A/N-I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 48

Getting Ready

Rukia's piercing scream reaches Ichigo and his father clear over at his house, and Ichigo dashes back over to Rukia's house and flies up the stairs. He doesn't realize that his father is following, because he's running a hell of a lot faster than his father.

When he finds Rukia and Tatsuki holding hands and staring in horror at the television, Ichigo isn't sure whether or not to be angry or concerned. Rukia lets go of Tatsuki's hand and flies into Ichigo's arms.

"He's escaped from prison!" Rukia shrieks into his chest.

"Fuck." Ichigo says angrily. No wonder she had such a tremendous reaction.

"I was afraid something like this might happen," Isshin's voice surprises Rukia and she pulls away from Ichigo to stare at his father.

"When did you get here?" Rukia asks him in surprise.

"We both heard you scream, Ichigo just made it in here a little bit quicker than me." Isshin tells her with a small grin.

"We have to call ni-sama." Rukia tells Ichigo quietly.

"You're right." Ichigo says even as he feels dread in his stomach.

They all know what Aizen's true obsession is, and now he's not being held behind bars. He's out in the world, free to hurt girls again.

"Rukia, why don't me, Renji, and Ichigo all spend the night here with you tonight, to help give you some peace of mind. It will be like a big slumber party," Tatsuki tells Rukia softly, who immediately nods her agreement.

"Now is a great time to be surrounded by trusted friends. Thanks for the offer Tatsuki, I gratefully accept." Rukia says, with her voice sounding rather panicked.

"Calm down, Rukia-chan. He's a wanted man, and once your brother learns about this, he'll probably have the bodyguards keeping a close eye on you too." Isshin tells Rukia, who hasn't exactly managed to calm down at all.

"Rukia, where is your phone?" Ichigo asks her softly, since he can tell she's about to have some sort of anxiety attack. He pulls her over to the bed and makes her sit down. "I'll call your brother." Ichigo says as he looks at her with a worried expression. Rukia points to her purse and Ichigo digs out her phone.

Tatsuki pulls out her own cell phone and calls Renji, who immediately agrees to join the slumber party at Rukia's house.

"Want to invite Inoue and Ishida, too?" Tatsuki asks Rukia, who immediately nods again.

"The more, the better," Rukia says softly.

"I've taught Inoue karate. She wouldn't be completely useless in a battle situation…unless she's drunk." Tatsuki says with a grin.

"And Ishida removes eyeballs. I'd say we make a pretty formidable group." Rukia says, finally smiling a little bit.

Ichigo walks out of the room to talk to her brother.

"We should have Sado and Michiru come over too, your room is certainly big enough to fit everyone." Tatsuki says with a grin. Rukia nods again.

"I would actually feel much better if everyone were around. I feel completely unsettled right now." Rukia admits, as this is a situation that is totally out of her control.

Who knows where Aizen is or when he'll come for her. Hinamori Momo had warned Rukia that he wouldn't stop until he was dead, and Rukia took that warning quite seriously.

Ichigo walks back in the room and gives her a look of amazement.

"Your brother is already on his way here. He says he has some things for us, and that the bodyguards will be back on full duty." Ichigo tells her with a strange look.

"Ichigo, call Sado and invite him and Michiru to the slumber party," Tatsuki tells Ichigo, who nods his head as he watches Rukia's face look very uncertain and extremely worried.

"You're going to have a huge party in your room tonight, I hope you know." Ichigo warns her. Rukia smiles nervously at him.

"As long as we exclude Keigo, Chizuru, and Noriko, it shouldn't get out of hand," Rukia tells him even as she shakes at the realization that Aizen is out of jail, roaming free, somewhere in Japan, right now.

Ichigo can tell she will feel better surrounded by friends, and so he goes out into the hallway to call Sado, who immediately agrees to come over, and he tells Ichigo that he'll talk to Michiru.

When Ichigo goes back into Rukia's room, she looks like she's calmed down a little bit, and he feels badly for her that everything seems to be crashing around them, and not in a good way.

"We should order pizza tonight!" Tatsuki says with a grin. "We should try to make it a real fun night so that you can forget your problems for a little while." Tatsuki says with a confident nod.

"You're right. I could be getting all worked up for nothing, he could be apprehended before he makes it anywhere near Karakura Town. Everybody knows what he looks like, after all." Rukia says optimistically, even though her gut instinct is telling her differently.

