Ribbons of Blood

Chapter Thirty-seven

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, or any of its characters.

AN: Look at this, another chapter? It's a miracle :'D

It hadn't taken long for Ketsueki to climb up the ranks in the Fifth Division. She found that the officers here were equally determined and ambitious, and yet they always cast aside their hostility after match rankings and training, giving Ketsueki the impression that she had been deluded and corrupted by the officers she'd once worked with. Aizen's method of leading his men was also something she admired. She could tell that he truly respected their daily struggles, no matter how small they were compared to the constant decisions he had to make. She instantly found herself bonding with her fellow officers.

But, even after spending forty years around these mild souls, she only ever truly opened up to Momo. Maybe it had something to do with her turbulent time in her old Division, because despite everyone's warmth, she couldn't help feeling that she was somehow cut off from them all. However, this no longer bothered her. She had long given up pondering over it, and she was happy enough as it was, having grown much closer to Momo in the last few decades.

She didn't fret over the fact that she still had little friends. Why would she, when her own Captain was personally training her to achieve the one goal that had brought her to him?

She remembered sitting in her new room, hands shaking as they raked through her hair, trying to envision the future of fighting against Kenpachi Zaraki. The very thought of it had made her entire being ache. It wasn't that she didn't want to, far from it; oh how she longed for her sword to sing through his flesh, to leave her own scar across his body, similar to the one on his face. No, she was just terrified of failing, of not being able to defeat him in battle. That first night in the Fifth Division had been the worst. She wasn't sure why, but she simply hadn't been able to contain her tears.

She wasn't sure what had brought Aizen to her door, but he had suddenly appeared. She had opened the door and let him in after she heard him knock, and he had asked what was the matter. To her immense surprise – and relief – she had let it all out. She told him about her zanpakuto, about their combined desire to take down Zaraki, to prove him wrong about her strength. She had even told him about the distressed relationship she'd had with him, if one could even call it that. And how, as a result, she couldn't think of the man without hating him for what he'd done to her and Renji. She'd truly loved the red-headed, tattooed man. But he was a boy from her past now, one who had grown apart from her in the last forty years he'd spent chasing his own dreams.

Ketsueki had told him everything, including the fact that Injuken would kill her if she didn't go through with her so-called quest. And thankfully, Aizen hadn't laughed at a single word she'd uttered. Unlike Zaraki, he hadn't called her stupid or idiotic or downright delusional. "I admire you for your determination," he had said quietly. "Hate is a powerful emotion. But it can be transformed into something else: motivation. And that can drive us to do great things, to become stronger, and to put people in their place."

From that point on, Aizen had been bringing her to a remote area, hidden in the many cliffs surrounding the Seireitei, to train. He was a busy man, so they had only arranged to meet once or twice a month, but with his help, she had found herself growing more confident and ruthless.

To her amazement, after thirty-eight years of careful training with Aizen and Injuken, she had finally managed to achieve Injuken's bankai. She was actually starting to become the fighter she had needed to be. She had made such progress, and she was overjoyed because of it, even if he often injured her near to the point of death.

But she knew she had so much still to do; attaining bankai meant having a whole ocean of power, but she couldn't control it. Every time she uttered that one, magical word, Aizen still had to step in and save her before she could tear apart her zanpakuto. Which was why she knew that hovering on the verge of death at the end of their battles was beneficial. Each time she recovered, she grew tougher, more resilient against the vast surges of reiatsu.

And slowly, inch by inch, she was crawling her way toward mastering her bankai.

"Ketsueki? Are you okay?"

Ketsueki jumped in her seat. What was she doing? She stared at the applications in front of her, and instantly she felt an uncomfortable lurch of embarrassment hit her. "S-sorry, Captain," Ketsueki sighed, running a hand over her face. "I didn't mean to blank out like that."

Aizen smiled from behind his desk. "That's quite all right."

"Wh-where was I?"

"Don't worry about the Academy applications. I can take over from here." He reached out and gently took the documents from her, putting them to one side.

"But I haven't finished going through my list yet-"

"You've already written them all down here with each candidates' strengths and weaknesses," Aizen observed with another patient smile. "Relax, Ketsueki. You've done a thorough job of this. Thank you for taking the time."

"No, no, thank you for being so understanding, sir," Ketsueki said hurriedly, bowing her head. She sighed heavily, shoulders slumped.

Aizen's head tilted to one side. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I…I just have a lot on my mind." She smiled weakly. "And I guess I'm still a little battered from our last training session."

"Ahh, I see. I hope your recovery is swift, but as I've said before, I'm afraid there's no other method of training if you want to achieve bankai. The pain is necessary."

