The Charming Bastard and the War on Souls

by Airaie

Dekuyume is accused of stealing domain from the Soul Kami. She is given an opportunity to prove herself, The Soul King of The Soul Society wants a soul of his own. But as Kiyoshi once said, not even the realm of the Kami was immune intrigue, and Dekuyume has pissed off a lot of Greater Kami handing out souls to whomever asked. Book 3 of Dekuyume

4. Dekuyume Book 3 - Part 3

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Chapter 40: The War on Souls

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Sōsuke felt it, the moment all of Seireitei held its breath. He couldn't tell how long he had been sitting quietly alone in the dark abyss of Muken but for the soft white glow of the tiny butterfly perched upon his nose, an eternal moment measured in the metronome like fluttering of his Ōken's wings, the zero point of Yhwach's visit a never forever ago. He himself was left breathless, as the platform he sat on began to rise, the subtle sensation of momentum, like a whale rising from the depths of the ocean up towards the sun.

His pulse accelerates in anticipation. With the Reishi-mippuu he had wrapped around Las Noches, the Quincy should not have been able to locate the Arrancar Citadel, not with the amount of illusory Reiatsu he had left behind embedded in the Reishi barrier blanketing Las Noches. Their inability to locate Las Noches easily could have either slowed them down as they attempted to locate that which they had likely had no issues finding until only a few months before Sōsuke's usurpation. It could have also slowed them down, cautious in the face of an unknown that had the ability to hide such a gargantuan citadel. It was unlikely that it had sped them up. In the world explained to him by Dekuyume, Hueco Mundo had fallen pitifully fast, its reigning queen Tier Harribel taken captive in the space of a single day.

The world is a kaleidoscope of perspectives the moment his prison breaches the air of Seireitei. No longer trapped in the void space of Muken, Kyōka Suigetsu immediately cleaves to him. Flashes of people, as if he had used the complete hypnosis to spy through their senses, but with the dull taste of old news:

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Through the eyes of the Lloyd twins

9 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

In the heart of Silbern, Yhwach sat upon his throne, the entirety of his Sternritter gathered at his feet. He says nothing, staring down at them as they sing his praise song. As it reaches its conclusion, promising that in 9 days time he would regain the world, he rises to his feet. The voices of the Sternritter taper off into silence. With out a single word being said, they all know.

It was time.

The meeting blurs, as Yhwach begins to give out commands, but Sōsuke cannot keep his senses focused enough to hear. Already he is swept away into the next bit of information Kyō-kun had tried to send him while he was banished to Muken only for the connection to bottleneck at the dimensional interface.

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Through the eyes of the Lloyd twins

8 Days Left to Conquer the Worlds

The Quincy that were sent to Hueco Mundo were slaughtered by their king for daring to return back to Silbern empty handed. Their blood is vibrant and threatening against the pure white stone of the floor as they are destroyed from the inside out by Auswählen.

Filled with anger, the Emperor of the Quincy sends another batch of Sternritter into Hueco Mundo.

Sōsuke has but a moment to wonder if Yhwach will do the job of ending the Quincy for him before he is swept on.

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Through the eyes of Subaru's reincarnation, Yumichika

7 days Left to Conquer the Worlds

They had been sent out to investigate the mass disappearance of souls from the Rukongai. Sōsuke is left dizzy as this is the longest vision yet, only instead of experiencing it in real time, he experiences it at a hundred times normal speed. He doesn't even have time to consider the information they dig up before they state their conclusions. The missing people had kidnapped each other.

Sōsuke knows then, that the Quincy had recalled all of the spies they left in the Rukongai to watch the movements of the shinigami. They were preparing for a mass attack. It is the only conclusion he has time to draw before he is sent spinning, pulled into the next vision.

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Through the eyes of Yamamoto

6 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

Through the eyes of Yamamoto himself, he watches as a group of Sternritter in black masks interrupts a meeting being held in the Embassy. They stand tall and proud in their completely white uniforms as they make their Declaration, "The Wandenreich will destroy Seireitei in 5 days." The group of Quincy tenses in anticipation... and yet, whatever it is they are expecting does not happen. Yamamoto simply stares at them as if they were misbehaving children, and the gathered souls behind him are equally silent, until a woman who carries a zanpakutō, but is clearly not a Shinigami rises to her feet. "I do believe that we may consider this to be the proof we needed to validate Aizen-san's claim that the Quincy would be declaring war this summer. I move that we pass this information on to the Central 46 and demand his release. After all, they have no reason to imprison an innocent man."

The messengers are clearly infuriated to be so ignored, but the moment that they go to attack, Coyote Starrk rises to his feet, flooding the room with his Hollow tainted Reiatsu. With mutters of anger, they disappear from sight. Starrk turns to all of his friends and smiles in relief when he realizes that the lessons he had taken from his former king on Reiatsu control had allowed him to place the lulls of his rippling power in the right spots. He smiles, tears of joy streaming down his face when he sees that not a single one of them is so much as out of breath.

Sōsuke has but a moment to laugh at their ridiculous use of a smoke bomb to get away, feel proud of Coyote-kun's achievement, and another to enjoy the fact that Riku Homura is the one to completely neuter the threat laden in Yhwach's messengers words. In the next everyone turns to the door as Sasakibe calmly enters the room, a pensive expression on his face.

Sōsuke cannot hear what they say, only that Sasakibe-san is delivering a warning of some sort and pointing to the oddly colored ribbon tied to the tsuba of Gonryōmaru. His only hint that the ribbon is more than it seems is the tiny stamp on the frayed end. It is one he had seen only once before... on the tiny candies that were sold in Kisuke-san's candy shop.

Sōsuke found himself dizzy for a completely new reason. His hand rises up to cover his mouth in surprise. Of all the people to believe him. He hadn't truly believed Kisuke-san to be one of them, even if it only went as far as considering the possibility that a Bankai was something that could be stolen and taking measures to prevent it...

He sways, unsteady on his feet as the world blurs around him.

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Through the eyes of everyone

5 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

Taking deep breaths he forces himself to focus on the information he is being given by Kyō-kun. Haggard and sick he watches as Yhwach's army, The Wandenreich invades Soul Society. The Council of Souls was not in session but that did not mean that none of Seireitei's allies were there. At the urging of Kurosaki Ichigo, everyone had come from the world of the living expecting this to be it.

The day they learned for themselves, if Aizen Sōsuke was still a liar. The day he proved that he was made of more than lies.

He sways, unsteady on his feet as the world blurs around him a nauseating mixture of being a passenger during shunpo and the transition between one scene and another through the Complete Hypnosis. There are people running every where; He is running everywhere.

He watches through blurry vision as match-ups are shown to him. Combinations of Arrancar, Shinigami, Visored and Fullbringer pitted against Sternritter who's identities he is sure he knows but is having difficulty recalling, before he is dragged relentlessly to see the next combination. The information undoubtedly critical, yet slipping through his fingers as he fails repeatedly to make heads or tails of it. The only thing he knows for certain is that the Ribbons Kisuke-san has created are proving to be a great boon to the Shinigami and a great annoyance to the Quincy.

Only a single one holds any meaning for him. Amid all of the chaos, Orihime-chan had found herself alone with Askin Nakk le Varr (D) The Deathdealing. Sōsuke could only hope that she either managed to befriend the Quincy, or kill him instantly so that he would not have the ability to become immune to her unique power.

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Through the eyes of Jugram Haschwalth

5 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

As Yhwach leaves Muken dissapointed, he is met by his second in command, Jugram Haschwalth, the blonde Quincy easily detecting his Emperor's upset. Without a word being spoken Yhwach waves the others concern away, "He refused, though it would hardly make a difference if he accepted instead. Most of the Souls in Seireitei consider him to be the strongest of them. Those that disagree give that accolade to Yamamoto. His refusal means only that both of them are going to die to further my goals. Tell me, how do the Shinigami fare without one of their strongest?"

The blonde simply bows his head at his master's words before giving a report, never realizing that the Quincy Emperor was not aware that he had expended a considerable amount of time in Muken. "They are going well, at every turn, the Shinigami are being pushed back, even with their allies complicating the atmosphere with their Hollow Reiatsu."

Sōsuke laughs weakly, as he watches the Soul King's son stroll to where he can feel Yamamoto slaughtering swathes of cannon fodder in the Wandenreich. The expression of anger on the Quincy Emperor's face when he realizes that he too had fallen victim to Sōsuke's illusions is delightfully amusing. The good humor soothes some of the ache building, but only for a moment before he once more gets swept away.

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Once he manages to calm his spinning senses Sōsuke glances up and finds himself watching as Yhwach tries to kill Yamamoto-san. He almost succeeds but for a golden yellow glowing Hanatarō Yamada and his tricky Zanpakutō, already charged and ready. Unohana has him wrapped in a Reishi-mippuu so he does not faint, and Kenpachi has arrived with them.

From the banter being passed back and forth it is obvious that Yhwach recognizes Unohana and taunts her, only for it to backfire on him. As it causes her to smile benevolently, resulting in Yhwach being the one unnerved instead, being completely unaware of the character growth she had experienced in the long time between. She waives her hand at Kenpachi, "I am sorry to disappoint you Yhwach-san, you see I am no longer the Kenpachi. He is."

A sharp splitting headache forces Sōsuke to close his eyes and dig the palms of his hands into them as Kenpachi enters Bankai. With half a mind he hears as Ichigo arrives and Yhwach is surprised when he discovers that Ichigo has somehow managed to have all four states of a soul as soul modifiers... and that he has no sway whatsoever over the fragment of Quincy in the boy.

Sōsuke hopes that the would be Emperor is terrified by the fact that a fragment of his own soul is no longer his own to command. With all of the talking going on it is no surprise to Sōsuke, seated on the ground, hunched over with his palms pressed into his eyes, that Yhwach once again runs out of time and is forced to retreat back into Silbern before he can cross blades with Ichigo, and having expended a considerable amount of power simply avoiding all of the attacks thrown at him by Kenpachi.

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4 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

Sōsuke can only listen with the rapidly building migraine pressing down on all of the nerves in his beleaguered head. He finds that he can't even lift it to see who's perspective he is watching. Through the haze of pain he listens as the Council of Souls meets and for all intents and purposes has a screaming match with the Central 46 who have rewritten the agreement they had settled on in regards to his punishment. Sōsuke is incredibly flattered, both that the Council of Souls, mostly comprised as it was of people he had thoroughly wronged, would go through such effort to see him pardoned; and that the Central 46 would give up even the illusion of Justice in order to prevent him from ever seeing the light of day again.

Given that he was only being subjected to these visions because he had been released from Muken he can only assume that the Council of Souls is the victor in the end. Countless words of anger, denial and outrage spring up as the ambassadors read the document the Central 46 had re-written in a rush while everyone else was fighting off the first Quincy Invasion. As far as Sōsuke can understand through the chaos, an addendum had been added that would make him a slave to Seireitei upon his release.

If this headache was their doing and not the very familiar ache of attempting to stretch beyond his means with the Complete Hypnosis, they were in for a very rude surprise.

"How dare you! To take that great man and turn him into an attack dog you only allow out of Muken at your own whim! Whats worse, you seem to be under the impression that we had an easy time repelling their first incursion and that he is not needed. We only had an easy time because he had made sure that we were prepared! You fools! He is absolutely necessary to our further success!"

Pained as he is, the outraged words of Hanatarō soothing in a way he never thought he would feel. To think that a man normally so meek, would dare to speak to the representative of the Central 46 in such a manner, and on Sōsuke's behalf no less. Nausea causes him to shiver, as everything moves around him blurring as he is taken further along.

He hears the whispers of relief in the halls of all of the Divisions of the Gotei 13, each one a remark on how afraid they had been when the sōtaichō had been defeated by Yhwach. But not killed with all of the backup he had received from the more powerful spirits that made up the Council of Souls. And apparently not even hurt badly enough to keep him down for more than an afternoon.

Call him a suspicious bastard, but Sōsuke wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that Orihime-chan was responsible for that particular miracle.

He can't tell for sure, because if she is there in the room, the leader of the Gotei 13 does not address her, speaking instead to who is probably Sasakibe-san, "Inform Urahara-kun that he is to speak to the Central 46 on my behalf. I do not have time to admonish them for their petulant self destructive actions."

Sōsuke chokes on the laugh that promises to send him into spasms of pain, what a surprising twist of events. It is then made apparent to him that Kisuke-san not only refrains from spitting in the face of whomever had the audacity to carry that order from Yamamoto to him, but that he had not carried through with it halfheartedly. Chills wrack his spine causing him to shiver, his head to throb in time with the movements, and his insides threaten to evacuate his body entirely. Unsurprisingly he misses most of what he is sure would have been Kisuke-san's grand entrance into the place that had once banished him without listening to a word he said.

A pained smile passes across his clammy face, tucked into the crook of his arm as he rested it upon his knees. He could literally hear the sinister smirk, and hat tilt, in the condescending lit to Kisuke's voice as he asks them, "May I inquire when you came to believe that you have the authority to dictate the actions of the Royal Guard?" He can only hear mumbles as the Central 46 is no doubt thrown off guard by this apparent non-sequitur.

"I only ask because 110 years ago when I was made aware of the requirements when my predecessor, Hikifune-taichō was made a member of that auspicious unit allowing me to take her place as the taichō of the 12th division. And as the soul to which I am referring is in possession of an Ōken, and thus has implicit permission to enter the Soul King's Palace, I can only infer that without the usual fanfare, the Soul King has seen fit to create another Guardsman in this tumultuous time. It is to our shame that they are currently imprisoned and consequently unable to receive the pleasure of kneeling at his feet to officially receive their new post. I offer to you, the confirmation of the presence of the prisoner's Ōken, verified in triplicate by myself, the SRDI, and Yamamoto-sōtaichō."

Sōsuke can practically hear the grumbling suspicion, but Kisuke-san must have done a decent job at looking innocent for once, as it is passed with a majority vote. His hands shake in relief, as he should hopefully be close to the end of these visions. He presses his eyes harder into the muscles of his arm trying to ease the pain. There is a rustle of clothing, Kisuke-san bowing, and then a collective sharp in-drawn breath as the blond genius likely glances up at them with a sharp smirk, and sharper eyes no longer hidden by the hat, fan, or assassin's blank face he had likely been using to conceal the emotion.

The nobles of the Central 46 must realize that they had been had as Kisuke-san clearly teases them, secure in the knowledge that they no longer held the power to even banish him again, "Now that I have your permission, I will release the prisoner myself. Aizomeya Ito san, if you would please provide me with the full set of keys to Aizen Sōsuke-san's prison I would be grateful. I have no desire to spend the 20 odd minutes or so it would take to unravel them from scratch. Time is of the essence as it is likely that Yhwach will attack once more tomorrow."

Sōsuke is a ball of agony now, the splitting pain from the headache right behind his eyes, the overwhelming nausea, and now a twitch inducing ache in his jaw even though he is not clenching it. His breath comes out in a pant. Perhaps if he was not so miserable he might have been prepared enough to look up and determine what it was that Kyō-kun had intended for him to see in this moment. Carrying on into intense silence as it had with the former Onmitsukidō and his nearly perfect silent footsteps as he walked away from the chambers without a word further. But the moment is lost, swept away in the chaos of it all.

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4 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

It is a large crowd of people that are waiting for Kisuke when he arrives outside the gates to Muken. Their number and diversity a testament to just how charismatic Sōsuke was. To think that 82% of the souls gathered here had been directly wronged and manipulated by him, and yet here they were, standing in his defense.

Kisuke keeps his expression blank, as he uses the keys granted to him by Aizomeya-sama to summon the imprisoned man up from the dark depths. He is understandably alarmed when he takes in the ashen pallor of Sōsuke's face, his shocking swath of long white hair, and single uncovered red eye. The hue a flattering albeit alarming match to the tatters of his prismatic red shihakushō. Carefully, he moves over to the bound man, further alarmed by how poorly he seems to be tracking the movements of everyone gathered to see him released. Carefully, so as not to startle him, the blond undoes the seals binding him directly to the pure Sekkiseki chair.

Sōsuke stagger's groggily to his feet. Now deeply concerned, he waives everyone back who had jumped forward to try to help Sōsuke stand. "No! Stay back! He's not aware of what is happening!" Upset, and none more so that Orihime-chan, they dither as the sealed man stumbles a bit before he rights himself, falling still as he appears to loose himself looking around at all the damage done to Seireitei.

In spite of how ill his Go partner appears to be Kisuke still somehow expects a snide remark, or perhaps a simple I told you so, and is unnerved when Sōsuke just stares out at it all without a single expression on his face to reveal what he thinks of the devastation. Suddenly the bodysuit seal he was wearing ruptures before Kisuke feels safe removing the seal. As the tatters of the seal fall like tiny black wraiths at his feet, his oddly red Shihakushō regenerates around his form, falling in elegant simplicity like the worlds least flashy magical girl transformation.

Kisuke's eyes widen in surprise under the shaded brim of his hat, and there are gasps of alarm, as the moment that the kimono finishes forming, Sōsuke's eyes roll back in his head and he falls backwards, completely unconscious. Those gathered move forward, only to be halted once more, not by the shocked, still Kisuke, but by what the genius can only assume is the zanpakutō spirit Kyōka Suigetsu. The black haired and purple eyed feminine man holds a hand up as he flickers into being between them and Sōsuke. "Do not touch him, you will die and he will feel endlessly guilty about it when he awakens." The spirit turns to the red haired girl, "Orihime-chan, we need to get my physical manifestation here as quickly as possible." The girl only nods sharply before turning to the green eyed Arrancar at her side. The two disappear in a blur of Sonido leaving the rest of them behind to stare in surprise at the manifested spirit.

It was rare enough for a Shinigami to see their own spirit outside of their inner world. To have the spirit appear before them, was an intensely intimate scenario. No matter how different things were for Sōsuke and Kyōka Suigetsu with their Complete Hypnosis, the fact that the spirit allowed them to see it even through the twisting of their senses was curious... and humbling. The purple eyed spirit looks at them haughtily, and cold, "As you have no doubt surmised I am Kyōka Suigetsu, the Zanpakutō Spirit of Aizen Sōsuke. And as proof... I offer you this."

Kisuke sways on his feet thrown off balance as the world around them seems to dissolve leaving them standing in the center of an infinitely vast lake that reflects nothing but the blue sky above. He can smell the moisture in the air, and feel it wet his feet as the ripples from the others tripping and splashing into the water cause form and reach him. The vision ends just as quickly as it began leaving them all in their new poses back where they started. Completely ignoring their surprise, the plum colored lips of the spirit press together in a small show of pain before it continues, "I have sent Orihime-chan to get my blade, as there has been an unfortunate bad reaction between myself, the Complete Hypnosis, the void space of Muken and it's dimensional barrier."

The spirit waves an elegant hand towards where Sōsuke is alarmingly dissolving the ground where his bare skin touches it. His head is already tilted unusually far back as his shihakushō seems to slow the rate at which those parts of his body breakdown the Reishi of the ground. "Sōkyoku's rule.", Kisuke mumbles, causing everyone to look over at him. "For those of you who are not aware Sōkyoku's rule is actually a set of observations made by the shinigami who originally created the execution blade. The first was that if the spiritual pressure of the blade had a high enough in intensity relative to it's victim, it could literally dissolve a soul by shake apart the Reishi that made up their body. This phenomenon led to a second observation. If the Reiatsu and subsequent Reiryoku of the zanpakutō was over two orders of magnitude more powerful than the Shinigami observing it, then they could not feel the pressure of it at all. Inversely... if the opposite was true and the observer was over two orders of magnitude stronger than the zanpakutō, they could not feel it in turn. This phenomenon is why we don't have weak souls in the living world keeling over every time Ichigo walks with in a few feet of them. "

It is with all eyes turned to stare at him in awe, as his body corrodes the very ground that served as the foundation for Seireitei, that Orihime arrived with the zanpakutō, carrying it in her arms like a precious treasure, Ulquiorra gently setting her down on her feet. With reverence she walks over to the zanpakutō spirit and passes it on. With a grateful bow he accepts it before moving over to his unconscious Shinigami and laying the blade upon his chest. With a relieved sigh, he feels as his physical form, and the Complete Hypnosis fall quiescent. Allowing the Sōsuke to move from unconscious victim of his own abilities, to a deep recovering slumber. With a last glance over his shoulder before he disappears back into Sōsuke's inner world he reminds them, "It will take him some time to recover from his ordeal, do remember not to touch him until he can awaken and restore the Kaidō he uses to keep you all safe from his touch."