J J J J

Rukia and Ichigo stare openmouthed at the weapons Byakuya is presenting them in the privacy of the gym. Neither one can believe the extravagance of the weapons or the generosity of Byakuya.

Tatsuki had left Rukia's house earlier to go prepare her overnight bag, and Byakuya had called them to meet him at the gym.

Ichigo picks up the Tai Dao Saber. Something about this weapon just seems to call to him. Byakuya doesn't miss the appreciation in Ichigo's eyes as he admires the weapon either.

Rukia is absolutely in love with her fan. Both are happy to return Byakuya's own weapons back to him as they admire their own newly made weapons that seem to fit their own personalities better, even though they're the same exact weapon, they have a different look from Byakuya's weaponry. It seems like he took their personalities into account when he arranged to have them made.

"I'm going to be in town as much as possible, whenever I can be here to help keep an eye out for you." Byakuya tells Rukia, who smiles up at her brother.

"Thank you." Rukia says softly, with her eyes shining in happiness as she looks again at her own iron fan.

"I can't believe that piece of shit actually escaped. This is some bullshit." Ichigo finally snarls in anger.

His father had heard him really going off earlier, until they heard Rukia's scream. Ichigo had separated himself from her in order to keep her from seeing his true anger.

Byakuya sighs at Ichigo's choice of words, but it's not as if the kid doesn't have good reason to be stressed out and pissed off.

"Rukia, I want you to practice your defense with your new fan. Come here." Byakuya tells Rukia as he stands with the knives he'd lent to Rukia until her own could be completed. Ichigo watches as Byakuya tests Rukia's comfort with her new weapon, and Ichigo realizes that she really has become adept at using it.

She sure seems to learn things fast.

The more Ichigo thinks about Rukia, the more he believes she may actually be prodigy of some sort, perhaps even a genius too.

How many three year olds have the mind capacity to accomplish what she did when she was three when she escaped from her uncle?

His father used to tease Ichigo a lot for getting had by both Rukia and Tatsuki when he tried his karate moves, that is something that Ichigo has never been able to forget.

Even Byakuya looks impressed with Rukia's quick progress, and her ability to defend against his attacks.

I should thank him for preparing us. What in the hell will happen next?

J J J J

"What time is Sado coming over?" Rukia asks Ichigo suddenly as they finish eating dinner at his house.

"Everyone knows we eat here together, I'm sure none of them would be stupid enough to show up until well after eight." Ichigo tells her reassuringly.

A knock sounds at the door, and Karin rolls her eyes at her brother.

"Maybe someone was stupid enough to show up early." Karin tells him before she jumps to her feet to answer the door. Isshin stands too, since he isn't comfortable with his daughter answering the door alone under the current circumstances.

Isshin stays back out of sight as Karin opens the door, and when he sees a young boy, he heads back to his seat. He's sure Karin will get rid of him.

Karin's mouth drops open at the sight of Toushirou standing at her front door.

"Hello," Karin says nervously as the amazing aqua of his eyes hits her for the second time.

"Kurosaki Karin, right?" Toushirou asks her in a low tone. Karin nods her head yes, and finds that she's amazed she can hardly speak. Her heart feels like it's about to pop out of her chest. She opens and closes her mouth before she finally gains her voice.

"Yes, you remember me?" Karin asks in a near whisper of shock. He had seemed so unconcerned with her when she had been noticing him.

"I have to talk to Kuchiki Rukia." Toushirou tells her softly. Karin tries not to feel disappointed, and she nods. She motions for him to follow her into the kitchen.

Rukia and Ichigo both look in shock at Hinamori Momo's brother as he enters the room.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" Rukia says in a bit of surprise at seeing him there.

"Good evening." Toushirou says, and waits for her to ask the obvious.

"What are you doing here?" Rukia asks incredulously.

"I've come to ask your permission to allow me to help guard you until Aizen Sousuke is apprehended." Toushirou says, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen.

"What can you do that we can't?" Ichigo asks him curiously.

"The level of my Kung Fu cannot be ignored." Toushirou says calmly to the two of them. "I am happy to prove my skills."

"Why do you want to guard me?" Rukia asks him in a strange voice.

"It's not about you so much as it's about my sister. She wanted you to be protected, and I wasn't there for her when she was attacked. I also would like the opportunity to kill the man who tortured my sister to death." Toushirou says with a gleam in his eye.

