Chapter Thirty One: Spider's Lure

"Ukitake's back."

From his perch by the window, Ryuu turned to face his companions, a look of relief on his austere features. "I can feel his reiatsu – which clearly indicates he has survived his Council ordeal."

"Juu's reiatsu?" Immediately Shunsui abandoned the game of Shungi that he and Kai had been engrossed in, coming to stand at his friend's side as he gazed out across the school landscape. "You're right. I wasn't concentrating, but now I feel it, too. Well, it's about time he turned up – he's a whole day late, so I hope he has a good excuse."

"Looks to me like your Clan are the excuse." Kai peered over Shunsui's shoulder, amusement in his golden eyes. "Since that looks very much like a Kyouraku carriage to me. I guess you'll have to take it up with your people – looks like they're the ones who've been helping Ukitake play hooky."

"Nii-sama." Shunsui murmured, a faint smile touching his lips. "Then he did get my letter in time. Good."

It was two days following Juushirou's appearance before the Council and, although it had originally been planned for him to travel back to the school on the morning after, in the end the effort had taken its toll on the District student's fragile frame. Consequently, and with Kyouki's words still in his mind, Tokutarou had refrained from letting him travel back via the old, rickety public carriage but instead had assured him of an escort on the next day – and a trip that would be far shorter. It would mean another day of missed classes, but Tokutarou had been firm and so, much to the dismay of Class Three, Juushirou had remained in Inner Seireitei for a day longer than anyone had planned.

"He seems in one piece." Now Enishi joined them at the window, watching as the white-haired boy dismounted from the carriage, exchanging words with the retainer and then turning to head inside. "Shall we go down and meet him? Obviously if Kyouraku's people brought him back, he's all right – so we ought to go let him know we were waiting for him."

"I agree with Houjou-kun." Hirata added his bit now. "We should go downstairs to meet him."

"Then let's go." Shunsui clapped a warm hand down on the younger boy's shoulder. "You can tell him that you didn't sleep last night for worrying about him, Hirata-kun – he needs to show some responsibility, especially if he's getting involved with a disreputable family like my own."

"You shouldn't say such things about your own Clan, Kyouraku. Not even in jest." Ryuu reproached, as the group of five boys left the common room and turned onto the main hall, heading for the school's principle entrance. "It may be taken seriously by any who do not know you, and that could cause your brother problems."

"Meaning anyone who does know me would assume it was rubbish, since I'd said it?" Shunsui's eyes twinkled. "Thanks for that, Ryuu-kun. I'll bear it in mind."

"Ukitake-kun!" Before Ryuu could find a suitable retort, they had reached the entrance hall and Juushirou turned from where he had been signing his name into the big register, casting his friends a rueful smile.

"Were you waiting for me? I'm sorry. I'm a little later than I expected."

"We were worried." Hirata said slowly. "But if you're all right, then I suppose we don't need to be."

"I'm fine." Juushirou nodded. "Really, I am. And I didn't realise you wouldn't know about it, so I'm doubly sorry."

He glanced at Shunsui, who grinned.

"Nii-sama took care of you, didn't he?" He asked, and Juushirou looked sheepish.

"Yes." He admitted. "I would've come back yesterday, but he insisted I didn't. I was a bit tired out – so in the end, coming back this morning seemed to be the best way."

"A bit tired out?" Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Mm." Juushirou agreed. "I slept almost through till lunchtime yesterday and I had a slight fever when I woke up. It wasn't anything all that major – not for me – but Tokutarou-sama didn't want to take any chances, so he asked Raiki-sama from the Unohana-ke to see me and he suggested I stayed an extra day and rested properly. So…"

He shrugged.

"They fussed a whole lot too much over it, but I didn't sleep much the night before…I guess I needed to catch up with myself."

"Well, you don't seem feverish now, so I guess Nii-sama was right." Shunsui teased.

"And the Council?" Enishi asked. "How did that go – or are you sworn to secrecy?"

"I don't think there's any rule like that." Juushirou looked thoughtful, shaking his head. "Shall we go up to the dorm? I'll tell you about it there – since the Common Room is probably busy, and it'll soon be time for…dinner?"

"We've not eaten yet." Kai confirmed. "You timed your return perfectly."

He grinned.

"If it was Kyouraku, I'd say it was designed to miss all today's classes, but seeing as it's you, I suppose it was coincidental." He teased. Juushirou laughed, nodding his head.

