Wednesday, September 18, 2002

The former head of a cadet branch of the Shiba clan and the remaining head of the Shiba family sat together drinking tea. Isshin hadn't been there very long and there was a lot he needed to discuss with Kūkaku regarding the circumstances of Ichigo and Rukia.

In addition to forcing his attention to the conflicts on the horizon, their relationship had also necessitated he begin to seriously contemplate what to do regarding his obligations to his remaining relatives. Setting the resolution of the former aside, he was resolved to remain in the Living World until Karin and Yuzu left high school at the absolute minimum, and preferably only after they'd completed their university degrees if that was what they wanted to do. That meant he was going to stay until at least early 2009, and perhaps even out to 2013 or longer. That was something of a problem given he sincerely doubted his son and future daughter-in-law were likely to wait that long. It was workable though. Since Kūkaku had become the head of the main branch on Kaien's death, his status was rather simple: he was technically only the clan elder, which was why he was there to advise her.

If one ignored the Royal Guard and Soul King—which was rather easy to do on a day-to-day basis—then the political situation of Soul Society resembled that of the Japanese Heian period far more than the various bakufu of the later Kamakura, Muromachi, and Edo periods. In the Heian period there had been four noble houses, much as there were in modern Soul Society, some of which had been descendants of the Imperial family but not successors to it, and all of which competed for influence in the court of the Emperor. Soul Society had no Emperor or an attendant court to one, but it did have Central 46, which filled the same role. In Japan, the bakufu had arisen when a noble house had utilized military force to achieve a parallel—and superior—power to the Emperor and his court and their leader had been declared shōgun, setting a precedent. Although the sōtaichō superficially resembled this position, he remained subordinate to Central 46. The noble houses of Soul Society were roughly militarily balanced and thoroughly integrated into the structure of both the court—Central 46—and the military—the Gotei 13.

Of course, that balance and integration wasn't a guarantee of stability. Ichigo was still really only a fledgling but was easily capable of yet again becoming one of if not the most powerful combatants in the Seireitei. Rukia likewise seemed to be capable of much more than one might have initially suspected, and Byakuya was already one of the most powerful taichō. In reality events were being driven by emotional considerations, but politically what Byakuya allowing Rukia to associate with Ichigo represented was an attempt by the Kuchiki to appropriate a significant military asset that could in time significantly alter the physical balance of power. That could in turn potentially be used in an attempt to alter the political balance of power, just as eventually one of the Japanese noble houses had established a bakufu.

Isshin didn't think this was Byakuya's intent, dutiful as he was, but that didn't necessarily mean others wouldn't come to that conclusion, which could easily become dangerous . . . and even if Byakuya wasn't interested in that at all, if there was anybody who hated heavy-handed rules and might decide to one day just force change through sheer power, it was Ichigo. It seemed to run in the Shiba nature—Kaien had also held Central 46's autocratic and often draconian governance in disdain, and Isshin was no fan either. Isshin wasn't really interested in reviving the influence of the Shiba for its own sake, but for the sake of the appearance of maintaining the status quo of a balance of power it might ironically be more expedient for the number of noble houses to go back to five rather than for the remaining four to become unbalanced.

It would be a hell of a thing to go through all the fighting Ichigo would only to confront an aristocratic conflict or, maybe worse, something like assassination attempts. If Ichigo was judged to be a threat, he wouldn't be the only one in the crosshairs, and if anything ever came of something like that, then all bets were off . . . and that was assuming they all made it that far and nothing drastic happened before then. Isshin was optimistic on that score and at any rate it was better be prepared.

It was his intent to get to all that but he was trying to relate what had happened to cause him to wind up in the Living World first and Kūkaku was grudgingly humoring him when the soul pager Yoruichi had demanded he take with him began to ring. They'd set it up so calls to his cell phone were forwarded to it.

Kūkaku narrowed her eyes before her expression became disbelieving and she gestured at him, saying only "What . . . is that," in a way that wasn't a question. The ringtone was terrible.

Isshin lifted a hand to silence her before withdrawing the device and taking the call. "Moshi moshi?" he greeted.

"It's me," Ichigo replied. He sounded pensive though he was trying to make it seem more like he was annoyed to even be calling. "So . . . on Monday, Rukia and I are going to go visit mom. You know . . . for ohigan. I thought I'd ask if you guys wanted to come too."

