So here is Chapter 38 and just off the bat I'm going to tell you that there is NO omake this chapter. It is not because I couldn't think of one. I did, in fact, have one lined up. It is just that the impact of the chapter would be lost if I had an omake. So I apologize to anyone that had been looking forward to the next installment of Kamui Tales.

...

Chapter 38 – School's Out

Alexander Anderson snarled as his body was slammed against an outcropping of rock for the fifth time. Feeling a burst of pain radiate up his left arm as his shoulder became dislocated Anderson realized he would never be able to kill Ichigo. His entire plan had been predicated on distracting Ichigo's friends and his fellow nudists long enough to deliver the fatal blow. He never expected for his bayonet to be shattered by a holy shield conjured into existence by the same girl who performed the miracle of raising the dead. As the world suddenly became blurry, courtesy of the lenses in his glasses shattering into hundreds of shards, Anderson let his last two Tailor Bayonets fall to the ground, "Ye have me beat, Armstrong."

"Forcing you to surrender was never my goal, Anderson."

Alex Louis Armstrong stood several feet away from the injured former priest but did not have a single scratch on his flawlessly sculpted body, "As your superior officer I am commanding you to leave Ichigo Kurosaki alone. I am not naïve enough to think you will simply learn to live with him. I am simply asking that you allow him a chance to prove himself."

Anderson barely winced in pain as he popped his shoulder back into its socket and gave his surroundings a cursory glance. Even with his vision as poor as it currently was Anderson could tell Armstrong had purposely forced their fight away from the children and judging by the lack of interference most likely asked to be left alone. Smirking as a trail of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth Anderson answered, "If ye think I will allow an abomination to live than ye must be daft in the head. Life Fiber Hybrids are inherently evil and crave nothing more than death and destruction. It is merciful to kill the boy before he loses what remains of his humanity before it is too late."

Armstrong stared at the Nudist Beach commander before sighing and looking in the direction of Ichigo and his friends. He knew it would not be long, perhaps a minute or two, before they would disregard his orders to come investigate. Steeling his expression while turning back towards the injured Anderson Armstrong folded his arms across his massive chest and said, "You may have a point. From general experience all hybrids have been either insane psychopaths or psychotic megalomaniacs with dreams of genocide on a massive scale. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before Ichigo falls and becomes a threat but we cannot live our lives on presumptions, Anderson. If Isshin thought his son was a threat do you think he would allow him to meet with us?"

Anderson didn't answer as he pondered Armstrong's question. Everyone in Nudist Beach knew the only reason the organization managed to grow to its current size was because of Isshin Kurosaki. Nobody knew what the man had on the Kiryuin matriarch but whatever he had was enough of a threat to keep Ragyo not only away from Karakura Town but from the entire Kansai Region. For several years after joining Nudist Beach Anderson had futilely tried to figure out what Isshin held on Ragyo Kiryuin with the singular goal of harnessing whatever it may be to finally kill her.

"Perhaps ye have a point."

Armstrong's expression softened in relief as he watched Anderson grunt as he picked up his two Tailor Bayonets and slide them back into his gray cassock. The simple fact that Anderson would willingly sheath his weapons meant he was sincerely giving up trying to kill Ichigo for the moment, "I take it we have come to an accord. I will allow you to keep an eye on Ichigo but you are forbidden from doing anything unless he makes the first move. Understood?"

"Ye have my word that I will not touch the lad," Anderson grunted while forcing his bruised body to move. Catching Ryuko talking to Ichigo in the distance, the annoyance clearly visible on her face, Anderson scoffed and asked, "Has it already been thirteen years?"

Twenty-three years ago Anderson had been promoted to director of the church's orphanage and boarding school in Kobe after the previous director embezzled most of the orphanage's finances. Although the first few years were rather difficult, due in part to the financial situation even with substantial donations from the local population, Anderson always managed to find a way to keep food on the table and the lights on. It was six years later, long after the scandal with the previous director passed and a pleasant monotony settled over the orphanage, when Masaki Kurosaki appeared at his office with a small bundle wrapped in her arms.

After nearly an hour of questioning Masaki explained that Isshin Matoi, Ryuko's father, was in dangerous and couldn't watch over his daughter without putting her own life in danger. When he asked Masaki why she came to him, especially given the fact Ryuko wasn't Catholic, Anderson had expected her to come up with some form of excuse. He was surprised to know that the person Isshin Matoi feared was the illustrious Ragyo Kiryuin. After listening to Masaki's entire story, as well as her plea for him to allow Ryuko to stay at the orphanage for several years, Anderson had expressed his sympathies but declined. He wouldn't risk the other orphans if Ragyo Kiryuin, whether he believed her story or not, discovered where she was.

When Masaki offhandedly asked about the orphanage's dire state and how much money it would take to fix everything Anderson had grown livid and demanded she leave. His rage evaporated just as quickly when Masaki pulled out a check signed by the CEO of Ishida Pharmaceuticals and gave it to him. While the check was enough to keep the orphanage open for two years, which puzzled Anderson, Masaki promised that if he took in Ryuko the orphanage would never need to worry about money again.

Following Anderson's gaze Armstrong muttered, "I know you wish to speak with Ryuko but I must ask that you refrain from doing so at the moment. She is currently unaware Professor Matoi sent her to an orphanage for part of her childhood."

Anderson grimaced, his green eyes narrowed in disgust, upon remembering the night Isshin Matoi came for his daughter. The former priest hadn't joined Nudist Beach until two years after it was formed but from what he knew those first few years were truly a nightmarish time. Somehow Ragyo Kiryuin had discovered the organization and sent everyone and everything she had to destroy it. Assassins, mercenaries and the Revocs private security force were not only sent after Nudist Beach but also their friends and family. Dozens of innocent people, many of them children, had been killed before Nudist Beach went underground and Ragyo Kiryuin could not longer find them.

Anderson coughed harshly as specks of blood coated the front of his cassock, "Now if ye will excuse me I need to find a doctor before I keel over."

"Don't be absurd, Anderson! Why would you go to the doctor when we have the best healer in the world right here?" Armstrong laughed boisterously as he clapped Anderson on the shoulder and causing the injured man to nearly fall to the ground. Turning towards Ichigo's group Armstrong raised his other hand to his mouth and shouted, "Do you mind coming over here, Ms. Inoue? My comrade is in need of your services!"

Armstrong watched as Orihime looked up with a start before quickly making her way over to them despite protests from Ryuko and Tatsuki. As she ran towards the two commanders of Nudist Beach Orihime thought back to just a few minutes ago when she nearly saw Ichigo get killed. After Armstrong had punched his comrade away and left to go deal with him Chad had rushed over and pulled out the bayonet pinning Ichigo's hand to the wall in one go. She had immediately gone to heal him but saw Ichigo's wound glowing blue before the blood disappeared back into his body and his injury vanished entirely. It was only when Ichigo explained to the stunned group, apart from a knowing Ryuko and an oblivious as always Mako, that he was a Life Fiber Hybrid that Orihime's memories of the Sudden Death Runoff and Nui Harime pulling out his heart came rushing back to her.

When Orihime finally reached Armstrong and Anderson she touched the tips of her fingers against her hairpins and said, "Souten Kisshin!"

Anderson had heard about Orihime's powers but experiencing them was something entirely different. He watched as his wounds healed in front of his eyes before nary a trace of damage could be seen on his body. Even his glasses that had been shattered during the fight were fully restored and rested on the bridge of his nose once more. Clenching his hands gently Anderson turned to Orihime, "Ye must an agent of the Lord to work such miracles."

Orihime blushed in embarrassment at the compliment but was stopped from speaking when Tatsuki grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from Anderson before stepping in front of her. After watching the man nearly kill Ichigo she was not about to let him get anywhere close to Orihime or any of her other friends, "Why did you go and heal this bastard, Orihime? He nearly killed Ichigo!"

"Well…" Orihime looked away from Tatsuki's piercing gaze and mumbled quietly, "…because Mr. Armstrong asked me too and he's really strong. I knew that even if I healed him Mr. Armstrong could beat him up again if he did anything."

As Tatsuki stared at Orihime in disbelief at her logic the rest of her friends managed to catch up to them. While most of them were weary of Anderson and prepared to fight him off now that they knew what to expect it was Ryuko who stormed up to him and pointed her red Scissor Blade at his face, "Why the hell did you attack Ichigo? Tell me, damn it!"

Anderson saw the angry scowl on her face and immediately remembered a three year old Ryuko doing the exact same thing when she didn't get her way. Without saying a word, much to Ryuko's frustration, Anderson adjusted his cassock and walked past her towards the exit to the underground training chamber. He was conflicted about the Kamui she was wearing and needed some air to clear his head. As much as he saw her for the girl that spent the first four years of her life in his orphanage Anderson could not get past the fact she was wearing Senketsu and needed to leave before he did something rash.

"Watch yourself, lad," Anderson gave Ichigo a hardened expression as he passed him. Locking eyes with the orange haired teen Anderson growled and said, "I'll be watching your every move. The first time you step out of line I will end your existence. I will not allow another Nui Harime to come into being on this planet even if it kills me."

Ichigo watched Anderson stalk away and vanish around an outcropping of rocks before he even considered letting his guard down. As he clenched his right hand, the same one that minutes ago had been pierced clean through by a bayonet, he heard Mugetsu's feminine voice ask, "Are you alright, Ichigo?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Ichigo answer must have not satisfied his Kamui because when she spoke again her voice was full of sarcastic wit, "You don't sound fine at all, Ichigo."

"Hey Uryu," Ichigo ignored Mugetsu's sputtered at being ignored and turned towards the young Quincy, "When you worked at Revocs you met Ragyo Kiryuin, right?"

"Once or twice," Uryu answered evenly as he tried to figure out where Ichigo was going with his line of questioning. Adjusting his glasses and sighing he added, "Although I met her a few times it was not until I returned a month ago with my father that I actually spoke with her."

Ichigo seemed to ponder Uryu's answer for a moment before asking, "This may sound stupid but did you ever try and read her spiritual energy?"

Uryu paused before answering as the rest of their friends began listening in on the conversation, "Yes but only once. When I first saw Ragyo Kiryuin I was quite curious about the source of her rather unique and flamboyant appearance since people don't just naturally emit rainbow light. My initial assumption was some sort of technological apparatus but as soon as I tried to get a read on her I realized how much I was wrong. What I felt made me nearly throw up. There is something…wrong for a lack of a better word…about her spiritual energy. It wasn't until I stole the Life Fibers from Revocs for Kisuke that I realized Life Fibers had the same spiritual energy, albeit on a much smaller scale, as Ragyo."

"Does that mean Ragyo Kiryuin is a hybrid like Ichigo and Nui Harime?" Ryuko stabbed her red Scissor Blade into the ground as she chimed in with her own thoughts. Ichigo and his friends had given her and Mako a summary on spiritual energy and other supernatural things on the way to Kisuke's shop. A month or so ago Ryuko would have laughed her ass off and dismissed them as delusional but after watching Uryu, Chad and Orihime use abilities without Life Fibers she had to admit there was something to them.

"Most likely," Uryu conceded as he grimaced in frustration, "I don't know what happened to you, Ichigo, but right after the Winter War your spiritual energy started changing. I know it was supposed to vanish after defeating Aizen but over the course of about ten days your spiritual energy dropped to nearly nothing before rebounding. I tried to figure out why it might be doing that but I was immediately repulsed by what I felt."

"That's strange," Chad added as he thought about it, "I sensed Ichigo's spiritual energy a few months ago and it didn't feel any different. Maybe it felt a bit strange but nothing like that."

"Damn it," Ichigo spat out in frustration. It seemed like the more he learned about what was going on the more it felt like he didn't know anything. Nui Harime had always called him her cousin, which meant she knew he was a hybrid from the very beginning. If Nui knew that than it was more than likely that Ragyo knew it as well and judging from the complicated relationship between his dad and Ragyo it was likely he knew about it as well.