"I'll want to catch up on everything I've missed." He agreed. "Ryuu-kun, will you lend me your notes? They're probably going to be the most comprehensive and I don't want to have any gaps."

"Of course. You need not even ask." Ryuu inclined his head slightly. "You may borrow them with pleasure."

"Sakusen was an on the spot discussion topic, and we only really reviewed stuff in Kidou theory." Hirata remembered. "Things you probably already know, Ukitake-kun – about the spells we've been studying and so on. I think Kazoe-sensei intends us to begin learning something new next class – so he wants us to have everything we've done so far firmly understood first."

"Some hope of that." Enishi muttered. "I've just about mastered Shakkahou and Soukatsui without exploding the whole of the arena. Expecting me to know how it works as well as just that it does work is unreasonable."

"So we'll help you." Shunsui cast him a grin. "Or some of us will. I'll probably flick bits of bokutou at you while you're trying to concentrate, so you'll have to consider me as more in the 'moral support' line."

"Some support." Enishi looked amused. "Well, are we going upstairs? It'll be easier to talk there and I for one want to hear all about Ukitake's meeting with the Council."

"Shirogane-senpai did not return with you." Ryuu commented, as they mounted the staircase towards the boys' dorms. "He has not returned to the school either. Did something occur?"

"Nothing bad." Juushirou shook his head. "Guren-sama simply sent for him, and so far as I know he was still with his Clan when I left. Tokutarou-sama said they had things to discuss regarding squad – and I think Sensei will let him graduate now he's proven he can train a junior student."

"Good riddance." Shunsui said frankly, and Juushirou laughed, shaking his head.

"I don't think he's so bad as all that. Not now." He reflected. "He's proud and he's strict but he does make a good shishou and I owe him a lot. Besides, he explained everything for me very clearly when we reached Inner Seireitei. He did his duty to the letter and I can't fault him."

"He is a Kuchiki. That is how we are." Ryuu said simply. "But he will not graduate yet. Guren-sama will not have him until he turns twenty – and that is not for another month at least."

"But the fact that Guren-sama's kept him back means he must be preparing to let him when that happens." Shunsui mused. "Which means we'll be down one Anideshi. And you might like him now, Juu – but I will be very happy for him when he finally gets his promotion."

"I wonder who among the seniors will succeed him." Hirata murmured. "We really don't know much about any of them. It might be worse."

"Possibly, but we'll face it when it happens." Kai said reflectively, pushing open the door of the dorm and allowing his companions to pass him into the bedchamber beyond. "Well? Here we are. So? I imagine you passed their test, Ukitake – since you still have your sword."

"Yes. I did." Juushirou agreed, unfastening the makeshift sheath from his belt and laying his sword back down on the top of the unit. "And this sheath is about to fall apart, so I'm glad I don't have to use it any longer. But yes. It was the most terrifying thing I've ever done…but I'm glad I did it. I'm glad it's behind me. I'm just…glad."

"You're a Shinigami now, then." Ryuu remarked, and Enishi looked surprised.

"Is that true? Ukitake's a Shinigami?" He asked, and Hirata nodded.

"That's how it works." He agreed softly. "Even if he hasn't finished his training. Once the Council ratifies your zanpakutou, you are officially recorded as a Shinigami. That's one of the reasons they do it. So they know who has weapons and what they can do right as soon as they learn to summon them."

"That's what Guren-sama said to me, too." Ukitake confirmed. "It was a little frightening, to be honest, when he put it in such formal detail."

"He frowned, and Shunsui saw him glance at Hirata.

"It's a little bit of a blur, really. What actually happened when I was under review. I had to concentrate so hard not to let my power explode like it did when I was with Sensei." He continued. "But one thing I do remember. Hirata, I saw your Father. He was there. And I spoke to him."

"To Otousama?" Hirata's eyes lit up with surprise and hope. "He…was able to speak to you? And…he was there? He was all right? With Grandfather?"

"Shouichi-sama was one of those called on to ratify my sword." Juushirou nodded. "He really didn't want to, but he had to by Council law and so he did. Misashi-sama was with him throughout the whole of it…then afterwards, when Shouichi-sama was elsewhere, he spoke to me."

There was a pause, and Shunsui saw a flicker of resolution in his friend's hazel eyes.

"He wanted me to take a message to you." He added. "That he and your mother and your sister are all right and that you're not to worry about them. Shouichi-sama is keeping his word to them and so he wants you – Misashi-sama, I mean – to focus on your training and get stronger."