With the presence of Kyōka Suigetsu laid across his chest, absorbing as much of his Reiatsu as it safely can, the parts of Sōsuke's body covered by his red shihakushō halt completely in their dissolution of the ground, though the uncovered portions of his skin are left to interact, until a point is finally reached where the uncovered limbs hang awkwardly as if Aizen Sōsuke was laid out on an earthen alter, chest offered up as a sacrifice to some idea greater than his own power.

Kyōka Suigetsu exits Shikai to prevent his shinigami from suffering any further. Sealing himself down into complete quiescence for the first time after Sōsuke had received his Ōken. If there is anything important that happens before he next awakens Sōsuke remains unaware of it.

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3 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

At high noon the next day the Wandenreich made their next attempt to conquer Seireitei. Aizen Sōsuke was still deeply asleep and unmovable in the courtyard just outside of Muken, and one by two by three those that wanted to stay and watch over him were forced into battle as it came time for their parts in the battle strategy Urahara had come up with. The last to go is Orihime, desperately wishing she could at least hold his hand once before she goes, she can only whisper, "No matter how many times we part, we will always say hello one more time than we will ever say goodbye."

The invaders find a much different crowd than they had encountered the day before. Only the Shinigami appeared to be there to fight them, though it did seem as if a new fire had breathed life into their will to win. They could not know that the defeat of the sōtaichō the day before had not cowed the shinigami, but instead brought them to the realization that they could not expect the taichō of the Gotei 13 to carry the weight of all of Seireitei in this war. Each enemy Quincy they defeated was one that the stronger souls would not have to fight on their way to take down Yhwach.

The Quincy could not know that with Yamamoto's defeat staring him in the face as he was brought back to life by a girl he had once written off as a traitor, he had bowed his ancient head to the Council of Souls and stepped down as the General; stating that with the Yhwach's awareness of his tactics from the last war between them, he was ill-suited to formulate a plan to deal with their attack tomorrow. The Quincy and their emperor Yhwach could not know that they faced a far more different opponent, or if they did, they likely assumed it to be the other soul argued to be the most powerful in all of Seireitei and Hueco Mundo, unaware that the former tyrant remained deeply asleep even as they began their attack. No, they faced a far more dangerous opponent, the only man Aizen Sōsuke feared, Urahara Kisuke.

Once again Yhwach finds himself facing Yamamoto in battle, he is far less eager to draw blood this time, as he arrogantly assumes that the old man is on his last legs, merely holding himself upright out of a need to save face before his subordinates. He had dealt the sōtaichō what he thought was a deathblow last time, and could not conceive of the idea that his old enemy was if anything in a better condition to fight than he had been in years.

Glancing around in amusement Yhwach comments, "It appears that your allies have abandoned you. But for the King of Hueco Mundo I see none of the Visored, or Arrancar that carried you to victory the day before. What a pity. I had hoped that you at least would pose a bit of a challenge as I took my rightful place as Emperor. With such a poor showing I don't see how you possibly can. I must uphold my own prophecy you see, it must take me 9 days to conquer the worlds. I even aligned the time between all of the connected dimensions just for these 9 days so that no one could argue about my timing."

With a much put upon sigh he turns to his second in command, the blond kneeling silently at his feet, "As much as it pains me to do so, with how little of a threat is placed against us we will have to put off shattering the seal that keeps us from My Palace. Indeed they are making it so easy on us that they even sent the King of Hueco Mundo here to spare us the indignity of setting foot in their accursed dimension." With dismissive eyes he stares blandly at Nelliel and the proud hot pink zero painted on her cheek just below the stripe that stretched across her face as she comes to stand next to Yamamoto.

Yhwach finds himself almost dissapointed at how quiet the sōtaichō is being. "What a disappointment. Yamamoto, you were such a brilliant and ruthless tactician during our last war and look at you now. Your mind now so feeble that you bring my objectives all together at the same spot, don't think that I haven't realized that to conquer the human world I only need to defeat one teenage boy to ensure that not a single soul can stand up to me; nor that you have him fighting my Wandenreich so conveniently close to me. Do not even pretend that you remain a threat enough to prevent me from taking those actions. You're such a pathetic old man now, your hands are shaking as they strain to hold you up, leaning heavily on the sealed form of a weapon you once used to wipe out entire armies of mine a millennia ago."

Yhwach's only warning that things are not going according to his plan is Yamamoto's reply to his arrogant words, "Fool, my hands are shaking because I am meant to distract you with your monologueing for as long as possible. You see, it is not my plan we are following, but someone else's, and they clearly have your measure." His grip tightens on his weapon for a moment before the old man sighs, anger and pride only a little soothed by the surprised look on Yhwach's face, "Nelliel, if you would give the signal."

Jugram launches to his feet, firing an arrow at her, only to stare in shock as she bends a bit, opens her mouth and swallows the arrow that would have otherwise pierced her heart. Moments later her mask glows ominously before she spits the attack right back out at them, Quincy purification arrow laced explosively with a Hollow's Cero. The explosion is tremendous, kicking up enough dust to leave the two Quincy blind as well as deafened by the sound. The two remain tense and ready for an attack that... simply never comes. When the dust settles the two of them are standing alone.

Yhwach wastes even more of the time he could safely stay outside of Silbern without the dimension collapsing without him there to support it simply staring at the place Yamamoto had once stood. The Wandenreich that had been fighting the shinigami around him were all dead on the ground, their throats slit or simply dissolving away the only hint as to their means of death a butterfly shaped mark on their exposed skin.

Just as he begins to fall into an apocalyptic rage, the second part of the plan begins as the air is inundated with toxic Hollow Reiatsu. All of the people who's absence Yhwach had remarked upon were gathered around the circumference of Seireitei, just inside it's Sekkiseki walls. The moment that the last Shinigami arrived, the Visored, the entirety of Hueco Mundo's army sans it's Cero Espada expelled their Reiatsu as quickly as they could. That Reiatsu was then brought under control by the Fullbringer and a smattering of others and then used it in a way that could have only been inspired by Aizen Sōsuke.

The Fullbringer with their ability to control the Reiatsu of others had been given a crash course on Reishi-mippuu and were using Hollow Reiatsu to create a massive envelope over the whole of Seireitei. Supporting them was every Shinigami that knew how to use the technique and could be spared. Between them all they began to do something they had always been told not to do, creating constructive interference with the Quincy trapped within. Every last soul in Seireitei stood at its edges, the peasants and nobles that had once filled its streets had all been evacuated into the four 1st districts. The Sekkiseki walls that once served to keep others out, now served to keep the crushing Reiatsu of those fighting inside. Their only protection now, the very ones that had been banished before, The Dark Ones.

In a matter of moments it becomes a battle unlike any the Quincy have ever fought before. It is a battle of control as those trapped inside try to prevent the Reishi barrier from forming as those outside strive for the opposite. Unprepared, and never having been forced to work together, the Quincy were loosing, quickly. By the time that Yhwach comes back to himself, his Wandenreich is decimated and only his elite Sternritter remain. Though not for long if he does nothing.

With a snarl of rage he remotely activates the Quincy: Vollständig. The new energy level allows the Quincy to finally break the Reishi-mippuu. But they remain surrounded and the moment the barrier drops they are bombarded by thousands of Kidō, and long range zanpakutō skills, as those that were not participating let loose. The bombardment quickly intensifies as those who were responsible for creating the barrier recover and add to the barrage.

And then the situation only worsens as he feels a previously hidden enemy reveal themselves. It is with a sharp twist of fury and amusement Yhwach calls for his Sternritter to retreat back across the Schism and into Silbern. It had been a good strategy, but it had bought them nothing more than a few hours time. The would be back again tomorrow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke chokes on is first breath as he awakens, startled out of his slumber by the chaos of Reiatsu that almost tangibly pressed down on him. The vexing tickle of a touch close enough to ruffle the fine hairs on the back of your neck, but not quite meeting skin. Ungainly he struggles to his feet, holding his zanpakutō tightly to his chest.

With a deep breath he brings himself to order. The first order of business is reforming his Reishi-mippuu. No longer struggling to stop him from dissolving into the center of gravity of The Soul Society, The Dreaming Kami was now free to heal the damage done to his body from the high intensity and prolonged Complete Hypnosis. With a wicked smile, Sōsuke draws his zanpakutō from its sheath, holding it vertically before himself, "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Late evening, 3 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

The night was quiet, at least as quiet as it could be with the unranked Shinigami and Hueco Mundo army grunts cleaning the streets of debris so they would have a clear place to fight tomorrow, while the seated officers, fukutaichō, and army lieutenants, made sure that all of the injured were returned safely to the 4th division. The taichō were also busy, gathered in the Embassy with the Council of Souls, and the majority of those they represented. Suì-Fēng was doubling as both the taichō of the 2nd division and the leader of the Onmitsukidō. The Grand Kidō chief of the Kidō corps was also in attendance, a young Magatama noble who was very clearly out of his depth.

Kisuke stifles a yawn behind his fan. It was quite the auspicious gathering, he was only mildly surprised that the Central 46 had not sent a representative of their own, or simply demanded that the whole gathering come to them. In the end he was not surprised that instead of doing the smart thing, they had instead cloistered themselves in their underground gathering area making noises about trickery and justice. Clearly they were more upset over the fact that according to the documentation they had signed, Aizen Sōsuke was now free and clear of all of the allegations against him, even the ones that he had honestly admitted to doing... in the name of saving them all of course.

He tips his hat down a little further deepening the shadows the brim cast over his eyes. He was tired, it had been a mad rush, to get so many resonance ribbons made to prevent the Quincy from stealing their Bankai. The day could have gone much worse, his mind drifts back to the events of early morning 4 days ago.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

A Fullbringer

(4 days ago) 7 Days left to Conquer the Worlds

Giriko Kutsuzawa was not a good man. He knew this and it brought him no shame, pride or pleasure. It was simply how he was. He faced it honestly and completely the moment he used his Fullbring for the first time. Making a contract with time to kill his wife right that minute. He lost his eye when he broke the contract, deciding not to have her die as she lay succumbing to death on their dining room floor. It was not remorse that had stayed his hand, it had simply been a test to determine the limits of this strange new power he found in his inherited pocket watch.

Unsurprisingly he was now divorced. Equally unsurprisingly, had Ginjo-kun not been half as charming as he was, it was likely that Giriko would have tried to see just how well it was, that his aptly named Fullbring : Time Tells No Lies, worked on other people who were not strictly human. Instead he found himself part of Xcution, and their dubious camaraderie. Truthfully he only found it so easy to endure the antics of such children because of how little they mattered to him.

When he was not puttering about their little base in Naruki city, he was out working. Turns out it was embarrassingly easy to be a high priced assassin when one could simply will another person to simply... run out of time. He had heard tales of Hueco Mundo from the strange half-hollow that came and invited Xcution to join the Council of Souls. Giriko had not cared either way really, whatever Ginjo-kun decided was fine by him... until he had stepped foot into the eternal desert... and breathed in.

That first breath had opened his eyes to what he had been missing. That tiny thrill he hadn't even known that he was missing when he saw his wife take that first tumble to the floor, grasping at her chest in the throes of a heart attack. His power was growing rapidly, each breath nourishing the power borne in him decades ago. When it had come time to go back to the world of the living he had found himself wholly unwilling to do so.

He had instead become the first Fullbringer to live permanently in Hueco Mundo, mostly still living body and all. He ate as the hollows did, not a single qualm against what was ultimately cannibalism. He has come to enjoy the solitude of wandering the desert, enjoying the peaceful violence of the eternal night.

It is no surprise then, that he is outside of the walls of Las Noches when the second group of Quincy arrive to investigate. He is idly considering the purpose of the petrified trees that dot the desert when his contemplations are interrupted by several military looking men in all white garb. He completely ignores what they say, pulling out his precious pocket watch as he considers instead the practicality of their chosen garments. True the white blended spectacularly well with the eternal desert, but if they were truly going for camouflage, the bright crayon colors of their hair completely negated the effect. And if the color was instead a stylistic choice, he wondered just how much bleach they went through to keep them so pristine... unless of course they were so ineffectual combatively that they had no reason to worry about blood stains?

He continues to completely ignore their monologue, not even bothering to take a defensive stance though, when they draw their weapons he is mildly interested for a moment to see that their bows form out of Reishi, but ultimately, he has already contracted their deaths with the god of time and they were just about... out. And because Giriko is not a good man, their leader is the last to perish, still shouting nonsense as he dies, falling upon the corpses of those he led to their ends.

Not a single one of them survives their encounter with time. He drags their bodies inside to feed his hosts, idly considering the amulet that their leader had pointed in his direction, shouting nonsense as he completely mistook Giriko for a Shinigami. Feeling generous he passes it along to Starrk, the representative to the Council of Souls.

It passes through several hands, until it fell into Urahara's later that afternoon. His only clue as to its purpose being the side note that a Quincy had said that its use would weaken him were he a shinigami... and one of Sōsuke's stories about the Quincy.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Present

In three days since, Kisuke had managed to decipher how it worked, theorize the means to prevent it from working were it directed at someone who was actually a Shinigami, synthesize the compound, weave it together into a fabric strong enough to resist the tug, while not restricting the Shinigami's ability to use their Bankai, and create enough of them that anyone with a truly dangerous Bankai to pass on to their enemies had one. He had quite literally, not slept a wink in the last two and a half days.

He wanted so badly to simply sleep right now, but even if he was not aware enough to process the information and plans darting across the table right now, he would at least have the information ready and waiting for him once he was a bit more alert. Thankfully his tendency to disappear in a crowded room was working in his favor and no one was asking him any questions. His eyes glance off to his right, where Sōsuke sits like a king, vindicated and actively engaged in the conversation.

From the jaw dropped expressions that occasionally pass across most everyone in the room, he can only assume that the retired tyrant is revealing the depths of his strategic mind. With a sharp pang he deeply wishes he could experience it first hand. But his mind is a haze of incomplete thoughts, yearning for something soft and fluffy to rest his head on, and a soft pride that he was for all intents and purposes responsible for not a single person on their side being injured today.

With a sigh of surrender, he lays his head down on the table before him, further tilting his hat to block out the light. Just as the brim begins to block the meeting from his sight, as always he is forced to accept that no matter how invisible he becomes, sinking deep into his skills as the ghost of the Onmitsukidō, one man never forgets his presence. "Sleep properly Kisuke-san, I will bring you up to date when you awaken. You will be little use to us if you can't turn your head in the morning because you slept like that. "

Bleary eyed he stumbles out of the room to the couch that graced the waiting room. He drifts into slumber as Sōsuke's voice caries through the open doors, his words, "If it comes to that I will use my Bankai. Suì-Fēng-san, your signal that I am doing so will be lotus flowers, please remove as many Sternritter as you can... the rest of you I will notify through the Complete Hypnosis. If Yhwach wishes a spectacle to be made, we will make one for him on our terms, not his...", not even enough to rouse his curiosity enough to keep him from his sleep.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

2 Days Left to Conquer the Worlds

The streets of Seireitei are awash with multifaceted colors and flavors of Reiatsu as everyone gathers. No matter what Yhwach thinks, today is the last day he will be fighting. Orders are passed down from those who had gathered so late at night at the Embassy. With none of the disdain or fear that would have plagued them before, the combat units assembled, one shinigami, one Arrancar, and one of the other races where they could spared. Each group matched by their Reiatsu levels. Unlike the segregated groups the Quincy had fought during their first incursion, or the trap of the second it was a far different army it was up against this time. One that had them greatly outnumbered. Yhwach was down to himself and his Sternritter, 26 Quincy against the combined armies of the Gotei 13, Onmitsukidō, Kidō Corps, Hueco Mundo, and the members of the Council of Souls who numbered too few to be considered a military force themselves.

As they make their way through the crowds to their teams Orihime almost laughs when she hears Ishida-kun mumble under his breath, "This plan seems terribly convoluted, was that really the best we could do? A single mistake and it will all come crashing down around our ears!", only for Momo-chan to quip back, "If you must know it's Sōsuke-san's plan. One which the whole Council of Souls found to be compelling enough to use."

As she waives goodbye to her friends and heads over to where Sōsuke-nii is radiating Reiatsu like a tiny fallen star, she wonders if she is the only one who knows... what it will cost him if he is forced to use his Bankai... and she desperately wishes that she could convince herself that everything would turn out all right... but this batch of Central 46 didn't appear to be any better than the ones who were so mean to Urahara-san, jumping to conclusions and sentencing with only the thinnest veneer of proof.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Uryū considers his current location and what it means, and not necessarily his physical presence in the Barracks of the 11th division. He had hated him, hated Kurosaki for much of their schooling, first it had been for the simple reason that he looked and acted like a delinquent but still managed to fight him for the top rankings in their classes. Then he discovered that Kurosaki had become a shinigami and thought to himself, Ah, so this is why I hate him... only to discover that the orange haired boy was so unshakable and noble in his beliefs that Uryū could easily find himself admiring the other boy if only he did not hate him a little bit more, for being strong enough to stand by his decisions when so many of Uryū's had been taken out of his hands.

Then they had discovered that Kurosaki was no simple Shinigami and was instead tainted and corrupted with a hollow in his soul making him a Visored. He had then thought the same thing once more, that this was why he continually found himself hating the other... never stopping to wonder why the thought of Kurosaki struggling against his inner hollow and occasionally loosing, gave him such vindictive pleasure... even as he remained comfortable in Kurosaki's presence regardless of how much of the hollow was showing, sure in the knowledge that no matter how difficult the Visored found it to restrain his inner white menace, he would always win.

In the aftermath of the Hell incursion with its surprising revelation, that Kurosaki was in fact the ultimate mutt, being hollow /human /Quincy /shinigami all at once... Uryū had felt so much rage and betrayal that it had shaken him. Had forced him to consider what it was about being a Quincy as well, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

After all, it was only Kurosaki that made him hate, when Orihime-chan, or Sado-kun gained more strength or revealed new abilities he was only glad that they were coming into their own. When Sado-kun had admitted he was a member of Xcution, revealing that as a full bringer he also had a little bit of hollow in him, Uryū had no problems with him.

Not even that first time that Orihime-chan managed to defeat Uryū in a spar, prompting her to reveal that she was now training with Aizen of all people. You know the man who kidnapped her? Even that reveal had only made him huff in exasperation, ask her if she was sure that her feelings were not the result of some strange Kidō or worse, Stockholm syndrome.

Yesterday he had been approached by a Quincy. Granted the man had been the ghost of a Quincy and not a living breathing one, and he had spoken all of the words that Uryū had so desperately wanted to hear, speaking of the Quincy massacre of 200 years ago as if he had been there personally.

It turned out that he had, he had even been the one who mastermind using a mudslide and lacing it with Reishi to drown and kill the Shinigami. The man had grinned when he spoke of the Shinigami struggling their way out of the muck and how he had used his arrows to obliterate their souls so that no matter how many times he reincarnated, he would never have to look at them again.

