out, dropping out of her shunpo and running up to him.

Toshiro stopped, opened his slowly, uncrossed his arms, and turned to her with a melancholic expression. Yoruichi run up, grabbed him by his shoulders and slightly shook him; "Why did you leave like that? I told you that I would never think any less of you. I don't care if what you did seems wrong, I know that you only did them for the greater good...right?"

Toshiro just looked at her shocked, but then lowered his eyes and slowly closed them once more; "Not always." he said sadly, then reopening his eyes again.

"But you...you wouldn't..." she began, but her throat tightened and restricted her speech so she was unable to finish.

Then she suddenly pulling him towards her and hugged him tightly as hot tears began to fall from her eyes; "Your not a bad guy. Your not...your not." she said, straining her voice even more and hugging him tighter and tighter for each word she spoke.

Toshiro just stared at her for a while with an extremely shocked expression, but he then returned her hug; "I'm sorry I broke my promise of not to change too much...but I'll make sure to keep it from now on." he whispered to her with a very earnest tone.

Yoruichi loosened her hug, stared into his eyes for a moment, then leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his lips before going right back into her tight hug. Toshiro was too shocked to re-embrace her hug, so he ended up just standing there paralyzed, as if an electric shock surged through his entire body and then froze it solid.

"I'm glad. Cause I don't think I could live without you being you." she said with such a level of sincerity that she barely sounded like herself.

"I..." Toshiro started, but he found himself at a loss for words; 'How can she still be able make me speechless even after all this time?' he thought as he slowly felt the feeling coming back into his limbs once more and halfway returned her hug.

Yoruichi smiled secretly, loosened her hug again and began to lean in for another kiss; 'Even though seeing his reaction would probably be priceless...kissing him doesn't exactly sound like a bad idea.' she thought rather deviously as her tears began to dry.

But just as their lips were about to connect..."Captain..Hitsugaya? Y-Yoruichi-sama?" both of them snapped away from one another and saw Soifon standing not four yards away with a stunned expression.

"What? We were just catching up on old times." Yoruichi said quickly as Toshiro smacked his forehead with an icy palm; "You got to be kidding me." he mumbled out as his right eye began twitching.

Soifon just stood there looking from one to the other; "Catching...up." she echoed back as her jaw all but dropped.

Yoruichi tilted her head in fake confusion; "You mean you've never kissed anyone you haven't seen in a long time?" she asked, trying to hide her amusement.

"W-What? O-Of course not. You don't mean to tell me that you kissed Kisu-" "Nope, I was in my cat form when I saw him again, and its too late for it now. You can relax Soifon. Actually...what are you doing here anyway?" Yoruichi asked, interrupting Soifon before she could make another insult about one of her best friends.

"I was requested to come here by Ukitake to inform Captain Hitsugaya that a meeting will be held tomorrow, to inform the other captains and lieutenants about the blocked Bount information." Soifon said in a very formal matter.

Toshiro nodded his head and glanced over at Yoruichi; "Have you told Kisuke and Tessai about it?" to which she looked over at him and shook her head.

"He'll probably have a pretty good idea of whom it was, so make sure to inform him soon." Toshiro continued with a nod.

Yoruichi nodded back, but then took a wide smirk and leaned in toward his ear; "Its too bad we keep getting interrupted huh?" she whispered to him, her breath tickling his neck and sending a slight chill through his body.

But Toshiro just let out a silent growl of annoyance and gave her a halfhearted glare; "Yoruichi." he mumbled, hoping that she would become at least a little serious.

The purple haired woman smiled, straightened up once more and giggled; "What? Are you saying that you didn't enjoy kissing me?"

Toshiro's eyes became extremely wide and he once again felt at a loss for words; "I...um...uh..." he stuttered out incoherently.

His actions just made Yoruichi giggle even more and give him a light hug; "Don't worry Toshiro...I did too." she whispered to him with a wink.

Toshiro looked up at her as she released him and wore a wide smirk on her face, he then cleared his throat and regained his composure; "Anyway...Soifon, you can inform Ukitake that I'll be there for the meeting, I just have a few more things to take care of here."

Soifon nodded at him and took one last glance at him then Yoruichi before turning around and shunpoing away; "And you...the sooner Kisuke knows, the better. You can go ahead and go over there. I need some time to prepare for Ichigo's next test."

Yoruichi raised a brow at his words; "What do you mean, 'Ichigo's next test'?" she asked with a questionable expression.

Toshiro looked at her with a light smirk on his face; "You'll find out." he said then turned away and shunpoed off.

-That night at the hospital-

Toshiro stood atop the roof of a nearby building and watched the sky fill with clouds and a light rain begin to fall; "Perfect...it should start getting heavier as the night goes on." he said to himself with a satisfied nod.

He then looked into the window that held the only light on the entire floor; "Those Bounts should be making their move pretty soon. I know for a fact that Jin will send the two that can manipulate water, cause next to Utagawa...they're the most expendable." he continued as he focused his senses to find out exactly what was happening inside.

"Hmm, it seems like they're beginning their assault." he spoke, then turned around and looked out to the rest of the town; "I guess I should go, I'll be meeting her pretty soon." and with that, he vanished into the night.

-Near a small antique store-

The rain had begun to fall in larger amounts by the time Toshiro had arrived at the rendezvous point he had given to her. He appeared in a flash about twenty yards away from where Yoshino was standing under her umbrella, he then narrowed his eyes on her and stepped back into a dark alleyway. 'I'll speak to her after Ryo is finished.' he thought as said man suddenly appeared next to Yoshino with his own umbrella, and began talking with her.