"He said all that?" Shunsui asked, and Juushirou nodded.

"He did." He confirmed. "That's almost word for word his message. And he seemed all right, too. Well, I mean."

"If he managed to speak to you, it means that Shouichi-sama isn't keeping him shackled." Kai reflected. "And that's a good sign, Hirata. Maybe the relationship between the two of them has improved since your Grandmother's death."

"Maybe." Hirata looked doubtful. "But more likely it's just a case of Grandfather wanting to present a good public face. Still…"

He paused, then sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"If he gave you that message for me, Ukitake-kun, it's probably a true one. And so I'll try and do as he says, and not to worry."

He offered Juushirou a faint smile.

"Thank you for being his messenger. If Grandfather had seen, he would have been angry…and Grandfather angry is…not good."

"I rather got that feeling." Juushirou admitted. "He was…a little intimidating. At least, to me."

"To most people." Shunsui said grimly. "Seimaru is just a spoilt brat – albeit one with an ego and a zanpakutou. But Shouichi-sama has a reputation for brutality and intolerance that goes back a long way before any of us were born. Trust me. Hirata's right. You shouldn't cross him."

He sighed.

"If it wasn't for the fact that Nii-sama is so closely intertwined with the Shiba, he'd probably make our lives much more difficult." He admitted. "Since technically speaking he has power at his disposal that – till Eighth District have a Gotei representative – we can't match."

"You, in other words." Kai said wryly, and Shunsui nodded.

"Me." He agreed resignedly. "I know. I've avoided it for a long time, but I'm more or less decided now that I can't do that any more. Having seen the refugees flooding into our land – having spoken to some of them – and knowing the reputation our neighbours carry, well…not doing anything seems like being complicit. And I still haven't found justice for Megumi…I don't want to be adding more District lives to that scale."

"Megumi?" Ryuu looked blank, and Juushirou nodded.

"The young girl who was murdered last summer." He said gravely.

"The tavern wench?" Ryuu was surprised. "You are still thinking of that, even now?"

"Of course." Shunsui said simply. "She was murdered. Her killer hasn't been punished. That's not justice."

"Seimaru killed Megumi-san." Hirata said blackly, and Juushirou sighed.

"Getting justice in that kind of situation isn't easy." He reflected, and despite himself Shunsui grinned, reaching across to pat the battered bamboo sheath.

"But this will help." He said teasingly. "Justice of the Twin Fish, wasn't it?"

"Ye-es." Juushirou looked sheepish. "I suppose that is what Sougyo's name means. But even so…"

"I believe Megumi deserves justice. Kyouko too, since she's still petrified of the Clan across the border." Shunsui responded. "But for now, that's beyond my grasp. All I can do is what Hirata's doing. Work hard and wait for a better opportunity."

"That sounds almost conspiratorial." Enishi reflected, and Shunsui laughed.

"I suppose it does." He owned. "But – present company aside – I'm finding I have little love for our Seventh District neighbours."

"It's all right. I feel the same." Hirata said softly. "Father, Mother and Eiraki-chan aside. My Clan are corrupt and twisted and full of evil, outdated values. There's not much in them to like."

"It's very stereotypically villainous of them." Shunsui reflected. "Unfortunately, though, it can't all be put down in stereotype. It's hard to work out what's going on there at the best of times…and now…"

He faltered, realising he had been about to divulge information about the Urahara, but to his surprise Juushirou nodded his head, a grave look in his hazel eyes.

"You mean the rebels that they're hunting down, don't you." He said quietly, and Shunsui bit his lip.

"You know about that?"

"Kyouki-sama told me. I don't know why – I think she thought it was something I needed to know." Juushirou agreed. "Since Hirata's father had spoken to me…and I'd overheard…a few things."

"Urahara rebels?" Kai asked soberly, and Shunsui nodded.

"Yes. Something like that. Your sister's mentioned them to you too?"

"She has, but she doesn't have to." Kai shook his head. "I already know…from before."

"Trust a Shihouin to know about illegal activities." Ryuu rolled his eyes, and Kai's expression became grim.

"Yes. In this case, you can." He said flatly. "Nee-sama spoke to me when I was at home just as I'm sure Tokutarou-sama spoke to you, Kyouraku. It's come up at the Council, and Midori-nee has been to see Father…to ask him what he remembers about any meetings with the Endou. It's as she thought – as we all know. These rebel Urahara were involved with Father's work and Seimaru's research a year ago. And though the Shihouin are no longer actively involved…I wouldn't like to put money on Seimaru having done likewise."