Only Rukia has noticed the way Karin's eyes haven't left the white haired boy, and she decides to mess with Karin a bit, just for fun after all of her snide comments about her and Ichigo making out.

"Karin there, is a very skilled fighter. Karin, would you mind letting him show us with you, how good of a fighter he is?" Rukia asks sweetly.

Karin turns bright red at that request as she yanks her gaze off of Toushirou and stares at Rukia in horror. No she doesn't want to fight him! If she can kick his ass, her feelings will up and disappear in an instant!

"Since he wants to protect you from a grown man, shouldn't he be going against Ichi-ni?" Karin asks desperately. Rukia holds back a grin, and she lets out a loud and dramatic sigh.

"I suppose you're right. Ichigo, will you let him demonstrate his strength with you?" Rukia asks next. Ichigo nods.

"Except that we have plans with other people." Ichigo says to her, causing Rukia to sigh in memory. She looks at Toushirou.

"What did your parents say about this plan of yours?" She asks him curiously.

"They understood, even if they didn't like it very much." Toushirou tells her quietly.

"You're more than welcome to have one of the guest bedrooms on the first floor of my home. You're also welcome to join us at the gym in the morning when we all workout. I'm sure Karin won't mind giving you the tour of the gym." Rukia tells him with a smile. Toushirou nods his head in acceptance. "You can demonstrate your skills to us tomorrow in the dojo area." Rukia tells him softly. Rukia doesn't miss how Karin blushed.

"I'm going to ask Sado to stay for a couple of weeks in your other downstairs guest bedroom too, if you don't mind. You can't have slumber parties every night, but you can still be surrounded with capable people in case anything happens." Ichigo tells her softly. Rukia nods her head.

"Sado is more than welcome to stay in the other guest bedroom downstairs, he can have the one next to Hitsugaya-kun." Rukia says with a smile.

"Rukia-chan?" Yuzu suddenly tugs on her arm. Rukia smiles at her.

"Yes, Yuzu-chan?" Rukia asks her with a grin.

"May I bring a friend with me to swim in the pool when you work out tomorrow?" Yuzu asks hopefully. Rukia beams at her.

"Of course you can, Yuzu-chan, that's no problem at all." Rukia grins at Yuzu's big smile. Rukia notices that Toushirou looks far more relaxed since she didn't completely brush him off. Rukia looks back at Karin.

Good luck Karin.

"We're going to head over to my house now, thank you very much for the meal," Rukia says to Yuzu and Isshin. They both smile at her.

"It's always a pleasure when you eat with us, Rukia-chan." Isshin tells her with a smile.

Rukia and Ichigo both stand and everyone in the room watches in amazement when they both double over and clutch at their chests in an identical manner.

"Ichi-ni!" Karin says with concern.

"Rukia-chan!" Yuzu calls out next.

Ichigo and Rukia don't hear anything, because a fiery red hot and dangerous chill is sweeping through their bodies and burning them like static electricity. The feeling lasts for close to twenty seconds before they both straighten up and look at each other with very worried feelings.

"What in the hell was that?" Rukia asks Ichigo uncertainly. He shakes his head in confusion.

"I don't know." Ichigo tells her with a worried look in his eyes.

"Are you two okay?" Isshin asks with wide horrified eyes. He's never seen anything like that happen before.

"It was similar to that last time when I had that weird feeling, except this time it was a whole hell of a lot more ominous." Rukia says in a low voice to Ichigo who instantly agrees with her assessment.

"Whatever it was, it wasn't just bad, it was downright evil." Ichigo says with a visible shiver.

Toushirou looks quite astounded as he watches the two of them. He too had felt something, but not nearly on the level that the two of them had felt it. To him, it had felt like his entire body was tightening, though it hadn't been a feeling that was witnessed by others. If he hadn't been there to see them react like that, he isn't sure he would have believed it on just being told about it.

They're very in tune with the harmony of the world, at least that's what I think.

J J J J

"Your house is great, Kuchiki-san!" Michiru says with a shy smile.

"Thanks." Rukia tells her with a grin.

"I still can't believe that psycho escaped from prison." Renji says, as he shakes his head in disbelief. Rukia nods her head in agreement.

"Has anybody here been visited in their dreams by the former professor, or remember having dreams that mention him in a good light?" Ichigo asks everyone.