"So what if you're a hybrid?" Ryuko scoffed in annoyance as she turned away from Ichigo. Pulling her Scissor Blade out of the ground and collapsing it down before tucking it in the pouch on her waist she kicked at the ground before huffing and turning back around and glaring at him, "This doesn't change a thing! You're not insane like Nui Harime or weird and creepy like Satsuki's mom. You're the most normal person I know at Honnouji Academy."

Senketsu listened to Ryuko try to cheer Ichigo up before dryly commenting, "You just insulted yourself, Ryuko."

"Shut it, Senketsu!" Ryuko growled as she pulled on her Kamui's lapels.

Senketsu scoffed at Ryuko's actions before turning his attention to Ichigo, "Despite what she said Ryuko has a point, Ichigo. I don't know how but somehow I felt you were slightly stranger than the other people at Honnouji Academy and that's saying something considering who you and Ryuko hung out with."

Ichigo's eyebrow started to twitch in annoyance, "Can you get to the point?"

"Yes," Senketsu looked straight at Ichigo as he said, "Even if you're a Life Fiber Hybrid does that actually change anything? It's just like Ryuko said. Out of all the people at Honnouji Academy you are by far the most normal…Ryuko included."

"What did I just say, Senketsu?!"

As Ryuko began arguing with Senketsu while Mako stood on the sidelines cheering Ichigo was conflicted about what he should do. He had promised Satsuki that he would not breathe a word of what he saw in her mind to anyone and he intended to keep that promise but the same could not be said about her plans. There was too much at stake to be keeping something like that a secret, especially with Ragyo Kiryuin threatening every single person on the planet. Taking a deep breath and preparing for the immediate fallout that was coming Ichigo said, "There's something about Satsuki you guys don't know about."

"What?" Tatsuki looked away from Orihime with a sly grin on her face, "Is she your girlfriend?"

"What? No!" Ichigo sputtered out before shaking his head and regaining his composure.

"Are you sure, Ichigo?" Orihime had a quizzical look on her face as she stared into the air, "From what I heard it's almost like you and Satsuki have some unresolved tension. You two really need to figure out a way to work through your problems."

Ichigo wouldn't have been nearly as embarrassed if Orihime hadn't been so clueless about what she just said. Gritting his teeth angrily as both Tatsuki and Ryuko broke out into laughter he kept a tight grip on his anger as he asked, "Who told you that?"

"Why, I saw it of course! It was clear from the limited interactions I saw that you both have feelings for each other but are unable to express them." Ryuko actually fell over from laughing too hard as Orihime still did not understand the double entendre she just said. Cocking her head to the side and adopting what appeared to be an intellectual pose she added, "Anyone with two eyes could see Satsuki Kiryuin sneaking glances at you all the time, after all."

"That's not what I was going to say!" Ichigo let out an exasperated sigh as he rubbed his temple to keep from shouting again. Why did everyone have to assume that he and Satsuki was a couple? It had been old the first few times he heard it but now it was just pissed him off. What made things worse was that he couldn't even tell Orihime to shut up since she wasn't trying to make fun of him. After taking a calming breath he said, "What I'm trying to say is that you're wrong about Satsuki's motives. She's not trying to help her mother – she's trying to kill her."

"Are you absolutely certain?" Armstrong appeared in front of Ichigo before he could so much as see how his friends were taking the news.

"Satsuki told me after I became her Vice President," Ichigo looked past Armstrong and saw that Ryuko had stopped laughing and was looking at him in a mixture of shock and surprise. Mentally sighing as he knew Ryuko would want an explanation about why he kept this from her for so long he turned back to Armstrong and explained, "Apparently everything she's done so far has been nothing more than a ruse to kill her mother."

Armstrong stared at Ichigo for any signs of deception but when he saw the honesty on the boy's face he hummed thoughtfully, "It seems you are indeed telling the truth, Ichigo. If everything you just said is to be taken as fact then Miss Satsuki has concocted the most convoluted scheme I have ever heard. She not only put herself on a pedestal as a villain but she also purposely alienated every potential ally. Such an elaborate plan bears the hallmarks of genius but Satsuki is also taking an incredible risk."

Tatsuki shook her head in confusion, "Huh? It seems pretty cut and dry to me. Satsuki's just pretending to be an asshole to get close to her mother, right?"

"It's risky because it depends on Ragyo Kiryuin not knowing about it," Uryu scratched at his chin as his mind worked on trying to figure out what this all meant. He knew Satsuki was intelligent but knowing she was capable of a long term plan like this put the debates he had with her in an entirely different light, "Ragyo Kiryuin is likely aware of Satsuki's plan. What bothers me is why she has not tried to stop Satsuki. What motive does Ragyo Kiryuin have for feigning ignorance and lulling Satsuki into a false sense of security? It can't be as simple as a trap. We're missing something vitally important."

"There's something Ichigo did not tell you, Ryuko." The somber tone in Mugetsu's voice drew Ryuko's attention away from Uryu, "Nudist Beach already told you what Ragyo Kiryuin has planned for the world but what Armstrong does not know is that Honnouji Academy is to be the testing ground. Every single person in Honnou City is going to be sacrificed as food for Life Fibers."

"That means Mako's family is in danger!" Ryuko sputtered out in shock.

"Why's my family in danger, Ryuko?" Mako turned away from staring at a particularly pretty rock and tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Did my dad forget to pay his taxes again? He sometimes does that and we have to go into hiding for about a week."

"No, it's nothing like that," Ryuko fumbled for the right words that could get the point across the Mako and easily and clearly as possible, which was much easier said than done. Mako may be her best friend but she was sometimes a little too dense so instead of telling her and hoping Mako understood Ryuko turned to Armstrong, "Mugetsu said Ragyo Kiryuin is going to test out the plan for Life Fibers to eat humans at Honnouji Academy."

Armstrong's eyes lit up in realization as he pondered what Ryuko told him, "We always assumed that Ragyo Kiryuin would need to test out her plan on a small scale to iron out any flaws but knowing Honnouji Academy is the location will make things much easier. Once we are done here I am going to make a few calls. By this time tomorrow there will be several dozen of our finest undercover operatives constantly keeping an eye on Honnou City and Satsuki Kiryuin."

"You knew about this and didn't tell us earlier?" Senketsu's voice had a hint of betrayal as he gave his fellow Kamui the fiercest glare he could, "You knew about Satsuki Kiryuin and her plans for more than two weeks and you didn't tell us? Did you not trust Ryuko?"

"Would you have believed Ichigo or me if we told you?" Mugetsu scoffed and rolled her eyes but her tone was completely serious, "What would you have done if Ichigo said to Ryuko that Satsuki Kiryuin was trying to stop her mother from destroying the world? Ryuko would have probably stormed up to Satsuki and the Elite Four while shouting about the plan all along the way. Satsuki trusted Ichigo enough to confide in him because she knew he wouldn't tell anyone until the moment is right."

Senketsu's eye narrowed, "Why you –"

"Mugetsu's right, Senketsu," Ryuko ran a hand through her hair and let out a large sigh. She hated to admit it but Mugetsu was right on all counts. She may have matured greatly during her time at Honnouji Academy but when she first transferred she was loud, rude and prone to getting into fights against people she couldn't beat, "I probably would have charged straight at Satsuki back then if Ichigo told me but we have more important things to worry about. We need to go back to Honnouji Academy and stop Ragyo Kiryuin's plan!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Tatsuki did not like sitting around doing nothing when the fate of the world was at stake. Grinning at the thought of actually helping to save the world she asked, "But if Ragyo Kiryuin is really this strong what can we do to stop her? As much as I want to just charge in and kick her ass I don't think that's going to work."

"It's not so much a matter what we can do so much as it is what we are able to do," Armstrong answered as he thought deeply on the matter. Sending a large force of nudists at Honnouji Academy was the first thing that came to mind but he knew Satsuki would engage them in battle if it meant trying to keep her mother from finding out her true allegiance. What he needed to do was come up with a way to let Satsuki know her mother was fully aware of her plans.

"Staying in Karakura Town and waiting for Ragyo Kiryuin to come to us is not going to help," Uryu reluctantly admitted as the basis of an idea came to him. It was a long shot but it was the plan he could think of, "My Quincy powers might not work as well as I hoped against Life Fibers but I'm not going to just sit around and let the Earth get destroyed. If we're going to devise an effective strategy to neutralize Ragyo Kiryuin we first need to deal with her allies. She's strong enough on her own but our chances of victory drop to zero if we cannot remove Nui Harime and Xcution from the equation."

"Ururu should be more than strong enough to keep Nui Harime occupied," Ichigo said as he began to understand where Uryu was going with his plan, "She should be capable of stalling Nui for at least five to ten minutes but Xcution is going to be far easier to take down."

Ryuko's eyes widened as she remembered the man in the part when she confronted Satsuki and Riruka Dokugamine, "I almost forgot about that Ginjo guy! Didn't he tell you he was a former member of Xcution? That means he must know all of their powers and weaknesses. I just hope there aren't too many of them."

"You can count me in," Chad stepped forward and clenched his hand into a fist, "Ichigo, for the last ten months I've trained and practiced so when you recovered your powers I would not be a burden. After I defeated Ira Gamagori and helped to save Karakura Town I realized I was wrong about something my abuelo told me a long time ago. Using my power only to protect my friends is good but my abuelo would be disappointed if I stood back and allowed Ragyo Kiryuin to hurt innocent people."

"I'm glad you're all happy about going to war because things are about to get a lot worse."

Standing on top of an outcropping of rocks with a scowl on his face was Tsumugu Kinagase. As he chewed on the end of an unlit cigarette he counted the number of teenagers and mumbled, "I see Anderson failed to finish what he set out to do. I'm actually surprised."

Ryuko spat on the ground and glared up at Tsumugu, "Did you come here just to annoy us you Mohawk bastard?"

Tsumugu ignored Ryuko's outburst as he turned to Armstrong, "I've received word from the General. Her mission was a success and she was able to acquire the necessary information from Ragyo Kiryuin's private computer. The date for the Great Culture and Sports Festival has been moved up considerably. Instead of couple of months it is taking place tomorrow. We have less than a day before Ragyo Kiryuin puts her plan to devour humanity into action."

...

As he sat on the roof of Kisuke's shop and stared into the afternoon sky Kugo Ginjo knew his presence in Karakura Town was not exactly welcome. Isshin Shiba might know the truth of his past but most shinigami, exiled or not, saw him as a murderous criminal who killed dozens of shinigami in the pursuit of power and nothing would change their minds. He may have been innocent but upon defending himself from the Onmitsukidou he broke the ancient laws of the Soul Society and would need to forfeit his life.

Sighing as he sensed a familiar presence touch down behind him Ginjo looked over his shoulder at Yoruichi Shihoin, "I suppose you think I'm up to something, don't you?"

Yoruichi folded her arms and glared at Ginjo, "I ran into Isshin on the way back. He explained what he knew about your past and while I don't exactly buy what he said it does make sense. I don't know why the Onmitsukidou were to assassinate you when you were willing to stand trial. Such missions are only supposed to be given if the defendant is a flight risk. What happened to you goes against everything I taught Sui-Feng."

Ginjo smirked as he felt Yoruichi's hostility lessen. While she was still somewhat suspicious of why he was helping them Yoruichi was at least willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, which was something he was never given by the Soul Society. As an unfamiliar sensation prickled on the edges of his mind Ginjo turned to the south and quickly stood up before reaching for Ragnarok on his back, "Is it just me or are there several rather powerful Quincy coming directly towards us?"

Yoruichi refused to answer Ginjo's question in order to get a better read on the strength of the Quincy approaching them. There was no doubt that they were strong, perhaps even as strong as a captain, but the better question was why they were here. Their arrival hours after Satsuki Kiryuin's failed invasion could not be a coincidence. They must have taken the damage to Karakura Town as a sign of weakness and moved in while the city's guard was weakened. Amber eyes narrowing as she was finally able to count the number of Quincy rushing towards them Yoruichi said, "There are four in total and each of them possess at least low captain strength."