The elder Kurosaki blinked and looked sideways toward the device before glancing back to Kūkaku, finding she looked no more credulous. Something suddenly occurred to him. "Of course we'll go!" he replied cheerily.

There was the smallest indication of his son exhaling before he continued more confidently with "We're also thinking of having a karaoke night at our place on Sunday."

"Wouldn't miss it for anything! I'm sure Yuzu would love to make something for it," Isshin replied without skipping a beat.

"Yeah, I'll talk with her about it tomorrow, I just wanted to let you know early. 'Night," Ichigo concluded, ending the call before his dad could reply.

Isshin pulled the soul pager away, reverting to a rather sober mood and finding his niece was peering at him with growing suspicion and irritation. He smirked slightly before asking "Before I get back to what I was saying, how would you feel about a little family get-together?"

Kūkaku blinked.


Thursday, September 19, 2002

Rukia finished her science homework and set her pencil and notebook aside before stretching and turning slightly to one side, leaning back against Ichigo. After a moment she glanced to him, finding he had finished awhile ago and seemed engrossed in a book. "So what is that?"

"It's a play," he responded, not looking up from it.

"By Shakespeare?" she asked.

He nodded before looking to her.

"What's it called?" she continued.

"The Taming of the Shrew," Ichigo said.

Rukia frowned as she tried to figure out what that was supposed to mean. Why would anyone make a play about subduing a rodent?

Seeing her confusion, he suddenly felt rather conflicted about having to explain the title, let alone the plot. He was reading it again in his spare time because it was his favorite. He wasn't really one for the tragedies or the histories and in his estimation it was a rather deeper play than many might initially give it credit for. He regarded it as more a satire of its conceit and subject matter than an endorsement of it. "'Shrew' is a term used to describe an ill-tempered woman prone to violent outbursts," he said carefully.

She brought down her eyelids and lifted an eyebrow as she crossed her arms and regarded him with a rather suspect gaze. "And is there any particular reason you're reading it right now?" she asked with barely concealed critique.

"It's my favorite because of a lot of the wordplay," he said, looking back to it. "If you just read it literally, it's mostly about how this guy, Petruchio, gets this feisty woman, Katherina, to marry him and act respectably, but I think it's really telling you 'Don't be like this as a man,' and it's not clear that Kate ever actually is 'tamed' anyway."

Rukia's expression only eased a fraction as she continued to watch him dubiously, studying him a bit more closely. It was usually pretty obvious when he was being sarcastic or teasing her, and he wasn't giving off any of his normal tells.

Ichigo looked back to her and locked eyes before smirking a little. He reached a hand up and lightly tapped the tip of her nose with a finger. "You shouldn't get so defensive."

"And why not?" she asked, making a show of looking at him with more disapproval.

He took on a more arrogant look in return before letting it go, his face becoming sincere. "Because it makes me appreciate you even more," he said quietly. She wasn't his unless she wanted to be. No matter how the specifics of their relationship worked, no matter who led on what, to him they'd always be partners.

She blinked and her demeanor started to relax a little at how painfully honest he looked, before she began to take on a sly mask. "And how do I know that's true?"

He brought his head down a little closer, saying "I thought you trusted me," in a hushed but playful way.

"Maybe," Rukia replied insincerely, turning toward him and bracing a hand over his heart, letting her fingers dally there.

Ichigo took the initiative and leaned down, whispering "Only maybe . . . ?" as he got an arm around her waist and a hand into her hair, pulling her closer and kissing her.


Tatsuki poked at what was left of her ice cream with her spoon, asking casually "Have those two always had that much eye sex?"

Inoue immediately blushed at the phrase, the spoon in her mouth forgotten as she promptly began saying "Tatsuki-chan, you shouldn't say things like that!" only to lose it, causing her to scramble to desperately try and grab it before it hit the floor.

"What other phrase is there for how they look at each other?" the fighter replied testily, waving her spoon for emphasis before having another bite. She didn't genuinely regard it as lustful, but the way Ichigo and Rukia looked at one another all the time was deeply meaningful in a way that typical eye contact wasn't. It wasn't normal and was constant, which made it both sort of cute and kind of irritating at the same time. It was no wonder she had to take up anti-rumor duty given it and how inseparable the two were.

The princess blinked before frowning slightly and quirking her mouth to one side, trying to think of a more delicate way to put it. They definitely did look at one another in an entirely unique way—she'd noticed that very early on. Finding she didn't know how to put it, she eventually just said "Yes, they have," quietly.