Toshiro crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall that faced the two Bounts. He then took one final glance at them before closing his eyes and tilting his head down towards the ground. Though he should have been seen, the shadows of the alley was enough to keep his visual presence hidden. But he was also masking his spirit energy so that they would not be able to sense him no matter how much they tried. Yet despite all of that, one of the two Bounts already knew of his whereabouts and hid smirk upon their lips.

"I will not take orders." Yoshino spoke with an almost casual tone, but upon closer inspection, her words were laced with hate and anger.

"Even if it is an order given by the man you love?" Ryo asked rather smugly, already knowing her answer just by looking at her eyes.

"Love is worn out. It ran especially thin when I realized that he was manipulating me." she said, still with anger mixed in her voice.

"It seems Kariya-san will start to move soon." he stated, now seeming to go into a business mode.

"Doesn't matter, from the very start the Bounts have been of a single mind set. He can do as he wishes." she said, not even caring about their conversation anymore.

"I wonder why Kariya-san is so good to you. No matter how I look at you, your ill-tempered." he said, actually seeming not to understand.

"Appearances aside, you are a little boy. You cannot get by in this world spirit alone." Yoshino started, but then glanced over at the smirk Ryo was now giving her; "Unnecessary suspicions will be your downfall."

"No comment." was Ryo's response as he smiled wider and already began walking away; "Your dismissed." she said, not realizing that he had unknowingly run to the same alleyway that Toshiro was still in.

"Hmph, that woman will get hers." he mumbled to himself as he looked around the corner and looked at the woman still standing in front of the shop.

"Maybe...maybe not." Toshiro commented, making his presence known to the man.

Utagawa turned around faster then he ever had in his very long life and became wide eyed as he stared in horror at the shadowed figure of Hitsugaya. "How?...When?...What are you doing here?" the Bount asked out of shock, almost dropping his umbrella in the process.

"Hmph, visiting an old friend. What about you?" Toshiro asked, pushing himself off the wall, uncrossing his arms and looked up at him.

"I was here..under orders from Kariya-san." Ryo answered, almost stuttering with his words.

"Hmm, well then...shouldn't you be heading back to make your report." Toshiro stated instead of asking.

Utagawa ground his teeth together and glared at the Shinigami before him, then turned around and began walking away; "You too will get yours as well." were his leaving words.

"Tch, still so young." Yoshino said as she walked up to the opening of the alley; "Yeah, no kidding." Toshiro said with a nod.

"I assume you caused this rain?" she asked looking up at the sky from beyond her umbrella; "Mhmm, I had a feeling that Jin would send the two that control water...so I gave them the advantage over Ichigo and his friends." he said with a light smirk.

"Why would you do that? They're your comrades aren't they?" she asked with a questionable expression on her face.

"Yes, but if they cannot defeat those two...then they won't stand a chance against any of the other Bounts." he claimed with his breath slightly visible in the air.

"You really are fixed on making them stronger huh?" Yoshino asked, but nodded knowingly; "Well in order to be at the level they need to be at to fight the Arrancars...they're gonna need to become as strong as possible." Toshiro said turning around to face her.

"I see. So what did you need me for?" she questioned, now getting down to the matter at hand.

Toshiro nodded and looked up at her with a serious expression; "I'm going to need you to take care of the Quincy for now. He will more then likely feel responsible for the attacks on his friends and try to run off. Take him somewhere you know is safe and try to keep the other Bounts away for as long as possible." he explained.

"So he really does have a lot to do with his plans then. Alright, but what if they do happen to take us?" Yoshino asked with a nod.

"If they happen to get you...I'm sure you already know how to get out, and as for Uryu...his friends will definitely make sure he gets out. I'll even go if need be." he said with an assuring tone.

Yoshino nodded and smirked; "Okay, but I really hope that they don't send Go Koga. He's even older then I am, and he's had more experience then me. I don't think I could win against him."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes, looked off to the side and sighed; "If that's the case...then you can more then definitely count on him being the one that shows up. Cause I'm sure Jin also knows that your not a match for him, it would only seem sensible on his part."

She looked slightly shocked at first, but then nodded once more; "That's true. I suppose that when the time comes...there won't be any helping it."

"Unfortunately so. But you know what...I think that when all this is over, you'll finally get what you truly want." he said with a small and rather weak smirk.

Yoshino looked at him slightly confused, but then her expression changed to shock, then to unsure, and finally a halfway smile; "I guess you really are a genius. You even know what I want before even I do myself."

She then made a full smile and walked closer to him; "I wish you were a Bount...maybe we really could have made a such thing as everlasting love."

Toshiro slightly smirked at her and nodded; "Maybe." he said, then stuck out his right ice covered hand.

'I guess I kind of can say maybe. If I was a Bount...I never would have known anyone in Soul Society.' he thought as Yoshino clasped her own hand in his.

"But at least we knew each other at all." he said mostly to himself, but Yoshino still heard him and smiled wider at his words.

"Yeah. And I'm glad for it too." she said as they released each others hands, nodded in unison, turned away from each other, and walked in separate directions.

"I wonder..." Toshiro whispered as he took one last glance at Yoshino's leaving figure before disappearing in the shadows of darkness.

Okay...that was a bit of an annoying chapter, I got caught up on so many scenes it was unreal. And btw: Toshiro and Yoshino have met more then just twice, I'll include just how many in one of the future chapters. But wow, this is the 36th chapter, I can't believe that this story is already that long? Wow, maybe I should do something special for the 40th or 50th. :) Anyway, hope you all enjoyed...please review.