A/N: I honestly don't know if ya'll will be still interested in reading this story. I mean it's been over two and half years since it has been updated. I promise you this story is NOT abandoned, even if the updates are somewhat sporadic. I'm so sorry for the delay and hope this chapter is well received.

Thank you to everyone who read and left reviews or followed this story in my hiatus. You're the reason why I felt the need to pick this fic back up again, and try to do right by it. A special thanks goes to… meagsnicole, Miki-mouse716, megane4eyes, Knox, and Panda Mood!

The Red Tie That Binds

by Sands

Chapter 13 – Unfinished Business

The whole of Gotei 13 was in full on preparation for the final showdown. It was supposed to go down in the winter but Aizen moved up the timeline considerably when he orchestrated the kidnapping of Orihime Inoue.

Fortunately, the Head Captain and Kisuke, along with Captain Kurotsuchi's Squad 12 were ready to take on Aizen and his Espada army. Well, as ready as one could be.

They all had different orders; some were set to depart to Hueco Mondo to assist Ichigo and the rest were to head to the World of the Living to battle it out. Yoshina was a part of the latter.

It was in the process of taking leave that Yoshina's gaze landed upon Byakuya. Captain Kuchiki, she reminded herself. Yet, despite the bitterness she was desperate to hold on to if only to stave off the hurt of his rejection, she worried for him. She knew he was headed to Hueco Mondo along with Captains Zaraki, Unohana, and Kurotsuchi.

She knew there was a chance that she might not make it back. She was torn about having to depart on such terrible terms but she had no choice. She didn't know how to talk to him when he didn't even want to look at her.

She expected him to look away, but his gaze lingered. She thought she could see concern in his eyes, but she imagined it was just wishful thinking on her part. His eyes were as unreadable as they were a couple of days ago, and just as unforgiving.

Which is why it took her completely by surprise when he crossed the distance between them to stand before her.

For a moment, they both stared at one another. Yoshina was at a loss as to what she would say.

He didn't have such qualms. "Did you receive your orders?"

Such a pragmatic question, as typical of him. Yet at the same time, they both knew the question was unnecessary. "I did," she said nonetheless, biting back the obviously.

The only reaction on his face was a brief tightening of his lips. She didn't know how to read that. Maybe he thought she wasn't ready for this. Maybe he was wondering what a mere fourth seat with an unmanageable zanpaktou had to offer in the biggest battle the Gotei 13 has ever faced. Maybe he was right to think that.

"Now is really not the time to doubt yourself," her Zanpaktou sternly admonished her.

Ever since the time she used her powers in the World of the Living, Inazuma had absolutely no reservations about offering her opinion on anything and everything. Regardless of whether it was needed or not. Years of silence to constant chattering was a hard adjustment to make.

She heard her Zanpaktou huff in indignation. "Just because you're all torn up over your little Bya-kun, don't take it out on me, kiddo."

"We will talk about what happened after we get back." Byakuya's words snapped her out of her inner conversation.

She stared at him for a moment, confusion furrowing her brows. Then it dawned. He meant to talk about the kiss. And Yoshina could not think of that kiss without remembering the bone crushing rejection that followed it, let alone talk about it.

"I thought there wasn't anything left to talk about," she said. Flippancy was a go-to defense mechanism after all.

His eyes closed, and he inhaled sharply. It was the only sign to convey in anyway that she had actually angered him. It was quite a contrast to his gritting teeth and bursting reiatsu back in the day when they were kids.

She realized was getting better at reading this Byakuya too. Sure, his eyes were an unreadable fortress of gray and his face barely showed any emotion at all. But if she was actually observant…it was all there in the way he breathed, a glance, and perhaps even his silence. His reactions were so subtle that one would be misled to think he felt nothing at all. But she knew he felt things. One moment in lapse of control and she had seen just how much he felt, though he was quite adept at keeping everything contained beneath the surface.

"Don't test me, Yoshi," he said evenly, his gaze bearing into hers. Then with those parting words, he turned and walked away.

Yoshi.

He called her Yoshi.

She didn't want to read too much into it. He was probably not even aware that he had called her that at all. Yet she could not help but wonder that maybe there was some hope for them after all. Maybe they'd never be what they once were. At this point, she'd give anything to at least salvage their friendship if nothing else. This constant animosity was getting too painful to bear.

"Byakuya," she called out to him. He did not turn around but halted in his steps, waiting for her. "Please don't die."

With a hum of assent and a barely perceptible nod, he shunpoed away.

It is as they say. Everything that can go wrong did go wrong in every possible way. The Espadas were more powerful than they imagined. Though the Captains held their own, the rest of the Gotei 13 took quite the beating.

Inside the protective Kido barrier, Yoshina knelt over a barely conscious Rangiku and did her best to heal with whatever reiatsu she could summon.

She tried to ignore the battle outside of the barrier and focus on what she was doing. As concentrated as she was, half her mind was on Fierro Endocruz. The Arrancar had been a fraccion belonging to the Espada Barragan.

Somehow, she knew he was looking for her. Now that he knew who she was and the history they shared thanks to Aizen, she knew he would not give up trying to fight with her.

As much as she wanted to deny it, it was her fight, whether she liked it or not. One she had to win, whether she felt ready or not.

"But you are ready, Yoshi. We have trained together for a while now, and your Captain Ukitake has helped quite a bit too," Inazuma reminded her. "We are finally in sync. We can fight. We can win. Don't you trust me?"

Yoshina sighed. This time it was not about trust.

It's not as simple as that, Inazuma. She tried to explain to her zanpaktou. Every time I even get a sense of his reiatsu, I can't bring myself to raise my sword against him. It's my fault. You can't begin to understand…

"Don't give me that, Yoshi," Inazuma admonished. "I was there too, remember?"