"I haven't had anything like that happen to me," Tatsuki says firmly.

"Me either," Renji says next.

"No." Sado says to Ichigo.

Everyone else shakes their head no as well. Ichigo glances at Rukia with a bit of relief.

"I think that's a very good thing." Ichigo says with relief.

"Until his capture, I'd like to propose that on all non-school nights we have a slumber party here." Rukia says suddenly, and with vigor. The moment she said it, she felt it to the core of her heart that it was the right decision, to have all of these strong people around her.

"I'm in!" Tatsuki says with a laugh.

"Me too," Renji says as he smiles at Tatsuki.

"I think that will be fun!" Inoue says with a smile.

"I'm game." Sado says, giving Ichigo a nod. He had already agreed to temporarily stay in the guest bedroom downstairs to help keep his best friend's future wife safe from harm. Sado knows Ichigo would do it for him.

"It looks like it's unanimous." Tatsuki tells Rukia with a smile.

"Thanks, everyone." Rukia says, smiling gratefully at all of their support and kindness.

"That bastard deserves to die." Ishida says with clenched fists. It had sickened him to learn what the former professor had been getting away with in regards to young women.

Everyone hears the doorbell ring and the whole party stampedes downstairs to get some pizza. Rukia calls Toushirou out from his guest bedroom to partake in pizza.

They had waited until later to order it since Rukia and Ichigo had eaten a fairly large but extremely delicious dinner at Ichigo's house earlier.

The night passes by with everyone laughing and having fun, and nothing terrible happens.

Rukia goes to bed way too late, but it's okay because she's surrounded by friends and she's in Ichigo's arms.

J J J J

Karin is surprised that her face feels very warm as she shows Toushirou around the gym. He's properly impressed with all of the equipment, and Karin feels a great excitement that for once he's actually focused on her as she shows him around. Her sister brought some red haired kid to the gym to swim in the pool, but Karin doesn't bother to pay attention to that now.

This is the first Sunday ever that Rukia's gymnastics coach doesn't come in. Apparently Byakuya had called him to cancel the practice due to the shock of Aizen's escape from prison.

Karin leads Toushirou over to the dojo, where her brother has yet to arrive. Toushirou is impressed by all of the equipment. He watches Karin as she walks over to the punching bag that is designed to look like an opponent, and lays a few kicks on it. He's surprised to see that she is fairly proficient at kicking at the weak points of the body.

She finally turns around and looks at him with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Are you really going to fight with my brother?" Karin asks him dubiously.

"To demonstrate my abilities to fight in order to have a chance to confront my sister's killer? Of course." Toushirou says without any hint of fear.

"Good luck. My brother's a difficult opponent," Karin warns him. She's awarded with a smile. It's the first time she's ever seen him smile and she can hardly believe how her heart flutters at the sight of it.

"Thanks for the warning." Toushirou says before he turns around and starts to stretch. Karin can only stare at his back, and remember the incredible way his smile seems to be frozen into her mind.

Ichigo and Rukia finally appear to be heading towards them and Karin gets even more nervous for Toushirou. She would just love to see the look on her brother's face if he actually loses this match.

To Karin, it seems to take forever for everything to get started since Ichigo and Toushirou both seem to want to spend awhile stretching.

When Rukia finally has them facing each other, prepared to start, Karin wonders if everyone can hear her heart pounding so loudly it's like a drum beat in her ears.

Toushirou shocks everyone, including Ichigo with his lightning fast moves, and his ability to evade hits. Ichigo only barely blocks the most damaging moves as Toushirou evades and circles around him.

It takes Ichigo over two minutes to finally knock Toushirou to his ass and out like a light, but the kid had definitely gotten more hits in, even if he didn't land the most damaging ones. Ichigo glances at Rukia as Karin rushes to Toushirou's side and falls to her knees.

"He's pretty damned good." Ichigo tells her softly. Rukia nods her head in agreement.

"I noticed. I won't tell him to leave, he is more than experienced enough to want to fight this battle." Rukia tells Ichigo with a nod.

Toushirou finally wakes up from getting knocked out, and the first thing that he sees is Karin looking at him with worry. She smiles though as his eyes fully open.

"You did really good." Karin whispers with a grin. Toushirou blinks.

"What in the hell happened?" He asks, even though his head is aching.

"You got knocked the fuck out!" Renji says, imitating one of his favorite American movies. Toushirou looks shocked as he sits up.