It had shaken the foundations of his belief system. He had heard stories of the massacre from his grandfather and his grandfather's disciples. They had always filled his mind with red gory scenes, looking like a mixture of Renaissance paintings of hell, and photographs of Nazis coming to take the Jews to concentration camps.

Just moments after the man offered to take him to Silbern, to speak with other souls who had endured the Quincy massacre he had been forced to face the terrible, embarrassing truth. Aside from that one instance, when they were forcibly removed from the world of the living, the Quincy had been treated no differently than any other soul by the Shinigami. Granted the Shinigami of that time had treated any soul not a member of their group like shit. The so called Quincy massacre was not an act of hatred, only one of brutal practicality. Suddenly it was easy, too easy to see the parallels.

Because the Quincy destroyedsouls, and while it was intrinsically easy, to declare good riddance when you destroyed a hollow... it was another matter entirely to destroy the souls of the ones the hollows had eaten. It was wrong, to punish the victim for being victimized. So even if it was equally as easy to paint the shinigami in the same light as the hollows, eradicating the shinigami was no different than punishing the souls who would be trapped as wandering ghosts in the world of the living, with no chance to become anything but hollows destined to be destroyed into nothing.

Kurosaki had interrupted before Uryū could formulate a response, Orihime-chan, Sado-san sneaking along behind him. None of the other three ever realized that there had been someone else there, given his poor soul sensing abilities Kurosaki likely hadn't even noticed their friends following him, though he was awkwardly bashful when he gritted his teeth, told Uryū about what had happened to his blood during a fight with a Sternritter, that Urahara-san said it was a Quincy ability and then squared his shoulders and asked Uryū to show him how to use his newly awakened Quincy powers.

He had waited for a moment, for the familiar feelings of anger and hatred to rise up only to find himself experiencing only a calm patience, as if he had simply been waiting for Kurosaki to ask ever since they found out about his mother. That was when he realized that he had never hated Kurosaki, he had hated himself, and chosen to use Kurosaki as his whipping boy. Because of all of the things Uryū might have expected to share in common with Aizen Sōsuke... loving Orihime-chan was not one of them.

It was a terrible way to realize you loved someone romantically. Particularly since the whole reason for his anger was because she would likely never be emotionally available to him. She had made her choice clear to pretty much everyone years ago and just when everyone assumed that she was willing to wait forever, along comes the emo Arrancar and sweeps her off her feet by laying everything on the table.

It was only after Kurosaki bowed his head and said that he wished he had more of his mother in him that Uryū allowed himself to stop his silent treatment and relent. All of his anger evaporating like dew in the morning sun. Holding onto it was a hopeless, pointless endeavor. Though it hurt a little bit, he also relinquished any hope he had of gaining Orihime-chan's affections for himself as well. Truthfully he was almost relieved. If it had torn him up this much, just loving her without realizing it, what more would it have done to him if he had dared to pursue it with the stalwart hero Kurosaki, and the misunderstood rouge Ulquiorra as competition for the fair maiden's hand?

So now he was here in his current position, still without giving his answer to the recruiter that had come by, but wholly dedicated to his Nakama. Still in love with Orihime-chan, with no idea if that feeling will grow or fade now that it has been dragged into the light, but with no desire to attempt to actualize it, as if the act of being in love, this quiet pining was worth more than what he would get even if he did manage to surpass Kurosaki and Ulquiorra and win her devoted affection. Still, with a strong dislike for the Shinigami and their high handed way of doing things, but with one as his Quincy apprentice. One who had, in typical fashion mastered an ability overnight that had taken him years to perfect.

He was the one that everyone was relying on, because Aizen Sōsuke said that it would be him that decided their fates in the end.

No pressure.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

2 Days Left to Conquer the Worlds

Seireitei went still as four pillars of light shot up from the ground in a perfect frame around the ancient citadel that had sheltered the ancient and powerful souls that resided there within its Sekkiseki barriers. And then, like a great leviathan stirring in the depths, the moment the silver gates opened, their light stark against the early morning darkness, the city erupted in waves of Reiatsu.

The first phase of the plan began. At all costs, they were to prevent the Quincy from closing the gates to Silbern that lurked in the shadows of Seireitei. The Quincy would not be allowed to retreat and attack at their leisure. If the Taichō of the Gotei 13 and all of their new comrades in the Council of Souls wished to engage in battle at the furthest expressions of their power, they could not do so in Seireitei proper where most, if not all of the fighters could completely evaporate the weaker souls they were supposed to be protecting. They could not simply keep the souls out of Seireitei either, already the ancient stone walls were buckling, Sekkiseki abused to its limit from the previous two days of exposure, and massive chunks torn from the walls from stray attacks. It would only take a little more stress to bring the wall down and flood the 1st districts with lethal amounts of Reiatsu. So, they needed another plan, one which Sōsuke had provided.

Ichigo grips Zangetsu tightly, dashing forward with his quickest shunpo, one laced with the threads of Sonido from his hollow- zanpakutō Spirit, and Reishi from his Quincy spirit's high speed moving technique hirenkyaku. Even with his poor spirit sensing abilities he can feel as Kenpachi cuts loose and starts running for another of the pillar like doors. He was so fucking glad that he had managed to avoid having another fight with that guy. He was crazy hard to fight the first time, now that he had his own Bankai he was a damn beast.

He can't feel Aizen, Starrk, Mashiro, Yoruichi or Ulquiorra. He can only assume that they are tracking him and Kenpachi and going to the other pillars of light. 7 people with incredible speed, chosen to haul ass to the open portals and keep them open by any means necessary. At first he had wondered why they needed 7 people when there were only going to be four portals, but he guessed that there really was no telling where the Quincy would open them up so having everyone spread out made sure that there was a good chance that at least someone was near by.

His jaw clenches into his most serious and focused expression as he arrives at his destination, Zangetsu drawn. The long blade of his inner hollow in one hand, and the wickedly twisted knife of old man Zangetsu in his other. Each as ready as the other to kick ass and take names. And it looked like the first name on the list was going to be Bambietta Basterbine, she of the exploding powers if what Aizen said was still correct. Great... this was gonna be a blast.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kenpachi was the happiest he had been in centuries. The blood and gore of his enemy stained his body and fell in hot meaty chunks around him. He glances over to his left where his little bloodthirsty angel Yachiru was bouncing around in her Shikai. Seeing him watching she smiles at him sweet as the candy she devoured, even as blood flowed down her cheek, "Go have fun at our friends house Ken-chan! I'll stay here and make sure no one comes and breaks the door!" As he passes by and into the silver dimensional door, he ruffles her hair, leaving a bloody smear against the pink strands. The two grin at each other and off he goes.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Across the city, Yoruichi and Mashiro arrive to back up Ichigo who also goes through his own portal only to be forced to duck instantly as Kenpachi almost kills him. Ichigo shrieks at him in indignation, realizing pretty quickly that even though the portals are far apart in Seireitei they were only a short distance apart here on the other side. Silbern was an awfully small dimension in relation to Seireitei, which was in turn small in comparison to the districts that surrounded it.

He pokes his head back out the gate and tells Yoruichi, "Gotcha, I'll pass that on." As he goes to pull his head back in Uryū drolly asks Ichigo, "Do stop leaving your Nakama behind, you know you won't survive with out them. As for myself,", he pushes up his glasses, "I would hate for all of my hard work to go to waste before my apprentice can make something of himself."

Ichigo snorts at Ishida's snotty little retort. Feeling much more confident now with Ishida, Inoue and Chado at his back he heads back in, and if he leads them the opposite direction they can feel Kenpachi fighting, no one comments.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke is serving as the anchor. Even if all of the others fail, his only job is to remain here at this pillar and ensure that no matter what it remains open so that everyone can leave once Yhwach is defeated. He is the only one who knows that he is not guarding the pillar alone. He makes eye-contact with a steel eyed Kisuke moving through the shadows, quietly removing opposition before it can do much opposing while Sōsuke draws the attention of pretty much all of the Quincy in the area, each as eager as the next to use their Bankai stealing medallions on him, once they see that he does not have one of Kisuke's pretty, pretty ribbons. Sōsuke secretly wonders if Kisuke wasn't involving himself in a little Final Fantasy crossover joke at their expense.

If it were not for the sheer numbers that he faced he would be a bit embarrassed to be the last one to actually go through the portals, Kenpachi-san, Ichigo-kun, Coyote and Ulquiorra all having gone through one each. As he fights he feels the deadly mixture of Arrancar, Fullbringer, Dark Ones and Visored reach the other portals, backup for those who had gone before them.

The balance of worlds tips precariously, an almost tangible sensation underneath his feet as nearly all of the most powerful souls in all three realms leave through the pillar gates and invade Silbern. The tiny dimension was connected to Seireitei's shadow to be sure, but it was still emancipated. Any soul that entered was no longer counted in Soul Society's favor. Sōsuke grips the hilt of Kyōka Suigetsu tight and steps through as well. He as the Visored, Kisuke as the Shinigami of their two man team. A silent prayer for the safety of Ukitake who still remained in his heart as a father figure and remained behind in Seireitei to perform the most vital of tasks.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The balance of worlds was ruined. It had been barely bothered during the first forays the Quincy made out of their domain to assess Hueco Mundo. Those that had been sent had mostly been members of the Wandenreich, no the first signs of destabilization had come when those that had been in hiding in the Rukongai had been called to Silbern, lowering the spiritual mass of Seireitei. Like a three armed scale the one that represented Soul Society began to rise, being so much lighter than the others. Perhaps if the Quincy had managed to find Las Noches, the decrease in spiritual mass of the hollow dimension would have prevented them from noticing the sizable loss of their own, and instead attributed the sudden heaviness of the living world to Ichigo-kun and his meteoric rise to power.

The destabilization was sent into chaos with their first incursion into Seireitei, 26 powerful souls including that of the Soul King's son as well as several hundred weaker souls, the influx of spiritual mass from Seireitei's allies on the Council of Souls, and the sharp dip when the Quincy retreated all at once. Day after day the process repeated, causing the scales to bounce, rising and dipping with the shifting in mass. The wobbling of a scale when its balance has been changed too sharply. It wouldn't take much more before Yhwach got exactly what he wanted regardless of if he was Emperor or not. All it would take would be for the oscillations in the relative spiritual mass of each dimension to cause a reflexive shift in the balance of worlds without a change in mass. The wobbling scale becoming stuck in its own hinges the weight settling unevenly across its fulcrum, pulling it off balance until it comes tumbling down, to lay on its side upon the floor, no longer capable of balancing anything.

All of the dimensions crashing into one another, the gravity which once held them apart on their strings now laying them upon one another. The living among the dead among the hollows. The mad cacophony subservient to the Quincy who became the only ones with the ability to kill.

Jūshirō was not about to allow that to happen. Not when it was well within his ability to do so. Not when it had been made painfully apparent that there was so little of the current system and it's king worth saving. No, the only thing that mattered were its people, the ones who were trying to make something of the world they lived in, not the ones who had used the system to get everything they wanted without paying anything for it. He slowly sinks into his seat. Heavy cushions upon the floor of his heavily damaged retreat. Ugendō quarters had seen better days, but if he was to do this, there was no other place he would pick for his ascension.

"Mimihagi, the right hand of the Soul King, The Stagnation. The left hand of the soul king and his heart have chosen to destroy the rest of themselves which remains in the Palace. They are destroying the balance of worlds. We must take up the role required of us in this time of chaos, we must hold the balance ourselves. We are The Stagnation while we cannot prevent the balance from shifting further, we can most certainly prevent it from faltering further."

He closes his green eyes with a peaceful sigh. He had always known that one day he would end up in this position. It had only been a matter of time. "Mimihagi, open your hand and hold the worlds in the palm of your hand." Black inky magic spreads across his skin as Jūshirō Ukitake awakens the entity he had shared his body with for over a thousand years, supplanting his personality and sending him into a deep sleep in the confines of his own body. The aspect of the Soul King now the possessor of the form that was once his.

Mimihagi checks the balance of souls, Mimihagi then checks upon his twin and mirror image, the left hand of the Soul King, The Evolution, and finds that it is as his priest has said. The other has always been a source of chaos, but this was taking it too far. The Evolution had forsaken its name Hidahagi and taken up a Quincy name. It no longer deserved to govern progression.

Before making his judgment known, Mimihagi checks upon the heart of the Soul King. It governed the balance and was at its fundamental level the god's ability to grant the prayers of his supplicants. He finds that the heart has also forsaken its name. By choosing to cast aside the definition that defined it, it clearly chose to disassociate itself from the domain The Soul Society, in favor of having a soul of its own.

Mimihagi checks on the rest of the Soul King, only to find that nothing but a husk remains. All the power and authority once contained within it, gone. All three domain ships were on standby waiting for some pre-programmed signal. Mimihagi is silent for a long moment, before with a gentle touch, it causes the husk to collapse, accepting the authority, and its backlog of errors. "Priest, I will hold the world steady. I will subsume back beneath your skin. Seek out the aberrant fractions of the Soul King and slay them, they no longer serve any purpose but their own."

Jūshirō awakens as if from a deep sleep, the words of his Kami ringing in his ears. He rises from his seat grateful that he had been spared. The right hand of the Soul King could just as easily have chosen to re-conjure the Soul King inside Jūshirō's body, fulfilling the bargain that had been made in his youth.

He shudders as he feels hundreds of Arrancar pour out of a Garganta into the heart of Seireitei, the full force of the armies of Hueco Mundo, only to immediately disappear into Silbern. My but he was glad they were on their side.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

In the palace of the Soul King, that dimension held separate and yet in sync with Seireitei, the administrative section of The Soul Society fell into chaos. The Soul King, who had fallen into a deep sleep, secure in his crystal prism so long ago no one remembered when the last time he woke was... as The Primary Operator for the domain of soul, who single-handedly held The Soul Society, The Hell Verse, and El Hueco Mundo... simply crumpled to dust, the husk of a seed no longer needed... The Royal Guards panic, scouring the entirety of the palatial estate, enraged that a Quincy Assassin had managed to sneak into the Royal Palace, never knowing that there was no assassin, and that this too was all according to plan.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Once, a seed of eternity had fallen away from El Hueco Mundo. The fragment of the domain formed when it's first Primary Operator Magatsuhi was conjured into being and was released upon his death eons later. It had but a moment to float, adrift in the celestial ocean before it was recalled back into the dimensions that had created it. Because while seeds of eternity could not be forcibly rejoined to the domain they were separated from, they could be used for other things.

Tens of thousands of years before Yhwach was even a thought in his creators mind, the Soul King of The Soul Society, reached into the sea of Aether and grabbed the seed of eternity that had once been his counterpart. Perhaps it is nostalgia, perhaps it is loneliness, but he can't help but want to hold close the only thing that remained of his fallen counterpart outside of his memories. Though he was already the master of the domain, El Hueco Mundo, though the insane carcass of his counterpart still roamed the eternally changing desert, though it was not needed, the Soul King did not want to let go. And so, he did not.

His left hand closed tightly around the seed of eternity, and by the power invested in him as the only Soul Kami with authority in this dimension, he bound the seed of eternity to his left hand with a soul fragment plucked from a soul passing by his throne. Slowly a slit forms in the palm of his hand, opening like an eyelid revealing a single orb with two pupils.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Suì-Fēng shudders as everyone disappears as if they had never existed, the echoes of their Reiatsu empty and distorted as they decay off into nothing, only to have their spaces filled with the Espada and their private armies. Then they too disappear into nothing as they move on to Silbern. She shakes her head and continues with her part of the plan, Suzumebachi assassinating yet another foolish Quincy. This, this was what she was made for, not loud noises, flashy Kidō and lip flapping. Just plain old honest assassination. In and out in seconds, her targets barely feeling the first sting of Suzumebachi before the second took their lives.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kenpachi laughs maniacally as he is faced with Gerard Valkyrie, a shadow creeping along the ground behind him. "Hey Yachiru! I think I found us one!" A tall woman with her hair braided down her back steps forward, sword drawn, eyes sharper than any blade even as her smile remains perfectly benign. The two enjoy their fight against the giant and his miracles, but not even a miracle could save him from the first and last Kenpachi. He dies as he was born, just another heart ripped out of its cage of blood, flesh and bone.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Pernida Parnkgjas was the personification of the left arm of the Soul King, governing progression and enhancement, or evolution. It was ironic then, that the one who stood against him, was both the the product of a complex evolution, and yet sought to be less than it was, to turn back the hands of progress and devolve into something frailer, weaker... softer.

Lilynette speaks to the other half of her soul, "Coyote, you took that last guy yesterday, I'm going to take this one." The tall man simply nods, and the girl turns to shout at her shinigami teammate, "Hey Shunsui! I don't you dare hog this one!" The man simply tips his straw hat to her. With a vicious grin she holds her hand out to her counterpart, "Rustle em' up La Vaquera!" Stark disappears and reforms as a double barrel shotgun, and leaves her seated on the back of a massive pale white longhorn bull. Her resurrection form was a mirror reflection of his; pistols and wolves for Stark, shotgun and a herd of wild longhorn cattle for her. The Compulsory, the Quincy gift from Yhwach was useless. It could only take over the body of what it touched. Any summoned creature that was hit simply dissolved into nothing.

Any time Pernida attempted to close the distance between himself and his opponent they simply summoned more creatures, and escaped all the while firing their gun. Unfortunately for Pernida the two of them were long distance fighters, and capable of summoning endless hordes of assistant cattle or wolves. The Evolution, the power it had held since the Soul King gave it a soul, was useless as there was nothing left to eat once the summoned creatures died, nor was it helpful to create clones, as it would always be out numbered and halving its mass also halved its power. He dies, broken down into so many parts that he cannot find any cohesion even in his own thoughts, each individual clone transformed so far away from their origin, that even if he wanted to, Pernida could not pull himself together again. The tiny fragments perish in a sea of light, shotgun ceros wiping them from the earth.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke can see what is happening, so obvious it was almost tangible. The Quincy that dared to step forward to challenge him kept trying to lead him away from the gate he was supposed to guard. If he didn't know better he would almost assume that they were meant to make it seem as if Sōsuke were the pinnacle of all the beings gathered here to fight. One by one they approached him and declared their intent to defeat him, and that they were more powerful than whomever insignificant Quincy it was that Sōsuke had just finished executing. But why would Yhwach wish for such a thing... was he feeling deprived of the grand displays of power he had been hoping for when he fought with Yamamoto?

It is with a knowing smirk that he remains exactly where he started, much to the frustration of those who were trying so hard to lead him on a merry chase through Silbern and coerce him into using his Bankai. His patience pays off as not only does Yhwach come out from wherever he was hiding, but he also brings his second in command as well. That was good, he was worried that Kisuke-san wouldn't have anything to do except stand back and critique his form.

The blond Quincy strides forward with purpose, "Your Majesty, allow me to deal with the assassin." Sōsuke laughs, "Don't be hasty, Kisuke-san is perhaps the greatest mind I have ever faced, and science has no care for the whims of luck. There is a reason that I chose him as my shinigami partner for this battle."

It is an odd sort of beginning to a fight, what with three of the combatants being the type to prefer banter to drawn out combat. It is the blond Quincy that engages the blond shinigami first, drawing him from wordplay into swordplay and revealing the secrets of his gift, B – The Balance to the sharp watchful eyes of a curious Kisuke.