"We can't take them with just the two of us. Even if we're stronger they outnumber us. If they're actually competent they will use their numbers to flank us," Ginjo's body tensed as he was encompassed by a rainbow flash of light. Appearing clad in his Sauvegarde Raiment once more he hefted the massive form of Ragnarok onto his shoulder and took a steadying breath, "I was listening to what Uryu Ishida said about his fights against Junketsu and Nonon Jakuzure. For some reason Quincy attacks aren't that effective against Life Fibers. My raiment should be strong enough to buy you time to get reinforcements."

"That may be true but we don't have time," Yoruichi's head snapped to the side as her sensitive hearing picked up four sets of feet only a block away, "They're here."

Ginjo and Yoruichi spun around and braced themselves as four Quincy clad in white military-like uniforms appeared on the street in front of Kisuke's shop using Hirenkyaku. For a few seconds not a single word was exchanged between the two groups but eventually Bazz-B broke the silence. Taking a step forward and giving Ginjo and Yoruichi a predatory grin he said, "Damn, we've only just got here and already the big shots are coming out to play. You shinigami must really be dying to roll out the red carpet for us. I'm actually honored and all that crap."

"Aren't you the confident little brat? You get a little power and suddenly you feel like you can take on the world," Yoruichi returned Bazz-B's grin with a cat-like smirk of her own as she vanished using shunpo before reappearing in front of Kisuke's shop. Despite her cheerful demeanor Yoruichi was analyzing the four Quincy for any possible weaknesses. The one with the Mohawk appeared to be the leader of the group, which meant that he was most likely the one giving them orders, but she was not about to ignore her instincts saying that the other three were just as dangerous as Bazz-B. Watching as Ginjo jumped off the roof and landed on the ground beside her Yoruichi's smirk fell off her face, "What do you four want?"

Bazz-B snorted and shook his head before turning around to Meninas McAllon, "We don't have time to shoot the breeze. Deal with them so we can get on with our mission and be sure not to kill them."

"Holding back so I don't kill a shinigami?" Meninas sighed as she began walking towards Yoruichi and Ginjo while adjusting her frilled gloves, "I suppose there's a first time for everything."

Yoruichi and Ginjo's eyes widened in surprise as Meninas slammed her foot against the road before the pavement literally buckled and shattered. As they were forced to jump away Ginjo cursed when he saw a shadow descending through the air towards him. Gritting his teeth and bracing his feet against the upturned pavement he took a step forward and swung Ragnarok through the air just as Meninas cocked her arm back and through a punch packing enough power to send him flying through at least one building. In a burst of light Ginjo's Life Fiber enhanced greatsword slammed into Meninas' fist accompanied by a sonic boom that shattered every window on the street.

"That's some punch you got," Ginjo commented sarcastically as he pushed back against Meninas's fist. Adjusting his grip on Ragnarok as he slowly began overpowering Meninas Ginjo asked, "Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you Quincy all about using bows?"

"You must really be clueless if you think firing heilig pfeil is all we can do," Meninas quipped rhetorically as she pushed more power into her fist just to be able to keep even with Ginjo. She might have seen the Daten provided by His Majesty but experiencing the effects of Life Fibers was an entirely different matter. Even using three-quarters of her power without going into Vollstandig she wasn't able to do more than match Ginjo blow for blow. What surprised the physically strongest Sternritter the most was the lack of environmental damage. Usually when she used this much of her strength she could level an entire city block but not only was Ginjo blocking her punch but the ground beneath his feet had barely cratered downwards.

"That's good to know," Ginjo smirked before releasing more of his Sauvegarde's power. It was foolhardy to hold one's power back when fighting an opponent as powerful as Meninas McAllon but Ginjo needed to know what she was capable of doing. He needed to make sure she wasn't somehow able to use his own strength against him. As the outpouring of power from his raiment forced Meninas back Ginjo quickly let go of Ragnarok and rushed forward before delivering a punch that sent her soaring back towards her compatriots.

Bambietta Basterbine massaged her temple and sighed in annoyance as she watched Meninas crash into the building behind them from Ginjo's punch. His Majesty may have ordered them to keep as low a profile as possible but if they continued to fight Yoruichi and Ginjo they risked jeopardizing the entire mission. Drawing her dao and allowing her spiritual energy to course through it Bambietta cautiously walked towards Yoruichi while wearing a psychotic smirk on her face, "This won't kill you but I'm sure it'll hurt like hell, shinigami."

"That's cute but I'm afraid this fight is already over," Yoruichi's confident response angered Bambietta and caused the Sternritter to swing her dao while releasing an invisible wave of spiritual energy. Smirking as she dodged the spiritual energy using shunpo Yoruichi reappeared in front of Bambietta and kicked her with enough force to send her crashing into Lille Barro. Frowning at the lack of damage she inflicted on Bambietta due to the girl's blut Yoruichi leapt back as a large and imposing man landed in the street in front of her.

"Way of the Holy Arts Number Three!" Tessai Tsukabishi clapped his hands together without preamble as his glasses shone with a menacing light. Without daring to wait for the Sternritter to try and counter or dodge his spell Tessai thrust his right palm forward and shouted, "Hakudan Keppeki!"

Tessai let out an exhausted sigh after he successfully cast Hakudan Keppeki and wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. Watching as Bazz-B attempted to use Burner Finger One to pierce through the translucent barrier alongside Meninas and Lille Barro's own attempts Tessai huffed and explained, "Hakudan Keppeki is one of several Anti-Quincy spells I've devised in case of an emergency. By using spiritual energy from a volunteering Quincy I was able to create a barrier that completely negates any Quincy techniques and abilities from those trapped inside."

"Nice work, Tessai," Yoruichi landed just outside the Hakudan Keppeki and glared at Bazz-B. Locking eyes with the pissed off Quincy she asked, "Now are you going to tell us why you came here or do I have to make you talk?"

"What is this?"

Yoruichi and Tessai turned around as the front door to Kisuke's shop slid open harshly as Alexander Anderson stepped out of the darkness and into the afternoon sunlight. As the light glinted off his glasses and momentarily hid his eyes the former clergyman sneered as he noticed the uniforms of the four Sternritter trapped within Tessai's Hakudan Keppeki barrier. Flicking his wrists as his last two Tailor Bayonets slid out from the sleeves of his cassock Anderson's footsteps were heavy and with determined purpose as he stalked towards Yoruichi, "This is turning out to be quite the day."

Alexander Anderson?" Ginjo knew of Anderson from his time in Xcution and was thus immediately aware of the danger he represented. It was quite telling of Anderson's skill and power when someone like Ragyo Kiryuin prohibited anyone other than herself, Nui Harime, or the members of Xcution from engaging him in battle.

"Well now…this day is full of surprises," Anderson's grin stretched across his face as he noticed Ginjo standing off to the side with one hand holding Ragnarok in front of his body. Smiling and allowing his white teeth to be clearly seen Anderson asked, "It pleases me to see ye seeking atonement for your sins."

When Ginjo turned his head away instead of saying anything Yoruichi took the opportunity to ask, "Who are you and how did you get inside Kisuke's shop?"

If Yoruichi expected Anderson to answer with the same tone of voice he spoke to Ginjo with she was dead wrong. In the space of less than ten seconds Anderson's voice began slightly less gravely and the growl permeating most of his words nearly disappeared, "The same way that anyone enters a building – through the front door. Please forgive my rudeness, ma'am. I am Alexander Anderson, Nudist Beach commander in charge of Life Fiber Pacification and Elimination, at your service."

Yoruichi frowned at Anderson's admittance of his ties to Nudist Beach but she was more worried about how he slipped inside Kisuke's shop so easily. She couldn't have been gone for more than five minutes, "So I take it you work with Armstrong and Tsumugu. Tell me something. What are you doing out here?"

Anderson hummed softly to himself as he walked past Yoruichi with a pleasant smile on his face. Stopping just as he reached the Hakudan Keppeki he tapped one of his Tailor Bayonet's against the translucent white barrier before answering, "I decided to get a bit of fresh air after failing to kill Masaki's son."

Seven sets of shoulders tensed at Anderson's causal confession of attempting to murder Ichigo and failing. While Tessai was focused on keeping the Hakudan Keppeki at full power and was thus unable to move Ginjo and Yoruichi were not as handicapped. As Ginjo gripped Ragnarok's hilt with both hands in preparation for a fight Yoruichi's amber eyes narrowed angrily as she asked, "What the hell did you just say?"

Anderson did not answer Yoruichi's question as he gazed at the four Sternritter trapped within the Hakudan Keppeki. Tapping a Tailor Bayonet against the barrier once more while marveling at the apparent strength of the supernatural barrier Anderson's voice became pleasant and warm as he turned and addressed Bazz-B, "What are ye names?"

Bazz-B didn't know why everyone was afraid of Anderson. He could sense the man's spiritual energy even from inside the barrier and while it was quite large for a human it still paled in comparison to any of the Sternritter. Folding his arms and kicking at the barrier in frustration he glared at Anderson and asked, "Why the hell should I tell you anything, old man?"

"We don't have time for this," Lille Barro grabbed the rifle off his back and began gathering spiritual energy. The Hakudan Keppeki might be strong enough to contain them but every barrier has a weakness. Every second he could feel the barrier weakening and in only a few minutes it would shatter completely. If he could fire a bullet at just the right time he could pierce through the weakened barrier and take out Tessai Tsukabishi before he could reinforce it, "We cannot fail when Ichigo Kurosaki is just within reach."

Anderson's demeanor changed as soon as he heard Lille Barro mention Ichigo's name. He may want to kill Ichigo but that was only because he needed to spare the world from a second Nui Harime. Tightening his grip on his Tailor Bayonets as he took a step away from the barrier he quickly came to the conclusion that the four people currently trapped within it could not be allowed to reach Ichigo no matter what it cost him, "Is that so? Tell me yer names so I have something to put on ye gravestones when I am done with ye."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Bambietta shouted in a mixture of confusion and annoyance, "Just a second ago you were all cheerful about trying to murder Ichigo but now you're upset that we're here to see him? You must be insane!"

"Someone like ye does not have the right to argue," Anderson's voice deepened until it was nothing more than a growl once more. Ignoring the indignant sputtering from Bambietta Anderson turned towards Tessai and asked, "I take it ye are the one keeping this barrier intact?"

"I am…" Tessai answered slowly and reluctantly. He knew exactly what Anderson was actually asking him about and he refused to release the barrier no matter what the man did to him, "…and I will not release the Hakudan Keppeki no matter what you may say or do."

Tessai watched as Anderson grew enraged but was saved from whatever the man might have done when Ururu appeared out of nowhere in front of him. Coincidentally holding the purple Scissor Blade behind her back exactly as Nui Harime was prone to do when she was relaxing Ururu gave Tessai a short bow and said, "Sorry I took so long to get back, Mr. Tessai. Mr. Kurosaki took me out for ice cream and we ran a little late."

"You had ice cream this early in the day?" Tessai hummed in parental disappointment at Ururu's apparent lack of responsible judgment. He was fine with her having ice cream but he knew for a fact that Ururu did not have lunch and having dessert before having a meal was poor dietary judgment. As disappointed as he was Tessai was more focused on the purple Scissor Blade in Ururu's hands, "Where did you get that interesting purple blade, Ururu?"

"Oh, this?" Ururu cocked her head to the side as she held out the purple Scissor Blade in front of her body, "Mr. Kurosaki gave it to me for my birthday."

Tessai did not seem convinced, "It's the middle of October, Ururu. Your birthday was on September 9th."

"I know," Ururu nodded her head and added, "Mr. Kurosaki said that he forgot to get me something for more than a month."

"That does sound like something Isshin would do," Tessai pondered what to do. He may not have liked Ururu having a sharp weapon like the Scissor Blade but Tessai knew she was responsible enough to make sure she never hurt herself or anyone else, "Alright I'll let you keep it for the moment but you should be careful to not run while holding it. I do not want you to poke your eye out or –"

"Nui Harime!"