"Really? That's never happened to me before." He says wide eyed, before he looks back at Ichigo. "You're an amazing fighter," Toushirou tells him with his head bowed in respect.

"I wasn't half as good as you are now when I was your age," Ichigo informs him with a grin.

"It's decided, we gratefully accept you offer to help guard me." Rukia tells him with a smile. She notices that Karin looks ecstatic at this news.

"I'm glad." Toushirou says in a low voice.

"If you're sore, you should sit in the whirlpool. Karin, will you take him?" Rukia asks her with a grin. Karin nods her head. Ichigo watches as they walk away and he glances at Rukia.

"That kid is really good." Ichigo tells her in a low voice. Rukia smiles at him.

"I believe you," Rukia whispers with a smile. She had seen the shocked expression on Ichigo's face more than once at the way the kid moved with a speed that could make your head spin.

"He surprised me," Ichigo tells her before he leans in and kisses her quickly on the cheek.

"He surprised me too," Rukia admits with a small smile. She had been able to tell that Karin had been properly impressed with Toushirou's performance.

"He reminds me of you." Ichigo says with a strange look in his eyes. Rukia looks at him curiously.

"How so?" She asks as she watches his face closely.

"He seems like a prodigy, or a genius." Ichigo tells her with a sheepish grin. Rukia blushes.

"How did you find out?" Rukia asks him with wide eyes.

"Huh?" Ichigo asks her in confusion. Rukia gives him an extremely confused look back.

"I'm sure I never told you, that I'm a genius." Rukia whispers softly. Ichigo's eyes widen.

"You mean it's confirmed?" Ichigo asks her with a bit of shock. Rukia nods her head slowly.

"I was labeled a genius when I went to America. My IQ scores were off the charts." Rukia admits. "I've actually always been a little bit embarrassed about it, because if you say it out loud, people think you're lying. I was declared an immeasurable genius." Rukia whispers softly.

Ichigo thinks back, on how she handled her near abduction as a child, how she became such a proficient fighter and gymnast, on how she spoke and read English perfectly, on how she had quickly picked up using the weapons, and her statements that she was always at the top of her class.

"I'm not surprised." Ichigo says, even though he gives her an admiring look.

"I should get my IQ retested and see if I'm still told that now." Rukia says, even though she probably won't go to the trouble of all of that.

"I always knew you were something special. I've always felt that, in my gut." Ichigo tells her softly.

"I never told people about it, since it would just sound like I was boasting." Rukia admits softly.

"You don't have to worry about that, you've always shocked and amazed me with your endless talent." Ichigo whispers before he kisses her on the cheek.

"I'm glad it doesn't bother you." Rukia tells him with a relieved look on her face. Ichigo gives her a puzzled look.

"Why would it?" He asks her in confusion.

"A lot of guys would feel threatened by something like that, don't you think?" Rukia asks him softly. Ichigo considers it, and he realizes she's probably right. Most guys would feel intimidated by something like that.

"I'm not like them." Ichigo tells her softly, earning a smiling nod from Rukia. She looks up at him adoringly.

"I know." Rukia tells him softly, before she glances over at the whirlpool where Karin is sitting with Toushirou.

"Maybe Hitsugaya-kun and Karin-chan will become friends." Rukia tells Ichigo who also glances towards the whirlpool.

"I don't think they'll have too much trouble getting along." Ichigo says in agreement.

"I'm sure he could use a friend right now, he seemed kind of like a loner," Rukia tells Ichigo as she finds herself feeling sorry for Hinamori Momo's little brother.

"You're pretty observant." Ichigo says as he looks at his future wife with a lot of admiration on his face.

"Ichigo, what do you think will happen now? Do you think he'll come after us at one of our homes again?" Rukia asks Ichigo nervously.

"We have no way of knowing. I understand that you're worried, but all we can do is train and work harder to make sure we aren't taken down by him or anybody else he enlists to help him in his quest to come after you." Ichigo says softly.

"Will you spar with me? I want to spar with a man." Rukia tells him softly.

"I'd prefer for you to spar with Renji or Sado, actually." Ichigo says with a worried look in his eyes. "There's no way I could ever be a useful opponent against you." Ichigo whispers as he looks at her lovingly. Rukia understands, he could never throw a true punch in her direction.

"Sado!" Rukia calls Sado away from the weights. He sets down the weights on the rest provided on the bench and he sits up. He walks over and looks at Rukia questioningly.

