AN: Sorry again for the delayed update.

Warnings:

1.) Plot Development- Seriously, there's a lot.

2.) Differences/Spoilers to Manga- see bottom AN.

3.) Fighting/Blood/Violence- seems like it's been a while right?


Chapter 53: Don't Let Go


(4th Division, 3rd Person POV)

Mizuki yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes having just woken up a ittle while ago she felt groggy and only half awake. Pushing her hair out of her face the Lieutenant couldn't help but wonder what Ichigo was doing in the Soul King Palace. Whatever it was the Lieutenant was positive it was more productive than what she was doing, she was getting impatient with just sitting around and waiting to get better while she knew Yhwach was getting stronger. Her green eyes narrowed at the thought of the Vandenreich leader, her hands clenching into fists as she recalled how easily he had beaten her during the last invasion.

However the sound of the door opening brought her out from her thoughts, for a moment she thought that it was a nurse. As she shifted her gaze up her green eyes covered by thick glasses filled with confusion as she looked up and didn't see a nurse before she smiled at who walked in. "Captain." Mizuki said as the white haired man walked in, closing the door softly behind him. "I wasn't expecting to see you." The blonde Lieutenant said in surprise that her Captain was standing in front of her.

Ukitake smiled softly at her, stepping over to her bedside but she could see behind his forced smile that he was exhausted as he sat on the end of the hospital bed. "Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't send any word that I was stopping by. How are you feeling Mizuki?" The white haired Captain told her, chuckling before his tone turned more serious at the end.

The blonde girl suddenly realized that it had been a long time since she had spoken to her uncle last and she thought back to when she saw him last when he was telling her to go off and help Kenpatchi. Lost in her thoughts for a moment, Mizuki realized that he was waiting for her response and she quickly shook her head. "It's not a big deal. I feel alright, thanks." She told him honestly.

A genuine smile lit up on Ukitake's face as he heard her say that she was fine and he felt a small weight lifted off of his heavy shoulders and it showed on his expression. "I'm glad to hear that!" Ukitake said with a laugh and a wide smile. "I had some free time once Kiyone and Sentaro showed up for the day and I wanted to see you before Unohana healed you, she told you about it right?" The white haired man asked.

Mizuki held back a frown at what he said and managed to smile a little. "Yeah, a nurse came in a little bit ago. She said that Unohana's going to heal the rest of my injuries at once and that after that I should be almost as good as new." The blonde girl explained calmly in an almost casual way.

Ukitake smiled widely. "I'm glad to hear it." The white haired man said and Mizuki noticed the bags under his eyes were worse than when she had seen him last. His cloths seemed a little more baggy than usual and Mizuki frowned at the sight, knowing that the stress of everything was starting to get to him and his health. "Mizuki?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he saw her in deep thought and a frown develop on her face.

With a sigh the blonde Lieutenant glanced up to her uncle's eyes that were nearly identical to her own and gave him a sympathetic look. "Uncle Joshiro, have you been taking care of yourself?" Mizuki asked seriously and noticed him hesitate and she could tell what his answer would be without him having to speak a word. "You're illness is bad enough as it is, the stress recently must not be helping. You have to take your medicine and eat, you have to let people take care of you uncle or your illness will get the best of you." Mizuki warned him seriously in a low voice but not from anger from sadness.

The white haired older man glanced down at his lap avoiding her gaze as he heard what she said, his smile disappearing. He knew that he had stopped taking care of himself and his health for some time now. Usually when he would stop worrying about himself Mizuki would always be there to make him take his medicine or make him rest or eat a meal. But since she had gone to the hospital Ukitake felt as thought he had forgotten about himself since he was so worried about the war and busy. With a sigh Ukitake frowned as he looked up to his neice. "I'm sorry Mizuki, I've just been so busy and stressed out I must have forgotten about it completely. Don't worry about me, as soon as the Vandenreich are gone then I'll be fine." He said in a confident voice.

Mizuki gave him an unconvinced, her mouth opening to add in that he'd have to live to see the Vandenreich lose before he'd be fine but she bit her tongue. No matter how possible it was Mizuki wouldn't think of the possibility that her uncle may die from his sickness or a Stern Ritter and pushed the thoughts of worry out of her mind. "I understand how badly the Division needs you now since I'm not here and because of the war but you still need to take care of yourself. You have to take care of yourself to take care of the Division." The blonde Lieutenant explained to him calmly.

He nodded. "You're right and I know that but..." The white haired older man trailed off and the Lieutenant raised an eyebrow at her Captain and waited for him to go on. Mizuki noticed how he clenched his hand in his lap into a fist as he let out a deep breath. "I just feel so responsable for all of this, I feel like it's my responsability to fix this. With my health good or not." Ukitake explained in a serious and low voice.