Gnashing his teeth together as his knuckles bled white from how tightly he was gripping his Tailor Bayonets Anderson stared at Ururu with as much hate as he could muster. He recognized both the purple Scissor Blade as well as the voice of the person claiming to be Ururu as none other than Nui Harime. Reversing his grip on his bayonets Anderson prepared to rush forwards towards Ururu when he felt a pair of hands grab his wrists before his arms were pulled around his back and he was forced down to his knees.

"I think that's enough out of you," Yoruichi kept a tight grip on Anderson's wrists as she got a good look at Ururu. While she was happy to see Kisuke's daughter as much as anyone else she was more than curious about why Ururu had Nui Harime's purple Scissor Blade. If she took Ururu's explanation to be the truth than Isshin had been the one to take it from the Grand Couturier, which only raised the question of how he did that in the first place. Shaking her head as questions continued to pile up in her mind she turned to the trapped Bazz-B and said, "I think we need to clear some things up. I take it you're not here to kill Ichigo?"

"When did we ever say that?" Bazz-B shouted, sarcasm thick in his voice, but before he could say anything else, and most likely piss Yoruichi off, Lille Barro held an arm in front of his comrade.

"I apologize for Bazz-B's crass demeanor. His aggressive and direct personality tends to lead to misunderstanding," Lille Barro gave Yoruichi a polite nod of his head despite what the Wandenreich thought of shinigami. Enemies they may be but Yoruichi Shihoin was actively working towards Ragyo Kiryuin's defeat, which made them unlikely allies until the battle was over. Shouldering his rifle to show he was sincere about his actions Lille Barro continued, "While it is true we seek Ichigo Kurosaki it is not to kill him. Our leader has deemed Ragyo Kiryuin to be a significant threat. We have been sent to offer Ichigo Kurosaki assistance in stopping her. Will that be a problem?"

"What's going on out here?"

Yoruichi turned around, amber eyes narrowing in surprise, as Ichigo and Ryuko walked out of Kisuke's shop. As he noticed everyone was looking at him, Ichigo sighed and ran a hand down his face, "Do I even want to know what this is all about?"

...

As Rei Hououmaru walked into the darkened office she could not help but feel slightly worried about the news she was delivering. While she may be the commander of Xcution as well as Lady Ragyo's personal assistant that did not mean she was exempt from punishment. Rei was still human and thus no matter how much she may strive to better herself she would never be as magnificent as either the Grand Couturier or Lady Ragyo herself.

Taking note of the seven spools of different colored Life Fibers on Ragyo's desk Rei clicked her heels against the floor and adjusted her aviator sunglasses. She could not remember the last time Lady Ragyo brought out her specialized Life Fibers and it could only mean that she was nearly prepared for the events that were to transpire at the Great Culture and Sports Festival, "I apologize for the late update, Ma'am, but we were unable to track Mr. Batou after he escaped from the manor. We did manage to locate the hijacked helicopter in an empty lot approximately fifty-eight miles south of Honnouji Academy but it was rigged to explode if anyone wearing Life Fibers approached it. Eight employees were injured and two killed in the subsequent explosion."

"A pity but nothing we cannot recover from," Ragyo's voice did not have a hint of sadness in it as she absentmindedly played with the spool of green Life Fibers on her desk. The loss of her men was tragic only in the sense that they might have died with valuable information about Batou's current location. She had intended for Batou to escape so that she could track him down once he returned to whatever hole he crawled out from but this setback complicated things. She would need to think of an alternative plan to neutralize Batou and Olivier before they could do anything to interfere with the COVERS invasion.

"Shall I send a team to comb over the wreckage?"

"There would be no point since Olivier was careful to not leave anything behind," Ragyo ran her fingers over the green Life Fibers and sighed sensually at the feeling of the specialized Life Fibers.

Life Fibers in their natural state were always vibrant red and consistently glowed from energy collected after centuries of gestation inside the Original Life Fibers. While they could be artificially tinted different colors it was only in Life Fiber Hybrids and Kamui that Life Fibers adapted a permanently different natural coloring. The Life Fibers in Ichigo, for instance, were a bright blue in color while those dwelling inside Nui and Amu were purple. As she carefully placed the spool of green Life Fibers next to the other six Ragyo rested her cheek on her hand and continued, "While Batou and Olivier may have managed to elude my grasp for the moment it seems their victory was a much a testament to their skills as it was to the lack of security at the manor. Don't you agree, Hououmaru?"

"I do," Rei bowed her head before writing something on the clipboard in her hands. It was anathema that Lady Ragyo's security could have been broken so easily and quickly with the perpetrator able to escape. She personally remembered the ingenuity and skill both Batou and Olivier possessed. While they were more than capable of eventually breaking into the Kiryuin Manor they should not have been able to do it so quickly, "Shall I order Kuroido to be punished for his failure?"

"Yes…but let us hold off on that for the moment, shall we?" Ragyo smirked as an idea came to mind, "Perhaps Kuroido shall manage to redeem himself. Besides, it is not easy to find someone that so willingly wants to be devoured by the Original Life Fiber. It would be a shame to kill him now."

Laughing as she stood up and bathed her office in rainbow light Ragyo stepped towards the massive screen that showed which parts of the world were covered by Life Fibers and sighed in mild disappointment. The darkened areas covering most of Western Europe and most of North America were due to the increasingly militaristic actions of that annoying organization her former husband created. Ragyo lamented how easy it would have been to destroy Nudist Beach if they were filled with people like Souichiro but not only did that have several of the brightest military minds running the organization from the shadows but they also had a Kamui with a power equivalent to both Junketsu and Mugetsu in their employ. Ragyo had seen the footage Satsuki collected of Danketsu's human fighting Amu and it only helped to increase her desire to hold the Kamui.

As much as Ragyo wished to discover the secrets held within Danketsu's Life Fibers she forced her mind to focus on the matter at hand. The original COVERS invasion was supposed to occur when more than ninety percent of humanity wore Revocs clothing but the various setbacks over the last few weeks had dropped that percentage down to barely above seventy-nine percent. As much as she wished to accelerate her plans for the Celestial Cocoon Seed Planet Ragyo needed to be cautious and careful. She had already lost two members of Xcution due to underestimating Nudist Beach and a third member to treachery. She could not afford to lose any more due to arrogance. Perhaps it was time to take a page out of Isshin's book.

"Hououmaru, has Satsuki returned to Honnouji Academy?"

Rei nodded, "Yes, Ma'am. She touched down at Honnouji Academy nearly two hours ago."

"Good…" Ragyo closed her eyes and smirked, "And tell me something else…is her little friend still actively monitoring Revocs's servers and satellites?"

Even though she did not understand what Ragyo was leading towards Rei nevertheless nodded her head once more, "Yes but we have managed to isolate most of his programs. Currently he is sifting through several terabytes of junk data in the hopes of discovering something about COVERS."

Ragyo didn't say anything for several seconds before she turned around and sat back down once more. With maroon eyes gazing at the screen, her face glowing with a soft green, she said, "It would be a shame for his persistence to not pay off. I want you to purposely upload a file containing the relative strength of COVERS to Satsuki's Goku Uniforms and make sure that he finds it."

It took Rei a moment to fully understand the breadth of Lady Ragyo's plan but when it hit her she could not help but let out an amazed gasp, "That is truly brilliant, Ma'am. Purposely allowing Satsuki to so easily obtain data on the COVERS will force her to assume it was false."

"And people claim I'm not a good mother," Ragyo sighed wistfully before her mood became more serious, "Satsuki may think her plans and contingencies are brilliant but they will amount to nothing more than temporarily delaying the inevitable. No matter what she may do tomorrow the COVERS will awaken and humanity will be guided towards their true destiny as food for Life Fibers. The one thing I must prepare for is Isshin's arrival at Honnouji Academy during the Great Culture and Sports Festival."

Rei wrote something on the clipboard before asking, "Shall I prepare a proper welcome for him?"

Ragyo chuckled at the rhetorical question before responding, "Anyone other than me would not stand a chance against Isshin. Even the Grand Couturier cannot do anything to him if he were to fight seriously but it was his kidnapping of Amu that has made Isshin the only one to truly set my plans back. The creation of Shinra Koketsu was to begin two years ago but I'm afraid my little Nui cannot do anything without Amu at her side. It is a good thing I have something in play to lure Amu back to her true family."

Rei knew bringing Amu back into Ragyo's grasp would be difficult. Mentally Refitting a hybrid, especially one with equal power to the Grand Couturier, took time and she was certain Isshin would do everything in his power to stop Ragyo, "That is only if Isshin gives you the opportunity, Ma'am. From his actions it is clear that he knows of Amu's importance in the creation of Shinra Koketsu. Attempting to isolate Amu long enough to bring her back into the fold without drawing Isshin's attention will be difficult."

"That is why I've had the Great Culture and Sports Festival moved to tomorrow," Ragyo mused victoriously as she spoke, "I'm sure Isshin has plans in place to stop me but I'm counting on that. Isshin may seem like a complicated man to most people, Hououmaru, but he is delightfully simple for me to read. The second he sees any sign of COVERS he will come running to Honnouji Academy."

"Gosh, everyone seems to be talking about who's coming to Satsuki's festival. Who cares if that annoying old goat shows up?" Ragyo closed her eyes and smirked as Nui Harime appeared on the edge of her desk to her left. With her feet kicking playfully in the air Nui stuck out her tongue and said with an excited tone to her voice, "What's really interesting is that Ichigo is going to be there! I can't wait to see him and catch up on everything I missed!"

While Rei bowed her head respectfully to the Grand Couturier's arrival Ragyo simply gave Nui a bemused look, "Is Ichigo the only one you truly wish to see? Has your interest in Matoi's daughter vanished now that your left eye is restored once more?"

"Gee, nothing gets by you, Lady Ragyo!" Nui clasped her hands behind her back and puffed out her cheeks reminiscent of a child. With her eye healed and her body restored to perfection Nui had no vested interest in doing anything to Ryuko, which meant Matoi's daughter can go die in a fire for all she cared, "But I'm not interested in speaking to Ryuko! She's really boring and even with that ugly Kamui she doesn't know how to have fun. I mean, she lost control after I killed only one human. Ichigo and Satsuki would have surely lasted through a least a dozen."

"Say what you will but Matoi's daughter continues to interest me," Ragyo tapped her finger on her desk and the screen in front of her shifted from the map of the world to various clips from Ryuko's fight against Junketsu earlier in the day. As her maroon eyes widened in interest at Ryuko's increasing power Ragyo continued, "A normal human might be able to wear a Kamui without being devoured but one that can access advanced configurations is truly remarkable. After all, Satsuki could only use Zenkan due to Ichigo's Life Fibers coursing through Junketsu."

Nui cocked her head to the side as she watched enraptured when the digital image of Ryuko shifted Senketsu between Senkou and Shippu without much effort as she fought Satsuki and then Junketsu. Smiling as she watched Junketsu nearly kill Ryuko with Bakuzan Nui's sapphire eyes noticed the seven spools of Life Fibers on the desk and wondered why Lady Ragyo would decide to use them. Blinking and dragging her gaze back to the screen Nui rested her chin on the palm of a hand and nodded her head, "I wish I could have seen Zenkan with my own eyes, Lady Ragyo. The pictures you showed me of Junketsu were really beautiful, you know."

"You always know what to say, my precious Nui," Ragyo reminisced on the first time she wore Junketsu and the way the infant Kamui had tried everything to please her. As much as Ragyo had adored the feeling of being worn by Junketsu it was the interested stares Isshin that had so desperately tried to hide which she remembered most of all, "Junketsu is truly beautiful. It is a shame that Satsuki is forcing her to be worn. Such a wondrous piece of clothing cannot truly be worn by humans."

"That's why I can't wait to see you wear Junketsu!" Nui's smiled broadened as she tucked her knees up and lay on her stomach while lazily kicking her feet in the air, "It would be bad of someone were to crash the big event tomorrow. Do you want me to go finish off Ryuko, Lady Ragyo?"

