I slipped my hands in between the space of their heads, and threw the two of them back. They had been causing a scene when I had gotten there. People were watching the two in interest and amusement; waiting to spread it in the tabloids for all Seireitei to hear. Of all times they couldn't get along, it just had to be in the middle of the streets of Seireitei, and the near the first division at that.

"That is more than enough." I shoved Kisuke far enough away and then turned in on Soi-fon. Her small frame immediately came down into dozenga prostration.

"Yu—"

"Enough." My words cracked a bolt of lighting through the situation. Kisuke backed up, leaving his hands open in innocence. I turned my eyes of to a small group that were comfortable in the back. "Get out of here."

When they didn't move immediately I pulsed my reiatsu out. They scampered and then fell back in their haste to get away. They grabbed each other up, helping each other from falling again, and I watched them scatter around. I turned my over towards every group, until the entire corrider was deserted of people.

"Soi-fon."

The girl was beginning to sweat underneath my reiatsu. I watched as she shifted and attempted to make herself more comfortable but they were attempts in vain. I took my reiatsu back down until I saw that she could make clear movements. She was breathing hard, and her form was slightly quivering. Her eyes turned up towards my briefly, and then back down to the ground.

"My deepest apologies, Yuko-sama. I got carried away."

"Carried away, you say? – That is the most abhorrent apology I've ever seen from you. Do you understand the implications of your actions? The image of the second division will be tested now."

"I apologize."

"Does an apology make it better? Does an apology make the situation disappear? - Tell me, Soi-fon."

"No ma'am." Her shout bounced from the ground and up into the air.

I kneeled down and placed my hand upon her shoulder. Her body was running warm from my partial abuse. I too had slipped a bit from my position, abusing it and causing her a slight amount of pain. She wasn't at the stage were she could handle such pressure. I slowly began to knead out the muscles, using a bit of kaido to quicken the healing. Her body slowly unwound but I could sense that she was close to tears from the way that she was shuddering.

"I apologize Soi-fon." Her head jerked to a stop and I brought her up so that she could see my face. "I caused you some damage, which wasn't my intention at all. - I'll do better to work on my temper."

"No, Yu—"

"I made a mistake, see…. It happens. The important part is to move along by bettering ourselves, okay?"

She nodded furiously and leaned slightly into the embrace on her shoulder. Ever so slowly her eyes came back to mine, and I did my best to smile. I was still upset by her actions, but there was no need to fear me. I took my hand from my shoulder and placed it instead on her head and ground slightly. Her face wrinkled up at the action, a small blush lining the bridge of her cheeks, and then she came to look at me again. The tears drying at the corner of her eyes.

"It's okay to question your superiors at times. It makes you much sharper, but this was not something to cause a fit over." She bowed her head again with a nod, and I placed my hand on her chin to make her raise it again. "Kisuke is the third seat of the division, and you may not like that, but you must respect him. He's a good man and a good fighter…. Don't write anyone off for their personality. - I hope one day you come to respect him like you do me."

Her eyes siphoned off to the side, and I knew that I wouldn't get the response I needed nor wanted. She would take her time to come to her own conclusion as do all people. I furrowed my brow at this, feeling the slightest bit guilty for trying to convince her to see things my way. I let out a sigh and ordered her to get back to the barracks and get some rest.

I put my hand up in her face as she began to protest. "You are young. – Take the time to rest. No one will think less of you."

I slowly helped her lift herself up, and then watched as she disappeared around the corner. As her reiatsu went further and further away, I turned over onto Kisuke. He was watching with his shuffling feet; already groveling with his head knocked down and hand raised to rub at it. My angry came a new again, coiling like a snake ready to strike, as I took in his form. I snatched at his shihakusho and dragged him down to my height, so that I could send the daggers straight through his eyes. His eyes flickered, going between each of my shaded eyes.

I could count the amount of times I had been angry at anyone on one hand. I always commended myself with being able to reason out people's interactions and reasons for responding poorly. I brushed off taunts, and stayed far away from people that would try to pick fights. Intellectual battles are one thing, and I could appreciate those, but the more physical ones, like these, almost never happened. The few times they had occurred, Kumo was there to help me sort it out quickly. However, he seemed to have been taking a long break from communicating with me. I was alone in my head for once.

"What… Do you think you are doing?"

His eyes locked to mine finally, keeping us staring at each other into oblivion. "I'm so-"

"More apologies, Kisuke?"

"What do you want me to say?"

Gritting my teeth I jumped us both back and had him slammed up against the wall. Due to the height difference he was squatting down, with his legs sticking out on either side of me. He winced as his head clattered against the stone, and his eyes shut briefly. The flames flickered slightly, but I closed my grip even tighter.