Raising an eyebrow at him the injured blonde woman gave him a confused look. "I don't understand, what do you mean?" Mizuki asked, surprised when he didn't respond to her for a few moments. Suddenly she realized he had to know something that she didn't and pressed on for him to continue, realizing how important this was. "Captain."

He hesitated before he sighed loudly and paused for a few moments, glancing away from his niece before he answered in a soft voice. "The Soul Society caused this." Mizuki's eyes widened at that before she looked at him confused as he still didn't look at her. "I've never told you about this and they never teach about it in the academy but there was a time when the Soul Society was threatened. Around the time when it was founded by Yamamoto, me Kyoraku and Unohana were some of the Captains when the Soul Society was attacked multiple times in a war."

Mizuki looked at him surprised, recalling how she had never learned about this in the academy when she had taken classes about the history of the Soul Society. "Attacked by who?" The Lieutenant asked quietly.

"Yhwach." Her green eyes narrowed at the mention of the Vandenreich leader as Ukitake went on, still not able to look her in the eyes. "He attacked the Soul Society to the point that the Royal Guard needed to step in when Yamamoto failed to kill him. The Royal Guard managed to seal him away temporarily but one was killed by Yhwach in the process. It's the reason why the Royal Guard sticks to protecting the Soul King and leave matters of the Soul Society to us, they lost one of their own and they don't plan on losing another."

The blonde woman's eyes softened as she saw how serious her uncle was but pressed on, needing to know what had happened since she could tell this was important. "Why would he attack the Soul Society? What would Yhwach gain by destroying the Soul Society back then?" Mizuki asked curiosly.

Ukitake glanced up at her seriously, finally making eye contact and she was surprised to see how he was so uncharacteristically tense. "Yhwach is the leader of the Quincy's, they haven't ever liked the fact that we've tried to tell them what to do with hollows. They wanted the Soul Society out of the way so they could handle all the hollows on their own." Mizuki nodded in understanding but gave him a confused look as he looked away from her again. "We haven't been any better though, there's also the fact that the Soul Society exterminated most of the Quincy's. We've done this all to ourselves."

Mizuki frowned and stifiling a wince as she moved a little suddenly she moved to sit next to her uncle and gave him a hug. "Uncle Joshiro, I know that no matter what you did you did it because it was orders and that's what you thought was best. You shouldn't beat yourself up for that. You're always going to be my uncle, there's not anything you could tell me that would make me think you deserve to be this guilty. You have to take care of yourself more." Mizuki told him comfortingly and Ukitake relaxed a little, placing his arms around her.

"Thank you Mizuki, I really appreciate it." The white haired Captain told her with a smile as they pulled away. Smiling wider he sighed as he saw how much time had passed since he left the Division. "Unfortunately I have to go back to work, I'm sure Kiyone and Sentaro need the help." Ukitake said and he watched Mizuki smile and nod to him.

"It's alright, I understand." Mizuki told him, shrugging her shoulders since she knew he wouldn't be able to stay long anyway. "It was good to see you Uncle Joshiro." She told him sincerely, glad for the normalcy of the moment and with a smile as he stood to his feet.

Ukitake smiled as he patted her head softly. "Feel better Mizuki and rest up for Unohana. I'll come by and see you when I can." He told her, waving to her as he took a step towards the door.

Mizuki smiled to him and waved back to him. "I'll see you later Captain." She said as Ukitake walked out after saying goodbye. However as he shut the door behind him and walked down the quiet hallways, his mind plagued with worries of war and his niece.


(Soul Palace, 3rd Person POV)

In the large dining room Ichigo sighed as he and Renji ate. "I still don't get how eating all of this is supposed to make us stronger." The orange haired man said with a sigh as he placed his chopsticks down.

Renji continued to eat his food not paying the substitute soul reaper any attention, only just finished with his wounds getting healed an hour or so ago. He had been healed by the hot springs a short time ago and appeared as good as new, although he had left without Rukia since she wasn't quite done being healed yet. "Quit complaining, we can't exactly train well if we're hungry or injured or anything." The red haired Lieutenant said with his mouth full, putting down his plate to pick up another. "Besides, we'll be able to train harder for a longer time if we eat and get ourselves healed."

Ichigo scoffed as Renji spoke to him with his mouth full. "Close your mouth when you're eating, your gross." Ichigo joked, piking up his chopsticks to start eating again when Renji and he started yelling and fought as soon as the insult had left his mouth.

However neither of them noticed in the midst of their loud yelling they didn't hear a pair of soft footsteps comming from a nearby hallway. "Hey guys!" Kirio yelled in a jolly voice as she stepped into the room, a large spoon over her shoulder.

