A/n: Thanks for the reading, reviews, follows and favourites. I'm still considering what to do for the 100 review thing. Maybe I should write an AU and do fanart despite my terrible drawing skills? I don't know - we'll see in the end. If I come up with something, I'll let you guys know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its plot. The only ones I own are the badass Kobayashi Suki, the spunky Mizushima Kei and Ukeire Atsushi for number 1 jerk :D

I will warn that there may be errors, don't let that you stop from reading the chapter

Chapter 35

Renji couldn't speak back as the wind started to pick up around Kei's form. But he already held Ururu just in case she would strike at the arrancar again. Her caramel hair followed the breeze wildly as Kei let her blade glow. She stretched out her sword arm and prepared for a counter attack but Renji still remained flabbergasted.

Kei's mint eyes met with the opponent's and they only narrowed in determination. This was her chance now! "Wander," She whispered and the glow brightened as the wind picked up speed. Keeping her confidence at a low level, Kei released the seal of her zanpakuto with a serious expression written in the features. "Kyoha*!" The glowing blade extended and slowly materialised into a spear just as tall as her with a single edged blade at the end of it.

As the wind slowly died down, Kei brandished her spear and kept her face stoic. She couldn't imagine what Renji was thinking right now. This had been her first time releasing her zanpakuto in front of him; in fact very few people knew what her release was since she barely used her partner. But Kei wasn't going to let Renji down now, of all times.

So you finally release me? A male voice chuckled in her head, leaving Kei to tighten her hold on him with a determined gaze. Her silence gave the zanpakuto his answer and he let out another chuckle but this one was filled with the determination that Kei found herself with. Alright then Kei, Kyoha said with a cocky tone. Let's show this woman who's the true master of the sky.

For a moment, Kei frowned and gave another glance at the arrancar. Kyoha, that's not a woman...

Her zanpakuto let out a yelp of surprise, It isn't!? Well, explains why he looks ugly.

"You think this is going to defeat me?" The arrancar sneered as he crossed his arms over his chest. As the arrancar spoke back to her, Kei's face morphed into her serious gaze again. There was no time to slip up. "I can see that you're no fukutaicho – I bet that you don't even have a rank... so there's no way that you'll be able to cut into my skin-!"

Kei suddenly began her assault, ignoring the wind that suddenly picked up from behind. She let out a war cry as she attempted to make a slash but the arrancar dodged her movements. She used both of her hands to spin the spear around, occasionally blocking with a whimper and countering through the empty air as the arrancar dodged. Renji only watched the fight with a stunned expression in his eyes. Even with her zanpakuto released, the arrancar was still too fast for her.

He dodged every lunge that Kei gave to him, before he appeared in front of the caramel haired female and brought his sword to cut through her shoulder. Unfortunately Kei didn't have enough time to bring her spear to block the attack and saw the blood squirt from her shoulder. Pain burned in Kei's shoulder as she let out a cry of agony, using her free hand to hold her bleeding shoulder.

"Kei!" Renji appeared by her side, his eyes filled with a stern sort of worry. A hand grasped on her arm gently and Kei immediately knew it was his but she didn't return the gaze, "That's enough. You're no match for him Kei! Stand down before he kills you!"

"I would have to agree with him, girly!"

It felt like she had ran a hot knife through the wound, but it wasn't going to get Kei down. She was ready to take this to the next level. "That's what you think arrancar – you rely on your eyes too much," Kei said cheerfully before a rare smirk crossed her lips, "Don't you think it was a bit too easy dodging those attacks?" Before either man could answer her question and realise, the blade from Kei's zanpakuto glowed, "Daiisso, eiri kaze*!"

A dozen cuts suddenly formed on the arrancar's skin, lightly spilling out crimson liquid. "You bitch! What have you done to me?" A curse came from the arrancar as the blood spilled out, leaving Kei to go through with her explanation.

"I was missing on purpose arrancar – my blade is just for show; extremely blunt and unable to cut anything but that's not Kyoha's ability. Kyoha is a wind type zanpakuto, and through the cuts I make is an extra sharp blade in the air that will slash you as soon as I command it."