"I don't want fucking apologies boyo." His eyes came open and he stared at me again. Cursing was also a rare event. "You want to explain to me why you, a third seat, could not stand up to your inferior?"

"It's not like that Yuko."

"Explain it."

He eyes trailed off to the side and I slammed his back up again. If he wasn't going to pay attention, I would just have to make him. He pulled his hands up and kept them near my shoulders, ready to make a move if I attempted to be aggressive with him again. When his eyes came back to me, there was a coldness that I knew he reserved only for oponnents. My mouth clamped down, and I waited as patiently as I could.

"It was a misunderstanding."

I swung him up just as he finished the sentence and threw him across the corridor. He made no move to stop my actions, or to prevent his injury, as he banged against the wall and then tumbled his way down to the floor. A few pieces of rubble crumbled down on top of him as he slowly picked himself up. His eyes held that shock that built up more anger in my system.

The lid on my reiatsu burst open and scrambling Kisuke followed through. He came upon him feet and we stared off at each other. It was now an even battle, although Kisuke who hates battles of force, would hate to admit that. He liked to outwit oponnents as quickly as possible and be done. I preferred to do that too, but I just didn't have same the battle capacity that he had, so I was forced to use more force than him. This was a battle of will power; our two reiatsus clamoring over one another higher and higher.

As I sprung forward, the man in turn responding, arms looped around my shoulders from the back. I slipped underneath them and flipped around swinging a leg at the interloper's head. They dodged and we began a flurry of hakuda movements that would have sent most people reeling. It was then I knew that I was fighting Yoruichi, for there was no one that kept up with movements at this pace like her.

We sprung apart, as I got a kick in at her sternum. As I stumbled back winded from the fight, another set of arms coiled around me. I wiggled and bucked around, trying to get out, but the hold clenched down and it became impossible to anything but feel as my heart pulsated in my chest. In a last attempt, I flung my head back to attempt and catch his chin.

"Simmer down now Yuko-chan."

His voice filtered through my ears, and tugged at the pin that was keeping all my other emotions out. I died down, hanging uselessly in his strength, and he slowly let me collect onto the ground. His arms unwound, but he kept a steady hand on my back. More than likely to make sure that he could react fast enough if I decided to lunge.

"Kyoraku-taicho."

"I have no idea what's going on, but both your reiatsus could be felt at the captain's meeting." Yoruichi barked out, hands on her hips.

Yoruichi had to look between us, as Kisuke also had made no intention to move. It seemed the he had stopped himself as Yoruichi and I tussled together. Ever so slowly, he made his way up and took a rather painful blow from the captain. His frame shook as he took the blow and then I watched as he quietly explained the situation out to her. Yoruichi's gold eyes flashed several times, looking over at me during a number of them, but her posture never slackened.

She beckoned me over with a flick of her head, and I shrugged away from the captain that had come to help. His touch was becoming a burn anyway, still feeling it across the expanse of my back as I was walking. I rolled out my shoulders to help fix my posture and then lifted my head up as I came to a stop.

"Are you done acting like a petulant child?" We both narrowed our eyes at each other, but I kept my lips firmly shut. I didn't stop the swing of her hand as it caught to my cheek. "You stopped a fight only to start a new one. How dumb are you?"

"Don't take your nobler than thou attitude with me Yoruichi. You know that you've caused more damage before." I allowed her the diginity of at least staring down at me, since I didn't bother come up after she had hit me.

"Come back when you've cooled of, Yuko.- And keep your damn reiatsu in check." Yoruichi grabbed onto Kisuke and then the two of them were gone from the area.

I strangled the scream in my throat, until I was curled was bowed over. Then I let my mouth open wide, my fists curling, and I yelled so loudly there was no sound. I raked my closed fist against the ground, feeling the bite of my nails into my palm and the gravel of the stones interjecting in my mournful anger. I rocked forward so my head was pushing into the ground, and let my heart give a few more bursts. Shuddering with the anger unreleased, I slowly pulled back and began to stand.

"Don't fucking touch me." I slapped at his hand that was coming to my forearm. I spun around and pushing at his chest a few times. "You always fucking touch me. You infernal pervert of a man…. Don't you dare."

Through him, I pushed the anger out. We were walking backwards with the force; me putting everything I had into it, and him taking the pushes. They did nothing. My heart still clattering against my rib cage, and the air drying up in my lungs as fast as I could breath it all in.

Kyoraku-taicho stayed quiet, until I pushed for the final time. "Yuko-chan, you have to calm down."