Renji and Ichigo paused and looked over to the purple haired woman who was now slender and was well endowed much like Rangiku with a Captain's haori hanging over her shoulder. "Who the hell are you?" The two yelled out with blank faces, not even recognizing her at first.

Kirio's face palmed and she sighed, placing her hand on her forehead and began to explain to them her powers and such.

As the purple haired woman had explained her invention of the Gikon lasted over the meal they had, Kirio found herself finishing her story as she escorted them outside. "Thanks again, Kirio." Ichigo said as he took in what she said, satisfied enough with the questions he had already asked as he and Renji started to make their way to the next city and Royal Guard.

"Thanks, see you later." Renji called, lazily waving as he and Ichigo started to walk off but the sound of the purple haired woman's voice stopped them.

"Oh! Just one more thing!" The purple haired slender woman called out as the three of them made their way to the door to walk on to the next phase of their training. Kirio's slim face suddenly turned serious as she looked over to the three of them seriously once they turned to face her. "You three should be careful when going to the next Captain. Be careful, I don't know what he's planning at the next palace."

The three of them were a bit taken back by her sudden mood swing and unable to know what to say to that for a moment. Renji looked a little worried by the statement but noticed how Rukia and Ichigo weren't sure what to say and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, well thanks I guess." He said and Kirio smiled, her mood suddenly swinging back to normal.

"Alright, bye guys!" Kirio said as she took some dishes with her into the back to start cleaning up, Ichigo noticed her walk away before he could really ask her what she had meant but shrugged it off. As the three of them walked out the doors and made their way to the next area the orange haired man couldn't help but wonder what Mizuki was doing and if she was alright. The news Kirio told him hadn't really worried him more since he knew the soul society would have said if something happened but at the same time she really didn't tell him anything so he wasn't extremely confident. With a sigh Ichigo ran his fingers through his hair and attempted not to worry about it so much, telling himself that Unohana would make sure she was safe.


(4th Division 3rd Person POV)

Unohana was quiet as she strode down the silent hallways of the medical ward, a calm expression on her face as she walked down the dimmly lit hallway. As she got to a door the dark haired Captain paused momentarily before she turned towards it and turned the knob as she walked inside. As she stepped through the thresh hold she smiled as she saw the blonde haired Lieutenant sit up a bit in her hospital bed. "Hi Mizuki, how are you feeling?" Unohana asked in a quiet voice as she closed the door behind her and stepped inside of the room, walking over to Mizuki's bedside.

The blonde haired girl looked up at the Captain and shrugged. "I'm doing fine, a little better I guess." Mizuki said honestly as she held back a wince as she sat up a little bit.

Unohana nodded, placing her hand on the younger girl's forehead and checked her temperature. "I send a nurse in here earlier, she told you that I was going to be doing a procedure right?" The dark haired woman asked for confirmation.

Mizuki nodded. "Yeah she was pretty vague though. She didn't really tell me what was going on though, what's up?" The blonde girl asked curiously.

The dark haired woman checked Mizuki's pulse as she explained to her what was happening. "Well since you've done well recovering on your own so far your body is stable enough for me to heal the rest of your injuries at once with my zanpakuto. However I will have to put you unconscious for a little while while I heal you." Unohana explained in a casual voice.

After a few moments the Lieutenant nodded as she took in what Unohana told her but to be honest she found her thoughts miles away. Mizuki had been worried about Ichigo and her friends in the Soul Palace ever since they had left and she found herself unable to tear her thoughts away from Yhwach and the Vandenreich. "Alright, thanks Unohana I appreciate you comming down here to help me." Mizuki said.

Unohana nodded as she smiled softly down at the young Lieutenant. "Don't mention it Mizuki." The dark haired woman said as she dug into a nearby medicine cabinet and got a few pills to help the blonde girl sleep. As the dark haired woman turned back to the bed she paused from giving the girl the pills once she heard the blonde girl speak.

"Unohana?" Mizuki asked curiously and the dark haired woman looked down at her.

The Captain was slightly taken aback when she saw how Mizuki was looking off to the side in thought, an almost serious look on her face. "Yes? What's wrong?" Unohana asked curiously, wondering what had gotten Mizuki so worried.

The blonde haired girl looked up at the Captain after a moment. "Nothing, I was just wondering if you heard anything about Ichigo, Renji and Rukia yet." Mizuki said in a calm voice.

Unohana suddenly understood what had gotten Mizuki lost in her thoughts and placed her hand against the younger girl's shoulder softly. "I'm sorry Mizuki but I haven't but you shouldn't worry so much, I'm sure that they're fine." The dark haired woman said in a comforting voice.