Hirata looked troubled, nodding his head.

"Kai-kun is right." He murmured. "I'm sure about it, too. That even if Grandfather has stopped…I don't suppose…Seimaru has."

"Then this is a dangerous conversation." Enishi said frankly. "And we shouldn't be talking about it, since it might put you two – and others – in sticky situations if it was to be overheard."

"We're in the dorm and there's nobody else here. We'd know if they were." Shunsui responded. "But Enishi is right – it's not something we should be spending a lot of time discussing. It's at best an allegation at the moment. Nobody has any proof, and…"

"There is proof." Shunsui saw Hirata meet Juushirou's gaze, and Juushirou nodded.

"There is." He agreed. "But they won't ever see it, Hirata. That's what was agreed with Midori-sama last summer – and that's how it stays."

"Ah yes. The mysterious letter of proof." Shunsui reflected.

"Which we're not going to discuss." Juushirou said firmly. "Since it's not immediately relevant."

He glanced at Kai, but Shunsui had a sudden, bad feeling that Juushirou knew more about the letter's location than he was telling.

"Did Midori-sama tell you anything you can tell us about the Urahara?"

"It doesn't involve us." Kai responded. "She told me plenty, but…whether it's stuff that should be repeated is another matter. It's speculation…and since Shouichi-sama seems to be hunting them, it's dangerous to assume his grandson is still dabbling in chemical research."

"But those dangers might affect all of us, if he is." Juushirou said quietly. "I think…that's why Kyouki-sama mentioned it to me. Reidoku is something that hurt a lot of people, once. Last year, it hurt people again. It could keep happening…more and more considering the way Genryuusai-sensei's Academy is starting to reach the Districts, too. It could become a factor…and we need to be aware."

"Shouichi-sama is hunting one man in particular. A man my sister didn't meet – and a man whose name I don't know." Kai admitted. "But apparently he's quite dangerous, and he gave Father a bad feeling. Nee-sama enlisted Tokutarou-sama's help because she wants to build a mutually beneficial alliance with District Eight and, by proxy, District Five…otherwise I've no doubt she'd keep it more to herself. Nobody in District Two wants to remember last year too clearly, after all. But that's really as much as I know in terms of concrete information. I think he was a man who worked for Seimaru and I believe he helped to create the reidoku that Hirata destroyed when he fled to our District last summer. But those are assumptions. I don't know that for sure."

"I do." Hirata's eyes became hard and angry, and he clenched and unclenched his fists. "I know exactly the man you mean, Kai-kun. I know him by sight and I'd know him if I ever saw him again, no matter what guise he was hiding under. He was Seimaru's scientist and he was the one who created the poison."

"Urahara Keitarou?" Juushirou asked, and Hirata shrugged.

"I didn't know his name. Just by sight." He replied. "I don't know if he was an Urahara – he didn't look like one. But I knew what he was…even so."

"Then that's who it is." Shunsui's heart clenched. "That's the name Nii-sama gave me too. An Urahara who doesn't look like other Urahara…but is one all the same. The son of the man who was executed a century ago for starting this whole mess…Urahara Keitarou."

"Kyouki-sama said that I should tell Sensei and leave it to him if there was anything people here knew about him." Juushirou looked troubled. "But what do we know, really? He did do some work – but not what he's doing now. His location. His plans…even what name he's living under doesn't seem that certain. We've nothing we could tell him…have we?"

"No, and it's better we don't bring it up." Hirata looked troubled. "My family could still be at risk, after all, if he was linked properly to a member of my Clan."

And not just the Endou, as it happens.

Shunsui grimaced, remembering the conversation with Irie more clearly.

Urahara, then. Not Aizen. Is it wrong to be glad about that? Am I really worried about keeping this man's connection to my Clan a secret? I'm becoming disturbingly aware of connections of late…I'm going to have to watch myself more carefully at this rate.

"But we do know he's in District Seven?" Ryuu asked.

"Unless he's fled." Hirata shrugged. "To either Six or Eight."

"He would never get into Six." Ryuu snorted. "And Eight is supposed to have fortified its borders to all from Seven…except, of course, for any peasant with a sob-story who seeks entrance."

"Don't talk about them like that." Despite himself, Shunsui was riled by this, and Ryuu's eyes opened wide in surprise at the sudden and uncharacteristic reaction. "I'm serious, Kuchiki. You have no idea what conditions those people are living in. Believe me, none of them chose it."