Sōsuke has a battle of an altogether different sort with Yhwach as the two of them watch Kisuke and Haschwalth fight. Trading insults and simply watching as they wait for a decent crowd to gather. Two similar souls, both unwilling to waste their energy on a fight without an audience to appreciate it, one with the patience of a man who had once been a Kami, and the other, a man who wished to be more than the Son of one. One of them was going to be dissapointed.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Nearly all of the remaining combatants stood at Sōsuke's gate. His allies had come in behind him, while another gate had been lost, inundated as it was by Sternritter, who had come together fleeing from their loosing battles in Seireitei. As Jugram begins to die, Yhwach huffs in disappointment, "I am ashamed to call you all my children. Not a single one of you standing here deserves to live, cowards who have fled back home with your tails tucked between your legs, and the one who stayed there dying like a dog at my feet unable to kill a single shinigami!" With a sneer, his mustache curling as his face contorts, he raises his hand to the sky, "Auswählen!". In a single flash of light, he ends the lives of all of his Sternritter, regardless of whether or not they were still able to fight. With the decimation of the Wandenreich the previous day, Yhwach was now the last Quincy that stood against them. Were it not for the fact that Sōsuke knew that he had consolidated his power, gathering it back into himself with his exchanged soul fragments, the action could be mistaken as an act of confidence.

Even before the last body hits the ground, the would be emperor raises his hand towards Sōsuke palm up, "Tell me Aizen Sōsuke, are you prepared to die for them? These pathetic creatures who are so far below you that the act of touching your skin would kill them if you did not smother yourself?"

He smirks viciously when he catches the double takes some of the watching souls make when Aizen says nothing. He never realizes that the ones who had been at Muken when he was released already knew about Sōsuke's true strength, even if no one had yet been able to measure it. "Did you not tell them Aizen? Did you not tell them that the only reason they could breathe in your presence was because you wear a Reishi-mippuu around yourself, not as armor to protect yourself, but to protect them?"

His enemy simply raises one shoulder negligently in a shrug, the picture of the causal grace of an indolent lord called out for something he felt no embarrassment or remorse over. "Seeing as I'm not an asshole about it, it has never come up." Yhwach sighs, looking equally put upon, and Sōsuke can't help but feel that his acting is better. "Is that truly your choice? A slow suffocation instead of service to the Emperor of the united realms of life, death and in between!" As he speaks the dark haired Quincy gradually increases his Reiatsu, section by section those gathered are forced to kneel, either by the pressure, or as they take a knee and use their own Reiatsu to create a lull at their backs, shielding those who would otherwise be crushed to death under the crescendo of power. On his last word his power spikes up even further, forcing those who had been shields to falter themselves, even as Yhwach's power passed beyond the sensing range of those who had first been kneeled.

Fortified as he is by the power stolen from all 25 of his Sternritter, many of whom had held and strengthened their borrowed soul fragments since the last war; the only souls still standing after his grandiose display are his old nemesis Yamamoto, Aizen and Yhwach himself... but time had changed many things, and it seemed that Yamamoto had truly lost his edge, the perspiration along his brow revealing how much effort he was putting into remaining on his feet. Yhwach offers his hand one last time, to allow Aizen to simply join him, even while his other prepares to strike the arrogant boy down with a single strike should he decline.

He had almost expected the instant denial he received last time he had made the offer, he is surprised when the only soul that was able to stand against him does not respond with much more than a considering hum, before beginning to walk forward towards Yhwach. The distance is closed between them slowly, well past the point a shinigami would normally draw their zanpakutō and call their release phrases.

When Aizen stood no more than twenty feet from Yhwach he withdrew the sheathed from of Kyōka Suigetsu completely from his obi. With a glare of defiance that was diametrically opposed to his next actions, Aizen Sōsuke knelt on one leg holding the sheathed blade vertically out before him, before lowering it so that the end of the sheath just barely grazed the ground. He kept his eyes on the would-be Emperor who simply regarded him with one eyebrow raised in curiosity and cruel amusement.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 41: Of Cabbages and Kings (and Bastards)

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a few minutes earlier

Kisuke ghosts forward to stand hidden in Sōsuke-san's shadow while everyone is blinded by the light of Yhwach's Auswählen. Standing so close, he is the only one who hears as the charming bastard whispers, "Bankai.", though from the subtle nod they get from Yamamoto and several of the others in the crowd it is apparent that Sōsuke is informing them of the switch to plan B, using the perception filter granted to him by his Ōken.

There is no outward change, not even a tiny blip of Reiatsu, waiting for the magic words of his release phrase to spill from his lips. Quietly he whispers, words nearly silent as Yhwach taunts Sōsuke. "This would be a great deal easier to plan around if you had bothered to tell us what your Bankai was, though if what I heard from Ukitake-san is true, you've had it for over a century and still haven't mastered it." In a fascinating twist, Kisuke is aware that he is being affected by the Ōken, as Sōsuke's mouth remains resolutely closed and his attention seemingly all on Yhwach, yet he hears the man speaking. "You have heard correctly, my Bankai is not one that can be mastered."

Kisuke would have liked to make an appropriately snarky rejoinder, however most of the breath in his body was forced from his lungs as he was ruthlessly forced to kneel under the increasing pressure of Yhwach's Reiatsu. His quip ends up sounding more trembling and broken than he would like, "Oh? Sounds like... an excuse... to me." He can barely hold his head up high enough to see Sōsuke look down at him out of the corner of his eyes with genuine annoyance. And was that a tiny glimmer of concern? It really wasn't fair to make him so giddy when he was in a compromising position like this. All this time, all the teasing and the taunting and finally, one of Kisuke's barbs had hit a bulls eye and pulled an honest expression out of his opponent.

Sōsuke's expression was hidden quickly enough, and it was unlikely that anyone else had even seen it. Kisuke was left lightheaded from the pressure as the retired tyrant turned forward once more. Kisuke feels his lips twist in distaste as the son of the Soul King tries once more to subvert Sōsuke. The man in question pauses for a moment and Kisuke is left dizzy as everything slows as if it were time itself that had changed speeds and not the man who wore illusions the way others wore their personalities. The perception filter seems to flare and burn at the edges of his vision, and it's master's voice was as firm and loud as thunder, as time throttled back into its normal speed and he strode forward to face Yhwach to see which of them was truly the most powerful soul to ever live. "Men do not master their dreams Kisuke-san, they make them come true."

It is with no small measure of shock that he watches the retired tyrant draw his sheathed zanpakutō from his obi and hold it before him, hilt up as he took a knee 19.8 feet away from the usurping tyrant, only those who were made aware that Sōsuke was going to use his Bankai are prepared for his release phrase, "Just as the flower must exist to be reflected in the mirror, and as surely as the moon graces the night sky to tease us with its reflection in the water, truth is the place from which all lies are born, and the lies within our grasp are those which lead us to the truths that would otherwise remain forever out of reach. I decide if the world is bewitched by the reflection, or washed of all of it's illusions."

He could hear Kisuke and the others that were still aware enough to listen closely and recognize a Bankai release command choke in surprise. The Ōken's Perception Filter falls, and Kyōka Suigetsu is unable to use the Complete Hypnosis in Bankai. Yhwach and everyone who had come for this fight were treated to the sight of Sōsuke without any disguises. His feet were bare, his shihakushō would have been the simple form that was expected of a soul's garment were it not a multifaceted oil-slick swirl of a thousand shades of near-blood red. His face was the one they had become familiar with since he revealed his treacherous nature, but his hair was now long and white. His eyes, his eyes were an abyss of red, as if all the blood that had been shed since the dawning of the world had formed an ocean in his eyes. And yet, the only one who was reflected in his eyes was her.

Quickly, as the effect of his cumbersome Bankai begins to force itself on him, Sōsuke turns his head and turns those garnet eyes to Orihime-chan. The orange haired girl is huddled safely between Ulquiorra-kun and Ichigo-kun, she catches him watching and gives him a strained but encouraging smile. His heart squeezes tight in his chest in response.

Unable to hold off any longer, he is forced to submit to the ritualistically structured nature of his Bankai release by relinquishing the stranglehold he kept on his power. The violet Reiatsu tears through his Reishi-mippuu, shreds of Reishi fluorescing a golden yellow haze before they fade away and the violet wave floods the area, cutting through and displacing Yhwach's.

Even the souls who still remained suspicious of Sōsuke were forced to accept that there was one thing at least that he had never lied about, not when he had said that it was a small matter for him to throw around twice the amount of power of an average captain. Nor had he been exaggerating when he claimed to be more powerful than the sum of all of his Espada. He was also just as skilled as he had claimed to be, as within moments of releasing his power he had it spreading out widely and rippling so precisely, that everyone who had been forced to their knees was now standing in a Reiatsu lull, a pocket of low pressure Reiatsu in the soft violet wavelength of his power.

Sōsuke was not so arrogant to deny that he wasn't much different from Yhwach in the end. He could very easily simply have allowed his Reiatsu to knock everyone but for himself and Yhwach unconscious. In the case of a catastrophic failure, it would certainly be safer for him. However... If he was going to be stupid enough to do this, then he was going to do so with an audience that would be forced to tell all of Sōsuke's detractors that he had done so of his own free will for the good of the worlds. It would probably be the only thing that saved his life at this point, immortality or not. Even ants could eat a lion if they came in a large enough swarm. Taking a deep breath he speaks the words that seal his fate. "Hyakkaryouran Kyōka, Hanran Suigetsu"

Kisuke's mind rapidly parses out the details of the named form of Kyōka Suigetsu's Bankai form even as he rises to his feet in his low pressure Reiatsu zone. Many mirrored flowers blooming in profusion, Overflowing flood water moon, the name was just as much of a loquacious bit of self aggrandizement as the evocation phrase. Then there is a single bright flash of light.

The sword and it's sheath disappear in the afterglow, dissolving from sight as if sublimating, as if the zanpakutō Kyōka Suigetsu had been nothing more than an illusion the whole time. And that appeared to be all that it did, but for all that Kisuke had joked about it earlier, he was long past the point where he believed anything was as it appeared when it came to Sōsuke. The scientist's eyes widen in surprise as he brings his fan up to cover the bottom half of his face, his jaw dropping with a muffled "Oh." And for a very good reason, not once had he seen the retired tyrant truly under physical strain, not until now. Sōsuke's hands and arms were clearly shaking as they came together palms turned up in supplication. His shihakushō began to flake away in sections as if a giant invisible sun were on the kneeling mans back and the intriguingly red fabric was pulling up and burning away in the heat, slowly revealing twitching and straining muscles struggling not to buckle under the weight.

Sōsuke glares with all of the anger that had built up inside of him with each and every horror he had been forced to suffer twice. Sometimes the dread had been worse than the experience, and others had been so soul crushing that the very thing that had led to his misery had also been the only thing he had to cling to, knowing that no matter how destroyed he felt, it would not last forever. The Plan had been both his salvation and the source of his agony; the script of a play he did not like, but endured so that Dekuyume could succeed in her Trial to en-soul the Soul King, even with Yhwach actively working to steal the Primary Operator seat for all of the domain ships under his fathers command.

Even in the face of the kneeling shinigami's surprising metamorphosis and hateful glare, Yhwach remains unmoved and unconcerned, confident in his ability to survive and surpass anything this treacherous fool and his silly illusions throws at him. For a moment he battles with the decision to simply stand here and wait for the flashy Bankai, or to execute the powerful soul where he kneels at Yhwach's feet. Ultimately decides not to. It would benefit him to just stand here and take it, after all this was the most powerful shinigami alive, with an unprecedented level of Reiryoku that he had no issues expressing with his Reiatsu. When his Bankai failed many of the ants would despair, and hopefully kill themselves off. It was such a waste of time and effort hunting down souls as small as ants just to crush them. With all of his Sternritter dead, it would be left up to him to do so, and he hated wasting his time killing ants. He does not spare even a moment of consideration for the fact that had he not murdered his Sternritter for their power, he would not be strong enough to stand against Sōsuke on his own.

In a whisper that was heard ubiquitously throughout the dimensions, carried on the violet haze of his Reiatsu, Aizen Sōsuke speaks the words that ensure Dekuyume's victory, even as they spell his own doom, "There are no means by which Yhwach can become the Soul King, nor will he ever conquer a single one of the dimensions, because the Soul King has entered the cycle of reincarnation, submitting himself to the cycle that he governs, gaining a soul of his own." He can feel his heart beating like a drum in his chest, a dizzying ripple as first his Reiryoku receded deeper inside of him compacting and becoming more dense... and then his Reiatsu. Those with any familiarity of the movement behaviors of large bodies of water were aware of just what was to come next, because just like the waters receded from the shore before they crashed outwards in a wave, he exploded in a Tsunami of Reiatsu and Reiryoku. But… it did no harm as it passed, traveling harmlessly past all of the souls gathered, even if that power should have been enough to crush them. Was it an illusion? Or something else? How was it that Sōsuke-san's Reiryoku had been purged from his body and yet he still clearly remained cohesive?

Beyond their sight the wave traveled outwards, through the thin walls that separated the worlds, traveling from the kings palace all the way to edges of Soul Society, the 80th Rukongai Districts which faded out into nothing at their furthest reaches, the highest reaches and lowest depths of the human world, and every nook and cranny in Hueco Mundo before disappearing as if it had never existed at all. Through it all, Sōsuke remained kneeling, panting with his hands raised above his head, shihakushō in tatters at his waist, knees planted and back tense as if ready to catch some heavy weight. And then seemingly from everywhere at the same time the wave returned, crashing upon its source with every bit of intensity that it was unleashed with, and in its wake came flowers.

Kisuke watched in curiosity and wonder as five Indigo Lotus burst from him one from each sensory organ: Ears, Eyes, Nose, Mouth, and Chest. The flowers circled him three times, their long stems and green leaves giving them the appearance of spinning ballerina stirring up an old memory of a phenomenon he had seen only once before, the vindication of knowing that it had been Sōsuke who was responsible, smothered only by his own irrepressible curiosity. Gently, he reaches out to caress the flowers as they dance around him. Each one as tangible as the others, petals soft beneath his calloused fingers as they spin away. The flowers finish their orbit and left him, off to join the others that were rapidly forming a massive sphere. Anticipation surged through Kisuke's veins. There were no Bankai that differed significantly from their Shikai, and with the Complete Hypnosis at his fingertips, what could Sōsuke-san possibly be concealing in his Bankai? Was it what he had been hinting? Did he have some sort of power over truth? If so, what would it be and how was it related to his Shikai's illusionary properties?

Through it all, Sōsuke knelt like Atlas with the world upon his back, and the blonde genius wondered to himself if the retired tyrant would be able to hold that weight, or if like Atlas, the world would come tumbling down hill. While the massive blue orb upon its Sōsuke and Violet Reiryoku stand was emitting no power, there was no denying the spiritual mass it held. A power so great that not even a thousand Hōgyoku could match. And that was saying something considering that his Hōgyoku had enough power in it to completely erase all the Reishi in an area big enough to fit the entirety of Seireitei, Sekkiseki walls and all. At least he knew now what had prompted Sōsuke to invent one. I wonder how badly it startled him when he realized that I had made one myself?

Sōsuke ignored them all, nothing reached him, not Kisuke's assessing gaze, the startled noise from Orihime, nor Yhwach and his suddenly serious countenance. He knew that no one was brave or crazy enough to attack him while he held so much power so precariously. That focus was a good thing as he had no attention to spare them, he could not under any circumstances, afford to drop the ball now. He panted for breath desperately under the crushing weight, his muscles spasming in their efforts even strengthened as they were by the full force of his Reiryoku incandescent in his veins, and the continuous regeneration from his painfully vibrating bones. His eyelids fluttered, heavy under the ambient power, but still he found the strength to look up at Yhwach and smile triumphantly at the fool who had stood there and let him gather this power without uttering a word.

He can see it, the exact moment the Son of the Soul King uses his A – The Almighty to see into the future. The power that had once allowed him to prophesies his own resurrection a thousand years after he was sealed away during the first Quincy war. There would be no escape for him this time. And from the look of fear he can see taking over Yhwach's face, he knows, that he may be the one kneeling, but it was Yhwach that was going to be the one to die.

Yhwach peers into a thousand futures and each one; each and every one, ends at precisely the same moment. All of them. Not a single one stretches further than the completion of Aizen Sōsuke's Bankai. Not because it instantly kills him, no. They end because not a single one of them have The Almighty afterwards.

Yhwach can only stare down uncomprehendingly at the man kneeling at his feet. The man who carried the reincarnation of Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield, the land Kami dreaming and waiting, and far away from it's domain ship, but still tilting every battlefield in it's dreaming operator's favor.

There were millions of possibilities, more and more blossoming into being as Yhwach contemplated his choices. Each one countered perfectly by Aizen Sōsuke's Bankai. No actions could defeat him, no words could move him, he knelt, resolute in his choice, no matter what it would cost him. All of them. All of them ended in Yhwach's defeat. One which came ever so closer with each flower that joined its brethren in the whirling mass of power upon the kneeling reincarnated Kami's back.

There were worse ways to die, than at the hands of a man you could respect.

How could he not find respect for Aizen Sōsuke, when Yhwach believed that painful battles should be ended as quickly as possible… and Aizen Sōsuke would end his life as quickly as possible, with little more than a few sentences and a single clean arrow from Uryū Ishida. How could he not, when Aizen Sōsuke had managed to strike fear in his heart even greater than that of the original Gotei 13.

How could he not, when Aizen Sōsuke would kill him, not for silly pointless ideals like Justice and Honor, but simply because Yhwach stood in the way of his Trial and would not, could not move aside. How could he not, when Aizen Sōsuke had never asked for trust, had never lied, though the tricky bastard had certainly danced around the truth with language that could mean more than one thing.

How could he not, when Aizen Sōsuke had so cleverly manipulated Yhwach into allowing him all the time he needed to activate the special ability of his Bankai, a release phrase and procedure far longer than one meant for combat, the trap closing before Yhwach realized that once closed there would be no way out. The Almighty allowed him to live without fear of any power he could "Know" through the technique… and there were too many traces of The Eternal Battlefield, invisible fingers of power spread out infinitely wide across all creation, each one capable of making his blade just a little bit duller, his footing just a little more unstable, his arrows just a little bit slower, his arrogance just a little bit stronger, his urge to use The Almighty just a little bit slower… the Almighty just a little bit unable to "Know" Aizen Sōsuke's Bankai… because Yhwach had somehow lost three pieces of his Soul and the seeds of eternity they were bound to along the way, somehow he had stopped being a Kami's blessed son... and he had never even noticed when.

Why would he hate Aizen Sōsuke for taking his life at the price of granting his wish, creating a world without fear… though not in the way that Yhwach himself would have ever considered possible. He had tried before, to give his father a soul, it had cost the king his legs and the Royal guard had prevented him from trying again… labeling him with their human titles, Traitor, Usurper, and driving him from the Royal Palace.

Yhwach releases The Almighty, relaxing down into his native form to better appreciate the artistry laced into the technique that would destroy him. Movement at the edge of the gathered crowd draws his attention to Uryū Ishida who was carrying a still silver arrow crafted from the still silver left in the heart of one of the victims of his Auswählen. The boys fingers were still bloody from where he must have dug them into the still hot flesh of the corpses of the Sternritter he had so foolishly discarded moments ago. It would not be necessary, though he would allow the arrow to strike true…

How tragic it was, that it is only his acceptance of his own death that allows him to realize the reason the son of an "impure" Quincy had survived that very first Auswählen 9 years ago… It made sense of course, if he could not comprehend a future where he would die, how was he to look at Uryū Ishida and see who Yhwach would be, when he too fell to the cycle of reincarnation and began his life once more?

For all of these reasons, he loved Aizen Sōsuke, for allowing his next incarnation to know the first incarnation as he had been allowed… and for giving both of them a chance to meet the father of their soul… in part.