After a moment the blonde Lieutenant smiled as she nodded. "Thanks, Captain." The light haired girl said as she pushed away her worries about Ichigo and her friends.

The dark haired Captain smiled as she nodded. "Of course. Here, take these." Unohana explained softly as she handed the two pills to Mizuki with a glass of water. With a short nod Mizuki took the glass and pills as she swallowed the pills with a sip of water. The dark haired woman placed the glass on the nightstand as she took it from the blonde girl as she softly spoke. "Now you're going to feel tired, the pills are pretty strong so just go to sleep and once I'm sure you're asleep I'll start to heal you. Don't worry, you won't feel a thing." Unohana reassured her.

Mizuki nodded, feeling her eyelids start to feel heavy and her mind foggy as she heard the Captain go on but her words were soft and blurred together in the blonde Lieutenant's eyes fell closed. As Unohana watched the younger girl's eyes close without her control the dark haired woman waved her hand over Mizuki's face as she carefully watched for any reaction. As she recieved no reaction Unohana took a deep breathe as she reached to her side and retrieved her zanpakuto as she drew her sword.


(Soul Palace, 3rd Person POV)

Ichigo looked at the two zanpakuto in his hands with confusion, staring at them both and noticing how one was shorter and wider while the other was more slender. Looking to the Royal Guard he noticed a scantily clothed woman tell him something as Ichigo turned to face him. Oetsu looked on and smirked in amusement with Ichigo's confusion but as he felt a tap on his shoulder he looked behind him to see one of his bodyguards.

Looking on in curiosity Ichigo noticed the Royal Guard nod to his body guard before smiling over at him from behind his sunglasses. "Well kid, looks like you're going to be busy while your here." The dark haired former Captain said with a sigh.

Raising an eyebrow Renji and Ichigo looked on confused. "What are you talking about?" The substitute soul reaper asked in confusion, lowering his newly formed swords to his side.

Oetsu smiled at his question. "I was just told that the Spirit King's asked to talk to you. And if I were you I wouldn't keep him waiting, the King isn't known to ask people to see him often."

Renji's eyes widened at what he said and his brown eyes looked over to the orange haired man standing a few feet away from him. He wondered why the Spirit King wanted to talk to Ichigo and he could tell that Ichigo was wondering the same thing. Glancing down at his newly aquired swords he gave Oetsu a confused look. "What about my zanpakuto?" Ichigo asked curiously.

Oetsu chuckled and waved his hand to Ichigo. "Don't worry about it, you'll have plenty of time to train when you get back. Besides you probably need a break after fighting the Asauchi anyway." He said in a casual way.

Ichigo glanced at him confused still but shrugged. "Alright, where do I have to go?" The substitute soul reaper asked.

"Mera!" Oetsu called out in a sing song way and the red haired spirit stepped forward and the dark skinned older man smiled to her. "Would you show Ichigo to the Soul King?" The dark haired man said.

With a nod the quiet girl glanced over to Ichigo. "Follow me." She said in a monotone and started to walk off and Ichigo quickly sheathed his swords as he followed after her.


(Soul Palace 3rd Person POV)

Walking down a hallway Ichigo felt a bit awkward since Mera didn't talk at all on the way as he followed her. It was empty in the halls he noticed but not an eerie quiet actually it was quite peaceful. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the red haired girl stop walking and he stopped short as she turned to face him, he noticed a large pair of double doors in front of them at the end of the hall. Waving her hand to gesture to a pair of double doors, Mera looked over at him in a bored fashion. "We're here. I'll wait to show you the way back." The red head finally spoke.

Ichigo nodded. "Alright, thanks." He said, following the direction that the zanpakuto spirit gestured to Ichigo almost hesitantly walked to where she was telling him to go. As he stepped up to a pair of double doors the substitute soul reaper glanced them up and down before he took a deep breathe and placed his hand on the knob in front of him.

Pushing the double doors open Ichigo walked in and glanced around the large room in curiosity, noticing how there was a strange reitsu about the room. Looking forward the orange haired man paused as he saw a man standing in the middle of the room.

The man with slicked back black hair turned to face the substitute soul reaper and Ichigo paused as he saw the man look over at him and smile softly. "Ichigo Kurosaki, it's nice to finally meet you." He said in a soft-spoken voice.

Ichigo looked over at him slightly confused as to how he knew his name before he glanced up calmly to the older looking man. "You...You're the Soul King aren't you?" He asked him curiously.

The dark haired man nodded. "I am." The Soul King confirmed as he gestured the substitute soul reaper closer. "I'm sorry to call you away from your training with Oetsu but I had a few things that I wanted to talk to you about." He told Ichigo and the subsitute soul reaper stepped up, skipping the single step as he stood on the slightly raised ground the Soul King stood on.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, wondering what the Soul King could possibly have to talk to him about as he stepped up to the man with odd eyes.