"Sado. Rukia is feeling really unsettled about Aizen's escape and she'd like to spar with a guy. Will you help her out?" Ichigo asks his friend. Sado's eyes widen.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Sado says with an obviously worried gaze.

"I need to practice with a man. I'd prefer not to spar with Renji since he and I grew up learning the same style." Rukia tells Sado with an earnest look.

"What if I accidentally hurt you though?" Sado asks nervously.

"Just don't go at it with your full power. Even at half your strength, you're stronger than most men." Ichigo says logically.

"I don't want to hurt Kuchiki-san." Sado says a bit more firmly.

"I'd rather take a hit by you in practice than to be rusty when I confront Aizen." Rukia argues in a worried tone since it looks like Sado wants to turn her down.

"Don't underestimate her either," Ichigo tells Sado seriously. Sado sighs and looks back at Rukia.

"You won't hold me responsible if you accidentally get hurt?" Sado asks her quietly. Rukia nods her head.

"I promise." Rukia tells him, before Sado nods.

"Only if you wear protective gear." Sado concedes. Rukia smiles at him before she dashes for the storeroom that holds the pads.

"Thanks, Sado!" Rukia shouts happily as she runs off. Sado looks at Ichigo.

"This could be dangerous, you know." Sado tells him with a concerned look. Ichigo smiles at him.

"For you or for her?" Ichigo asks him seriously. Sado looks taken aback.

"For her." Sado says as though it should have been obvious. Ichigo shakes his head at his friend.

"I warned you not to underestimate her." Ichigo says in a serious tone. Sado slowly nods his head.

"If you say so…" Sado says in an unconvinced voice as Rukia comes tearing back with pads. They watch as she dons the pads and then looks at Sado expectantly.

"Are you ready?" Rukia asks him with a smile. Sado nods his head and follows her into the area of the dojo set up for sparring. Ichigo watches with his heart pounding, and Tatsuki notices from where she was working on the punching bags and she trots over to stand next to Ichigo.

"She's going to spar with Sado?" Tatsuki asks incredulously. Ichigo nods his head and wonders if it was a mistake to convince Sado to work with Rukia. He watches and listens as Rukia addresses Sado.

"I want to forewarn you that my martial arts style makes use of submissive moves. If at anytime you need me to stop what I'm doing, just tap on the floor or my body and Ichigo will call out that you tapped out." Rukia tells him in a quiet voice. Sado looks at her dubiously, but nods his head.

"Alright." He says, not really concerned at the information that she just gave to him.

"Ichigo, please keep an eye out for any tapping. Will you count out our start?" Rukia says, as she looks at Ichigo.

She always makes me do this, even though my heart is pounding with worry.

"Come on, Rukia!" Tatsuki says with a smile and a clap of her hands. Renji jogs over to stand next to Tatsuki.

"Rukia's going to spar with Sado?" Renji asks in amazement. Ichigo nods his head before he follows Rukia's instructions.

"Bow to your partner." Ichigo instructs them both, and they follow his direction, bowing to one another. "Alright, Ready…set…go!" Ichigo says and Sado waits for Rukia to come at him.

Rukia can tell he's as strong as steel as she looks at him, but that's what makes him such a great partner to spar with. She starts with Ichigo's special move, which Sado has seen before but hadn't expected her to open with it.

Rukia does a hand spring onto Sado's shoulders and throws him with her legs successfully and manages to land perfectly. Tatsuki gasps as she stares at Ichigo.

"You taught her your move!" Tatsuki says in shock. Ichigo smiles.

"I created it in her honor." Ichigo admits to his friend. Tatsuki glares at him.

"You never told me that! Wait a minute…" Tatsuki says as she realizes that Ichigo created this move for Rukia when his mom was still alive. She gives him a suspicious look, but his attention is on Rukia who after she managed to successfully throw Sado, has gotten him into a fierce chokehold. Sado can hardly believe it when he feels like he's going to pass out and he taps out as Rukia instructed him to do, and he sits back as he looks at her in amazement.

"I don't think there's any doubt that you're ready for a real fight." Sado says as he catches his breath and his red face starts returning to its normal color.

Rukia looks at Ichigo who nods in agreement.

"We're definitely ready." Ichigo says with a smile. Rukia nods.

We're waiting Aizen. You just try to come and get us!