"Kei," Renji whispered with surprise.

"How dare you bitch? You think that you can best me after you managed to cut me?" The arrancar snarled in fury, looking at the blood before meeting a dark gaze with the caramel haired shinigami. In response, Kei lifted her spear with a wince. "I'm ending this right now!" Surprise flashed in Kei's features when his reiatsu skyrocketed above her own. "Skewer Del Toro!"

Each of the fighters stared at their opponent with wide eyes, feeling the strength from him. His form brightened around him, making Kei shield her eyes from the light. Slowly Kei began to realise that if this arrancar was stronger than before, then she stood no chance against him. When his form revealed itself, she was surprised to see that he took a form of an oversized bull with a hunched over body.

If there had been any signs of injuries, Kei couldn't see anything. Not a drop of blood was on his face from her and Ururu's beating. It looked like whenever an arrancar released their zanpakuto, all of their injuries were healed up in an instant.

"No way," Kei's voice shook as she stared back at the arrancar. Fear started to settle in her gut as she witnessed the arrancar in front of her. The arrancar was dangerously powerful and the pair easily struggled fighting him. "It was just a struggle to catch him off guard!"

The arrancar looked over to Renji with a lazy gaze, "This is what happens when an arrancar releases his zanpakuto brother." Was this opponent only interested in fighting Renji?

Before they knew it, the arrancar disappeared and Kei let out a yelp of fear when Ururu was suddenly dangling in the air due to a horn impaling her tiny frame. With a loud laugh, the arrancar hurled Ururu in to the air to let her body drop.

"Ururu-chan!" Kei screamed out, her eyes wide with fright. This guy was such a jerk, attempting to hurt a little girl. Why on earth would he do that?

"You bastard!" Renji snarled as Jinta raced up into the air to grab Ururu. Immediately Kei turned to see that Jinta held a weapon similar to Suki's with only a size difference. Jinta let out a war cry as he smacked the bat against the arrancar's skull and it did nothing.

"That's impossible!" Kei cried out, "That attack would've been roughly around Suki's strength on a normal basis!" As the kids were backhanded into the air, Kei instinctively rushed over to them and caught them in her arms, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Jinta grunted and Kei let him stand on his own as he held the unconscious Ururu. His eyes flashed with concern as he spared a look at his female companion. "We need to get-!"

"Look out!" The caramel haired female pushed herself forward to protect kids from the frightening speed of the arrancar's attack. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the impact but it never came for some reason. Instead Kei heard a smash and felt the familiar presence of Renji in front of her; she opened her eyes to see that Renji stood in front of them with his bankai shielding them.

Concern flooded in Kei's stomach. She knew that this could go very badly. "Renji, you're still hurt!"

"All of you get out of here!" The fukutaicho barked, turning to meet the three of them. "Mizushima you have to go heal those injuries that they have!"

For once, Kei knew that she should listen this time. Ururu's injuries were critical and with her own shoulder injury, Kei was just in the way. As much as Kei hated to admit it, she was no use being in a risky situation with someone's life on the line. It wasn't her job to fight; it was her job to heal up any of the wounded.

"Right," She nodded in agreement and took the kids down to the roof of where they were previous watching the fight. As she retreated, Kei heard the arrancar's voice filled with confidence.

"You think you can stop me brother?"

Kei slowly turned, her eyes growing wide with distraught as Renji flew back with a grunt. This was Renji, he wasn't meant to get hurt while she was around to help him. She was desperate to go out and help him, but Kei knew that it wasn't going to do anything. For now, Kei had to work on Ururu.

"Will she be okay?" Jinta wondered, his eyes and expression swept with worry. They dropped down on their knees and Kei returned her zanpakuto in its sealed state. If she wasn't going to battle then there really was no point in having it. Above them, Renji was keeping his distance from the arrancar, as if he was distracting him.