With a sigh the Soul King frowned a little. "Forgive me Kurosaki, I know that you've done so much for the Soul Society already. However, the Soul Society needs your help again."

"You mean Yhwach and the Vandenreich don't you?" Ichigo asked seriously.

Nodding the Soul King went on. "That's right. I'm sorry to ask so much from you but you are one of the only ones who can seal Yhwach away for good."

The orange haired substitute soul reaper nodded confidently. "I was planning on it anyway, don't mention it." Ichigo explained calmly with a shrug.

The Soul King smiled at that and nodded. "Of course, I understand. Thank you, I appreciate it greatly." He said and Ichigo nodded before the dark haired man went on. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, please feel free to ask them." The Soul King told him and Ichigo thought for a moment, glancing off to the side for a few seconds.

Looking back up to the dark haired man Ichigo looked up at him seriously. "Do you know how I can beat Yhwach?" He asked.

The Soul King looked at him mildly surprised before he smiled softly. "It sounds like your saying you want to stop him on your own." The dark haired man said.

Raising his eyebrow at the older man Ichigo wondered what he was getting at. "Yeah, the last time Yhwach came here he ended up hurting a lot of my friends when he fought them. I'm not going to let it happen again." The orange haired man said adamently in a strong voice.

The older man chuckled and Ichigo glanced up at him. "I'm sorry but, that just doesn't make much sense. I can't understand why you would try to defeat him on your own." He said, ignoring the confused look on Ichigo's face at the statement as the orange haired man wondered who the Soul King thought could possibly help him so much.


(Mizuki's Inner World, Mizuki's POV)

Slowly my consciousness started to come back to me and I managed to slowly blink open my eyes, for a moment expecting to be waking up at the fourth Division as before. However when I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything and I couldn't hear any voices of nurses or doctors. Pushing myself up from what I believed was the floor I held my hand in front of my face and I raised an eyebrow when I realized I couldn't even see the outline of my hand in the dark. For only about a moment I was worried that maybe I had been captured and in a prison in the Vandenreich headquarters but then I realized I didn't feel any spiritual pressures from Quincy's. However I did feel a strange reitsu close by and it wasn't exactly a soul reapers but then something clicked in my mind and I immediately recognized the spiritual pressure. "Garasu?" I asked, wondering why she was being quiet as I realized I was in my zanpakuto's world and I managed to get to my feet despite not being able to see.

"Decided to show up finally, huh four-eyes?" I heard her reply in her usual joking way but her voice had an edge of seriousness I could hear. Turning around, still not being able to see I turned to where I heard her voice and noticed that it was actually kind of far away.

"I guess so, I don't know how I got here." I told her honestly and tried to look around for any source of light and found none. "Why is it so dark here?"

I heard her sigh as her footsteps approached me. "Because we're separated, you're weak so I'm weak and I hate it." Garasu told me in a slightly annoyed voice and I took a step back.

"I am not weak, after Unohana's done healing me I'd be happy to go back to my Division and get this war over with." I told her in a strong voice but she scoffed.

"You can try to lie to yourself or to deny it but I know the truth and so do you deep down, you're weak and you have to get better." Garasu told me in a serious voice and I narrowed my eyes at the direction I felt her reitsu coming from.

Opening my mouth to try to tell her something I felt her reitsu suddenly appear right next to me and I jumped away to avoid getting hit with the sword that I heard crash into the ground a moment later. Landing on my feet I felt her spiritual pressure right next to me and I managed to dodge the swing of her sword, I wondered if she was just not using the other sword or if she didn't have it. Throwing my fist towards her I felt her disappear from where she was standing and I fell to the floor and immediately rolled to the side to just manage to dodge her sword from cutting me. Now I knew that she had only one of the swords, if she had the second one she would have used it by now since Garasu seemed serious. "Come on Mizuki, you've got to find your sword or else I'm just going to hack you to pieces." She said in a dry joking voice as she pulled back her sword to try to cut me again but I jumped back and managed to get to my feet.

Managing to dodge a few of her attacks I closed my mind and tried to keep a bigger distance between us as I tried to search for my other zanpakuto through reitsu. Jumping back I just barely dodged getting cut from her sword that tried to kill me with each swing, I clenched my jaw in annoyance as I tried to find even a spec of reitsu around. I froze and smirked when I felt the familiar reitsu that came from my zanpakuto but I was pushed to the ground as I tried to dodge a swing of Garasu's sword. When I heard her sigh and raise the sword above her head I held out my hand, smirking still. "Shatter everything Garasu!" I said and I could feel her tense and pause as the sword shattered from the other side of the room and reformed in my hands to block her sword.