"Kyouraku?" Enishi stared at him, and Shunsui took a deep breath, remembering the two young boys and the swathe of fabric covering Ketsui's fair hair.

"They're just people." He murmured. "Innocent people, who are in danger of their lives. I've been there, Ryuu-kun. I've seen it. And it's not fair. None of it is fair. Whatever danger this Urahara Keitarou is to the world…the cost is too high. It's far, far too high."

"It upset you, didn't it, going there?" Juushirou asked softly, and Shunsui nodded.

"It did." He admitted. "I felt helpless, even though I know that my Clan are all they have to cling to at the moment. Young children, Juu. Just kids like your brothers and sisters, trying to make the best of it while others harass them and…"

He paused, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"That shouldn't be allowed to happen." He said simply. "It shouldn't have been allowed when Megumi died, and it shouldn't be allowed now. I don't like it at all."

"Then that's why you're suddenly so keen to work." Kai said thoughtfully. "I wondered what it was. I guess now we know."

"It's not a bad reason, though." Juushirou remarked. "I agree with Shunsui. Nobody should be suffering. Especially not young children who are only being tainted by association or geography."

"Or both." Shunsui said frankly. "There are Urahara descendants among the refugees, Juu – I know, because I've seen them, although they try to hide themselves from outside attention. They're not there because they're plotting evil or wanting to create poisons of any kind. They're there because they're frightened and homeless and they've nowhere else to go."

He gestured to Hirata.

"Hirata's an Endou but nobody holds it against him." He added. "No matter what that family do, it's not Hirata who's to blame. And in the same way, these Urahara are looking for sanctuary. They've been swept up in it…that's all."

"You've spoken to them." Ryuu's eyes narrowed, and Shunsui berated himself inwardly once more for almost giving away his conversation with Irie. He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not something that needs to be said. You just have to look to understand." He responded at length. "Small children with bruises and raggedy clothing, having to hide themselves from public sight. Sometimes words are superfluous. Kids are kids, after all."

"Some kids grow up into monsters all the same." Hirata said quietly, and Juushirou sighed, nodding his head.

"Like Seimaru." He agreed. "But even so, Shunsui's right. Sensei's trying to teach us to protect this world – it has to start somewhere."

Despite himself, Shunsui managed a smile.

"There speaks the Shinigami." He teased. "Ready with his fishy sidekicks to dispense justice to us all."

"Shunsui!" Juushirou swiped at him playfully, but it had the desired effect of lifting the atmosphere, and Shunsui felt relieved.

But even so, it doesn't make it any less pressing. There's no more time for playing around – not when people's lives start to depend on it. I'm beginning to understand, Father, what I don't think you did. And more, I'm going to act on it and do my best to follow in Juu's footsteps. Seibara's right. Nii-sama, too. I didn't ask to be born Clan and they didn't ask to be born District. But they have to deal with what they're living through right now. The least I can do is deal with what I was born into…and try to make it better, even in a little way, for all of them.

Another dead end.

Shouichi let out a groan of frustration, screwing up the report from his adjutant and tossing it across his office in a fit of pique.

It was the same every time. No matter where he looked or what scheme he implemented, still his target managed to stay one step ahead of him. It was almost as though he knew every one of Shouichi's moves before they happened...yet how could that be?

He got to his feet, moving to the window as he tried to work off some of the pent up anger inside of his body. He would have to go soon to face his council and tell them of his lack of progress - more, to explain to them his reasons for ratifying a District zanpakutou, although nobody had so much as mentioned the incident since his return to his homeland two days earlier. It rankled at him, and only added to his other displeasure. Everything was becoming troublesome...and he did not even have the faintest clue where the last Urahara exile was.

Yet nobody could have leaked his plans.

He rested his hands on the sill, gazing out over the uneven Endou landscape as he contemplated.

He had not shared most of them with even his grandson and heir, let alone his surviving son or the adjutant of his team of Shinigami. His true motives he had always kept close to his chest, paranoid and always alert to the slightest change in the atmosphere around him. He had not lived so long because he was foolish, and yet, even so, he had not managed to locate his prey. Keitarou was always just out of reach...always just in the shadows out of his range of sight.

In possession of an unregistered weapon, which in itself carries a fearsome penalty. I wish I had seen it more clearly - I'm sure he had a sword concealed up his sleeve but I couldn't make it out. If I could catch him, I could have many justifications for putting him to death. Yet I cannot catch him. He slips away - and I do not know to where.