"Hmm…" Ragyo's eyes narrowed as she appeared to notice something before she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. As the screen turned dark with a momentary blaze of static Ragyo turned around and stared at Nui, "I know how much you wish to please me but Matoi's daughter is to be left alone for the moment. I wish to see Senketsu with my own eyes so that I may judge its aesthetic beauty."

"Aw," Nui pouted momentarily before perking up, "Alright, Lady Ragyo! There are lots of other things I can do to have fun before tomorrow!"

"Have as much fun as you like," Ragyo stood up and began walking towards the doors to her office. As a bright rainbow light filtered into the room from outside and caused even the normally immune Nui to squint her eyes Ragyo looked over her shoulder and said, "I expect you to dress yourself appropriately for the festival tomorrow. Amu will most likely be there. It would be rude for her sister to not look her best, don't you agree?"

"Yep!"

Nui had a wide smile on her face as Ragyo and Rei left to go prepare for the Great Culture and Sports Festival but as soon as she was alone it was quickly replaced by a look of mild irritation and annoyance. As her normally light sapphire eyes shifted to a darker blue Nui sat up before tucking her knees to her chest, "How could Amu hurt me? It should have been impossible without the Scissor Blades and yet she could do it. Why?"

Hopping off the desk while landing perfectly on the floor Nui took a moment to fix her pink dress as she began trying to think of a reason how Amu was able to hurt her. Due to recent events Nui had been far too busy to think about such things but now she couldn't keep her mind from continuously wandering back to it. Walking back and forth across Ragyo's office with her cheek puffed outwards Nui tried thinking of a reason but gave up after several minutes of fruitless effort.

Sitting down in Ragyo's chair and tucking in her legs Nui huffed and said, "I won't be hurt a second time. I'll just make sure to hurt Amu before she can hurt me."

As memories of nearly being defeated coursed through her mind Nui stared in annoyance at the Life Fiber spools on the desk, the collective rainbow light illuminating her face, as she switched topics and attempted to figure out her most recent annoyance – how Isshin was able to steal her Scissor Blade.

After several minutes with nothing to show for it Nui gave into temptation and once again reached into her pink Lolita dress and pulled out the letter that had been left behind for her. She had originally wanted to toss it out Satsuki's helicopter but for some reason she had decided to keep it. Lady Ragyo always talked about Isshin's cunning and intelligence so Nui kept it in case he had left a secret message for her. Reading over it once more and finding nothing Nui was just about to toss it into the trash when something in the deepest recesses of her mind stopped her hand once more.

"Humph," Nui tucked the letter back into her dress and stood up. Once she was certain her hair and dress were both prim and proper with not a speck of dust on them Nui began skipping towards the door to Ragyo's office, "Who even cares about what Mr. Kurosaki wrote in his letter anyway? I'm much more interested in Ichigo and Mugetsu!"

She could not wait to meet up with him and find out how much stronger he's gotten but Nui reminded herself that she needed to be careful. Ichigo was strong enough on his own but with Mugetsu's power he could very well manage to surprise her. He was already fast enough to hit her when her attention was on other things, as their first fight demonstrated. As long as she fought seriously Nui was confident she could avoid everything Ichigo threw at her.

"Gee, it's such a shame I won't be able to relax and enjoy myself tomorrow," Nui mused sagely to herself as she stepped into the elevator and began humming to the music playing on the speaker, "But I suppose that's a good thing! After all, it would be really bad if Ichigo's power surprised me and I lost an arm or something! That would really ruin my day!"

...

The smell of chilled sake permeated the air of the Student Council chambers as Soroi Mitsuzou calmly and carefully poured the alcoholic beverage into six saucer-like cups. As his careful and practiced hands failed to spill even a single drop of the expensive liquid Soroi's darkened eyes drooped as he recalled the expression on Satsuki's face upon departing from the Kiryuin Manor not several hours ago. While Satsuki's abstruse personality may manage to fool even her closest comrades Soroi had always been able to tell what she actually thought. Thirteen years of raising her from a sweet girl into an independent and confident young woman allowed Soroi to pierce the veil Satsuki placed on her emotions and feelings. The anger and hatred she felt for her mother as they departed for Honnouji Academy had been as transparent as the sake in his hands.

Satsuki Kiryuin calmly watched Soroi pour the sake, her eyes focusing on the clear liquid, before she let out a placid sigh and turned her attention back to her Elite Four and Iori, "Have all preparations to welcome my mother been completed?"

"Yes, Lady Satsuki," Nonon Jakuzure gave a curt bow in order to not antagonize her wounds any further than she already had, "The Ragyo Stadium is ready for the Great Culture and Sports Festival."

Satsuki gave Nonon an appreciative nod before shifting her attention to Gamagori, "Have you finished allocating the ceremonial dress uniforms?"

"As of ninety minutes ago the last batches of uniforms were handed out to the families of the No-Star students," Gamagori clasped his hands together behind his back as he stood at attention. Unlike the rest of the Elite Four, who sported wounds and bandages signifying their hard fought battles in Karakura Town, Gamagori had come out of his fight with Yasutora Sado with relatively negligible injuries, "There were several complaints from Mankanshoku's family about their daughter's whereabouts but I managed to placate their concerns with promises of free catering tomorrow."

"I've been keeping an eye on the naked apes but so far I've seen no sign of large scale mobilization," Inumuta answered loudly but his voice came out heavily muffled so with an exasperated look in his eyes reached up and manually unzipped the collar of his Probe Regalia. The damage to his Goku Uniform had been quite severe even though he managed to escape the concurrent blasts with only a few minor injuries. Until Iori had a chance to patch up his Probe Regalia Inumuta was unable to either activate it or automatically unzip his collar whenever he wanted to speak.

Known to only those currently in the Student Council chambers was the knowledge that Satsuki was counting on Nudist Beach to appear at the Great Culture and Sports Festival. Even if her final conversation with Ichigo before the School Raid Trip had been less than amicable Satsuki knew with absolute certainty that he was aware of the dangers her mother posed. Their methods on dealing with her mother may differ but Satsuki was confident Ichigo would see no other choice but to inform Nudist Beach of her true motives and thus allow the organization to assist her with little difficulty.

"Your sake is ready, Milady."

"Thank you, Soroi," Satsuki picked up one of the saucers on the sterling silver tray in Soroi's hand and allowed the sake's aroma to fill her mind. She was never one to imbibe in alcohol. It was the drink of those unable to control their minds and impulses, after all, but this was a special occasion. Tomorrow at the Great Culture and Sports Festival she would finally rid the world of the monster disguised as her mother. Forcing her mind to bury the memories of what only three people in the world were aware of Satsuki waited until Sanageyama picked up his sake before speaking.

"Tonight we stand on the precipice of change," Satsuki's voice was even and confident as she raised the saucer of sake above her head, "The failure to subjugate Karakura Town is indeed tragic but it shall help us herald in a new world. Let this be a toast to the success of the Great Culture and Sports Festival!"

As a collective shout of 'Ma'am' reached her ears Satsuki tilted her head back and drank the sake in a single swallow. Ignoring the burning sensation in her throat from the alcoholic liquid Satsuki's blue eyes stared at her hazy reflection in the ceramic saucer before tossing it to the ground where it shattered into myriads of shards and pieces. As the sound of ceramic shattering against the floor sounded several more times Satsuki steeled her expression, "Let me give you all one final parting message. It is highly likely that my mother is a Life Fiber Hybrid of equal or greater power to Nui Harime and Ichigo."

Satsuki ignored the mixture of surprise and astonishment as she turned on her heels and made her way towards the nearby wall. As she pressed her thumb against a junction in the mahogany paneling until she heard two consecutive beeps Satsuki could not dissuade herself from the notion that relying on what lay inside the safe was admitting she would fail. The plan that her five year old mind had concocted and was subsequently revised and edited over the last thirteen years had always ended the same way – her mother impaled with her head removed. Not once in all those years had that wavered or changed. She had wanted her victory over her mother to be absolute. Relying on something like this, even if it did lead to her mother's death, left a bitter taste in Satsuki's mouth.

Staring at the silver case in her hands, the metal still lustrous even after all this time, Satsuki turned around and carefully placed it on a table Soroi hastily set up. Undoing the two latches with barely any effort Satsuki opened the case and brought out a device that was nearly the same size as her hand. Holding the dark green object aloft in the air, both the physical and metaphorical weight of the object apparent to all those present, Satsuki lowered her eyes towards her Elite Four and said, "This is a specially modified M34 Grenade designed to burn at nearly 6,000 degrees Kelvin. If I have learned anything from Ichigo and Matoi it is that only fools assume guaranteed victory!"

After allowing her Elite Four and Iori to take one of the five grenades, including the one held in her hand, Satsuki slammed Bakuzan's scabbard against the floor with a reverberating echo and raised her voice, "If the worst comes to pass and I am unable to deal the finishing blow to my mother I am relying on you, my chosen few, to finish the job that I started! My mother may be a hybrid but not even she can survive the temperature of the surface of the sun!"

...

Ryuko watched the moisture in her breath dissipate into the air as the last traces of sunlight disappeared from Karakura Town. As the unreasonably warm day quickly gave way to night, a brisk and crisp wind kicking up as the temperature dropped, Ryuko was thankful that Senketsu somehow managed to keep her warm. Ryuko didn't understand how it was possible but her Kamui prevented her from feeling the cold already seeping into the city. Subconsciously rubbing her hands together before crossing them across her chest, Ryuko tilted her head upwards and stared at the stars beginning to twinkle in the darkening sky, "Do you think they were lying to us?"

Ichigo's hands curled into fists inside Mugetsu's pockets as he contemplated the Sternritter's message. The man who introduced himself as Bazz-B claimed they were there to help take down Ragyo Kiryuin but Ichigo had been hesitant to accept the Quincy's offer. He didn't get to where he was in life by blindly trusting people and Uryu's frozen reaction upon seeing the Sternritter told Ichigo there was a lot more going on than he could see, "I don't know. They may want to take down Ragyo Kiryuin but they were holding something back. Uryu seemed do know who they were but that bastard vanished hours ago."

Ryuko locked her fingers together against the nape of her neck and watched the florescent lamps lining the street flicker to life, "I don't trust those guys but if Ragyo Kiryuin is really as strong as everyone says we can use all the help we can get."

"I still want to know how Uryu knew them," Ichigo muttered deep in thought before stopping and looking around.

The damage to the city from Satsuki's attack was extensive but it took him only a second to recognize his location. Crossing the rubble-filled streets without saying a word, Ichigo ignored Ryuko's confused shouts as he saw the shattered flower vase scattered along the sidewalk next to a particular street light. Kneeling down and carefully pulling the intact flowers from the shards of jagged glass Ichigo reached over and gently placed the flowers back against the light. It wasn't the same as the vase but Ichigo knew the spirit of the young girl would appreciate it. As the memory of Quilge Opie's cryptic answer came to mind Ichigo glanced down the street but lowered his gaze when he saw nothing but the encroaching darkness of the night.

"Who are you looking for?"

"There was a young girl that died here a few years ago. I used to leave her flowers," Ichigo muttered to his Kamui as he stood back up and dusted Mugetsu off. As the flowers gently blew in the cold air, his gaze tightening as they quickly fell back onto the ground, Ichigo let out a defeated sigh before running a hand through his hair.

"Did you know her?"

Ichigo didn't miss the curious tone in Mugetsu's voice. As he heard the Ryuko crossing the street after him, her sneakers echoing loudly in the eerily quiet neighborhood, Ichigo placed his hands back in his pockets and waited for her to finish crossing before answering his Kamui's question, "A couple years ago there was a major accident. A lot of people were hurt but only one person, a young girl, actually died. I didn't really pay attention at the time but a few weeks later I noticed her soul wandering around the street. I didn't know anything about shinigami back then so I thought I could help her pass over if I talked to her and left her flowers."

Ryuko's eyes fell down onto the flowers scattering in the wind, "So these are your flowers?"