"Well, I guess that's good for them then," Tatsuki replied, before scrunching up her face at her empty cup of ice cream. She internally weighed getting a second helping while she sighed and said "I don't know about this karaoke thing."

"It'll be fun!" Inoue said with sudden cheer.

"I'm not good at singing," the dark-haired teen replied dismissively.

"That's not what really matters," the princess replied with a broad smile.

Tatsuki looked sideways to Inoue's beaming expression and exhaled with annoyance. It was basically impossible to say no to a smile like that, so she went to go treat herself to seconds instead.


Friday, September 20, 2002

Ichigo halted one of Chad's enormous fists in his off-hand while snapping his head to one side as a pair of Ishida's arrows sailed by before swinging his sword up to cleave another pair such that they'd break apart to either side of him.

It was as the pieces tumbled past that the giant unleashed El Directo, sending the future substitute careening off toward a large boulder at high speed and throwing up a spray of dust.

The archer altered his aim to compensate before unleashing a measured volley of only two dozen arrows into the point of impact.

Ichigo emerged from the dust plume in a great leap, a hard scowl of concentration on his face. His outfit was tattered but immediately began to reassemble itself. They were relentless—they weren't really trying to kill him, but at this level of pressure if he made even one mistake . . .


Rukia slid Sode no Shirayuki back into its sheath, closing her eyes and turning away as she made a final evaluation. Zennosuke was more solidly at a low-tier, pre-war 3rd Seat level, although relative to the 13th Division's ongoing composition she wouldn't rate him any higher than the 9th Seat. They had been training rather diligently at the fundamentals. Still, perhaps when his tour was completed he could try and become an officer. "Kurumadani," she began coolly, "why was it not mentioned in any report that you faced off against Aizen?"

Zennosuke blinked at the question before looking away.

Rukia opened her eyes and turned to consider him. "I've heard from multiple witnesses that you used your shikai against him," she continued, "Why wasn't it in any report?"

"I couldn't do anything but run," he finally said, making eye contact with her and adding "It was shameful."

She evaluated him for a second before letting her tone ease up, saying "You helped keep Ichigo's friends alive until he could arrive, didn't you?" The parallel between his experience and theirs wasn't lost on her.

"I didn't think that would be of interest to anyone," he said quietly. A lot of humans had died that day—permanently—from mere proximity to Aizen. His mission had been to protect the town—the fact it had happened at all meant he had clearly failed, even if it had been a matter far and away above his station.

"They're my friends too, so . . . thank you," Rukia said with measured honesty. When he said nothing and simply stared, she withdrew her soul pager, punching in a notification to dispatch to cease sending her alerts for anything less than an Arrancar . . . not that she'd need them to notice something like that. "Responsibility for this town is once more in your hands," she stated, before adopting a more casual pose and smiling slightly. "Now, if you would, I'd like to hear your thoughts," she requested with a modest degree of chipperness.

"Eh?" he asked, confused by the sudden change in her demeanor.

"The training," she clarified. It was always good to get further feedback and she'd need it if she was to really do right by Ichigo.


Ishida and Chad had discussed the possibility of trying to emotionally provoke Ichigo into completing his Fullbring. Chad was convinced he was ready even after only three days, and the ammunition to do it was there, but neither had the heart or the character for it and it didn't feel right to try that at all given everything that had happened. They'd instead decided to settle for ever-increasing and unrelenting force until he had no choice but to advance.

The would-be substitute was pinned behind a rock by the archer's arrow fire when it simply evaporated, the giant following up his first punch with a second to knock the orange-haired teen aside.

Ichigo scrambled to try and get to his feet only to notice he was in the midst of a large glowing pentagon-shaped rune. As he looked up in shock he saw Chad lift his left hand, disks of energy aglow at his fingertips. His face contorted into a mask of frustration and anger as he forced himself to his feet. He wouldn't be fast enough. He wasn't good enough. He wasn't going to make it out of this attack and he was going to disappoint them all. He was going to disappoint—Not now, and not like this! Not without a fight! He brought his sword up as if to block the incoming sprenger and La Muerte attacks, calling out against what was surely to come even as his outfit seemed to crackle as if with electricity, streamers emanating from the badge before everything began to change in a bizarre way, like Chad's arms did when he formed them . . .