"You seem uncommonly unsettled this morning, Shouichi-sama."

The voice pierced through his thoughts like a shock of cold ice, and he swung around, eyes widening in disbelief and fury as he registered the object of his thoughts standing across the room, nonchalant and relaxed in his flapping grey coat and with his thick, brownish hair in a rough tie at the nape of his neck. He had all the bearing of a true Clansman, even in the robes of a working man, and somehow Shouichi resented this fact all the more for knowing that the one who stood before him had so easily eluded his grasp.

"Aizen." He growled, then, "How did you get in here?"

"I wonder." Keitarou smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "How does a man get any place when he doesn't want to walk?"

"Shunpo." Shouichi's lips became thin, and he closed his thick, wizened fingers around the hilt of his weapon, advancing on his visitor slowly. "Do you bring yourself here to me to submit? Or for me to carve the kanji for submission into you, with the end of Hijirobaya's blade?"

"You've always been so welcoming and accommodating." Keitarou seemed amused, but his eyes remained cold even as he lowered his head in a mocking bow. "But what I have to speak to you about can't be said here. This is too open a place...and your kin may hear me. That would be suspicious, wouldn't it? If they thought you were speaking with the exiled son of the disgraced Urahara Keitsune?"

"If you think I'll bargain with you..." Shouichi had already half drawn Hijirobaya from its sheath, but Keitarou laughed, holding up his hands.

"You'd attack an untrained man in your own study? You, a soldier of the old order, against a scientist who has never held a sword? You've become rash and undisciplined, then, since I worked for you. I'm surprised at it. I thought you a much more rational force than that."

His eyes narrowed.

"But you want more than just my corpse, in the end." He said softly. "You want my Clan's research. Don't you? The studies that could implicate and destroy your family if they fell into the wrong hands."

Despite himself, Shouichi paused, then slowly returned Hijirobaya to its sheath.

"I'm listening." He said quietly, and Keitarou nodded.

"I thought so." He responded. "But this isn't a place we can speak. It's not safe for me here."

"It's not safe for you anywhere where I am, Aizen." Shouichi rumbled. "Or do you doubt Hijirobaya's power, even after having seen it freeze your kinsman's life where he stood?"

A flicker of something crossed Keitarou's gaze, and he shook his head.

"I don't doubt its power at all." He said gravely. "But I will not risk being killed on sight by your guards. You are the only one I seek to negotiate with - you and nobody else. Since there is none left but me to pass on this information - if you kill me, it remains a possibility that one day my archive will be found. And then...your family...will perish under the Council Law. Just as mine did, a century ago."

"And for you? What benefit do you take in all this?" Shouichi demanded.

"Safe passage from District Seven. As an exile." Keitarou replied simply. "I told you. I am alone. You killed Daisuke - and no more of my kin remain with any kind of force to oppose you. It is not in my interests to continue being an enemy of the Endou. I simply want the right to leave. I will give you all my family's work - everything you seek. And I will disappear. You will not hear my name again after this day...nor ever see my face. I give you my word."

"The word of an exiled Urahara." Shouichi spat out, and Keitarou nodded, slipping his tantou knife from his obi.

"I swear it by my blood." He said frankly, running the blade of the weapon across the back of his hand with a short, swift movement. Without even a wince, he held up his hand, and Shouichi saw the blood trickle down his arm, soaked up in the sleeve of his heavy grey coat.

"An Urahara oath by blood is unbreakable. Surely you know that." Keitarou's tones were light, almost teasing. "I have sworn it to you that you will never see my face again, Shouichi-sama. Nor hear me speak ill of you or your family. I will disappear...and your troubles will be at an end."

Shouichi hesitated for a moment. Then he nodded his head.

"Very well. I will consider your suggestion." He said gruffly. "When I see your family's papers, I will decide on your fate."

Keitarou smiled.

"Ah. There it is. That cold ruthless brain always looking for the advantage." He said pensively. "Very well. I am not in a position to bargain more than what I already have. Follow me - and I will take you to the place. If you can track my reiatsu - you will easily locate my base."

With that he was gone, and Shouichi frowned, reaching out his senses to locate the elusive scientist's spiritual signature.

Faint. Just enough for me to follow, but no more.

His eyes narrowed.


But I will take Hijirobaya and I will kill him anyway. I have no intention of letting you live, Aizen...your life is already mine and I will take it and your family's research. I do not believe in loose ends.