But Kei didn't want to worry about Renji; she had to put her faith in his promise. "I'll make sure she's okay," The caramel haired shinigami promised as they laid the girl down. She lifted her hands to form the familiar glow of kido with a look of determination across her face. In the background, Kei could sense Renji's reiatsu outmatched against the reiatsu, but she kept her focus on the girl.

The only injury that she got was a gaping hole through her stomach. Judging from the blood loss, it was a miracle to say that the girl was still alive. Kei pulled the shirt slightly to see the wound and almost winced at the gaping wound. If it hadn't been for the years of training, Kei wouldn't have been sure if she could handle this.

"Jinta-kun," Ururu whispered desperately as her eyes weakly fluttered towards him. Jinta's expression hardened when he saw her injuries. She reached out and grabbed his hand with pain in her tone, "I'm sorry..."

"Stop talking Ururu," Jinta said softly. His hand tightened around hers and Kei almost smiled at their loyalty for each other. However, the caramel haired shinigami told herself to work on her healing and allowed the magic to happen.

Slowly the injuries began to stitch themselves up, but Kei suddenly stopped her healing when she felt a pain shoot through her shoulder once again. She instinctively grabbed her shoulder and used the single hand to focus on the healing. The blood was still warm; painting Kei's single hand the colour of crimson and the stinging sensation began to settle in. It was bad enough that Ururu's injuries needed her immediate attention, but Kei couldn't completely focus now that her adrenaline ran dry.

I was completely useless out there... Kei thought hopelessly, tightening her hold on her shoulder. I hate that I can't fight – and when I did, it only backfired on me... I wish I was strong like Renji... or like Suki... If only she had been stronger, then she wouldn't be sitting out in the sidelines like this-

"Oi, Minty," Jinta scowled in annoyance and gained Kei's attention. "Stop putting yerself down – you helped me and Ururu back there."

Had she been speaking out loud?

"I gotta say," The redhead spoke bluntly, "Yer not as pathetic as you look... so stop feeling so damn mopey about everything. We're all still alive thanks to you and the red pineapple up there."

"You're right," Kei replied, however she didn't feel like she was confident enough to admit that she was skilled enough. She wasn't going to lie – she hated the fact that she had no choice but to leave Renji alone. The shinigami looked up to watch the fight; her frown deepened when Renji stood back up and prepared to fight with a cocky smirk.

Kei didn't understand, until she felt the remainder of his reiatsu practically topple her. As Renji's reiatsu bubbled to the surface, Jinta let out a surprised yelp and Kei realised what had happened.

Renji just released his limiter since he was a fukutaicho rank.

"Renji!" She cried out happily, watching as the arrancar realised that he was outmatched. Zabimaru had flung the opponent through the air, before it let out a blast to diminish the arrancar into ash. As the reiatsu faded, Kei began to sense the rest of the arrancar fading out as the remaining shinigami finished off the battles. They actually won! After all the efforts, Kei felt happy that the rest of the shinigami managed to clean up – it even felt like Suki was alive in the distance.

Renji stood in the air as the arrancar passed on returning his bankai into the sealed state, before he kneeled in pain which brought Kei back into reality. Even though they won the battle, it didn't mean that the shinigami team weren't hurt. She spared a glance at Ururu, who was simply resting with Jinta loyally at her side and took her eyes off the kids to help Renji.

Yet he didn't flinch when she approach him and helped him to his feet. "We won..." His voice was gruff but he spared a glance at Kei. "But don't worry me like that again otherwise I'm gonna kick your ass back to Soul Society."

Kei smiled at his concern, putting his arm over her petite body. It was strange, his warm body managed to wrap around her like a secure blanket and she felt a strange little flip in her stomach. If Renji hadn't been so wounded, she probably would've stopped and considered what was going on but Kei just dismissed it to the back of her mind.

"No more promises Renji," She laughed in gratitude and together they took their time getting to the ground. As soon as their feet touched the earth, Kei quickly observed Renji's wounds with a critical eye.

While Kei was assessing Renji's wounds, he kept his eyes on the sheathed blade. "Mizushima... your zanpakuto..." She perked her head up to look at Renji, almost frowning when he suddenly turned away from her with a scowl. "Your zanpakuto has its potential... I think that you could try to harness the power before the big fight with Aizen comes."