. . . Only for Ishida to use hirenkyaku to move away and for Chad to grab and slam the solidifying end of Ichigo's sword down onto the ground with his right hand, using the shield form of Brazo Derecha de Gigante to protect himself from the enormous blast that consumed the pentagon.


Rukia's head abruptly turned toward the Urahara Shop as she felt a pulse of reiatsu that seemed like an echo of how Ichigo's once had. As it flowed by she discerned other things she couldn't put a finger on it its signature. Her eyes widened slightly as she tried to make sense of it.

"Go, Kuchiki-fukutaichō," Zennosuke said from behind her.

She glanced over a shoulder at him.

He gave her a stoic look. Watching Karakura was his job again, and watching Ichigo was hers.

She nodded seriously once before using flash steps to head for the shop.


Ichigo brought his left arm down from shielding his face, finding it was covered in a sort of dark undersuit and white, bone-like armor that was only faintly scorched and pitted. He saw then that Chad's right arm seemed to be in a similar state before the giant released his sword and slowly stood. Ichigo looked down to the blade and found it was solid, resembling a sword bayonet more than anything. He lifted it up and considered it before he rose and looked about. The pentagon had been completely obliterated and Ishida was moving about its former periphery to retrieve his tools. He looked to Chad.

"I told you it was dangerous," the giant said, brushing soot off his right arm and looking around at the damage that'd been caused. The amount of energy the badge had put out had been even greater than his coin had—he had the sense that had been at least as powerful as the sprenger would've been. If his right arm hadn't been specialized for defense . . .

"Yeah," Ichigo affirmed, getting it. He regarded the sword again: it was shorter than he was used to. He still couldn't hear Zangetsu . . . or the old man . . . but he had the distinct impression of a sneering smile when he looked at it. After glancing to confirm his right was clear he swung out the blade while focusing as he once had, calling "Getsuga Tenshō!" The wave of blue energy that was emitted was much smaller than it once had been, but was stupendously quick, blazing across the width of the training room in an instant to cause a great explosion on the distant opposite wall. He looked away from the column of smoke and flame after a moment, turning back as a smirk took hold of his mouth.

The other Fullbringer smirked back before his eyes moved to something behind the future substitute.

Ichigo saw the shift at the same time as he sensed the faint sparks of familiar presences in close proximity, including a certain very important one. He turned to find Rukia standing behind him in her spirit form with her arms crossed and her eyelids partially down, looking at him with something that seemed to be a mixture of affection and happiness. He knew instantly from her eyes that it was really pride. He let his smirk become a small grin. He scarcely noticed Urahara, Yoruichi and Inoue behind her.

"Not bad . . . but it looks like you've got something on your face," she chided as she gave a smile in return and pointed at the bit of armor that came up over his cheeks and nose. Her tone was only playfully mocking.

He gave her a confused look for a second before reaching up with his off-hand and patting at his face. He closed his eyes and frowned, shaking the hand for emphasis as he immediately retorted "I think maybe the badge had enough with certain people hitting me there." He sounded irritable but the warmth in his voice made it clear it was meant to be taken in kind.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem to protect your jaw," she countered, smirking a bit and raising an eyebrow.

He looked back at her with his own smirk before replying "I'm not too worried about it—it'd be a real problem for some concerned parties if that stopped working properly."

Rukia's expression became disapproving and haughty at that even though her eyes twinkled rather mischievously.

The three other teenagers present were by then studiously pretending not to hear their flirting.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes even as she looked a bit amused. He didn't even notice there was more than one way to potentially take what he'd said. That was mostly good—too much self-awareness was a bad thing.

"My, my—it's a real distraction to have to fix the wall when that kind of level of damage is done to it," Urahara said as he assessed the new expansion of the training room, lifting his fan to cover his mouth.

"Don't say that like you don't always get Tessai to handle it," Yoruichi rebuked, giving him a tiny glare.

"I'm a very busy businessman, you know," he said, looking to her as if in shock.

She crossed her arms and regarded him skeptically.

"We can hardly go eat if you look like that," the petite Shinigami asserted, deciding to ignore the shop's proprietors.

Ichigo gave her an insolent look before trying to loosen his grip on the sword, finding the outfit seemed to melt away. He pocketed the badge as a small, arrogant smile took hold of his mouth.

Rukia replied with an expression that communicated 'that'll do' before going to get her gigai back from Chappy. It was her intent that after dinner with his family they knock out as much of their homework as possible, if not all of it, so they'd be free from having to worry about it for the rest of the weekend.