"Shut up." I wrenched from his grasp, and backed up until I was no longer an arms-length away. "Come any closer and …. I'll - I'll hurt you."

I wrapped my two arms close to my torso and shuddered under the dying sun. I finally got a good look at his face. While the line of his mouth told me nothing, there was a sadness that rocked through me. A hard shudder past through me and I clenched hard, digging my hands into my ribs to stay calm. His eyebrows were slightly bunched together, puckering up in worry, but the rest of his eye area was looped down. It all dragged with sorrow.

Why?

The breath caught in my throat and brought up a hand to my neck. I turned and I fled from the visage of the man that was reaching out to me.

I bowed down and touched my forehead to the floor. "Thank you Sou-taicho for your leniency."

The man grunted and I heard the shift of his fabric. His cane came down on the floor resounding louder than his footfall. The tip came and pressed into my shoulder blade, pressing me up and backwards. It circled slightly and pushed down a bit deeper, and then he released me from the bind.

"By sure that your foolish stupidity doesn't cause such problems again, girl."

"Of course Sou-taicho."

I bowed down and then got up stiffly to start my backwards descent out of the room. His eyes were fixed off on to the wall that he was facing, but his reiatsu lingered around my shoulder heaping there. Each step felt leaden like moving under water when one doesn't know how to swim. Ironically, I realized that I actually didn't know how to swim. I had never lived near a body of water. The laughter died at the thought as I kept creeping backwards.

"Ayake Ichiyuko."

I paused where I was and stood up like a tree in the middle of a hurricane. "Yes, sir."

"Your proposal was a very interesting read."

My heart stuttered back to life from its previous flayed state, and I found myself entranced by his turning towards me. It was the same figure of him with his two hands on his cane. For once, he looked like the leader that I could imagine actually following under. It wasn't just for acknowledging the proposal, but for the act. I had misinterpreted the man for being cold and ruthless based on a history textbook.

"Thank you sir."

He cane clattered. "Don't interrupt - Should you continue to prove to be nothing but an imprudent and prideful child then I will strip you of your rank… However, if you should continue to demonstrate the characteristics that people choose to value in you, then perhaps you can get to my feet."

No wonder they said that he was a good teacher.

I shuddered at the opening of his one eye as he took a look at me. I bowed my head at the touch of acknowledgement and I finally felt stripped of his reiatsu. My hands quivered at the thought that it had been clinging to my frame for all these months since I had first met him. He grunted and left the room using the side doors and I struggled to keep my knees from quaking.

How had I not recognized the tag he placed on me?

There was no voice to respond this time, but I could hear a slight whisper from the spider. At the very least, I knew that he was still there; laying in waiting. I took my quivering form and let the air jostle me out of the room. My fingers slowly clenched around the door handle and then I was home free from the room. As the door closed behind my back, I slathered up against it and waited for the light headedness to pass.

I turned my head over to find Kisuke, who had slipped in just a few seconds before. We came to our standoff from earlier but this time just with our eyes. His eyes melted before me, giving way to one of the first actual signs of weakness that I had seen his display. He slowly slipped his arm around me and pulled me in for a hug. I draped onto him and clenched up, letting him carry me again.

"I'm brushing it Kisuke." My hand moved as if Kisuke's back was the goal that was in reach and traced gently.

"You are Yuko-chan."

"I'm sorry." My head came onto his shoulder and whispered it from my heart to his ear. He nodded in kind but said nothing back. He really didn't have anything to apologize for anyway.

As we traveled away from one another, I hung myself. I had gone to the sou-taicho to hand in my debt. The man had shouted at me for being an incompetent idiot for about ten minutes, before he handed over my punishment. He waved me away with saying that it could have been worse except that I had gone to him directly which very few ever did. Then washed a bit of a victory with his odd touch of courtesy. He was really a teacher, badgering down and then alleviating the situation.

"I'll get better."

Kisuke's eyes shifted over towards me, and then narrowed. "It was just a mistake."

"No, Kisuke." I sighed and rubbed my neck. "It won't happen again. - I don't think you understand how hard it is to see you be you."

"Huh?" I turned to look back at his paused frame. He was comically standing with his legs and arms spread out as if someone had shot arrows at his frame. His eyes grew large and he put a hand up to his face to cover it in a faux manner.

I chuckled and tugged on his arm to get us moving again. "Forget it - Let's do better together Kisuke."

"Wait Yuko-"

I grabbed his arm tighter and then shot forward with a shunpo giving him no more time to say anything as he had to try and keep up with the actions. That goof.