"You know that I can't fight well with a sword," Kei replied quietly and lifted her hands to his chest to heal the cuts. "I'm not a fighter... it was a miracle that I didn't screw up sooner."

"I have a theory on that," Renji winced at the slow healing but he relaxed as Kei continued her work without another word. "I think you're subconsciously holding yourself back from truly fighting."

Kei raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"The fight with Ukeire, you were able to defeat him because you were determined to save Rukia. Just then... you were determined to help – I think you fight well, but the only reason why you don't do it all the time is because you don't like it and your mind wants you to have an excuse to not fight... do you understand?"

"Sort of," Kei agreed glumly. "It would make sense in a way – I mean... why would I fight if I don't fight well?" She smiled lightly and when she was finished with her major healing she patted the redhead's shoulder. "Thank you, fukutaicho," Kei muttered with a teasing grin, "Now let's get Ururu-chan and take her inside."

-:-

Suki didn't know how long she was laying there with her amber eyes on the sky. Her mind was scattered, leaving her to think about her inner weakness. Was it always going to be like this? Why wasn't she strong enough to hold out on her own?

Finally a presence appeared near by and sat up as if a spider crawled on her. Just as she turned, Suki settled down and silently glared at her hands to ignore the lingering mint coloured eyes.

"I told you that I would see you again Kei."

Kei smiled dimly, slowly healing Suki's minor injuries. "Luckily it's not too bad. You just need a bit of rest." She admitted before letting out a quiet sigh. "I've been worried about you all day."

"Yeah... I was training back at home," Suki explained gruffly as she pushed herself up with an exhausted groan. Even though Kei healed her minor injuries, Suki would've sworn that she felt stiff. The two fell silent together and Suki let out a huff of air. "So are you going to explain to me what happened while I was out or am I just going to stay in the dark?"

The shinigami suddenly shook out of her daze. "Oh... Right!" She smiled widely and stood up along with Suki, "You see – the arrancar came and they were beating everyone, including Renji! So they came charging at us..."

The arrancar really were that strong? Suki knew that Renji was a fukutaicho rank – he was probably one of the strongest guys that Suki knew other than the former taicho that she fought. If the arrancar managed to easily wipe the floor with them, what did it mean? Once again, Suki was unable to fight for herself – even though she managed to live, it still reminded her that she was severely weaker than the arrancar she fought.

As Suki drained Kei's voice out of her head, Suki found herself pondering on her situation. It happened for the third time in the row, unable to keep fighting all because she was clueless on her powers. Suki kept her eyes on the night sky with a scowl, trying to push away the memories of her unfortunate loss.

"... And then I released my zanpakuto, pretending that I couldn't hit him because I needed him to think that he was able to dodge..."

Was Suki ever going to get stronger with the way she was going? No... It seemed stupid to ask herself such a question. Even if she got stronger, Suki still lacked the weapons. When she dropped her bat to her fight against Grimmjow, Suki was completely useless. She even had to resort to using her own bones, which had a huge side effect.

Damn, Suki really hated the powers that she was stuck with. When Atsuko wasn't around, Suki was glad to have them since she was able to prove to everyone that she could protect her dad. But now, learning to true origin of her ability made her disgusted and ashamed.

Even more ashamed that her lack of powers was the reason why Atsuko had left her family in the first place. Now everything in Suki's head was screwed up and she didn't know what to do anymore! In the matter of seconds, she was strong enough to fight but now she was swatted around like a pathetic little fly!

"... Suki...? Are you alright?"

Kei's voice finally gained Suki's attention and she turned to the shinigami with a scowl. Kei had concern in her mint coloured eyes and she had a gentle hand on the silver haired student's shoulder.

"What is it?" Suki wondered bluntly, looking away from her companion. There was a part of Suki that was glad that her friend had come along with the rest of the shinigami team. She wasn't exactly close with Rukia and if it had been Renji who was around then all they would've done was fight.