But not enough to tell him about the parasitic vine growing in his soul and stifling its ability to grow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Finally Sōsuke is at the end, he feels it as the Bankai finishes its preparations, with his whole body strained and trembling, he seals it with a whisper, "As I will it, so it is."

Yhwach screams in rage as the power that Sōsuke had been holding on his shoulders disappears like a dream at dawn, only to choke off into a gurgling silence as the Arrow fired by Ishida-kun strikes true. Sōsuke is unaware of all of this as he is too distracted to take notice. The vertible ocean of his Reiryoku rapidly drains away as if guzzled down by a giant thirsty titan. Under the chaotic waves of Reiatsu being thrown around in the now crumbling dimension of Silbern, Aizen Sōsuke, possessing less power than an average plus, falls unconscious, wondering why he found it humorous, to compare the amount of Reiryoku he had left to the amount of tea he could fit in a teacup.

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Chapter 42: The Turning (of) The Wheel of Reincarnation

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The Wheel of Reincarnation receives paperwork forwarded on from one of its vassals, Shiva of The Mount Kailash. The Major Kami reviews it the moment it arrives.

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GFM-DCOM record of Bleach: 12679752

Subject:

Entity – reincarnated schismed land Kami – Dekuyume of The Eternal Battlefield

Current Identification : Aizen Higurashi Sōsuke Dekuyume. Error{[#unknown#]Source Data{corrupted}}

Cumulative Calculated Value From Previous Incarnation Magatsuhi: Debt = #65,894,326#

Imported Soul Material Calculated Below: Total : = #5,000,000,000,000#

Cumulative Calculated Value From Previous Incarnation Naraku: Debt = #30,780,165,826#

Kami Cursed Health : Payment = #10,000,000,000# - Accepted

Service as Miko : Payment = #10,000,000,000# – Accepted

Kami Given Task (resolve Shikon no Tama affair): Payment = #4,316,406,100# – Accepted

Kami Given Task (protect Kagome Higurashi): Payment = #3,465,119,243# – Accepted

Kami Given Task (satisfy outstanding wishes on Shikon no Tama): Payment = #11,164,936# – Accepted

Gained Karma : #3,001,614,993# - Verified

(31.336% selfless actions, 24.993% mutually beneficial actions, 20.100% self-sacrificing actions, 13.112% kind thoughts, 10.459% accepted responsibility)

Lost Karma : #5,000,014,139,446# - Verified

(99.999% Violation of a Soul to Create a Soul Mate Bond (see attachment Yomi-Shizuru Soul Mate Bond), 0.000(5)% selfish actions, 0.000(4)% denied responsibility, 0.000(1)% cruel thoughts)

Total Pre-existing Karmic Debt: #5,000,065,894,326#

Karmic Balance:

Soul Assigned Fate Path "A Fate Worse Than Death." - Fate Matrix Written by the Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield

GFM-DCOM Value : proposed payment of #5,000,065,894,326# + Calculated Current Karmic Neutralization.

Payment accepted – Gabby Gossip, Vassal of the Primary Operator of The Mount Kailash

After payment is received, the pre-existing, unpaid Karmic debt will be: #0#

Lump Sum Payment Declined, Installment Payment Plan Chosen

Installments listed below:

1st installment : forget memories upon hell butterfly conversion, and then remember at a painful juncture – Accepted

2nd installment : never gain trust of others without extreme personal sacrifice – Accepted

3rd installment : experience extreme levels of isolation due to power differentials between self and others - Accepted

4th installment : misunderstand critical situation : living self's death - Accepted

5th installment : misunderstand critical situation : soul echoes – Accepted

6th installment : experience extreme loss of agency : the plan – Accepted

7th installment : experience extremely chaotic emotional state : subject future/her – Accepted

8th installment : loose all but a teacup's worth of power – Received and Acceptance Pending

9th installment : suffer at the hands of those who were previously wronged - Pre-Accepted: Calculating and Modifying GFM-DCOM

(degree of suffering calculated from Karmic Debt gained in active incarnation)

10th and final installment : loose her permanently – Payment Pending

Special Notes from Fate Matrix Programmer: Dekuyume Higurashi

"They say that the definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over and expecting a different response. That it is reaching out for the moon in the water, and the flower in the mirror over and over even though you know that they must be illusions… It isn't insanity, it's a beautiful tragedy called perseverance. Those poor pitiful souls so desperate that they will suffer every cold drowning death and every glass sharp bleed-out cut to hold a miracle if only for an eternal moment."

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[The Turning (of) ] A[Derived Major Soul Kami] Primary Operator {of} [The Wheel of Reincarnation ] WAS Sensation{Confused} BY [Dekuyume]Primary Operator{of} [The Eternal Battlefield]

FateMatrixProgram{[A Fate Worse Than Death]} WAS PrimaryTarget{at} [Soul][CalculatedKarmicValue]#average# OF #last 3 reincarnations# Multiplied{by} #Karmic payback rate# OR = #calculated Soul Bankruptcy Limit# HOWEVER [Sōsuke] Reincarnation{of} [Dekuyume] was #calculated Soul Bankruptcy Limit# ALSO [Special Notes] FROM [Fate Matrix Programmer] ARE #Parameter Limits# AND Generating{#many#}[Errors]

There is a long moment of Sensation{Trepidation} before something unusual happens.

Command Prompt {open}

Run Program{[Primary Operator Soul Genesis]}

The command prompt closes automatically and massive amounts of power begin to disappear from the batteries of The Wheel of Reincarnation. The domain ship took the shape of a giant wheel with spokes radiating out from the center. In the very center, where the spokes meet, was a complete void exposed to the celestial ocean but for one rare occasion. And that occasion was when The Wheel of Reincarnation could not understand a complicated concept.

Derived Major Kami were relatively simple constructs of feeling and thought. It did not take a great deal of complexity to govern and embody the fundamental property of heat, at least not in relation to what it took to govern souls. The way they interacted with each other alone was complex and contradictory enough that it frequently resulted in errors when translated into the universal language of the Absolute Kami that they, the Major Kami and even some Greater Kami were composed of. These errors caused by complexity often had to be explained by their vassals so that they could validate the errors. At least that was what usually happened.

The Wheel of Reincarnation was a Major Soul Kami. As had been said in Dekuyume's Trial, if she had been a Kami who held souls as her domain, there should have been no requirement but her will to create a soul of her own, and the domain would provide it. It had been a bit of a lie, after all nothing was ever truly free. Just as the Kami drew their power from the prayers, the faith, the Aether generated by souls, they also spent that power to exert their will when working their deepest of magics.

At the center of The Wheel of Reincarnation, where the great spokes met the innermost ring of the wheel, an axle, a room began to form. The circular rim of the inner wheel lengthened and arched forming a perfect sphere as if a giant axle had been slid through the aperture and screwed down tight by a massive metal ball riveted to the end. Area secured, held safe and isolated both from the rest of the domain ship and the rest of the celestial ocean, the walls begin to glow the ethereal Aether flowing through them gathering in an oval depression that slowly rises from the floor. Aether becomes Kami lights, bubbling and sticking together as a soul is created, condensing above before the tiny soul fragments are complete and they fall like drops of luminescent water into the bowl where it continues to effervesce.

As the Primary Operator seat and the soul of the Soul Kami in it forms, the power loss tips past two critical thresholds. It is not a Major Soul Kami that opens it's eyes, but only a simple Kami, albeit one with a soul of their own.

This was the reason that Dekuyume's method of en-souling derived Kami was so unique. The Soul Kami may have been able to simply will souls into being, but it was expensive. Much like raw energy could theoretically be exchanged to create matter at a huge loss, Aether, the power generated from the faith and prayers of souls, could be exchanged at a huge loss to create souls. In the end both conversions exchanged potential for complexity.

The Turning of The Wheel of Reincarnation draws their first breath, and with the first exhalation a wave of power ripples outwards. Across The Celestial Ocean in all of the dimensions held within their infinite expanse, the wave passes through leaving behind soul echoes of the newborn soul. The Turning grimaces, rubbing at their face and eyes with an annoyed sigh. By the time their hands drop, a table has risen out of the floor before their Primary Operator seat upon which sits a sleek laptop-computer opened to the file that they had been reviewing. Quickly they read through the document, their new complexity allowing them a better understanding of the concepts which before, had translated out to [Cannot be Validated] #Imaginary Numbers#. Those particular errors almost always were the ones associated with [The Absolute's Paradox] an error propagating out from the Absolute Kami The Celestial Ocean.

By the time they reach the end of the document they feel an intense discomfort, based on the archive data from previous activation data from the Primary Operator Soul Genesis Program it appears that the primary feeling is guilt, with secondary and tertiary notes of curiosity and awe. Once more they read over her final note slowly running their finger along each word on the screen. With a sigh they slump back into the hollowed out depression of their seat rubbing idly at the sore part in the middle of their upper chest (a heart ache their personal archive data informs it).

The Turning was the one who had done this to her. They were the one that had claimed her, though there had been many complaints from the other soul Kami, particularly those Kami who existed in facets of The Celestial Ocean where The Wheel of Reincarnation held no jurisdiction. Trades had been made on The Turning's behalf by its vassals, and the end result was that every soul echo of that soul was marked, stained a brilliant red and purple so that the only Kami who would handle her reincarnation was The Wheel of Reincarnation.

Moments after she had first set foot on the immortal plane and screamed her name across The Celestial Ocean creating all of her soul echos, just as The Turning had but moments ago, before a single one could be taken to reincarnate anywhere they had claimed them all. In their relative youth, many folds and dilations of time ago, and long before they chose to pursue understanding through the filter of their own soul, The Turning had wanted to know, just what would happen to a soul that experienced similar lives every time it reincarnated regardless of how far its echos had traveled, similar, but different enough that the soul did not combine upon re-entering the immortal plane. It was quite a puzzle, as in some respects souls were even more immortal than the Kami that oversaw them, and in others they were so very fragile.

As only a derived Kami, they lacked the means to understand such a plethora of errors, seemingly invalid arguments, and anti-logical trajectories. So they chose a soul, acquired all of its soul echos and set about conducting an experiment to collect data with controlled variables. Arrogant, without understanding the emotion, so certain that this would be all that was needed to validate the errors associated with [The Absolute's Paradox]. But souls were complicated and it was just so much easier to bring a soul a short life of misery and tragedy than it was to give them a long and peaceful life filled with joy.

With no remorse for the soul at their mercy, unable to escape The Turning's grasp with the Major Kami's essence painted on its soul, the experiment began. Millions of soul echoes and not a single one had been granted an easy life. The Turning had placed every last one of them in a position to be the last living soul standing at the end of that dimension. Sometimes they had set her up as the last survivor of a great battle, a great plague or even just an accident. Sometimes they had set her up as the cause, the tyrant who would let no one have the world if it would not be theirs, the scientist who was too curious for their own good, the hurting angry soul who was driven mad and wanted to make sure that they never had to live again by any means necessary.

Even in the face of repeated failures, the intractable determination and pride of The Turning continued, certain that they only needed a bit more data. They likely would have continued on forever had they not been called to trial by the Heavens Punishers. While the Kami had ignored the actions of The Wheel of Reincarnation previously, with the creation of the Shikon no Tama, and the heinous loss of the transient Avatar of Naohi, they could no longer afford to do so.

The Turning paid a great deal after being found guilty at its trial, taking up a great karmic debt. Furthermore, the Soul Protection Act was enacted as a consequence, forever preventing The Turning from continuing or repeating the experiment. They were forced to relinquish all of the soul echos. One by one those echos were taken away to be processed by other Soul Kami and reincarnated, forever ruining any further data those soul echos would have provided with the increase in non-essential variables.

In the space of a single moment, the soul echoes were stripped of their mark, leaving them indistinguishable in their eyes from any other soul. There was only one that they could not take. There had been a soul echo being processed in their soul processors, the process taking longer than usual with the fragment of its soul that had been stolen during the creation of the Shikon no Tama. It would be the very last soul echo from the experiment that they were allowed to handle. Forever after, The Turning would be forced to turn it over to another soul Kami for reincarnation. Perhaps it had been out of anger, a pure emotion even the major and absolute derived Kami could experience, or interference from another divine being, either way, the end was the same.

The first time that The Turning gave themselves a soul, it was so that they could process that last soul echo with their own bare hands. They had transferred the pod containing the soul from the processing rooms, brought it here into the heart of their domain and opened the pod, exposing themselves to the raw half-processed soul. It was with hands that had never touched a thing before, that The Turning of The Wheel of Reincarnation removed their declaration of possession from the soul echo.

It was somehow ironic, that the last soul from the experiment to pass through The Wheel of Reincarnation was also the only one to be declared soul bankrupt and sentenced to The Void. The very same soul echo to be processed by no Reincarnation Kami until the end of its host dimension, until it was decided that a specialized memory vine would be used, and only The Wheel of Reincarnation had the capacity to synthesize and inject it. Under the scrutiny of the Soul Kami who had called The Turning to trial, The Turning had been allowed to process the soul again.

The Turning did not know if it was because the soul had seen The Void, or if it was because its last reincarnation had been done by hand, turning a science into an art, but the soul, with its thousand shades of black, purple and red had been so beautiful. Even without The Turning's mark upon the soul, it had still born its colors. They had thought that there could be no greater flattery to a Soul Kami and it had been wrong. They had not known what true flattery was until the soul had become a Kami in its own right and called out to The Turning through prayer. Prayer which was faith which was Aether which was power flowing from a soul that held that power precious and shared with only those Kami it called kin. Heady and potent, the prayers had reached it and moved them to a chaos of emotion even while they remained as a Major Kami. It was a well known fact among Kami, that it wasn't the devout souls that offered the most power, but those who sought solace from the divine rarely. It was something all together different to experience first hand.

They had done this to her, and the moment that They had been given the chance to do so again, They had taken it without a single qualm. The Turning sighs, nostalgia mixing with the guilt. Stretching out their arm towards the computer controls, they pull up the massive data file on her soul. An image fills the screen, a bedazzling swirl of color, light and movement, all the layers of a soul as seen through the eyes of a Soul Kami. Even now with the sensation called guilt in their being so potent it was making their soul's physical manifestation experience pain... even so, if given the chance to do it all again... they would take it.

There is a tingling sensation when the paperwork piling up without the Kami's diligent attention passes a warning threshold. With a sigh they sit up, minimize the swirling image and manually type in:

Validation{Completed} BY [The Turning{of}] Primary Operator {of} [The Wheel of Reincarnation]

Ignore{[#$Errors#$ = [The Absolute's Paradox]]}

Ignore{[#$Errors#$ = [Current Identification] = [Perspective]}

That done they open up the command prompt and type in:

Run Program{[Recall Soul Echos]} AND Run Program{[Harmonization]}

The prompt accepts the codes and responds with a percentage complete while it monitors the entirety of the celestial ocean watching for each soul echo to appear once more on the immortal plane. As they do so, vassals of The Turning are sent out to go and collect the soul echos and bring them on board the domain ship. The internal processes then pulls the souls along the spokes processing them, pulling all of the seeds out and stretching the soul fragments apart far enough that the soul easily phases through the walls of the axle. The resonance between them is enough to cause the majority of the soul echos to merge back with The Turning. Typically only one or two souls require The Turning to run another program called simply Harmonization, which determines the critical plot points of a soul echos divergent experiences and subjects The Turning to those stressors which in turn causes The Turning to become similar enough to the soul echo for it to combine as well. After all of the soul echos are returned to The Turning it will run the conversion program again this time converting all of its complexity back into power.

As they wait for the programs to run they lean back in their Primary Operator seat and begin working on the paperwork that had piled up during their distraction. With a jolt of surprise they stare at the request that just arrived, it is displaced quite a bit in time relative to the soul in question... but it appeared that The Turning would get their desire.

Once more, that beautiful soul would be submitted to The Wheel of Reincarnation for a post inter-dimensional reincarnation examination. They was so exited! Just what new masterpiece would that soul that wore its misery so well become, after this newest agonizing incarnation?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 43: He Knows

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Of all the places that Sōsuke expected to awaken, somehow this was not one of them. It was an odd sort of irony to be placed in the same prison cell that had once held Rukia-chan while she waited for her farce of an execution. Clearly someone thought they were being clever. He sits up awkwardly with his wrists bound and having been left lying on the ground face first as if he had been dropped there like a bag of produce. The white haired man focuses on his surroundings to displace the disquieting sensation of feeling real pain along the bridge of his nose, and slight aches from where his body had pressed into the hard Sekkiseki laced stone. The white blossoms from the perpetually blooming trees atop Sōkyoku hill pass by the tiny narrow window before him. Gingerly he rises the rest of the way to his feet and makes his way over to the window, wrapping a shaking hand around one of the bars.

He knows it means that he was dropped face first onto the ground, he knows that it means that he has lost so much Reiatsu that such a simple thing has actually done him harm. He knows that it means that even his Reiryoku has depleted to the point where even now, likely several hours after, he has not recovered his Reiatsu levels. He knows that it means that The Dreaming Kami, his cute little Ōken of an imouto has fallen asleep in his inner world. He knows that it means that every non-mortal or non-crippling injury he experiences will simply have to heal normally on its own. He knows, he has always known that this was a possibility should he overreach with his Bankai. He knows he thought himself prepared for the consequences when he brought the might of the Complete Truth against Yhwach. He knows and yet... He knows. He knows. He knows and oh! but he knows now that there are some things which no one can ever truly be prepared to experience.

The door behind him clicks as it is unlatched, and he turns, grateful to be distracted from his thoughts. He never gets a chance to turn all the way around as his hair is pulled, wrapped around the fist of an assailant moving so fast that Sōsuke can't even catch sight of them with his red eyes. The long strands are nearly pulled out, roots and all, as the same assailant (presumably, Sōsuke really has no way of telling without the ability to sense the Reiatsu of anyone underneath all of the fairly pointless seals weighing him down) knocks his feet out from under him, forcing him horribly off balance dangling in the air by the fist in his hair, knees hovering an inch or so off of the ground.

Stars flash across his vision as he receives a blow to the face (presumably a second assailant as it would be rather difficult for someone standing behind him with their fist in his hair to also punch him in the face without forcing him to turn his head). Muscle yields, the cartilage in his nose snaps, blood flowing backwards down his throat with his head forcibly tilted up at his assailants like this. The sudden pain causes him to choke in surprise, and then once-more, coughing on the blood. Just as he thinks that he is about to catch his breath, opening his mouth to ask his assailants what they hope to accomplish, he receives another blow. This one a two pronged attack, from the front, a kick to the stomach, and from the back, a knee to his right kidney.

His body jerks in the grasp of the assailant behind him, swaying even as vomit climbs up from his stomach and spills past his lips carrying the blood he had been choking on. His eyes water from the painful bruise spreading across his back, the stinging burn of acid in his throat, and the noxious combination of blood and bile in his mouth. The hand in his hair suddenly lets go, and he falls face first onto the floor when he is pushed again. The force is so powerful he bounces off of the stone.

He doesn't even have enough time or awareness to get his hands out from underneath him, the binding seal that held them together forcing them at an awkward angle and digging into the skin of his bruised stomach. They (because surely it is at least two assailants from the number of feet striking him), they begin to attack faster and faster, individual attacks that had been coolly calculated to be slow enough and far enough apart that Sōsuke, in his weakened state, would know exactly what was happening to him morphing into a never ending rain of blows that progressively struck harder and harder. Bruising became bone breaking became dissolving as his spiritual form was unable to resist the force, nor the Reiatsu, behind the attacks and blows that should have pressed against his flesh and bone instead began tearing pieces of it away, as if his Reishi were clay sticking to the hands of a child.