"No. Someone else must have continued leaving them for her after I left for Honnouji Academy," Ichigo shook his head and looked around one last time for the young girl's soul. When he couldn't see any trace of her Ichigo craned his head up and stared at the night sky, "I became pretty famous in town for being the orange haired punk that could see the dead. I can't remember the number of times I beat up inconsiderate assholes who disturbed memorials like this one."

"That's something I would pay to see," Ryuko said between chuckles of amusement.

Glancing up as the street light as it flickered briefly before resuming illuminating the street in a fierce yellow glow Ryuko realized that it was getting quite late. The Great Culture and Sports Festival was supposed to start at nine in the morning and while Karakura Town was less than an hour's drive from Honnouji Academy simply driving there would be too easy. Clapping her hands together, the Seki Tekko muffling the sound, Ryuko gently slapped Ichigo's arm to get his attention, "It's getting late. We should probably get back to your house."

Ichigo scowled as he thought of what awaited when they got back. Rubbing the bridge of his nose and letting out an aggravated sigh he said, "If my dad asks one more time if you're my girlfriend I swear I'm going to kill him."

Ryuko grinned as she listened to Ichigo complain about his dad's childish and idiotic behavior. Despite his more outlandish behavior she found Isshin Kurosaki very funny, "So what if he says I'm your girlfriend? As long as it's not true it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"You don't understand how my dad thinks," Ichigo stared at Ryuko with a haunted look in his eyes. This was not the first time his dad had tried something like this and if he didn't deal with it now there would be hell to pay in the near future, "If we don't stop him now he's going to tell everyone he knows we're dating."

"I still don't see a problem with it," Ryuko said as they walked past an overturned car, the metal chassis cracked and deformed from the earlier battle. Rolling her eyes at Ichigo's blank stare, pointedly ignoring the scathing look he was giving her, Ryuko began tapping her fingers against her forearm, "Hey Ichigo…do you think Nui Harime will be at the festival tomorrow?"

"Probably," Ichigo answered with a small shrug of his shoulders.

Ryuko looked away from Ichigo as she was reminded of the anger and despair she felt when Nui Harime plunged the purple Scissor Blade through Mako's heart. As she remembered the final moments of her father, blood pooling on the floor next to his dying body as he desperately tried to tell her something, Ryuko clenched a fist in anger. Nui Harime needed to pay for everyone she hurt but Ryuko doubted she could do it, "Am I strong enough to kill Nui Harime?"

Ichigo's face scrunched up in thought for a moment before answering, "That's a difficult question. Are you strong enough to hit Nui Harime? I would have to say yes but she'll probably just regenerate from the damage."

"Damn it! I forgot she was a Life Fiber Hybrid," Ryuko angrily folded her arms across her chest and kicked at a rock on the sidewalk. As she listened to the rock skip across the pavement several times before hitting a car accompanied by a reverberating echo Ryuko huffed in anger. Ururu had claimed that her father had been the one to tear out Nui's eye but Ryuko had no idea how he could have done that. Pulling the miniaturized Scissor Blade out of the pouch attached to Senketsu and expanding it back to its full size with a simple flick of her wrist Ryuko stopped walking and stared at her reflection on the permanently polished red metal, "Ichigo, why isn't Senketsu's strength enough?"

Two and half pairs of eyes looked at Ryuko but it was her Kamui that spoke, "Is something bothering you, Ryuko?"

As Senketsu attempted to calm her down Ryuko ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "It's just that…I've lost every major fight since I put you on, Senketsu. Ichigo had to save us from Satsuki when I was too embarrassed to wear you and a few weeks later I lost control of my anger at Nui Harime. I would have died if Orihime hadn't been there to save Mako." Ryuko's voice quieted into a whisper as she turned her back to Ichigo and looked at the ground, "I would have died today if Armstrong and Jakuzure hadn't distracted Junketsu. It just feels that nothing I ever do is good enough."

"Ryuko…" Senketsu's voice quivered as the Kamui tried to think of something he could say to cheer her up.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck as he fumbled for the right words. He could relate, perhaps better than most people, to Ryuko's plight. As Ichigo recalled lying in a pool of his own blood while Byakuya and Renji took Rukia back to the Soul Society despite his best efforts to stop them he steeled himself and said, "Ryuko…sometimes you fail when it counts but that just means you get back up and keep on trying. You're not alone, Ryuko, you have Mako, Ururu and me to help you."

When Ichigo saw Ryuko's shoulders relax he thought his advice must have gotten to her. He had never been good with sappy advice like that. Usually when he had a problem he forced himself to work past it. That was why he was caught off guard when Ryuko turned around towards him, an annoyed scowl on her face, and jabbed her finger at his chest, "That was really stupid advice Ichigo."

Ichigo flinched back, shocked by Ryuko's response, before he quickly recovered. With his own angry scowl forming on his face Ichigo leaned forward and shouted, "What exactly was wrong with my advice?"

"It was really good advice but it's just really weird coming from you!" Ryuko huffed and turned away from an astonished Ichigo. As she began tapping her red Scissor Blade against the sidewalk out of annoyance Ryuko remembered that she needed to ask Ururu about the purple Scissor blade. Ryuko didn't know how Ururu managed to steal the other blade from Nui Harime but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

As his eyebrow began twitching, a telltale sign that he was becoming increasingly annoyed with the entire situation, Ichigo growled, "What do you mean it was weird?"

"I expected you to say I needed to get stronger or something!" Ryuko bit out and leaned forward until she was almost in Ichigo's face. Jabbing her finger into his chest once more, this time with enough force that Mugetsu began complaining about stretching her Life Fibers, Ryuko narrowed her eyes and glared at Ichigo, "You should know that I'm not the kind of person that likes sappy advice, Ichigo! If you wanted to make me feel better, you should have tried to complain about how weak I was."

"Why the hell would something like that work on you?" Ichigo countered back angrily. He would never admit, least of all to Ryuko, that he only decided on the 'sappy advice' because it felt more personal. Usually Ichigo would use his normally heavy-handed advice when dealing with a situation like this but he hadn't thought it was appropriate for Ryuko. He had heard the pain in her voice and had figured a more delicate touch would be better. Ichigo wasn't about to make that mistake again.

"You're being inconsiderate, Ryuko," Senketsu, unlike his wearer, thought that Ichigo's advice was most sound. In the days after he first forced her to wear him Ryuko had been embarrassed by his released configuration. He tried giving her advice, if advice could be called telling Ryuko to not be embarrassed to wear him, but she had required nearly dying to Satsuki Kiryuin and Junketsu for the advice to be beaten into her skull, "I tried giving you similar advice about wearing me. You ignored me then and look how that turned out…"

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Ryuko glared at Senketsu, who returned the accusatory stare with his single eye, before scoffing. Placing her hands on her hips, the red Scissor Blade safely jammed into the sidewalk next to her, Ryuko motioned with her head to Ichigo, "Besides, I thought after all this time Ichigo would know exactly how I felt about things!"

Ichigo opened his mouth to speak but was beaten to the punch by Senketsu. Staring at his wearer with a knowing gaze in his eye Senketsu asked, "And just HOW was he supposed to know?"

"Well…I-I thought he would just know," Ichigo was shocked into silence as he saw Ryuko actually blushing. He stood with his mouth slightly agape as Ryuko shifted from angry and pissed off to blushing in embarrassment in less than a minute. At least it looked like she was blushing from what Senketsu said. When Ryuko blinked owlishly and noticed both Ichigo's flabbergasted expression and Mugetsu's extremely surprised look she quickly scowled and turned away, "T-The point is you should have known what I needed to hear, Ichigo. You're my friend so something like that should be simple to you!"

It took Ichigo's mind a moment to process Ryuko's answer. As the anger and frustration bled from his mind until he was simply feeling greatly confused Ichigo closed his eyes, mentally counted to five, and asked, "How does that make any sense? It's not like I can read your mind."

"You're still the best friend I have besides Mako!" Ryuko countered with frustration tinging her voice, "And she always knows what I'm thinking whether I want her to or not!"

Mako's apparent telepathy notwithstanding Ichigo begrudgingly admitted that Ryuko had a point. After two months of hanging out, talking and generally doing their best to piss off Satsuki Kiryuin he should have realized Ryuko wasn't someone that needed a soft touch. In hindsight he probably should have taken a page out of his dad's book and simply smacked Ryuko on the head until she was too annoyed at him to worry about her problems, "Ignoring Mako's ability to read your mind for the moment I still don't see how –"

Ichigo paused when the nearby box hedges started rustling. At first assuming it to be nothing more than the wind Ichigo strained his ears when he distinctively heard the sound of someone whispering from inside it. Closing his eyes as a familiar feeling of annoyance grew in his mind Ichigo turned to face the hedges, "I know you're in there, Kon. Get out here before I tear the stuffing from your body. You have until the count of three."

"Screw counting! That stuffed pervert is going to die!"

As much as she hated the modsoul Ryuko was secretly thankful that he showed up before things became even more awkward for her. It wasn't going to change what she would do to him though. Tearing the red Scissor Blade out of the sidewalk before sprinting across the street towards the hedges, a slightly psychotic grin adorning her face, Ryuko was just about to run in swinging when a high pitched and distinctive feminine voice shouted, "Wait!"

Skidding to a stop, nearly tripping over her feet in the process, Ryuko stared incredulously as a bird plushie around the same size as Kon wearing a hooded blue coat with a red bow tie hopped out of the hedges and landed on a nearby wall. Ryuko blinked slowly, her head cocked slightly to the side as her mind tried to understand what it was seeing, as the plushie brushed down her fake feathers before twisting around and pointing an accusing hand at her, "Just who do you think you are? Attacking a poor defenseless plushie is grounds for arrest, you know!"

Ryuko watched the bird plushie walk across the wall, her miniature blue boots squeaking with every step she took. As the plushie gave her what could only be a scathing look Ryuko rubbed one hand against the back of her neck, "Um…I'm sorry for attacking you?"

"Why are you apologizing?" Senketsu gave a mental huff as he shifted his attention from the plushie to Ryuko, "That thing was hiding from us so it must be up to no good. Also, I can sense Life Fibers inside it."

Upon hearing Senketsu's voice the plushie immediately jumped back and nearly fell off the wall. After regaining her balance she pointed with one arm at Senketsu and shouted, "Did that uniform just talk?!"

"Yes. I did," Senketsu didn't appreciate being talked down to like that, "And I have a name – Senketsu. That was quite rude of you."

"Well, I'm not going to apologize for being scared!" The plushie gave an indignant scoff as she hopped off the wall and landed gracefully on the ground. Turning towards Ryuko and Ichigo, who had come over as soon as he saw what could only be another modsoul, she spun around before giving them a polite bow, "Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Ririn and I carry the title of Seiryu of the East!"

"You're a modsoul," Ichigo pointed out before closing and rubbing his eyes to stave off a headache. When that failed to work he groaned and asked, "Did my dad send you here?"

"How did you know – I mean yes," Ririn's feathers actually seemed ruffled. After taking a moment to straighten them while adjusting her blue hooded coat, Ririn turned and began walking away, "Mr. Kurosaki sent me here to come get you guys. He said it was getting late and was worried you two were up to no good and it was a good thing I showed up! Who knows what two young and impressionable teenagers could have done if I hadn't been following the entire time?"

"Ichigo, can we please kill her?" Mugetsu's voice was full of venom as she glared at Ririn, who straightened with a start and began running away in the direction of his house.

"Well, I guess my dad is looking for us. This is why you have to knock sense into him before it's too late," Ichigo groaned tiredly to Ryuko as they began the relatively short trek back to his house.

With a mischievous grin on her face Ryuko chuckled and said, "I still don't see a problem with it."

...

Satsuki Kiryuin watched the residents of Honnou City eat their exquisitely prepared meals with a passive expression. With the sounds of the festivities drifting up from the ground below, the Marching Band Club working to bring the Great Culture and Sports Festival as close to perfection as possible, Satsuki briefly wondered where Ichigo and Matoi were before squashing such thoughts before they could devolve into unnecessary worry. She was more than confident they would show up. After all, Satsuki knew from personal experience that Ichigo would never allow her mother to succeed.