"You look really stressed; like that time I was talking to you being recognisable as a shinigami..."

Oh Suki remembered that day well. Kei had forcibly took out her hair ties just so Suki could give herself a better disguise. It was strange, Suki had been thinking of Atsuko because of the remarkably (and shamefully) similar features they shared.

Such as the long silver hair.

But there was always something about Kei that Suki felt like she should confront these feelings. Even though Orihime was a perfect candidate, she had enough troubles just by going through with what the arrancar did to her the other day. No one else had noticed her strange behaviour – save for Uryu but he disappeared off the face of the earth since that night with the hollows.

After a sigh, Suki decided to let it out, "Someone from my family came back a few days ago unannounced. But the thing is... she's done something unforgivable, yet she still doesn't acknowledge her own mistakes."

Kei slowly leaned forward in curiosity, "Who? Is she close to you?"

"You could say that... She's my," Suki hesitated for a moment and her amber eyes hardened in determination. It felt like she was tearing off her own skin – actually no, that probably would've felt better than admitting the truth, "She's my mum... Kei." As Suki spared a glance towards her companion, she saw that the caramel haired shinigami was listening with a curious gaze. "Ten years ago, she decided to drop the parenthood job and left me with my dad. I haven't heard from her, let alone seen her until a few days ago. "

"That's awful," Kei pouted in annoyance. "No one should treat their family like dirt, you said that yourself!"

"Then it's clear to why I hate her so much," Suki responded instantly and she was answered back with silence. Suki shoved her hands in her pockets lamely and continued the story, "Now she wants me to train with her – expecting me to go back to that stupid little brat that was so naive to believe that her mother would ever love her."

"Oh," Kei dropped her head and kept a gaze on her feet. Suki ignored the sound of a rolling pebble by the shinigami's feet and felt her hands clench in anger. She didn't know why she was so ticked over Kei's response, but Suki didn't know what to do anymore. "If you want my advice Suki, I think you should train with her." Kei's silence was broken and Suki immediately looked up as if the girl had grown a second head.

"What?"

"Well don't be your mother," Kei ordered with a serious frown. Suki raised a brow, silently questioning the girl's choice of words. "Nii-san and I weren't fortunate to have a mother, but we had each other and I was grateful for the time we had together. I'm not saying you have to forgive your mother... but think about it – if she knows something that will save your life, then I would take it if I were you."

Suki found herself lacking a response, but she scowl to herself and glowered in another direction. Of course Kei was right. The damn idiot was decades older than her yet she acted like a naive child, but she was wise. At least that said something.

-:-

Atsuko's concern vanished when she opened the door, to see that her daughter was glaring at her with the hard determined eyes that she inherited from Hiro. Other than the fact that she was covered dirty with no sign of injuries, it looked like Suki was unscratched from the fight of the strange reiatsu.

"I thought about what you said Atsuko," Suki began with a hard gaze, "So I hope you can still offer me the training."

The parent slowly smirked in agreement, thanking the kami or whatever was up there. It was about time that Suki understood the importance of her responsibilities. Finally she let Suki stroll into the house without another word, "Alright then – we'll start fresh in the morning."

"Don't think I accept your first reason though."

Well that surprised the elder woman. She turned around to see Suki scowling at her with her arms crossed over her chest. Before Atsuko could question, Suki cut her off with a firm voice, "I don't trust your reasons – but I need to get stronger so I figured that this is the only way."

"Didn't count on you trusting my reasons of returning to you Suki," Atsuko responded as soon as she pulled a phony smirk. Surprise flashed in Suki's eyes for a second before they returned to glowering at Atsuko. "I count on you to trust my training."

A/n: Ladies and gentleman, may I present you with an internet high-five for this chapter. I was waiting forever to reveal Kei's zanpakuto and I finally did it :D

* Daiisso, eiri kaze – First phase, sharp wind

*Kyoha – Imaginary blade

30-03-2015* I can't wait for the next Bleach Chapter, I'm excited.

Ciao!

Please review.