A FEW DECADES AGO

It was supposed to be just another simple hollow takedown. She had done quite a few on her own now so she had felt quite confident in telling Kisuke that she could handle it just fine on her own. Besides, she had her freshly awakened zanpaktou by her side. She had nothing to fear.

When Yoshina arrived at the scene, the park was empty. After all, it was in the dead of night. She tried to feel for any reiatsu. She was so in deep concentration trying to sense the hollow nearby that the little boy barreled right into her.

"Woah there!" she said, grasping the kid by his shoulder.

"Please," the boy whimpered. "Help me."

For a moment, Yoshina couldn't figure out how a parent could let a child out of their sight in this day and age. Then she noticed it.

The kid had a chain popping out of his torso. A soul chain.

It all made sense. The hollow was hunting this plus soul. She ought to perform the konzo but the sudden roar that split the air decided it for her. There was no time.

"You have to get as far away as you can, kiddo," she told him. "I'll take care of the monster."

"You promise?"

She smiled reassuringly. "I promise." Then with a pat on his shoulder, she told him to get going.

The hollow was probably not the biggest she had seen yet its speed was something else. It was upon her before she could even unsheathe her zanpaktou.

She shunpoed away and blasted a Shakkaho at it, slowing it down somewhat. I hope you're ready, Inazuma.

"Illuminate, Inazuma." The words initiated the release of her zanpaktou, splitting it into its familiar form.

Yoshina did not waste any time, and started firing bolts of lightning at the hollow in rapid succession. Somehow it continued to dodge every attack. The time it took for her zanpaktou to charge up was enough for the hollow to easily predict just where the attack would come from.

Bolt after bolt, it dodged too easily.

"This is not working," Yoshina muttered to herself.

"We could try something, Yoshi. If you're up for it," Inazuma offered.

"Honestly, I'm open to ideas," Yoshina replied, dodging the blow from the hollow.

Instantly, she felt her Zanpaktou take over the control of the sword. Yoshina had her doubts about trying something new for the first time in a battle but she was currently out of options. She had to trust Inazuma. Her life, and the life of that little boy, depended on it.

Her reiatsu powered up in a sharp spike and she could almost feel the lightning spark up within her. It built and built and built until she felt like she would burst. She felt consumed by it.

"Yoshi, let go!" Inazuma screamed. Through the fog of reiatsu her alarm pierced through. "It's too much. You have to let go NOW!"

"I don't know how!" Yoshina exclaimed as the power within her continued to build up to an unmanageable proportion.

"Just let go!" Inazuma insisted.

So Yoshina did just that. She didn't know how she managed to, but she just let it all go.

The whole area lit up in blinding blue light of energy, bolts and bolts of lightning striking down all at once. The air crackled with reiatsu as if the atmosphere itself was electrocuted.

After what felt like an eternity later, Yoshina finally opened her eyes as the light faded away.

Scorch marks littered the ground. The hollow hit by more than one bolt of lightning disintegrated away right before her eyes.

"A job well done I'd say," Yoshina said, a small smile on her face. "Not bad for a first time, Inazuma." She sheathed her zanpaktou with a sense of satisfaction.

"Lady!" someone called out to her.

The boy! She'd almost forgotten about him. Now she could peacefully perform the konzo and guide the kid to soul society. She turned around to look at him.

He was on his knees, grasping at his chest.

She rushed to him in a flash of shunpo. Were there more hollows? She simultaneously felt for more reiatsu but she couldn't feel anyone else but herself and the boy.

Strangely, her reiatsu was all over the kid as if…as if…

"What happened?" she asked kneeling down before him.

His hand moved away and she could finally see what he was grasping so tightly. His soul chain! She could have sworn it was at least five links long when she first saw him. But now, it was almost completely gone. What the hell happened?!

"Light," the kid gasped. "So much light."

A scream pierced the air. A rush of reiatsu from the boy pushed Yoshina back. With everything she had seen, there was no mistaking what was happening. The little kid was turning into a hollow right before her eyes.

The scream reverberated, his little body bending this way and that, morphing into the kind of monster he was running from.

Did she do that?

The reiatsu on his body was unmistakable though. She had lost control of her power and it had hit the very person she was supposed to protect. Somehow her lightning had accelerated the depletion of the soul chain.

"How? How do I stop it?" she asked in desperation.

Her Rikujokoro momentarily held him in between six rods of yellow beams but the transformation caused him to break right through the kido binding.

"You can't," Inazuma cautioned. "Once it starts, there is no way to stop it. You know what you have to do."

"I can't!"

"There is no other choice," her zanpaktou insisted. "You must destroy him before he turns into a hollow. It is your duty as a soul reaper."

But Yoshina could not do it. The guilt of what she had caused weighed too much and it was beyond her now. How could she kill a child who had no control over what was happening to him?

"I'm…I'm not a soul reaper!" she cried out. She took the coward's way out and shunpoed out of that park.

That night changed so many things.

It was the beginning of the deterioration of her relationship with her zanpaktou. Inazuma refused to talk to her again for shirking her duty as a soul reaper. Yoshina didn't want to talk to her either. She feared her own zanpaktou so much that she chose to fight without it.

She told no one about what had happened that night, saying only that her zanpaktou was uncooperative. Neither Yoruichi nor Kisuke pushed her about it.

Yoshi always thought that the little boy must have been killed by another soul reaper, or maybe even eaten by another hollow. She grieved for him for years, unable to forgive herself for what she had done. It didn't matter that she didn't mean to do it. She had condemned an innocent soul to a fate that could have been avoided. She could never forgive herself.

Yet here he was…and it was time to finish that fight. She knew that. She had to fight Fierro Endocruz.

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