When Inumuta gave her a curt nod, signaling it was time for the festival to truly begin, Satsuki felt a pang of guilt over what she was about to do. As Ichigo's words from before the School Raid Trip were brought to mind, causing her to look down into Junketsu's eyes, Satsuki began walking towards the podium, her heels clicking against the polished surface, while the sounds from the crowd died down until she could hear nary a sound apart from her own footsteps.

Taking one last step as she reached the podium, Satsuki slammed Bakuzan's hilt against the ground in front of her as a backdrop of white light tinged with blue shone throughout the stadium. As her eyes drifted across the crowd Satsuki took a deep breath and scowled, "Citizens of Honnou City! This is the moment you have been waiting all this time for! Now stand on your feet and respectfully welcome Honnouji Academy's founder and director of the school board – Ragyo Kiryuin!"

The moment Satsuki announced her mother's name every source of lighting and illumination in the stadium was overpowered and replaced by an even fiercer rainbow light as Ragyo Kiryuin threw open the doors leading from Honnouji Academy into the stadium. With Rei Hououmaru standing silently at her right, the wide aviator glasses she wore preventing her from being blinded from the rainbow light shining forth from Ragyo's silver hair currently styled into twin horns, Ragyo looked over the gathered crowd of humans eagerly clapping for her and smirked, "Shall we go greet them, Hououmaru?"

As her heels, hidden by her extremely form-fitting pure white dress that ended just about the ground, clicked across the runway Ragyo allowed a pleasant smile to adorn her face. She had originally intended to wear something more flamboyant and exotic for the festival. It was, after all, the day of Satsuki's coup and Ragyo wanted to make sure her daughter felt special one final time before all her plans went to ruins but remembering that Isshin would undoubtedly show up caused her to change her mind. She needed to look her best for Isshin and what better way was there to express her adoration than wearing the first dress Isshin ever gave her?

Walking past Satsuki's prostrating Elite Four, their faces pointed down to the ground with their right arm held diagonally across their chests, Ragyo glanced at Inumuta with a sly smirk on her face, "Tell me, are you still hacking into government servers?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Such petty indulgences are now far beneath me," Ragyo did not miss the slight hint of condescension in Inumuta's voice. He truly believed she was unaware of his forays into the Revocs mainframe over the last few years.

"Do I now?" Ragyo's stride didn't falter as she passed Inumuta. Turning her maroon eyes one final time to him she said, "That's quite the pity. I was looking forward to personally meeting the person who keeps hacking into Revocs."

Ragyo's smile widened imperceptibly as she sensed Inumuta's shocked and worried expression. It had been quite arrogant of the 'former' hacker to assume the CEO of the conglomerate he continuously broke into hadn't been able to trace the connection back to Honnouji Academy.

As she reached the podium, Satsuki bowing her head and stepping to the side, Ragyo subtly glanced upwards and sighed contently at what she saw. Sitting on the wall of the stadium, her legs kicking in the air and with a happy smile on her face, was Nui Harime. When they left for Honnouji Academy the Grand Couturier had professed a desire to stick to the shadows and wait for Ichigo and the others to come. At first Ragyo had been slightly disappointed that Nui didn't want to be by her side but the Kiryuin Matriarch could see the logic in the Grand Couturier's words. When Isshin brought help, and Ragyo knew the man would bring everything he could to stop her, she needed enough of a warning to allow the pieces to fall into place.

Offering a knowing smirk to Nui, who clapped her hands together and beamed happily, Ragyo shifted her gaze to the quiet crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen! Let me ask you a simple question – what is this world?"

Ragyo listened to the faint mumbling from the crowd of humans with derision. Stretching her arms out to the side, the rainbow light shining from her body growing brighter by the second, Ragyo grinned maliciously as she answered for them, "The answer is clothing! Life Fibers are the true rulers of the world and I, Ragyo Kiryuin, am one of the few who carry out their will! This academy was created to herald this day! The weak and worthless among you will serve as the foundation for everything to come!"

Rei Hououmaru perked up as a voice crackled over her earpiece. Turning her head slightly to the side in order to better hear them, Rei's eyes widened upon receiving the news. Turning her attention up to Nui Harime, who was staring at something outside of the stadium with an increasingly giddy look on her face, Rei whispered to Ragyo, "I've just received word that the nudists have entered the outskirts of the city. They shall be here in five minutes."

Ragyo's eyes widened mirthfully. Everything was starting to finally come together. If the nudists were here than that meant Isshin and Ichigo couldn't be far behind. Now that the final pieces were in place all she needed to do was sit back and wait. Stepping forward and holding her hand over the heart-shaped podium with a single button on it, Ragyo's grin widened at what she was about to do. Casting her gaze up at the crowd, unwilling to miss even a moment of their terror as they realized what their lives actually amounted do, Ragyo pressed her thumb down on the button after exclaiming, "Let the celebration commence!"

A cacophony of terror-filled screams and shouts reached Ragyo as the Life Fibers in every human's uniform heeded her call and began absorbing their wearer. As the throngs of vibrant colors in the stadium were replaced by cocoons of glowing red Life Fibers Ragyo stared up into the sky and closed her eyes. This silence, the wonderful lack of sounds that humanity spewed every waking minute of the day, was what Ragyo dreamt of ever since she and Isshin first made contact with the Original Life Fiber.

Taking a deep breath, memorizing the feeling of humanity's fate finally being realized, Ragyo opened her maroon eyes and sighed happily, "This is what I've been waiting for. The fate of humanity is at hand and nothing shall remain in this world but the tranquility possessed by Life Fibers."

"The experiment is a success, Lady Ragyo. No abnormalities have been detected," Rei Hououmaru pulled out her PDA and began going over the data from the various Revocs machines and sensors stationed around the stadium. She had the utmost confidence in the experiment but Rei knew Ragyo expected nothing but perfection. If a mistake or error was found Rei vowed to correct it before the rest of humanity was consumed by Life Fibers.

"Wonderful, Hououmaru," Ragyo turned around towards her daughter. Gazing into Satsuki's stoic expression, her stormy blue eyes betraying not a hint of her true emotions, Ragyo leaned her cheek against her hand as her hearing, enhanced leagues behind that of a human's, heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching them. It seemed like the guests of honor were finally arrived. Ignoring the barest twitch of Satsuki's hand towards Bakuzan, Ragyo took a single step forward and abruptly raised her hand before catching the spiritual energy bullet fired by Lille Barro.

"Impossible!"

Perched on the top of Honnouji Academy, the end of his spiritual rifle smoking from the bullet it just fired, Lille Barro began sweating nervously as his right eye widened in astonishment. The Sternritter could not believe what he was seeing. Ragyo hadn't even turned to look at him before stopping his bullet. After watching Isshin Kurosaki accomplish an identical feat yesterday he knew Ragyo Kiryuin would be tough to damage. He had assumed Ragyo's resistance to damage was dependent on seeing the attack coming. Therefore if he could snipe her from far enough away she wouldn't have a chance to block or dodge. The bullet of spiritual energy current crushed in Ragyo's hand disproved that theory entirely.

"Oh, what is this?"

Ragyo turned to face Lille Barro, the Sternritter pushing his body off the ground in preparation for anything to come. Noticing Satsuki and her Elite Four following her gaze, their attentions focused on the man that just tried to assassinate her, Ragyo recognized quite well the energy in the bullet. It was nearly identical to the arrows Masaki had tried to kill her with more than seventeen years ago. Chuckling menacingly and taking a step forward, her eyes widening in glee as Lille Barro flinched backwards, Ragyo said, "You must be a Quincy. How amusing. I was wondering when you people would stop scurrying around in the shadows."

Raising and pointing her hand at Lille Barro, a malevolent look on her face, Ragyo smirked when the Sternritter wisely decided to retreat using Hirenkyaku. Slightly interested in the familiar technique, Ragyo nevertheless saw that the Sternritter's usage of it was not nearly as effective as Masaki's. She watched Lille Barro flee across the stadium in agonizingly slow motion, his every step as clear as day to her, before turning away in boredom. If she truly wished to kill the Quincy it would be as simple as stabbing her hand into his chest. Looking with maroon eyes down at the stadium below, Ragyo watched Ichigo and Ryuko race into the stadium as one of the locked student entrances exploded in a cloud of dust and energy.

"Interesting…"

Ragyo folded her arms under her bosom and looked at Ichigo with what could pass for a motherly expression. Staring into his brown eyes, which betrayed his emotions and feelings as easily as reading a book, Ragyo realized her daughter must have confessed her past to Ichigo, which was a pity. Unlike Satsuki, who was an absolute failure, Ragyo saw Ichigo as a son. If Satsuki managed to corrupt Ichigo's opinion of her, Ragyo vowed to make sure her daughter saw the error of her ways. Cocking her head to the side Ragyo watched as Lille Barro appeared next to the group and smirked, "It's good to see you again, Ichigo. Have you enjoyed your time at Honnouji Academy?"

The tightening of Ichigo's glare was all the answer Ragyo needed. Mentally sighing upon realizing things were going to be a bit more difficult than she originally thought Ragyo took a moment to look at the rest of Ichigo's group. There were three other people dressed similarly to the Quincy that believed he was strong enough to hurt her. From the nervous expressions on their faces as she locked eyes with them Ragyo grinned as she saw realization hit their eyes. Shifting her gaze past Ryuken's son and Yasutora Sado, both of whom played a large part in defeating her daughter's assault on Karakura Town, Ragyo noticed Amu standing in the back of the group. What intrigued Ragyo, her hands clenching into fists as a mental attempt to hold in her excitement, was noticing Amu holding the purple Scissor Blade.

"So Isshin gave Amu her sister's Scissor Blade. That is just like him."

Ragyo smirked when she saw Ururu tense under her gaze. She didn't see anything wrong with her daughter keeping the purple Scissor Blade for the moment. Focusing her attention on the last of Ichigo's group, Ragyo rested her cheek upon one hand and cocked her head slightly to the side, "I suppose you must be Ryuko Matoi."

"I know who you are! Ragyo Kiryuin!" In one fluid motion Ryuko looped her finger around the red Scissor Blade in the pouch on her waist. Flicking her wrist, the Life Fiber blade expanding to its natural size in less than a second, Ryuko pointed it up at the Kiryuin Matriarch. She had seen the Life Fiber cocoons throughout the stadium and while she wanted nothing more than to attack and kill Ragyo Kiryuin for daring to harm Mako's family Ryuko needed to keep her calm. Ragyo was strong, she could feel it. Attacking without a plan would be the same as losing her cool against Nui Harime. Gnashing her teeth together, growling upon seeing Ragyo's condescending expression, Ryuko shouted, "Turn everyone back to normal!"

"Oh my," Ragyo quirked one silver eyebrow at Ryuko's rude and crass behavior, "Such rudeness is unbecoming of the daughter of Professor Matoi. Did your father ever teach you manners?"

Ryuko's blue eyes tightened in rage, "What the fuck did you just say?"

Ragyo ignored Ryuko's nearly palpable rage in order to focus her attention on Senketsu. As much as she loathed the mere thought, her late husband had managed to create a true Kamui. Trailing her eyes across Senketsu, every stitched and woven Life Fiber open for her to see, Ragyo was delighted when the Kamui began shivering under her gaze, "So this is Senketsu? I must confess that the beauty of it greatly exceeds my initial expectations. It possesses a natural beauty inherent to all Kamui."

"Can we stop talking about fucking clothes for a second?" Bazz-B asked as he stared at Ragyo Kiryuin. As confident as he was in his abilities he was in the presence of the primary threat to His Majesty's plans. He was not about to rush in headfirst and die like an idiotic shinigami. If they were to return to the Silbern with victory firm in their minds than Bazz-B needed to stick to the plan.