Ketsueki nodded diligently. She didn't need him to tell her that, but the reminder helped to keep her focused on her target.

"But moving aside from our training, what is on your mind?"

She had kept it hidden inside her for over a week, telling no one about her brewing worries. But now that she was alone with her mentor, her leader, and her friend, Ketsueki felt herself coming apart.

"It's Rukia's execution," she muttered, wringing her hands together in anxiety.

A frown graced Aizen's features. "Yes. It is most unfortunate. But I didn't know you and Rukia were close."

"No, we weren't. It's about Renji." She sighed again. "I know I shouldn't, but I keep wondering if he's okay about it all."

"Why are you worried?"

"Well, he's spent all these decades training and getting stronger to prove his worth to her. I feel like it's a shame that she's being executed, after all he's been through. Just for her." The bitterness was there, and she didn't make any attempts to hide it. But was she bitter for Renji or for herself? As she sat there, it didn't even occur to her that she was spilling one of Renji's secrets to Aizen. It felt like she could share anything with him, even secrets that didn't belong to her.

"I understand. You are angry that his efforts have been wasted. And, of course, you must still feel something for him."

"I don't know…I'm worried for him, but I don't feel for him."

"But of course you do. You wouldn't be sat there thinking about him if you didn't."

Ketsueki felt her cheeks turn red, but she didn't say anything in her defence. Aizen tended to be right on these things, on how people felt.

After a long pause, Aizen leaned forward on his desk. "Ketsueki, I have something to tell you. I've trained you for nearly forty years now. We have grown close, wouldn't you say?"

Ketsueki nodded, and he continued. "I think of you as a friend, as I hope you see me. Right now, I am speaking to you as nothing more but that. A friend. So I hope you will not be angry when I tell you this: I feel that as you've grown stronger, your heart has gotten smaller. I've noticed how you only spend time with Momo, and haven't kept in contact with your old Division members. Of course, I know that you have your reasons. And perhaps I have even encouraged your anger for your former Captain to persist. But for Renji, and for the others, if you ever find yourself in a dilemma involving them, I hope you'll listen to your heart, and not your logic."

Ketsueki's stomach squirmed. What was he saying? That she should go and comfort Renji? While she pondered his words, Aizen smiled and said, "We live such long lives, Ketsueki. It would be a shame to live it in solitude. We need more friends, people to rely on."

He reached out and put his hand over hers, gripping it gently. It was funny to think that that hand was the very one that had inflicted such life-threatening injuries on her body. And yet she felt completely at ease and in awe at his kind wisdom.

"Captain-"

"Alert. Alert. This is an emergency. There has been an invasion by a group of unidentified Ryoka. All Vice-Captains are to assemble. All Captains are to report to Captain-Commander Yamamoto. I repeat, this is an emergency. There has been an invasion-"

Both Aizen and Ketsueki immediately got their feet at the alarm. "Captain?" she asked in bewilderment. "What's going on?"

Aizen's face was suddenly grim. "I'm not sure. Momo will be busy reporting, so I need you to help ready and calm our men. Hold them at bay until further instruction."

"Yes sir," Ketsueki replied, and Aizen departed swiftly from his office. Ketsueki ran behind him, then left through a different corridor to the main hall of their headquarters to round up the officers. Something was happening in the Seireitei, and she didn't like the sound of it at all.

One day after the Ryoka invasion, and they still couldn't find them. Ketsueki hadn't personally seen the intruders, but she had heard how Captain Ichimaru had repelled them from the Seireitei, preventing them entry. That meant that the Ryoka were now hidden somewhere in the Soul Society, and it was up to the thirteen Divisions to find them as quickly as possible.

"I'm sending you to the hill overlooking the North-West wall," Ketsueki said, assigning one of the officers and his men to their designated watch-out point. "That way we can catch them if they try and get through the Gate again."

"Yes, ma'am," replied the officer, and he hurried off, with a line of non-officers following him obediently.

Ketsueki looked down at her desk as her office closed behind them. What was there to do now? She wasn't sure. The report wasn't even clear on how many Ryoka there were, not to mention what they looked like and how powerful they were. Ketsueki had sent her best officers to be on the look-out, as she was sure the other Divisions were doing, but she was still worried about how an encounter would go down.

Worrying wouldn't help them, though. Ketsueki found her feet taking her outside, back into the August heat. She walked blindly, letting her instincts guide her. She felt restless and even a little useless. At least the action of walking gave her the illusion of doing something useful, like the many shinigami rushing through the corridors to organise troops for battle.