There was the first stirring of an autumn breeze as Keitarou reached his destination, slipping out of shunpo and landing nimbly on the uneven rocks that surrounded the remains of the long-abandoned Urahara settlement. It was a ghost town now, dilapidated and devoid of life, yet Keitarou did not dwell on the happier memories that the place had once held. Daisuke had met Irie not far from here, he recalled impassively, and for a fleeting moment he wondered where she was and whether she and her children had escaped the hunting shinigami unscathed.

But Irie was always strong. And brave. And determined where her children were concerned. Like my mother, she wasn't a coward. She will have made it. I'm sure of that. They, at least, are out of it. Wherever they are, she will build a new life. That's the kind of woman you married, Daisuke. That's the kind of family you had.

He gazed up at the sky, wondering what it might have been like had he married and had children of his own.

Burdens. Something to tie me down and hold me back - emotional ties in a place where emotion is forbidden. No. District Seven is not the place for that. Even to continue my line - Father's line - such things would have only brought disaster.

His lips thinned.

But with so many of us killed, and Daisuke's children gone, the fight will end with me. I have so much further to go - maybe, then, I can think about other things. About keeping Father's memory alive - and instilling it into another generation to take up the banner and fight for our cause.

A faint smile touched his lips as he reached the edge of the village, gazing down absently over the ledge that fell in a sheer drop to the valley below. Once a river, it had long since dried up, and now there was a gap of about ten or twelve feet separating the settlement above from the rocky bed below.

Ten or twelve feet? Perhaps, enough. But I will make sure.

He brushed his fingers against the hilt of his tantou knife, looking pensive.

Perhaps Seimaru will accommodate me, after all. I have proven to be his ally...and it would indeed be a way back into the Clan hierarchy. A way in which...I could be a Lord of the Manor. And, one by one, destroy the families who destroyed mine. He will owe me - if I kill his Grandfather, I give him power. But also, I am a keeper of a deadly secret. I can destroy him too - because I know what he's done. And he needs me. Therefore...he will accommodate me.

A faint ripple in the atmosphere alerted him to the fact he would soon have company, and he moved away from the edge, leaning up against the broken timber of a half-collapsed property as he waited for the old man to materialise before him. Shouichi's senses were sharp, he admitted grudgingly, even if his shunpo was not as swift as Keitarou's own, and the scientist knew that he could not play games with his enemy this time. He had barely touched on his power when Daisuke had died, and he regretted it. Now, however, he was not so fettered. Now he would not hold back.

Besides, he's coming here to kill me. I know it, whatever he said. I knew he wouldn't give me my life in return for anything. So in a sense, it's a fair encounter. We neither one plan to leave the other one here alive - and neither one have been honest with our motives.

A faint smile touched his lips.

Well, perhaps we are alike after all - the Lord Endou and I.

"Well, Aizen? Here I am." The old man's voice cut through his musings, and Keitarou turned to face him, offering Shouichi a cool smile.

"You took your time. I thought you weren't coming." He said lightly. "But I suppose I shouldn't underestimate the Head of the Endou Clan - should I?"

"The day you do that is the day that you die." Shouichi's hand was already around the hilt of his weapon. "Well? Where are they? Your family's notes. Your Clan research - I want it all."

"It's right here." Keitarou said simply. "Right in front of you."

"Right in...front of me?" Despite himself, Shouichi faltered, glancing around him. "In this derelict place?"

"This was the Urahara village. You know that, or you should." Keitarou said frankly, running his finger along the blade of his knife as he spoke. "For years we hid here, and worked beneath your manor. For years we studied and researched and created things...things to help the Endou-ke become great. And last summer we succeeded in creating something even greater. Yet our reward was death."

He gestured to the village.

"All the people who lived here, you put to the sword." He said quietly, a faintly dangerous edge touching his tones as he spoke of the massacre of his kin. "All of them, one by one, you destroyed - their corpses desecrated when you cast them onto the pyre. The kinsfolk your Clan protected a hundred years ago put to death on the orders of the same man who shielded them then."

"And your point is?" Shouichi's eyes narrowed. "Things change. Politics shift. Your people were no longer useful to us. With the Shihouin-ke's unfortunate incidents, there were steps I had to take. Steps I do not need to justify to you. You are beneath me. You are nothing but an exile and an outlaw. My decisions in this place are law. You, on the other hand, don't even have the right to make decisions."

"No. I suppose not." Keitarou's eyes glittered with ice as cold as that which swirled within Shouichi's sealed blade. "I suppose that to you we are all commodities - for you to use and dispense with as you see fit."