"You seem to be confident in your power, Quincy," Ragyo's tone carried the barest hint of malice as she addressed Bazz-B. Grinning as the Sternritter tensed under her gaze, some instinctual sense anticipating a possible attack, Ragyo simply shook her head and said, "Your strength is impressive for a naked pig but you're nothing but an ant attempting to fight an elephant."

As a vein become prominent on Bazz-B's temple, his anger boiling into the barest wisps of flames surrounding his body, Ragyo turned back to Ichigo, "I saw your fight against Junketsu, Ichigo. It was most impressive. Tell me, did you enjoy fighting against the true power of Junketsu?"

Ichigo scowled but didn't say anything as he glanced past Ragyo at Satsuki. The Student Council President was listening in rapt attention to everything her mother said. Barely noticing the subtle nodding of Satsuki's head, Ichigo narrowed his eyes and drew Tournesol from its scabbard. Holding the Life Fiber blade in front of his body, his stance solid, Ichigo took a second to gather his thoughts before shouting, "I don't care what you say or ask, Ragyo Kiryuin! I'm going to make sure you don't win!"

Ragyo was taken aback by Ichigo's refusal. She thought for sure that as a fellow hybrid he would understand her motives. It seemed she needed to have a long talk with Isshin when this was done. Upon sensing the Grand Couturier carefully making her way closer to the group, and watching Amu follow her sister with perfect precision, Ragyo decided to humor Isshin's son a bit longer. Going along with the charade of being unaware of Satsuki's plans Ragyo fully turned her back to her daughter, the slight twisting of her daughter's waist all but apparent to her, and said, "You truly are Isshin's son, after all. I wonder, however, if you can back up your threats…"

"You're damn right!" Ryuko shouted angrily, her sneakers slamming against the dirt and rock of the stadium's floor as she took a step forward. Pointing her red Scissor Blade up at Ragyo before shifting it to Hououmaru and finally Satsuki, a confident smirk spread across Ryuko's face, "Who cares if you're really strong? There are nine of us and only seven of you! We're more than strong enough to kick your glowing ass!"

"La vie est drôle."

Ragyo wasn't someone that usually took such bait but the determination on Ryuko's face was something she couldn't wait to see vanish. Raising one arm into the air, the rainbow light shining forth from her form-fitting sleeve doubling in intensity, Ragyo had a malicious grin on her face that stretched from ear to ear as she snapped her fingers, "Such tempting words shall not be ignored! Nine on seven isn't quite fair. Nine against twelve sounds fairer, wouldn't you agree?"

As she snapped her fingers, the reverberating sound echoing throughout the stadium, Ichigo tensed as five forms burst out of their disguises amongst the crowds of cocooned citizens and landed on the stadium floor in front of him. Staring down at the five members of Xcution, his gaze lingering on Riruka for a moment, Ichigo moved his hand to his left shoulder and prepared to transform Mugetsu when he heard Ragyo laugh.

"Welcome to your Xcution!"

Not a single person missed the smug tone in Ragyo's voice. As the rainbow light shining forth from her horns intensified Ragyo turned her attention to Ichigo and Ryuko, "It is unbefitting for Kamui to fight mere raiment. They shall not stop you from attempting to reach me so please activate your Kamui. I wish to see the true power of Mugetsu and Senketsu."

"Damn it!" Ichigo seethed in anger as he stared at the smug grin on Ragyo's face. He wasn't about to leave his friends to fight Xcution alone. The power he felt from Xcution dwarfed Satsuki's Elite Four from during the Sudden Runoff Elections. Gripping Tournesol tightly, his mind desperately trying to think of a third option, Ichigo paused when he felt a massive hand on his shoulder.

"Let us handle them, Ichigo," Chad stared at Xcution, his eyes drifting to the woman in front and, upon looking into her cold blue eyes, felt a bead of sweat trickle down his cheek. If Armstrong was right, and they were all more powerful than Ira Gamagori, than his work was cut out for him. Clenching a fist, memories of his abuelo bolstering his determination, Chad took his hand off Ichigo's shoulder and stepped forward, "It's time that I protected you."

"Like hell I'm going to let you fight these guys by yourselves!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Your worry is appreciated but I have to agree with Chad," Uryu locked eyes with the same blue haired woman Chad noticed, her icy blue eyes promising eternal suffering if she ever got a hold of him. With the effectiveness of his heilig pfeil diminished significantly against a Three-Star Goku Uniform Uryu knew the resistance of the Life Fibers in raiment would be even greater. Luckily he hadn't run off without making a plan or two for such a contingency, "Let us handle Xcution. Taking down Ragyo Kiryuin is far more important than our lives. If she wins…well, I don't think I need to tell you what will happen."

"Man, this is going to suck," Bazz-B grumbled as he ran a hand through his Mohawk.

"Just try not to die," Bambietta drew her dao as she locked gazes with Riruka. For some reason she instinctively felt a need to smash Riruka's face into the ground. Glancing over at Meninas, who has a content look on her face as she cracked her knuckles as she focused on Moe Shishigawara, Bambietta spat on the ground and muttered, "I don't want to drag Giselle all the way out here to heal you."

"I'd like to see you fucking try!" Bazz-B shouted back. Calming down slightly, his voice still a little tense, the Sternritter turned to Ichigo and said, "What the hell are you two waiting for – a fucking invitation? We can deal with these punks without even working up a sweat! Ragyo Kiryuin thinks we Quincy are weak, does she? I'm going to show her how weak we are after we fucking kill these guys!"

"Go with Ryuko, Ichigo. We'll be fine," Uryu ignored Bazz-B's wording as he formed his spiritual shortbow, enjoying the short looks of surprise on the faces of Xcution, before added, "Although I find your lack of faith in my skills insulting. Do you honestly think I will allow myself to be killed these people?"

Ichigo looked at Uryu in concern, "Did you hit your head yesterday? I seem to recall Junketsu kicking your ass pretty thoroughly…"

"That was different!" Uryu snapped back, his anger at Ichigo's stupidity reaching its boiling point, "I just fought Jakuzure and Inumuta back to back! I was tired!"

As much as he wanted to argue with Uryu a little more Ichigo had to trust his friend that he would win. His Quincy powers might not work so well against Life Fibers but Uryu had Chad, Ururu and the others to back him up. There was no way he could lose. If he did Ichigo would just go to the Soul Society and kick his ass for dying in the first place. Turning to Ryuko, who smirked at him as she reached for her Seki Tekko, Ichigo slammed his hand down on his spaulder. Engulfed in a burst of blue light alongside Ryuko's red energy and stars, Ichigo emerged fully clad in Mugetsu and with nary a sound launched himself up at Ragyo Kiryuin.

Landing on the runway between Ragyo and Satsuki, Ryuko's heels clicking down next to him a moment later, both Kamui wearers raised their Life Fiber weapons in preparation to fight the Kiryuin Matriarch. Holding up her hand as Rei prepared to activate her raiment, Ragyo stepped forward and gazed upon Mugetsu and Senketsu with lustful eyes, "Your Kamui are truly beautiful."

"I'm not here to listen to your weird nonsense, Ragyo Kiryuin!" Ryuko shouted angrily as she gripped the red Scissor Blade with both hands. She could feel the power subconsciously radiating from Ragyo and for some reason she instinctively knew it was far greater than Nui Harime's, "Ichigo and me are going to kick your ass and stop your plans of enslaving humanity to Life Fibers!"

"Are you now?" Ragyo sighed in a manner befitting that of a parent whose child was misbehaving. Amused at their continued defiance, Ragyo waved her arm through the air towards the throngs of Life Fiber cocoons lining the stadium and asked, "Tell me, do you know of the true origin of Life Fibers?"

"They came from the Original Life Fiber," Ichigo answered, remembering what Armstrong told them yesterday. Upon seeing the subtle, half-cocked smirk, on Ragyo's face he decided to add a bit more, "It arrived one hundred thousand years ago. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything!"

The rainbow light emanating from within Ragyo tripled in intensity as she held her arms out in front of her body. As her maroon eyes pierced into their souls, both Mugetsu and Senketsu literally shivering under the vehemence of Ragyo's gaze, she asked, "Isshin never spoke about our past, did he Ichigo? He and I are the only two people that know everything in this world!"

"Ahem…make that two and a half…"

Ragyo spun around, a rare look of complete surprise on her face, as the massive screens blared into life. Watching as a man she long considered dead appeared on the screen, a knowing and taunting smile on his face, her surprise turned into anger. Eyes narrowing, the rainbow light from her body appearing to grow darker with her emotions, Ragyo's voice was a measured clip as she spoke, "You're supposed to be dead."

"Well…" The man on the screen drawled out the word for several seconds before he chuckled nervousness, "You'd be amazed what you can live through."

Adjusting his green and white bucket hat, torn and faded from weeks of wear, Kisuke Urahara turned to Ichigo and gave a friendly wave, "Hello, Ichigo! It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I see Mugetsu is doing well, which means you managed to get my note about the Kamui."

"That's the man who made me!" There was no hiding the excitement in Mugetsu's voice as she behind the visage of a man long thought dead, "Say hi for me, Ichigo!"

He may be relieved and happy knowing that Kisuke was not dead but Ichigo decided to hold back on expressing it until he kicked the man's ass for worrying them for so long. Ignoring Mugetsu's excited request for the moment, Ichigo spat on the ground and shouted at the screen, "I got your damn note but did you have be so smug about it?"

"But Ichigo…it was the only way to make sure you listened to my instructions! As your former mentor I know the inner workings of your mind," Kisuke's image flickered as he snapped a paper fan in front of his mouth. When he spoke again, his tone measured and serious, his gaze lingered from Ragyo to Ryuko and finally to Satsuki, "I see that you managed to make friends with quite the interesting group. From your expression on your face I take it you know you're a Life Fiber Hybrid. Ah! Don't say anything! I'm a genius, remember? I knew about what you were the second I put the finishing touches on Mugetsu!"

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Ichigo shouted back in frustration, "You could have called or left a note saying you were alive!"

Kisuke gave a giggle unbefitting of a man his age before noticing Tournesol, "Oh good, I see Yoruichi managed to deliver Tournesol. It's a great name, isn't it? I was worried Nui Harime would discover it when she went back to my shop. I had just managed to trick her clones into thinking they killed me, you see, and it would be incredibly stupid to show myself!"

"You seem to be a very hard man to kill, Kisuke Urahara," Ragyo's anger had evaporated as she listened to Ichigo converse with the man Nui Harime had assured was dead. This was the man that not only created a Life Fiber blade rivaling Bakuzan and the Scissor Blades but also Kamui Mugetsu, a feat she had deemed all but impossible for those unfamiliar with the process. Sensing Nui's attention completely on the image of Kisuke, her fight against Amu forgotten for the moment as waves of hatred radiated from the Grand Couturier upon seeing her failure, Ragyo forced herself to smile, "Can you clarify something for me? Just how did you survive playing with my precious Nui?"

"Well…" Kisuke's eyes drifted off to the right and only those familiar with the man knew he was about to lie, "…I guess she just didn't try hard enough. The clones were interesting but quality trumps quantity. I'm sure your Grand Couturier would have defeated me if she stayed around to finish the job. Now, I have a question for you. Do you know where I am right now?"

As Kisuke moved away from the camera, allowing everyone to see where he was, Ragyo nearly lost herself in anger. The mere thought of a human entering that room was abhorrent! Grinning like a child as he looked through the camera at Ragyo's expression, Kisuke waved and said cheerfully, "That's right! I'm in the Fiber Palace – Forbidden Room! I stopped by to see if anyone was home and when I didn't get an answer I just let myself in. I hope you don't mind."

Kisuke's expression and voice changed swiftly at he spoke, the cheery and jovial tone that normally irritated Ichigo replaced by a cold and calculating clip. Pressing down on his bucket hat, shadowing his eyes in the process, Kisuke sighed and said, "I'm sure you're mighty curious why I'm here. Let me put it in a way something like you can understand, Ragyo Kiryuin. I know you can get to the Kiryuin Manor in less than five minutes but that's just not quick enough. By the time you get here I shall have already sealed away the Original Life Fiber. I believe this is checkmate."