A distinct building rose before her. She blinked and gazed up at the guards standing outside the entrance doors. She felt a spur of mild confusion. She was in front of one of the many holding cells scattered throughout the Seireitei. What had brought her here? And why were members of the Stealth Force standing there?

"Ketsueki?"

That voice. Maybe it was him that had drawn her to the prison cells. Ketsueki turned and saw Renji walking toward her. He looked the same as before, red hair tied up in that messy ponytail, tattoos peeking out from behind his uniform. She couldn't recall when they had last spoken. It didn't matter.

"What are you doing here?" Renji asked, when she didn't say anything in greeting.

"I'm here to see Rukia." The words flowed easily from her lips, and she realised that Aizen's words had convinced her to do this. Or maybe she was here for Renji. Or for both of them. But the look on his face made her wish she hadn't bothered.

Renji's eyebrows knitted downward. "Today of all days?" he asked, and his voice was suddenly quite stern. "You should've come earlier."

"I know, I should've…wait, what do you mean, 'today of all days'?"

Renji gestured at the Stealth Force members, covered head to toe in their dark uniforms. "She's being moved to the Senzaikyu. I'm overlooking her transfer. The guards are to make sure she doesn't escape."

"Oh." Ketsueki gripped the hilt of her sword subconsciously. "I didn't know."

"Well, maybe you should've checked before you came."

"So you're not gonna let me see her?"

Renji shook his head. "Not a good day, Ketsueki. Not when she's being moved to her execution site. She doesn't need your sympathy."

Ketsueki shrugged. "Fine, okay. I respect that." She eyed him. "How are you holding up?"

Renji's eyes narrowed. "I don't need your sympathy either."

"It's not sympathy, I'm just asking." She put her hands on her hips. "She's your friend, Renji. And she's about to get killed. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"If she's my friend, how would I be okay with her getting killed?" Renji snapped, startling her. He gritted his teeth and pushed past her. "I'm doing my job here, Ketsueki. Don't get in my way."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," she grunted, elbowing him as he brushed her arm aggressively. It must have been the first time they'd touched in decades, but the fact hardly registered in her mind. She couldn't figure out how to talk around him any more. And it was pointless trying. She didn't hang around to wait for Rukia to be led out of her cell. Ketsueki simply stalked away, back to headquarters.

Injuken's world was a perfectly sealed void of darkness. No more cracks. No more fine lines of feeble light. There were only shadows and an infinite blackness all around them.

Ketsueki sat on the invisible floor, stretching and bathing in the power from her zanpakuto. They had grown surprisingly close in the last few decades. In fact, she almost forgot that he held a death threat over her head. Nowadays, he welcomed her into his world. According to him, she was now a worthy wielder of his power, even if she still hadn't come to grips with his bankai.

"How goes that ridiculous hunt for the Ryoka?" Injuken asked. His scrawling red hair fell into his equally crimson eyes, which were glinting with amusement.

"It goes badly," Ketsueki replied, mocking his deadly serious tone. "It's been two days, and nothing." She glanced up at him. "Why d'you ask?"

Injuken's head cocked to one side. "I must admit, I feel some curiosity toward these bandits. If they are strong enough, they could be good training for your inevitable battle with Zaraki."

"Yeah…I was thinking along the same lines," Ketsueki mused, her gaze falling back down the blade in her hand. She twirled it around her wrist. "But practising with Aizen is still better than anything."

"Ahem."

"Well, apart from training with you, of course." Ketsueki smiled up at him. She was doing that a lot more these days, lost in her mad desire to please the spirit, who was calmer and slightly more understanding of her.

Injuken closed his blood diamond eyes. Ketsueki waited. He often did this, as though he were losing himself in his own thoughts.

A smile crept its way up his lips. "Ahh, I think it is time to return to your home."

"Why?"

"Oh you'll see."

Ketsueki's green eyes flew open. Instantly, a loud, urgent voice rang through the space inside her room.

"Alert. Alert. There are intruders within the Seireitei. I repeat, the Ryoka are inside the Seireitei. Please return to your appointed stations. Alert. Alert. There are intruders-"

Ketsueki stood up quickly and headed out onto the lamp-lit corridor. It was night time. She could glimpse officers in the courtyard, sprinting toward the assembly hall.

"They're here," she muttered as she watched their shadows flit across the ground. "The Ryoka."

"Time to have some fun," Injuken chuckled in her head.

Ketsueki smiled in agreement and hurried off to her office.

AN: I'm sorry for the lack of Ken-chan lately, he WILL be in the next chapter though! :3