Pushing her back my sword both of our blades clashed together powerfully creating sparks so that they could see for a moment and I could see the dark haired zanpakuto spirit narrowing her red eyes as she tried to block the blows from my sword. I put more force into my swings but she seemed to get over her surprise that I found my sword and pushed against my sword hard enough to push me back. Managing to keep my balance I blocked her sword with mine and took a step back and I heard her raise her voice at me. "You idiot, do you really think you're strong enough?" Garasu yelled at me and I knew she was trying to get me riled up to fight against her more, our swords clashed together and I struggled to not get pushed back by her. "How long are you going to depend on some substitute soul reaper to save you? How many times are you going to get knocked down before you get back up again?" The dark haired girl yelled at me in an attempt to get me riled up and I heard her sword shoot up to the air and about to swing down at me.

Jumping back I dodged her attack by mere inches as I stumbled back but I wasn't able to keep my footing and I fell to the ground. Looking up I could feel my zanpakuto spirit's reitsu get more potent and I could tell she was walking over to me as I quickly got to my feet. "You're trying to make this all about me huh? Don't act like you don't have any explaining to do. You know what Yhwach said about the true power of my zanpakuto, what the hell was he talking about Garasu?" I demanded as I lunged forward and swung my zanpakuto towards her.

I could tell she was hesitating because she didn't immediately push back against my sword and I raised an eyebrow in the direction I felt her reitsu in as my sword pushed against hers. I heard her stumble back a few feet as she jumped back away from the swing of my sword and I heard her sigh in the pitch black darkness. "I haven't been completely honest with you I'm sorry four eyes." I heard Garasu tell me and a confused look made it's way to my face as I managed to raise my sword just in time to block her attack that caught me off guard.

With a flash step I managed to dodge another swing of her sword as I held back another once my feet touched the ground again. "Sorry? That's all you're going to say? You know everything about me Garasu, I can't believe you wouldn't tell me something so important! I trusted you, the least I deserve is an explanation." I told her with an angered edge to my voice as my sword collided with hers.

"You're not going to like what you hear, four eyes." She said almost jokingly as I pushed against her sword more to show her I meant buisness as my sword collided with hers again. Sparks flew off of our blades when they clashed and for a moment there was enough light for us to see each other. Narrowing my eyes up at her red ones I noticed the dark haired girl smirk before the sparks faded away. "I'm sorry alright? I know I messed up and I know you're looking for an explanation." Garasu told me, her voice turning more serious by the end once she noticed how mad I was.

Grasping the hilt of my sword tighter I jumped back a few feet to dodge another of her attacks. "I wanted to wait until you knew a little more and I figured now is a great time to do it after what Ukitake told you. You know how Yamamoto fought Yhwach a thousand years ago, but Yamamoto didn't tell you how the Royal Guard handled the situation. Back then I was a soul reaper, a Royal guard myself. Understand that I was the one who first made face-to-face contact with a zanpakuto spirit and discovered the first techniques of communications between soul reapers and zanpakuto spirits." I heard her tell me and my eyes widened as I lowered my sword to my side as I listened to her, noticing the almost sad tinge to her voice as she went on.

"When I was part of the Royal Guard I was more or less the Soul Kings right hand man and usually I had the task of protecting him from harm. However when Yhwach attacked Yamamoto he was trying to find a way to kill the Soul King as well. Me and the rest of the Royal Guard went to the Soul Society to seal Yhwach away but when Yhwach started to talk bad about the Soul King I couldn't stand it, the King was a close friend of mine and I lost my temper." I looked over at her direction with a sad glance, feeling bad for her when I heard the upset edge to her voice. "Yhwach killed me before the Royal Guard and myself could finish sealing him away. I don't know how but somehow I ended up becoming a zanpakuto spirit when I died, probably because I hated Yhwach and I wanted to make him pay."

I took a step closer to her and frowned as I lowered my head and lowered my eyes to the ground in front of me, wondering how I hadn't heard of this before and why she hadn't told me about this. For some reason I felt like I had let her down, she had always helped me before when I was becoming a soul reaper and when Aizen was after me but I had never even known about her past let alone how to help her. "I'm sorry Garasu-." I tried to apologize for making her tell me when it obviously hurt her so much when she cut me off.

"I don't want your pity Mizuki, I'm not finished either." The dark haired zanpakuto spirit told me and I glanced up in confusion. "I don't know how but I guess because I hated Yhwach so much I kept on jumping from sword to sword and partner to partner with the same name and zanpakuto abilities. I was never sure if the story of the Sealed King regaining his heart, intellegence and power was true until recently. I felt a shift in reitsu when he regained his intellegence when you helped him gain it back." Her serious voice explained to me and my eyes widened.