Suddenly the blows stop, and Sōsuke remains where he is, pained and dazed on the stone floor of his cell, unable to do much more than turn his head to the side, away from the puddle of blood and vomit threatening to drown him. Shaken, pained and in shock he simply stares as a puddle of his blood spreads across the floor in front of his eyes, spilled from his battered body. Just as he thinks that it might be over... his assailants begin laughing. (Three voices reach his ears, echoing oddly with the damage done to his right ear. He must have been kicked in the side of the head, the remains of his ear dangled down his cheek)

An odd noise he can't identify, but which seems so familiar registers, but in his injured and dazed state he just can't tell what it is. Not until the first zanpakutō slides into his back. (it had been the sound of a zanpakutō being slowly pulled from its sheath). He would have screamed, but the breath had been knocked out of him, and what little he did have was going to keeping himself from coughing up blood. The blade twists and he can't do much more than quietly gasp in pain.

He is impaled again and again, all the while his two male and single female assailants laugh. Dazed eyes can only stare as the puddle of blood he is lying in gets thicker, hotter and wider and his skin grows contradictively colder, where the hot blood touches him. He stirs from his shock only far enough to feel a moment of fear. What if he is wrong. What if The Dreaming Kami isn't merely asleep like Magatsuhi, as planned out centuries before with Dekuyume? What if, like Sōsuke is soon to be without divine intervention, what if The Dreaming Kami died when Sōsuke's Reiryoku dropped to low to support the Ōken?

There is a pulsing ache in his bones, nearly hidden by the previously broken bones and battered state of the rest of his body. As it crescendos ascending from ache to agony he is comforted by the familiar vibration. One by one the wounds from the repeated impalements heal. The first of which is the blow that would have otherwise killed him, a precise strike through his spinal vertebrae, hewing the nerves that told his lungs to draw breath.

There is a scuffing noise as his attackers scramble away, shouting in surprise, if the tone of their voices hasn't become as muddied as their actual words. For a moment Sōsuke wonders how it is that they know he is healing when there is so much blood, only for a pair of painfully familiar feet wearing sandals come before him, though for the life of him (heh. Life), he cannot remember from where. His vision is swathed in an blurry green shadow, and surprisingly hot fingers press themselves into his neck. He knows that the green shadow is probably searching for Sōsuke's pulse and that he should really hold still, but he has to swallow to prevent more blood from traveling down his throat into his lungs. It would really hurt to cough right now.

His rescuer seems to find that confirmation enough and the fingers withdraw, only to gather some of the tresses of Sōsuke's long blood-splattered hair, gently pulling the strands away from the remains of his ear and settling it behind Sōsuke's head. The fingers return then and press gently to his forehead. The bright orange glow of 9th Rite of Kaidō (Succor): Iyashino Suimin, The Healing Slumber, blooms from the point of contact. The light sputters a bit, as if the caster was unfamiliar with Kaidō, (though who would know about the Kaidō to cast it if they were not familiar with Kaidō?). Blessings of Dekuyume, but the Kaidō stabilizes and he embraces the bright orange glow falling into the deep healing slumber that the healing Kidō promises.

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Sōsuke awakens in the dark hours of the night, the moon full and luminous as it shines in through the narrow barred window above. He sits up cautiously from his position prone on his back on the stone ground. Well, nothing hurt, and he did not appear to be injured. There weren't even any tears in his shihakushō. If it were not for the fact that he did not dream when he slept he would think that he had a nightmare.

Then again, if he were ever to start having nightmares, this sudden vulnerability and isolation is exactly the sort of predicament that would cause them now wasn't it? With a sigh he starts to rise to his feet to stretch, and warm his skin that had become chilled from lying directly on the floor.

It feels as if there is a pop in the back of his head, not painful, but loud and disorienting, his vision tunnels in and he collapses to his hands and knees with a sharp in-drawn breath. Nausea threatens to make him vomit, and he dry heaves but nothing comes up. He can feel his skin rapidly become clammy, shivering as he is beset by a sudden chill. He holds still for a long moment hoping that whatever this was, that it would pass soon. The question then became if the symptoms were those of a soul that had recently endured a through and grueling healing session, the emptiness of his stomach lending credence to the hypothesis that the nightmare was memory and not dream... or if the symptoms were from something else a bit less... disconcerting.

With great care he slowly sinks back on his knees, bringing himself to a seated position. His feet were bare and felt chilled to the bone against the stone sekkiseki floor, but there was nothing to be done for it, if he moved too much he may very well pass out. His hands pull back, away from the floor to rest on his knees. With a slow even breath, he sinks into Jinzen. It should have been impossible, much to Sōsuke's disappointment, he had never been able to enter Jinzen without the physical form of his zanpakutō within arms reach. Of course that assumed that the zanpakutō, which had a tendency to disappear during Bankai went somewhere out of arms reach. If he was right, and there was a chance that his symptoms indicated that he was, he had fallen and been sealed while still in that elevated state.

All of his physical miseries seem to evaporate between one moment and the next. The scent of the cold dusty cell washed away by flowing water, blooming poisonous flowers and moonlight. His eyes open slowly, the garden remained much as it had been when he had last seen it. How strange it was to look up at the night sky and its full moon up above and know that if he were to leave through the door behind him that he would find that he stood inside the heart of a giant decapitated titan. Was the sky an illusion? Or was the door some sort of dimensional door much like Kyōka Suigetsu's Ripple command?

He considers what lies in the distance. Where before he had seen only a deep thick red haze that obscured everything past the edge of the garden, he now knew that he actually had a long curved window with glass so perfect not even the blood mist outside condensed against it. It was much easier to tell that it was there now. He rises from his seat upon the tiny french chair and makes his way through the garden, keeping an eye out for his inner spirits as he makes his way over to the glass.

He stands before the window and gazes out at the infinite nightmarish expanse. The fog was still lifted, blood clouds rising so high up into the sky that not even the titan could touch them if it raised its arms. It was still raining fat red droplets that revealed their viscous nature in the way they splattered and dripped down the glass. There was no mistaking it for red water anymore. Considering, he runs his fingers over the fabric of his equally red shihakushō.

As he turns around to search for his inner spirits, he discovers that the fabric that covered his soul was not the only thing that had changed colors. He had not been able to see them before, not when their color and size so perfectly matched the red droplets falling outside. The lightning bugs that had graced the garden, the ones that had assisted Sōsuke in casting the 4th Rite of Kaidō, Konso, The Soul Burial upon The Ancient Wyrm were also changed. Now the only difference between the rain and the insects was that they at least gave off light intermittently.

One buzzes over to him and he allows it to rest for a moment on the tip of his finger, its abdomen fluorescing a brilliant vermilion before it takes off. He follows it for a moment with his eyes before they catch on something surprising. Having only used his Bankai twice, he had never had the privilege of seeing Kyō-kun's spirit in his Bankai form. Hovering just below the ceiling, over the door that led to the rest of the Titan, there were a thousand origami cranes, each faintly sparkling as if their paper had been studded with stardust.

Carefully he moves back across the waterscape garden to his zanpakutō spirit. His hands rise, and gently cup one of the paper cranes. "It's Ok Kyō-kun, you can rest now." The cranes all shiver, as if a gust of wind had buffeted them from all sides. A moment later they all unfold, the stardust glow leaving the paper like a butterfly emerging from a flower. The glow condenses into the one hovering above Sōsuke's raised hands, and it makes his heart ache. It was so beautiful and innocent, such a stark contrast to the blood soaked war zone outside the window. The form that Sōsuke is used to seeing Kyō-kun take coalesces out of the light as it fades, leaving him behind. The spirit is exhausted and drowsy, collapsing out of the air and into Sōsuke's arms.

Long black tresses mix sharply with white, Kyōka Suigetsu clinging to his shinigami, burying his head in the man's neck with a tired sigh. Plum colored lipstick smears across Sōsuke's shihakushō as the spirit mumbles into his shoulder, "I'm so glad that you are all right." He can't help it, as he reflexively holds the spirit tighter in response, his throat is tight and his voice deep with emotion as he replies, "And I you Kyō-kun."

Sōsuke doesn't even try to fight the trembling smile that forms on his face when he feels his zanpakutō spirit laugh, a soft huffy tired laugh, "Don't know why we were, we are all immortal after all." Sōsuke leans his head against Kyo-kun's. "I suppose its a combination of the fact that we have strayed so far from the plan at this point, and the fact that we will never master Bankai and have found ourselves facing the harshest of consequences. We knew they were possible, but it is such an unpleasant surprise to experience them."

The spirit breaths in deeply and lets it all out in a slow sigh that brings his words to a soft hush, "The Dreaming Kami has fallen asleep upstairs on that odd obsidian platform where the head is bifurcated. I would have brought her down here to be more comfortable but she has wrapped herself in some odd sort of giant cocoon. If she were a caterpillar I would say that she is becoming a butterfly, but since she already had wings I have no idea what she is doing. Its firmly attached to the platform so at least we don't have to worry about her sliding off. Magatsuhi is asleep in the garden. If you look through the flowers carefully you'll find him in a miniaturized dragon form under the water. Couldn't move him either, his arms and claws may be tiny but he's holding onto those stems tightly."

The spirit takes advantage of their position to lightly poke Sōsuke in the side, "Ne Sōsuke, what does it say about you that your inner spirits are so fond of sleeping in weird places? I was unconscious on the ceiling for crying out loud." The shinigami chuckles, Kyō-kun was clearly trying so hard to sound scandalized, but with his exhaustion he sounded more like he was pouting about having the lamest odd sleeping space. As if it were a contest between his spirits and he felt that he was loosing.

Carefully, he crouches down so he can sweep the spirit the rest of the way into his arms. Kyō-kun curls in closer with another soft sigh. Three steps away from where they had been reunited and a soft snore indicated that the spirit had already fallen asleep. Sōsuke moves through the door and up the stairs. His bare feet make no sound on the bone pathway of the collarbone as he crosses it to reach the stairwell at the other end. He goes down a long spiral staircase and into an equally long tunnel before reaching a hatch door. It opens with only the pressure he places upon it with his head, unwilling to set his spirit down for even a moment.

He climbs the four short steps and the hatch falls to the ground behind him as he steps out on to a massive palm. At some point the titan's massive arms had moved, bringing its hands close together one above the other as if sheltering a fragile flame from the wind. Sōsuke didn't know how he knew that it would be like this, he didn't know why the first place he thought to bring the spirit to rest was here, he didn't even know how he knew how to get here... only that of all the places to bring this spirit to rest, thiswas the only place that Kyō-kun would be safe... But safe from what?

He kneels in the deepest curve of the cupped palm. Gently he releases Kyō-kun into it curling the unconscious spirit in the recovery pose, curled up on his side. Gently he tucks one of the long black tresses behind the spirits pointed ears, and draws his fingers down the side of his face from hairline to chin. For a brief moment the spirits eyes flutter open, but as soon as they catch sight of Sōsuke, the spirit smiles sleepily and his eyes slip closed once more. Sōsuke's heart races, surprised.Kyō-kun's purple eyes... were now as red as Sōsuke's.

He rises, unable to linger long. He had two other spirits to check in on and it would not be long before the presence of his zanpakutō was noticed outside of his meditation. Quickly he moves through the passages and stairways up into his minds home. The trapdoor is stuck open by the thick cocoon anchors, and the transition from left-right to up-down much easier to navigate now that he is expecting it this time. He still stumbles though, the moment his eyes catch on the shape that his cute little imouto has taken.

He catches himself before he can do any harm to the giant cocoon. What was a genesis pod, and what had been that odd flash of fear and... poison? An old memory had flashed through him, and as he had never seen a thing like it before, it could only have been another of Dekuyume's memories. It was concerning that after centuries of memory flashes that felt so real as if he was there experiencing them and time outside of the memory was waiting for him to return... that twice now the memory flashes had been so weak and disjointed. Something to think about when he had more time, and unfortunately for Sōsuke, he was fairly certain that he would have nothing to do but sit and think for a considerable amount of time moving forward.

Ignoring it for now, he kneels before the cocoon, gently resting his hand against the silky threads that somehow still remained pure white, the falling rain sliding off of it the moment it landed. Of the two of them, only Sōsuke's hair was darkening. "Sleep well Imouto, and don't work too hard to keep me alive. It would make me too sad to live, if the price of my life was yours." His only response is a soft pulsing from the cocoon, an ambient wave of power that flutters out and returns back into the cocoon. A heartbeat. He brushes his blood dampened hair out of the way behind his ear as he leans forward to place a kiss to the top of the cocoon before he carefully rises to his feet on the blood slicked obsidian.

It almost feels like a miracle as the blood that soaked into his hair and shihakushō sublimes into nothing as he moves through the halls and back into his hearts home. The garden. It takes only a minute of kneeling at the waterside and gently pulling the flowers apart to peer into the rocky bottomed stream in search of his last spirit to find the dragon.

Even Magatsuhi was changed now. Sōsuke with his red shihakushō, The Dreaming Kami and her cocoon, Kyo-kun's eyes... Magatsuhi's form had been that of a human shaped yōkai before, and while he would understand perfectly if Magatsuhi had been in his second release state, the miniature form of the Ancient Wyrm, in some odd sort of sympathetic response to Kyo-kun's prolonged Bankai. He wasn't. Magatsuhi did not look like a thousand bone masks bound in the shape of a dragon, he just looked like a dragon. Scaled and serpentine with four comparatively stubby arms at his beginning and end holding tightly to the stems of the flowers below the water, keeping himself completely submerged. He had the antlers of a deer curving back elegantly away from his head and towards his body above ears that looked like they belonged to a goat, and from the crown of his head and down the back of his neck ending at his shoulder blades was a mane like a horse, floating free and wild in the gentle current of the stream. The only resemblance he had to his former shape, was the pure ivory coloration that graced all of him but his pale brown horns.

Was this what Magatsuhi had been before it sickened poisoned by the dark hearts of the humans it protected, becoming so tainted it learned desperation, so tainted that it acted on that desperation and made a taboo pact with one of the humans, binding them together so tightly that whatever name the dragon had held before, it lost it and took up that of the humans. Magatsuhi, the boy who stood so close to the end of the path of Yin it was a divine miracle that he did not fall off. How utterly tragic.

One hand steadies him on a large rock as he leans forward and sinks his other beneath the surface. Slowly he slides his fingers through the spirit's mane. One eye cracks open, red eye glaring up at Sōsuke through the water. Magatsuhi stares at him for a long moment, and the white haired shinigami dares to ruffle the mane a second time. The eye snaps closed and dragon grumbles, bubbles of air escaping. A nostalgic smile on his face Sōsuke pulls away, and once more carefully rises to his feet. Slowly he walks back to the table, taking care to take in the sight of his inner world and imprinting it on his memory. There was a very strong chance that he would not see it for a very, very long time. Sōsuke had already experienced over 300 years, if his punishment held true to what Dekuyume had said it was originally... Sōsuke would spend 20,000 years in isolation, at the time of his release, he would have been imprisoned nearly 10 fold the amount of time he had ever been free. The question remained, what were they keeping him for? Anything he had done before had been pardoned by the document the Council of Souls and the Aizomeya had conned the Central 46 into signing.

There was only one way to find out. With a sigh he steels himself, and takes a seat in the tiny french chair once more. Leisurely he reaches out and pulls the tea cup from the table and takes a sip. He lowers it with a long dissapointed sigh. Before he can place it on the table, it falls to the ground. The shinigami that held it fading out, as he leaves his inner world. The ever full perfect cup of tea, completely empty.

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Chapter 44: Powerful(ly) Weak

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Sōsuke greets the world with a scream as he is forced out of Jinzen. It is perhaps the loudest noise he has ever made, it wasn't as if he went around screaming at people. He was more the terrify them with your silence type. He pants as he catches his breath, dazedly he looks down to find that in spite of its sheathed state, his zanpakutō has cut through many of the Reiatsu bindings placed on him (and quite a bit of Sōsuke's Shihakushō and skin as well to be honest.) He gropes for the zanpakutō and pulls it close to his chest, ignoring his injuries. At least he was no longer nauseous and suffering from chills. There may have been many zanpakutō that existed in a continual Shikai release state, but there were no Bankai that were meant to do the same. Even if there were, one as unmastered as Sōsuke's Bankai wouldn't be maintainable without extreme stress being placed on his body.

There is a sharp pain across his senses as something massively powerful breaches the doors at the ground floor of Senzaikyū. Quickly he turns his attention elsewhere, before the Reiatsu bindings had torn, Sōsuke had been unable to sense anyone in the building. How ironic it was, to discover that the bindings meant to entrap him if he were feigning his weakness, were the ones that were now protecting him. Sōsuke presses his lips to the tsuba of his oldest friend for a moment, before pulling the zanpakutō away and laying it before himself. He scoots backward on the floor so that the blade is just out of reach, and bows forward making sure that his hands were clearly visible, pressed into the floor.

The zanpakutō spirit was Sōsuke's oldest friend... and he couldn't save him this time. He couldn't even make sure he was under the Complete Hypnosis, even if he had the time to enter Shikai. He just didn't have the power to do it. Another sharp flash of pain washes over him, but this time it does not stop. Whomever was approaching wasn't even trying to suppress their Reiatsu. They were also taking their time to get there, they weren't even using shunpo. If Sōsuke didn't know any better he would assume that they were trying to torture him without being obvious about it. Another irony, Suì-Fēng was the current head of the Onmitsukidō yet she wasn't discrete about anything. She was always so painfully obvious in her feelings and intentions. Were it anyone else he would remain in this bowed, apologetic position, but not for her. He would not give her the satisfaction of seeing him in such a position. It is a force of will, as he pushes himself into a seated position, his palms pressed into his thighs to keep himself upright.

And yet, Sōsuke is still forced to acknowledge her now superior strength. At least he had chosen a relatively comfortable position to be kneeled in. Was this how Hanataro-san felt all the time? The meek man actually had a respectable Reiryoku pool, large enough to be on par with his taichō, he simply couldn't convert enough of it into Reiatsu. He was all potential, but only little actualization. Powerful enough to sense everyone, but with a Reiatsu level too low to shield himself from most of them. No wonder he spent so much time looking down, pretending he couldn't see. Sōsuke's eyes were watering from the Reiatsu pressure Suì-Fēng was leveraging against him. Its so thick and choking that he can't sense if anyone else has arrived with her or if this is to be a private torture session.

He shivers from the cold metal of the first sting of her Shikai against the back of his neck. Four shadows seem to melt into the shape of men, though from their clothing it seems that only two of them are her underlings. Gone are the days where not even the ghost of the Onmitsukidō can avoid being caught in Sōsuke's gaze, now it seemed that even the Kidō Corps were beyond him, at least they were if he didn't want to collapse into a pile of dissolving Reishi. Her finger taps slowly down the exposed skin of his neck each one far enough apart that the butterfly sigil of her instant death technique does not trigger. Surprisingly effective threats and cold metal cause him to shiver, naturally she takes the opportunity to gloat. "How the mighty have fallen. How does it feel to be so weak Aizen Sōsuke? How does it feel to know that even with Kyōka Suigetsu at your fingertips you have no chance of escape! Better yet, how did it feel to get that beating? I wish I had known what they were planning. I would have made sure we finished you off before that bastard interrupted and Unohana messed everything up for the nobles who wanted a chance to avenge their murdered kin."

Sōsuke knows that he should really try and deescalate the situation, but he simply can't resist kicking the hornets nest, ironic given that her zanpakutō was literally called Hornet. In his most pedantic voice he apologizes, "I do apologize. It seems that those responsible for sealing me were not able to tell that I was still in my Bankai and thus had Kyōka Suigetsu attached to my Reishi. As you can see, the moment I was able to do so, I relinquished my zanpakutō and waited in a passive, non-threatening manner for my guards to attend to me."