"That's a fine argument, coming from a scientist whose chief pursuit is sacrificing worthless peasant wretches to his science." Shouichi said derisively, and Keitarou snorted.

"Science, Shouichi-sama. Development. Learning. Understanding. Power. For those things the sacrifices are never too great."

He smiled coldly once more.

"And for one more reason. Revenge."

"So you do think, then, that you can provide me with some opposition?" Shouichi seemed amused. "That you'll bring me out to some deserted place and do away with me, to avenge the poor soul who took my ice for you in the Endou dungeons? You are simple indeed. Do you not understand what and who I am? I've ruled this clan for longer than you've been alive - longer than even your father was, most likely. I saw a use for you then, but that use has run its course. I am not someone you can bargain with - I told you this already. I am Endou Shouichi, Head of District Seven and a member of the Gotei. I am a true Shinigami - and I have presided over more executions than you've had birthdays."

His eyes glinted with malicious light as he drew Hijirobaya from its sheath.

"This sword has slit the throats of thousands of people." He said softly. "I've taken down assassins and rebels, and destroyed members of my own Clan to ensure my stronghold over this family. I fought my own cousins and defeated my only brother in order to hold power here - and saw to it that each of them that survived was broken in such a way that they never could contest me again. I am not your equal, Aizen. You will die here - regretting your foolishness at every turn."

A faint whiteish energy began to surround the edges of the old man's weapon, and Keitarou sighed, slowly shaking his head. He raised his left hand, prickles of light flickering at the edges as he cast a barrier spell over the deserted village.

Shouichi's brows knitted together.

"Kyoumon." He murmured. "Do you think such a spell would hold me here? I am a warrior and fight with my blade, but I can use kidou and I can break a barrier of this nature with very little effort. Kyoumon is strong against outside attack- but from the inside, breaking it will be child's play."

Keitarou's lips twitched slightly, and he shook his head.

"You mistake me, Shouichi-sama." He said softly, completing the spell. "I have no wish to confine you anywhere. I simply seek to ensure we are not disturbed."

"I do not need my soldiers to rescue me from one like you." Shouichi said derisively. "No matter how many barriers you cast, it won't change the outcome of this meeting any more in your favour if you can keep them away."

"Then it's as well I didn't come here to negotiate with you." Keitarou responded evenly, lowering his hand to rest over the top of his knife which, too, now glittered with silver light. "I came here to keep my promise to you. That you would not again see my face, nor hear of me."

"Yes. I thought so. I thought you had a weapon." Shouichi pursed his lips. "Yet it's barely a sword - and you think to fight me with it? With the wire trick you performed on my men -the one that couldn't even pierce their hearts?"

Keitarou let out a low chuckle, and he shook his head.

"Ore, Chudokuga." He murmured, and the thin strands of metal shot out from the weapon, spreading out around Keitarou's body as if forming a ghostly web. "I've already told you. I have no training with a sword. A duel is not in my interests. I have never carried that kind of weapon. The training was denied me by my Father's disgrace."

"Then stop fooling around, and submit." Shouichi ordered. "If you do so, I'll make your death swift and painless."

"You're not a man to be bargained with, however." Keitarou shook his head slowly. "And the truth is, Shouichi-sama, I don't intend on going anywhere. You see, my future isn't outside of District Seven. It's here, within it. I have no further business with the current Lord of the Endou-ke. But I will...have business with the future one."

Shouichi's eyes widened in dismay as he understood Keitarou's implication, and the scientist stood for a moment, enjoying the horror and betrayal that flooded through the old man's eyes.

"Seimaru." He murmured, and Keitarou chuckled.

"And you thought that your son might plot against you, when all the time it was the grandson who had the spine to strike out for his own future." He said mockingly. "He won't wait forever, you know. And besides, such a deal benefits me, too. You are too old. Too stubborn. Too hard to please. Seimaru is young and ambitious, and I can manipulate him. He will be a good ally for me - and I for him. The only one in the way is you. And so, I'm here to resolve that."

"I'll kill the both of you!" Shouichi threatened, raising his sword above his head, but Keitarou merely flexed his fingers over his sword as it glowed suddenly with a bright flare of argent light.

"It's too late for that, Shouichi-sama." He said softly as he felt his reiatsu unfurl through his body, giving power to the weapon beneath his touch. "It ends now."

He smiled, a cold, predatorial smile.

"Bankai."