"What are you talking about? I've never met Yhwach before this damn war started." I told her adamently and heard Garasu sigh at what I said.

"So you really don't remember do you? You healed him and unknowingly you must have said something wrong to make him regain his intellegence that was lost." She explained to me as I heard her feet step closer to me and I tensed and grasped my sword tighter in my hand at the sound as I felt her reitsu approach me. "That still doesn't change the fact you haven't beaten me yet, four-eyes."

With that I felt her reitsu in front of me and my sword rushed out to try to block hers when I felt her sword impale through my side. Stifling a sound of pain I pushed her away with a swing of my sword as I narrowed my eyes at her and stumbled back. I heard her feet touch the ground before she ran towards me and I stood my ground, focusing on her reitsu as I used a flash step to avoid her attack.

The sound of my sword cutting through her stomach echoed through the silent room and I felt her freeze at the action before I heard the sword in her hand fall the floor as it slipped through her weak fingers. I had taken the opening to cut her when she was distracted but I still felt a bit guilty, not wanting to hurt her zanpakuto spirit. However after a moment of us standing there the clouds shifted in the sky that were obscuring the moon and light started to peek through the clouds little by little. Through the opening in the roof the moonlight spilled into the room filled with a maze of mirrors, the light bouncing off the glass and illuminating the room in soft pale light.

Looking up to Garasu I saw the dark haired girl smirk, placing her hand over mine that still held the hilt of my sword that was still impaled in her stomach. Her red eyes blinked open and smiled to me and I looked at her a bit confused. "About damn time four-eyes, I knew you could do it." She looked up at me with a fake smile that faded as the pale light blue light from the moon illuminated the area and shined over our faces. "I...when I first met you when I became your zanpakuto I knew you were different, stronger than the rest so I shared my power with you because I knew you'd be able to defeat Yhwach. But..." My eyes softened as she looked up at me and smiled a rare true smile as she looked up at me, her hand over mine tighting as her hand gripped mine. "I've let myself get a lot closer to you than I ever thought I would, I've never been as close to any soul reaper as I am with you. You're not just the strong kid I thought you were, you're my partner but you're my friend too. We're closer than any other zanpakuto and soul reaper and you're emotions influence mine and I can't find any more hatred inside me for Quincy's after I've seen how nice you are to them. I know I can rest in peace finally after I just finally finish what I've started with your help."

I looked down at her sadly almost and opened my mouth to promise her to help her finally pass on and stop being a zanpakuto spirit for forever when she smiled wider up at me. "Now all you've gotta do is find me and take back your zanpakuto then we can finally be stronger and we can finallly finish this. Do it fast, Mizuki." Raising my head I looked up at her smile.

My zanpakuto spirit only ever smiled a fake mocking smile, to see her true smile tugged at my heart as I heard her ask for my help. After all the times she had helped me with Aizen and the Vandenreich I knew it was the least I could do in return. "Garasu, I promise..." When her blood red eyes met my green ones after a moment I smiled up at her to agree helping her trailing off momentarily, my eyes blinking closed for a moment before I could respond.


(4th Division, 3rd Person POV)

Unohana was putting her zanpakuto when she glanced down at the unconscious blonde Lieutenant. The dark haired Captain sat down on the edge of the bed and placed her hand on Mizuki's shoulder softly and gently shook her. "Mizuki? Mizuki?" Unohana said and then repeated herself a bit louder and she was glad to notice how the blonde girl's eyes twitched behind her glasses before slowly opening. The older woman smiled down at the girl as she rubbed her green eyes. "Welcome back." She said in a soft spoken voice as Mizuki looked up at her.

"Hi Captain." Mizuki said in a tired voice, sitting up on reflex but she was surprised not to feel any pain to her surprise. The blonde girl was surprised as she remembered how the small movement like that had hurt her a few days ago and how it should have hurt her. Looking back up at the dark haired woman the blonde Lieutenant saw her smile down at her softly at her shocked expression. "How long was I out?" She asked, noticing how the darker lights of the sunset were pouring into the room.

"Only a few hours, not any longer than expected." Unohana said in a calm reassuring way and smiled down at her. "The procedure went exactly as it should have. Your injuries are mostly healed and any pain you feel now should go away soon. How do you feel?"

Mizuki glanced down at herself and clenched her hands before letting her hand relax before she looked up at the dark haired older Captain. Unohana was happy as she saw the blonde girl smiled up at her. "Actually, I feel better. Thank you Unohana, I really appreciate everything you've done for me."