"Attend to you! Attend to you! You can't seriously think you have any power here! We are the elite of the Onmitsukidō and the Kidō Corps, not your dirty half-hollow mongrels! Where do you get of acting so arrogantly!"

Before Sōsuke can experience the consequences of his words, the tempestuous assassin is stopped by a voice from the doorway. "Suì-Fēng-taichō, please calm yourself. Really Aizen-san, must you tease her so?" With sudden clarity, Sōsuke realizes that he will in fact not be receiving a(nother?) beating/torture session. He smiles up at Unohana in welcome, both happy to see her, and smug at the near instant evaporation of Suì-Fēng's Reiatsu. "Good evening, Unohana-taichō, I apologize for bringing you here so late, but I really couldn't remain in Bankai any longer. I was already beginning to suffer from Reishi composition strain you see."

The calm, blue eyed woman smiles softly, refraining from responding until after she has gracefully knelt next to him and begun his examination, the green glow of her 5th Rite of Kaidō (Humanity): Kaidō, The Turn Way, nearly painless, revealing the compassion she felt for him without her every saying a word. "And now Aizen-san? Do you still feel strained?" He shakes his head in denial, still in his kneeling position on the floor. "No, and what is this I hear about you getting involved? Suì-Fēng-san made it sound as if you threatened the Central 46."

As she finishes healing the damage done to his chest by the rapid ejection of Kyōka Suigetsu she glances up at him. There is a delightful sparkle of mischief in her eyes and a thousand unspoken threats in her smile. "Whatever do you mean? As taichō of the 4th Division, I am by law required to make sure that all high profile prisoners, particularly those such as yourself with valuable information are healthy enough to answer to the Central 46 when they are called to trial. It wouldn't do for you to be mentally or physically incapacitated and thus unable to answer any of their questions. I simply asked them to clarify if they preferred knowing where the Soul King has been reincarnated, or if they preferred that I focus my skills on healing their clansmen who serve in the Gotei 13. The 4th Division's hospital rooms are over-full at the moment. The Quincy were quite vicious. I honestly do not have time to constantly be running halfway across Seireitei every time someone gets it in their head to punish you before your crimes have been determined and heal my patients at the same time."

Grateful he bows his head slightly to her, "Once again, I apologize for bringing you out here so late then." With a significantly less genuine smile he turns to the two black masked Kidō corps members who had arrived with the Onmitsukidō. "So that Unohana-taichō, who has so generously taken the time to visit, may go and seek her rest, I will allow you to place upon my person the seals you are assigned to cast for my protection." The two elite Kidō masters visibly tense in anger. "Aizen-san, what did I say about teasing?"

His smile becomes a bit more honest, though admittedly still a bit teasing. "I do apologize, it has been quite stressful to go from being pardoned and saving all of Seireitei from Yhwach to awakening in prison with a beating that left me unconscious, to awakening a second time alone with my zanpakutō exiting Bankai while still underneath my skin." The two give no indication that they even hear his admittedly trite apology. Perfunctorily, they complete their duties, once more wrapping Sōsuke in the dozen or so Kidō seals and barriers that had torn earlier.

Once they are done a bright orange flare catches his attention. An orange blossom, the 9th Rite of Kaidō (Succor): Iyashino Suimin, The Healing Slumber, forming at the tips of her fingers, its many petals indicating that it would cause the patient to sleep for approximately 8 hours. Without further prompting he lays on his back and closes his eyes. It wasn't as if there was a bed in here for him to sleep on. Even if Sōsuke were to start having nightmares, they would not be starting tonight. Iyashino Suimin made sure that the patient had nothing but good dreams.

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The red eyed man is rudely awakened with a punch to the face. He sputters in surprise, jerking back only for his head to hit hard wood. Blinking repeatedly, trying to drive the sleepiness away, even as the last petal of the healing sleep tries to drag him back under for the last few minutes of rest. A hand, likely the same one that had woken him, lashes out again crushing the flower petal and forcibly ending the Kaidō.

Instantly the heavy-lidded lethargy and mental haze evaporates leaving him with the surprising realization that he was seated in a shackled chair before none other than the Central 46. The shouting begins almost immediately, a cacophony of voices raised in anger, their words bleeding together in a monotone howl of outrage. He carefully makes his expression politely neutral and waits for a question he can actually understand. Either Unohana-san's actions had forced them to abandon their plan to torture Sōsuke into admitting to any manner of atrocities in order to avoid further abuse, or the healing sleep had been extended further and further, keeping him in a relatively easy state to hold prisoner. Without access to Kyōka Suigetsu, the Complete Hypnosis, or The Dreaming Kami, he had no way of knowing how long he had been asleep. Well. He could ask, but he didn't trust them to know the time of day, much less trust that they would tell him what it was.

Why would he trust them with anything when they couldn't even be trusted to behave with the dignity they claimed to have and instead chose to shout at him like a room full of rowdy school children. To pass the time he begins counting the seconds, embarrassingly he is at 6 minutes and 38 seconds before the room is brought to order. He calls it order, but what kind of order can it be when it is only the casting of a Kidō that prevents any noise from reaching Sōsuke and the seven people seated as his judges. From their features he can tell that they are all from the greater noble houses, though he does not find any of them familiar beyond that. The elderly woman seated in the middle is the one to address him, "Aizen Sōsuke, we know what you have done and such an insult will not be tolerated. We give you this one opportunity. Admit to your treasonous actions and we will go as lightly on you as we are allowed to by law."

Allowing his neutral expression to turn puzzled he responds. They may be about to frame him for something he did not do, but there was no way in any hell he was going to make it easy for them by admitting to something he did not do. "I find myself confused by your words Venerable Lady of the Central 46, to the best of my knowledge I have committed no treasonous actions that have not already been pardoned by this esteemed body."

There is a long oppressive silence after he speaks and he curses the fact that he has no way of knowing if they were merely attempting to pressure him psychologically or if someone was using Kidō or other illusionary means to discredit him. Out of the corner of his eyes he can see that the other nobles outside of the silencing barrier were still shouting. Some of them appeared so old that it was a miracle that after 7 minutes of shouting and elevated blood pressure, none of them had experienced a heart attack.

Now that he has had the opportunity to examine his surroundings he begins to spot the oasis of peace and serenity amid the enraged nobles. Interestingly enough, Aizomeya-san aside, every last one of the nobles seated calmly together was a member of the Gotei 13, Kuchiki-san, Kira-san who had visited with him in Senzaikyū before accepting a position, sat in positions which seemed to indicate that they were the focal points for the group. What were they planning? Did they have a plan at all or did they somehow expect Sōsuke to get himself out of this and were merely here and calm as a show of support.

His attention is brought back to the old woman as she speaks once more, her ancient voice carrying every overtone of disappointment Sōsuke had ever heard in a voice. "That is disappointing, we had hoped that given our generously granted pardon, you would speak honestly with us, though I suppose that given how your actions have only escalated in their monstrosity we should have known that you would not recognize and cherish our kindness." Sōsuke is rather honestly taken aback. Clearly someone had done their homework and managed to find a few things to stir him to a rage to make him sloppy. Even knowing that it is their intended purpose does not take the sting out of her words. The only thing he can do to avenge himself is to deny her the very response she hoped to incite. He merely returns to smiling up at them politely, waiting for them to say something he can actually respond to.

He doesn't know who she is, though he can definitely see some Magatama features in her, he does however know that she is clearly a very skilled manipulator, as the moment that it becomes obvious that she will get nothing from him with one tactic, she changes to another. First she had tried to cow him with a show of authority, next she had tried to guilt him with a show of disappointment. Mid assault, when it became clear that he wasn't going to take the bait she finished by trying to bring him to anger. He was almost excited to find out what she would try next now that he had remained unruffled and poised.

He is not dissapointed. The old woman sighs as if much saddened, even her posture changes to match her tone as she tries to portray an almost motherly concern as she admits, "Aizen-san, we've been in contact with the Zero Division, the king's guard has informed us that The Soul King has died. If you do not speak up, we can only assume that you meant to murder him and threaten the balance of the worlds. Its all right. I'm sure you didn't mean to. Perhaps you were counting on Ukitake-san to take up the burden and assumed that his long service in the Gotei 13 meant that he did not need as much protection. There was no way you could have known that the two Quincy who believed themselves to be parts of the Soul King would seek him out and murder him."

He took it back, he was no longer amused by her manipulation skills. How dare she tell Sōsuke that Ukitake-san had died while implying he was to blame. He can feel as the fake polite smile melts off of his face leaving only a blank mask behind. "I apologize, you seem to be laboring under a grave misunderstanding. We were at war, and no matter how prepared an army is, no matter how well the generals plan, there are always losses. I am surprised and saddened to hear that my former Taichō was one of them. If you wish to place the blame for his death upon the mastermind of the plan used in the last battle you must hold every member of the Council of Souls, the Taichō of the Gotei 13, the Heads of the Onmitsukidō and Kidō Corps and the other courageous and outstanding souls that took part in creating that plan. While I am flattered that you think me capable of coming up with such a well crafted plan so soon after awakening from the shock of my release from Muken, the fact of the matter is that I simply cannot take the credit."

She merely nods at him in response, he is unable to tell if that is in acceptance, respect, or if it isn't to him at all, but merely a physical tell she has outwardly while she mentally prepares for her next attack. Her withered hand rises and the silence gets heavier and deeper as she brings the glass of water on her stand in and elegantly takes a sip. She sets the cup down with a sharp clink that sounds aggressively sharp in the silence, "Aizen Sōsuke. I can't help but notice that you completely neglected to say anything about how you murdered the Soul King in cold blood before thousands of witnesses. Do you think us fools, easily distracted?"

Smiling equally sharply Sōsuke merely shrugs, "I apologize, I hadn't thought I needed to explain such a simple and universally accepted concept. Surely such a venerable lady of a greater noble house as yourself would know. Supposedly the words were first passed down into your houses before they were ever shared with Rukongai peasants such as myself."

He can tell that the woman has absolutely no idea what he is talking about, but is unwilling to admit it, "I am afraid that some of the Lesser Noble Houses require a repeat lesson. Would you share them." Sōsuke notes that the last statement really should have been a question but definitely sounded more like an order. All well, he would indulge her this once out of respect for her skill, even if she had possessed the audacity to use that skill on him. She may have been good, but he was better. He would never have said something so foolish. Without directing his gaze elsewhere he can see that those outside of the sound barrier have gone still. It never ceased to amaze him, how easily the Nobles of the 5, now only 4 Greater Noble Houses found it to forget how completely outnumbered they were by the Lesser Noble Houses. And she had just implied that the whole lot of them were too stupid to remember something, as if being in a Greater Noble House made you exempt from forgetting things. That she had commanded the person on trial, a criminal and a murderer in their eyes, to be the one to educate them? The lesser Nobles would find it an unforgivable insult.

He nods politely, the very picture of respect. "Of course Madam. It is the will of The Soul King that souls never truly die, they only move on. The only true death comes when the soul is destroyed by Quincy, it commits soul-suicide, or it is completely unraveled by a more powerful soul. It does not matter if the next incarnation is a hollow, a human, a hybrid, or a Shinigami, The Soul King will balance everything out in the end." He can see the way she slowly tenses, realizing that it is entirely possible for him to talk his way out of this situation if given the chance, a chance she has so generously offered him.

His smile twists a little, edging from polite into smug, "By giving the Soul King a soul, I have ensured his eternal life. No more will we have to worry about him fading away piece by piece. What little that was left of him has not perished, only moved on. New experiences await our King and it is my hope that upon The Soul King's return, we will all be blessed with a wiser ruler who understands those he governs much better than before."

His red eyes glint, and he can feel his smug smile twist even further, sharpening into a weapon meant to cause his target to bleed not blood, but anger. "Really now. I don't understand how the esteemed bodies of The Central 46 and the Zero Division could mistake moving on for soul destruction, not with a soul as vital to the stability of the balance as The Soul King. If I had done such a horrific and monstrous thing, then surely there would be signs by now that the worlds were in danger of loosing their stability and merging with one another. Unless there are cracks in the sky and living humans are falling out of them, it is safe to say that we are in no danger. I am the Soul Kings savior not his murderer."

Maybe it is because Sōsuke has watched millions of people through the eyes of others through the Complete Hypnosis, but it is painfully easy to see now that he is not emotionally compromised. The woman was loosing control of her argument, and she knew it. Briskly she moves on to a plan of attack that she had likely prepared before hand, but without the right emotional tone, it came out rushed and hurried instead of the concerned and outraged that she was probably intending. "The soul king is now an innocent child! Anyone could murder him without knowing!"

Sōsuke leans back in his stone, leather and steel chair, wishing that the bindings allowed enough leeway to bring his hands together in a contemplative point. "Given that the only two Quincy alive in the living world have no reason what so ever to use their skills on the living, leaving the Shinigami, the only souls capable of committing said murder, you merely have to refrain from destroying any souls until The Soul King chooses to return to take up their throne."

Sōsuke's eyes harden, "Let the King have at least one human lifetime without being put under the pressure of ruling an entire dimension. Be grateful that maintaining the balance is a subconscious act that does not inhibit their life in any way." Given the way some of the Central 46 flinch it is highly likely that several of his expressions have gained potency due to the ominous red color of his eyes, and sharp white of his hair. The contrasting colors fairly aggressive and unnatural compared to his previous shades of brown.

The old woman nearly sputters out her next point. Really it was beginning to sound more and more like she was reading from a teleprompter. "Children are clumsy and foolish! What if the boy accidentally destroys us all because he is without the guidance of another to teach him!"

He wishes that he had his illusions, it is so very tempting to simply roll his eyes like an unimpressed teenager. Clearly some of Orihime-chan's youthful mannerisms were bleeding over into his own. "You may find this hard to believe, but humans are perfectly capable of raising smart and conscientious children without aid. It sounds to me as if you are more concerned that you won't know who to be polite to to keep The Soul King from dissolving the Central 46, or is it not even that you fear for? Perhaps this governing body falls second to retaining your status as a noble. The title won't be worth much if The Reincarnated Soul King chooses to make it so that every soul has the right to have children while in Soul Society."

"You arrogant deceitful rat! This was your plan all along! It wasn't enough that you murder 46 of the greatest minds in Seireitei! No you want to destroy the very foundation that has protected and nurtured Soul Society for over a million years! Once the Soul King has forsaken us all you will convince him with your illusions and your lies to simply give you his throne!"

He can't help it, he snorts. Many nobles had slowly become amused by how thoroughly Sōsuke was trouncing this wrenched woman who had likely steamrolled everyone else on her way to the position of authority she now held. The shared feelings of camaraderie in the face of a shared enemy making them sympathetic. Don't misunderstand, he was certain that each and every one of them would love to stick a knife in his back and have it stick, barring those who had clearly set themselves apart from it all. In the face of his surprised humor, a few of them even laugh.

He can see it in her eyes. This is the moment that the old woman realizes that she will get nothing that she had wanted when she began her attack. Sōsuke sighs, and shakes his head in feigned exasperation. "Don't you think that if I truly wished to be The Soul King, that I would have made that, my one truth? Everyone would have been forced to pander to me. There would have been no problems with my current Reiryoku and Reiatsu depletion, certainly no one would have dared to beat me nearly to death within moments of my waking."

There are murmurs, but the old woman can't seem to find any more words to throw at him, and she refuses to allow any one else to speak.

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As he is knocked unconscious and dragged away from the gathering chamber, he has the capacity to ponder why it is that some people resort to violence and outright denial of a clearly apparent truth if it isn't to their liking and the person pointing it out to them is skilled enough with his words that they cannot refute his logic.

He blacks out before he can wonder why it is, that not a single one of the questions asked of him had been about the Hōgyoku.

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Chapter 45: The Rescue Aizen Arc

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It was Friday afternoon, and the bell chimes, telling all of the students excited for their weekend that the school day was now over. The War on Souls had ended last week, and while she was sure that they were still cleaning up in Seireitei, here on earth at least it had been a perfectly normal week. Orihime smiles and waives to all of her classmates that say good bye, jogging to catch up to Tatsuki-chan where she waits at the school gates. As she jogs forwards, ignoring all of the eyes drawn to her chest, she thinks that her normal week was probably over now, and for one very obvious reason.

Though Tatsuki-chan could not see him, Ulquiorra-san was standing beside her, staring unblinkingly at Orihime with his neon green eyes. Of course, Tatsuki-chan wasn't dumb, so as soon as she saw Orihime looking up and off to her side at empty space, she sighed, "Another of your spirit friends Orihime-chan?" The red haired girl smiles and nods apologetically, "Sorry Tatsuki-chan, I'll walk to school with you on Monday?" "You bet you will! Don't let any of these idiots push you around! If you don't want to keep visiting that Aizen guy you just tell them all to get lost alright?"

Tatsuki-chan was a really good friend. "Yeah, Tatsuki-chan. I know. I'm not a pushover. Not anymore." Ulquiorra-san remains silent, even as Tatsuki-chan turns and walks away. Orihime waits for a moment before walking away, pausing only once to make sure that the boy with his sad, sad eyes follows her. Her chest fills with butterflies as he falls into step beside her. He had said that he was in love with her, and while she wasn't quite sure he knew the difference between platonic love and romantic love that didn't mean that she wasn't aware of him in ways she would never have considered before his confession... before Kagome and Naohi.

He is quiet for so long that she is startled out of her thoughts when he speaks, "I do hope that I am doing this correctly. This is something that humans who care for one another do, is it not?" Her heart clenches, as if the butterflies have all landed on her aching heart. She smiles up at him, this strange boy who is trying so hard to step out of the blackness of his nihilism, so that she can see him for who he is. "Yes! It is most often done with friends and who you are dating." Ulquiorra-san pauses for a second, causing her to stop as well. She would like to say that he has his thinking face on...but honestly he waspretty and expressionless.

She snaps her head forward and continues walking, and he follows her example, though he remains lost in thought. She was almost completely sure that her complexion matched her hair. Her face was so hot! He was pretty expressionless, not pretty andexpressionless! She peeks up and over at her silent companion through her eyelashes. His eyes were certainly amazing though, that vivid green, cat-eyed stare...

In surprisingly little time, the two of them arrive at her destination. Turning to walk up to the shop, she smiles to herself, she was so excited to see Sosuke-nii! "Orihime." Blinking in surprise, she stops and turns around to Ulquiorra. She has only a moment to be surprised to find him less than a step behind her before her head is tilted further back and he kisses her. It was sweet. A fairy-tale prince's kiss. A fleeting press of lips. For a person who behaved so coldly, his lips had been surprisingly warm and soft.

She can only stare up at him in surprise, his face so close to hers. His eyes must be a thousand shades of green... He straightens up completely and stares at her for a moment. The weight of his stare heavy. The very corner of his mouth twitches up, the barest hint of a smirk... and then he is gone, disappearing into the absolute black of a Garganta. Oh, wow... it seemed that he did know the difference...

The teasing, pervy voice of Urahara-san shakes her from her thoughts, "Well now, that was certainly interesting." She spins around, well aware that her face was once again the same color as her hair. "Don't tease me Urahara-san, not about this. Don't you know a teenage girls heart is fragile?" Orihime wasn't Sōsuke-nii, if Urahara-san was giving anything away with his expression she couldn't see it. All she saw was a pair of shadowed eyes, even his mouth was hidden away behind his fan. She had only been halfway serious. She hoped he wasn't offended.

The blond man simply waives his fan at her in mock chastisement. But he could just as easily be serious, even if he does sound like a bad daytime TV comedian when he says, "You can't fool me Orihime-chan! High-school girls are scary! I don't even have to look that far for proof! You just got smooched by an Arrancar!" Her blush, which had thankfully begun to fade as quickly as it came, makes a reappearance. "Urahara-san!"