The dark haired Captain smiled at what she said as she stood to her feet quietly. "Thanking me won't make me let you out of the hospital any sooner Mizuki. You need to stay here for maybe another few days just to make sure that everything is okay with your wounds and that they heal up correctly."

The Lieutenant smiled at Unohana and shook her head. "No, I wasn't saying that to get out of here quicker." Unohana looked back at the blonde girl who smiled up at her, confused since she had always known Mizuki to be impatient with staying in the hospital. "I'm really thankful to you Unohana, you've really helped me while

With a smile Unohana chuckled at what she said. "There's no need to thank me, I'll heal you whenever you need it Mizuki." The dark haired Captain said.

"Captain?" Mizuki's voice stopped Unohana when she turned towards the door and the dark haired Captain glanced over her shoulder to the Lieutenant who looked up at her somewhat hopefully. "Did you hear anything about Ichigo, Renji or Rukia?" She asked.

Unohana frowned a little as she shook her head. "I'm sorry Mizuki, I'll tell you the moment I hear anything. You should get some rest, you need it." She said and the blonde Lieutenant nodded as she lied back in the hospital bed as the Captain walked out.


(Heuco Mondo, 3rd Person POV)

The dark haired Quincy let out a slightly annoyed sigh as he sat in Aizen's former throne room that was now the main room for his organization where all the hallways intercepted. He was waiting for one of his subordinates to return to him to report to him about the soul society which was becoming a great thorn in his side since it refused to give up despite being on its last leg. When Yhwach heard footsteps approaching he glanced over and saw the subordinate he was waiting for, scoffing as he saw him before glancing away. "Do you have the information I was asking for?" The dark haired older man asked coldly.

The subordinate nodded as they bowed before approaching. "Yes your majesty, I've managed to gather some information on the special war powers as you asked." He reported in a calm voice as he took another step towards the Vandenreich leader before he stopped walking. "Would you like me to start with any particular one?" He asked.

Yhwach thought for a moment before glancing over to the subordinate. "Tell me about Ichigo Kurosaki." He stated after a moment and the subordinate nodded.

"None of the Stern Ritter have felt his reitsu in the soul society or human world yet so I've been told he must be in the Soul Palace." The subordinate explained and watched as the dark haired man slowly nodded as he thought about the information. "However there are traces of Kenpachi Zaraki's reitsu in the soul society still, we believe he's still injured though."

The dark haired man nodded as he processed the information, pondering over it for a moment. "And what about Aizen?" Yhwach asked.

"Forgive me, I almost forgot about him. He's still attempting to control the zanpakuto but he's not making much progress." The subordinate explained.

Yhwach nodded in an almost bored fashion. "I figured as much, without the Hogyuko I'm not sure how he expects to release her shikai let alone her bankai. It's no matter though, if he fails I'll find out a way on my own." The dark haired man said but when he thought about Mizuki's swords he couldn't help but find his interest peeked as he thought to himself for a few moments. He realized he had been so focused on her swords that he hadn't really given Mizuki herself a thought in quite some time. He recalled how Ichigo seemed so sure that she was alive despite all of the evidence proved otherwise, he wondered if he would really leave her in the soul society alone if she was alive.

But still he couldn't see how she was alive, his better judgment told him that she had to be dead but despite that he glanced over to the subordinate. "And Mizuki Yasuko? Have you gathered any information about her?"

The subordinate frowned and shook his head. "My apologies your Majesty but we can neither confirm nor deny her death at the moment."

After a moment Yhwach nodded and the dark haired man glanced out the window on the far side of the room to the landscape outside. "I see. That's all, you're dismissed." The dark haired man said coldly and the subordinate nodded before they quickly made their way out of the room.


AN: So as for spoilers, there was Kirio's city scene and of course Ichigo's new Zanpakuto. However Garasu's backstory will develop a little bit more over the next few chapters along with everything else, I hope it wasn't too far fetched to believe and I thought my explanation about her developing communications with Zanpakuto spirits and soul reapers was enough for it to be believable for you, I really spent a lot of time figuring out how to add her backstory in and I hope you like it.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think!

Chapter 54 Preview:

"I'm sure everyone is fine back home. Relax for once strawberry." Rukia told him as she leaned back against the wall and smiled as she felt the warm water healing her wounds from her training earlier with Ichibei after she regained consciousness.

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the nickname. "Whatever Rukia, I don't know how you guys are so relaxed when the Vandenreich could be invading the soul society." The orange haired man said with a scowl and a scoff.

Rukia and Renji looked over at each other and exchanged a knowing look as they smirked at each other. However Ichigo crossed his arms behind his head as he leaned his head back and allowed the hot springs to heal his wounds.