The fan in no way hides his perverted smirk. "I don't think you understand just how momentous it is, that a hollow like Ulquiorra-san was willing and able to kiss you. As far as hollows are concerned, their mouths are for eating, for sucking in the Reiryoku of their prey if not outright ravaging it like a lion eating a downed zebra alive while it screams out to the rest of its herd. From the stunned expression on your face it is quite obvious that you neither had to explain that humans kiss, nor ask for one. We can only conclude that he searched for the information on his own and he was able to repress his own instincts in order to give you an admittedly chaste but very human kiss."

So not interested in talking to Urahara-san about this, she briskly hurries past him and through the shop to the secret underground training area. It's only mildly startling to find him already down there when she finishes climbing down the ladder to the bottom. Its far more alarming to see whatever good humor he had before completely absent from his face. He looks so scary and dangerous like this... had, had he been trying to scare her away upstairs? "Urahara-san?"

He seems to sense that he is seriously creeping her out, since almost instantly after she says his name, he spins around and leads her over to where they normally set up the special Senkaimon. "I don't suppose that I could get you to skip this meeting?" Now shocked and worried, "Of course not! This is my first visit with Sōsuke-nii now that he is a free man! Why would I skip it?"

Instead of answering, opening the Senkaimon, or even turning to look at her the blond shopkeeper sits down on one of the large boulders that dot the training area. He stays quiet, for way way longer than someone with good news would be. Her hands start to shake and her eyes tear up, "Urahara-san? Sōsuke-Nii's alright... isn't he?"

The silent man sighs, his only action being to raise his hand to tug the brim of his bucket hat down low, casting his eyes in even darker shadows than normal. "Sōsuke-san has paid a heavy price. While it is not unusual for a person who has not mastered their Bankai to accidentally give themselves Reiryoku exhaustion, it is very unusual for it to persist for this long. Were he anyone else, and by that I mean, were he not physically incapable of dying, he would have died several times now. Not only because he can't generate a Reiatsu high enough to protect him from what he normally shouldn't be able to see... it seems that the Central 46 has once again declared him a traitor to Seireitei and incarcerated him in a far less comfortable cell than he previously enjoyed in Senzaikyū. He has already been assaulted once by cowards who wouldn't dare to attack him were he well. We are waiting to see when his trial is going to be, but the Central 46 is being very secretive. Unfortunately, not even Yoruichi-san has been able to tell when they are going to have it."

Orihime can't help it. She cries, poor Sōsuke-nii. He had come so far from being a not really an evil tyrant, and he even after he saved everyone, pretty much by himself, he was still treated like this. It wasn't right. He didn't deserve it. She is shaken from her downward spiraling thoughts, "I understand that you want to go and see him. However depending on his emotional state he may not want you to see him beaten down and weakened like he is. It is also possible that they will simply turn you away at the gates. I do not think that you are in any danger of being kidnapped and used as leverage. You are far too prominent a person to simply disappear, nor do they have anything that they could use to declare you a criminal and imprison you. That doesn't mean that I think you should go, though if you insist, I must urge you to be vigilant. Just because the Central 46 can't kidnap or imprison you, it doesn't mean that no one else might consider avenging themselves against him through you."

"Relax Kisuke. I'll go with her." Orihime jumps in surprise at the always startlingly deep voice of Yoruichi-san in her kitty cat form. The pitch black feline rises up on its legs, stretching as she does. "I'll take the normal Senkaimon and see you there on the other-side. I'll be hiding, so you won't see me, but I'll be there watching over you, so do us all a favor and cheer up Aizen. We've all seen enough of what he gets up to if he goes to long without company. He was bad enough at full power, I don't want to know how vicious he can get when backed into a corner."

The trip through the modified Senkaimon is blessedly normal, her cute little friend Wasabi Green leading her without fuss to Seireitei. Not even the black masked guards act different, nor do any of the people she passes in the streets. Many of those she is familiar with even call out to her in greeting like normal, slowly she starts to relax. As with all horror movies, as soon as she is completely relaxed, so sure that the monster is nowhere near by, that it reaches out of the shadows of an alleyway and drags her in without anyone the wiser.

Her cry of alarm is muffled by the hand over her mouth. A voice she does not recognize hisses in her ear, "Shh! Be quiet! I do apologize for startling you like this Inoue-san, but you are in grave danger! I am as well if I get caught talking to you! Now I am going to let you go, but you have to promise not to scream, or even talk louder than a whisper ok?" Scared, and sincerely hoping that the reason that Yoruichi-san hadn't already saved her was because this guy wasn't dangerous and not because Yoruichi-san wasn't here, she slowly nods.

The man lets her go without a moments hesitation. She spins around to see a man she has never seen before. He doesn't look a thing at all like a kidnapper would. For one thing, he was well dressed in the old traditional style everyone in Soul Society favored. For another he appeared very healthy for a man old enough to have all of the hair on his face white, even his beard was the color of snow. He stood up so straight, and his eyes were such an earnest shade of blue. Her gut told her that she was perfectly safe with this man, and if it had been right about Sōsuke-nii then there was no way that it was wrong now!

"As I said, I am sorry for scaring you like this, but I would never be able to reincarnate with a clean slate if I allowed you to continue on without warning you. I am on the Central 46, and while I am sure you and yours are waiting to hear from your allies who sit with me I am sorry to say that they are under a Kidō-bound gag order and quite literally, they can't say anything about our last meeting. Fortunately the old-buzzard and her wicked little zanpakutō seem to have completely forgotten about me."

Orihime almost can't believe it. She had thought that all of the bad things that had been done by the Central 46 before Sōsuke-nii executed the, was because the previous batch had held their offices for so long that they had become corrupt. She hadn't even been all that worried about Urahara-san's warning because he was probably biased with how badly he was treated by them... but to hear that they were still toxic and corrupt from the mouth of someone who was new to the office? When they had only been reinstated for a few months?

"We secretly held his trial last night. Unsurprisingly he acquitted himself. Everything that buzzard threw at him, every poorly hidden insult, every accusation, he turned aside, or even against her. Doesn't change the fact that so many of us are out for his blood that even when he is clearly innocent of everything he was accused of, an overwhelming majority still voted to remit the accused to Muken for Contempt of Court and Perjury until such a time as the accused becomes compliant. Normally the harshest punishment that can be given for those two crimes is a six month sentence to Senzaikyū, but they are using his immortality and his previous stay there to excuse what is for all intents and purposes an indefinite stay in Muken."

She is outraged, and only barely manages to keep her retort to an angry hiss instead of a shout, "That's not right! You're just torturing him until he says what you want!" The old man holds up his hands in surrender, backing away from her, "I know!, I know! I didn't I agree you know! The only reason we all gathered was because we were told that Aizen-senpai had murdered the Soul King!" Orihime is startled out of her anger, "Aizen... sempai?"

The old man blushes, "My name is Takashi Emi. Emi is a lesser noble house, they mainly do art and stuff. They're pretty open minded, they're always adopting skilled craftsmen and artisans even if they are Rukongai rats like me. I'm not all that good at anything, I only married into the family, taking my wife's name when we wed. Before that I was Takashi Magekyuu, before I retired from the Gotei 13, I served under him in the 13th division. It must be almost 200 years ago now. Bunch of the snobby nobles that make up the rest of the Central 46 always turn their noses up at me and can't understand why the Emi chose me out of all of the souls that bare their name. They never believe me when I say that they would all rather spend their time making art instead of having an official position that keeps them away from their art for hours on end. There is one bright side though, they have to keep all of their sneering polite. Nothing better than watching the stuck up bastards being forced to smile and greet me politely."

"You though, you have to get out of here. One of the reasons that the old buzzard forced the gag order was because of what they decided to do with you. Another of my old squad-mates, Rikotu Ami-san stood up in the silence after Aizen-sempai finished speaking. I may have been able to come to terms with what Aizen-sempai did, to make a very long story short, she did not. When the old buzzard acknowledged her, she admitted that when she had achieved Bankai, she had been asked to turn in her zanpakutō because it posed an unacceptable risk of subversion. This seemed to mean a whole lot to the buzzard, because all she did after that was give her permission to collect her zanpakutō from the Onmitsukidō evidence storage."

"I don't know what the Bankai is called, but her Shikai was called Amai – Kamen, a beautiful mask. It is an illusion type like Aizen-sempai, though it only affects how people see her. It's a social mask, one that lets her appear to fit in with any crowd she wants. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was one of the reasons that she managed to ingrate herself to the snobby greater noble houses. I would bet every last thing that I own that her Bankai let her pick a specific person to be instead. If it is half as convincing as her Shikai, your friends in the living world may not even realize that she isn't the real you. I shouldn't have to tell you what Aizen-sempai would be willing to confess to if it meant that you were returned to the living world safe and sound."

Emi-san looks over his shoulder down the alleyway before turning back to her, clearly worried about being seen. "Find some of your friends you feel safe with, try to avoid anyone you see alone, and get them to walk you back. I don't think they're quite desperate enough to go all the way to the living world and get the attention of the Council of Souls and all of your friends to try to kidnap you." He backs up further, "You probably don't recognize me, but when the Quincy attacked, you and that little Tsubaki fellow of yours saved my life and I owe so much of who I am today to Aizen-sempai. I wish I could do more than just warn you, but I can't."

Orihime wraps her arms around herself and tries to smile for him, "Thank you Emi-san. Sometimes a little warning is all that we need." She exits the alleyway and walks down the street, turning away from the roads that take her to Senzaikyū and towards those that lead her into the Gotei 13. If she was going to find a large group of her friends, the best chance for her to find them would be in their barracks. She is only a street away when a black cat jumps down from the rooftop above into her path. It's eyes stare at her intently before it trots down a side street. Wondering what Yoruichi-san is up to, she cautiously steps into the opening of the alley.

The black cat is sitting on a trashcan, licking its paw when she steps in. It sets it's foot down and turns to her. Yoruichi-san whispers, "Orihime-chan, come over here.", but... it isn't in the unusually deep voice that Orihime had heard only hours earlier... it's in Yoruichi-san's human voice. Utterly terrified, she jerks herself back out of the ally and runs away blindly. How had they managed to catch Yoruichi-san? Maybe they hadn't? Maybe they had just lured Yoruichi-san away with a fake Orihime and then snuck back wearing someone else's face before trying to lure Orihime away with a fake Yoruichi-san. Now she hoped that no Yoruichi-san had been nearby when Emi-san dragged her down the alley. She had no way of warning him if he was seen.

Her breath is coming short, and she can barely see from how bad she is crying in fear. It's no surprise that she runs into someone. She screams in surprise and struggles to get away when she is grabbed. A voice she is only vaguely familiar with shakes her out of her fear. "Wha's wrong Orihime-chan? Why're ya so scared?". A second far more familiar voice chimes in, "Orihime-chan! What's wrong? Are you ok? Here dry your eyes." A scrap of what feels like tissue paper is shoved into her hand.

She steps back slowly, and the man who had been holding her lets her go. She wipes the tears out of her eyes, and dabs at her runny nose. Her eyes sting when she opens them and sees the worried face of Ran-chan staring at her, a gift bag in her hands now devoid of its bright purple tissue paper. She glances over at the man she had crashed into, and likely would have bounced off of if he hadn't held her tightly. It was Gin-san, whom she had briefly met in Hueco Mundo. She must look a sight if the man who didn't seem to have an expression other than smiling was frowning at her.

Well aware that she probably can't say a thing about the warning she just got, or the fact that Yoruichi-san might be in trouble to them she goes for the next most obvious thing. "I...", She looks down at the tissue in her hands. The purple tissue paper was mangled. It looked like her insides felt. She hated lying to people, but Sōsuke had made sure that she knew how to anyways. It was amazing what he could convince her to do in the name of training to make sure that she could do whatever it took to protect her Nakama. "I just heard about Sōsuke-niisan. They weren't very nice. I got scared, and ran away."

She looks up at the two of them, sure that she looks like a red-rimed, tear-stained mess of a little girl. "I'm sorry for running into you like that, but I really just want to go home now. Would you..." She sniffs, and she can feel the burning in her eyes that tells her of the approaching onset of another bout of tears. "Would you please walk me to the Senkaimon? I know, I know the two of you are probably on a date, and I'm so sorry to interrupt but I, I'm scared to go alone." She can't see by the end of the sentence, the tears spilling over.

"Aw, it's Ok Orihime-chan. Gin and I have all the time in the world to go on dates. I'd be a bad friend if I just sent you on your own right now." Orihime dabs away her tears and looks up at the silver haired man. Gin grins and offers her his arm. "Wha sorta man would I be if I turned down the company of another pretty, busty chick? Specially when I get to return a favor to Aizen an tweak his nose at the same time." She can't help the little giggle that escapes her, and with a smile she is sure doesn't reach her eyes, she accepts the offered arm. If she grips onto it too tightly he doesn't say anything. The two of them escort her to the Senkaimon without any further issues.

It is only when they reach the Senkaimon that Orihime is again reduced to fear. When Ran-chan asks the two gate guards to open the Senkaimon to Karakura, an hour after Orihime left, the two of them look at each-other and make hand gestures. She guesses that they are using a special form of sign-language. Gin-san interrupts with a tone of voice that even she can tell is threatening in spite of the way he speaks lightly and smiles as he says, "Is there a problem? Cuz we can always take her to tha Embassy. I'm sure tha Council of Souls would have no problem with her usin' their private Senkaimon."

The two black masked guards go still for a moment before turning and tuning the Senkaimon. Just as the gate is about to open he pipes up again, causing one of the guards to startle, "Oh, an' can ya make sure that we have two more Hell Butterflies? Orihime-chan has her own, but we're plannin' on walking her all the way back to her little friends. An before ya complain about me takin' a pointless trip, I'm gonna pick up some info from Urahara, and as a Taichō I'm allowed to bring a Fukutaichō. Ran-chan may not be my Fukutaichō, but she's got the rank all the same." Orihime would admit that she was a little scared of Gin-san. He may have been acting scary on her behalf, but after all of the scares that she had had today, anything unusual was bound to be scary. She hoped that when she calmed down, it went away. It would be hard to thank the two of them, if she was still scared.

They enter the Senkaimon without issue. No falling into the Dangai, no getting chased by the Kōtotsu, no more repeat visits to August 1st. At the other end of the hallway, Wasabi Green leads her out into the Underground Training area. She must be interrupting an argument or something, because a barely dressed Yoruichi-san seems to have been arguing with Urahara-san, and all of her Nakama are in a semi-circle behind the two... and Ulquiorra-kun standing nearby, but separate visibly looking impatient. Yoruichi-san shouts when she sees her. "Orihime-chan!". The woman steps towards her, but Orihime can't help flinching back.

The woman halts instantly, and she looks so hurt that Orihime would be afraid of her, but... She can't help it. She takes in a shaky breath, "Change back and say my name." Now worried, the former head of the Onmitsukidō doesn't even pause to consider Ran-chan and Gin-san who had stepped out behind her. The black cat crawls out of the scraps of clothing and says, in a deep reassuring voice, "Orihime-chan, are you all right? I don't know how, but I lost you in the crowd. Did something happen?"

Once again, Orihime bursts into tears, though this time they are blessedly tears of relief. "Thank the Kami you aren't Rikotu-san. I was so scared. She jumped off of the roof in front of me looking just like kitty-you and when I followed her into the opening of an alley she called out to me, but she sounded like you do as human-you so I ran away. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't literally bumped into Gin-san. If Ran-chan hadn't been with him, I might have continued to run away from everyone I met alone until she caught me."

There is a sudden tenseness in the air, and when she uses the last dry spot on the soggy tissue paper to dry her eyes, both Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san look very... focused? Focused was an ok word, but somehow still didn't come close to explaining how dangerous the two of them looked... It made her remember that Sōsuke-nii had said that in-spite of their current playful behavior, that the two of them had been spies and assassins before they were kicked out of Seireitei.

Urahara-san is the one to ask, his fan nowhere in sight and not a smile to be found on his face, "Orihime-chan, may I ask how it is that you know that name?" Startled to realize that they might think that Orihime herself is a fake, she blushes and clears her throat. "Well, after Ulquiora-kun kissed me good bye after walking me here, and you..." Anything she would have said after that is cut off with a shout of surprise from Kurosaki-kun, "What the hell?!", as he turns to glare at Ulquiorra-kun, and a squee of glee from Ran-chan as she glomps Orihime.

Ignoring them all, she clears her throat again, "You warned me to be careful, and I was, but I still got pulled down an alley on my way to Senzaikyū. I'm just not as fast as some people. It turned out to be a good thing though! It was an old man named Emi Takashi-san who said that he and Rikotu-san served under Sōsuke-nii in the 13th division. He said that she had to turn in her illusion type zanpakutō when it's Bankai was declared subversive, but that someone he called the old buzzard had given her permission to get it back from the Onmitsukidō. He said that if her Shikai could make her fit in, her Bankai probably made her able to be a specific person. I didn't think anything of following Yoruichi-san's kitty form into the alley, because I thought it was a secret. But I realized I was in danger when she used the wrong Yoruichi-san voice. I already told you the rest."

Gin chimes in, "Bet even the Kidō Corps are in on it. They were actin' fishy. By the way, Urahara you owe me some "Sensitive information" to be my excuse for why we came all the way here with her." Orihime can't help but get angry now that she isn't so scared, "Yeah, they're the ones who would have put Sōsuke-nii back in Muken when those jerks found him guilty of contempt of court and perjury. Its just an excuse to torture him until he says what they want and I won't stand for it. It's bad enough they tortured him with sensory deprivation the first time, its just plain wrong to do it now that he's sick."

"Sensory Deprivation?", the calm question from Ulquiorra-kun is like a balm to her chaotic emotions, a stark contrast to the aggressive way the shinigami and former shinigami are silently exchanging glances at each other, the tense way that Chad-kun and Ishida-kun do the same, and the shouting of Kurosaki-kun as he glowers at everyone as if it was their fault. She turns away from them all to look up at the green eyed boy. "Yeah, the place they have him imprisoned is called Muken. It's a small separate dimensional space without anything but the ground, the door and air. After the door closes there isn't any light, and without any walls not even sound echos back. Sōsuke-nii passed out when he escaped last time and that was when he had enough of his sensation enhancing Reiatsu escaping his bonds. The way he is now with his power depleted..."

She doesn't resist when he pulls his hands out of his pockets, and pulls her towards him for a hug. Except for his green-green eyes, and the black accents, he was the color white. His Arrancar uniform, his skin, both were the pure white of snow, but he was so warm, where she buried her face in his chest, another batch of tears taking her over. His chest rumbles when he reassures her, "Aizen-sama created a device called the Caja Negacion to mimic what he called the True Void. He spoke as if he had personal experience with it, if he survived such an experience, it is unlikely that he will be defeated by a pale imitation developed by the Shinigami."

For all that Kurosaki-kun had shouted in surprise and anger when she admitted that Ulquiorra-kun kissed her... he is remarkably silent when it comes time for all of them to leave... and she walks home alone with a boy who's eyes are green and not brown.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Later that evening

It was never a good thing, when Urahara came alone to the warehouse to deliver news to them. It was even worse, when instead of informing them all as a group, he asked to personally speak to one of them alone. That always meant only one thing. Something bad had happened to someone they still cared about in Seireitei. They may have been allowed back, but there were some old hurts that were slow to heal, and there were a lot of people that they just hadn't talked to yet.

Lisa didn't have a lot of people she cared for, of those people she couldn't think of a single person that would mean something only to her and not the rest of the group, so it was disturbing that when Urahara seemed to materialize like a ghost in the middle of the common area without a single flicker of Hachi's barriers... and in a somber voice asked to speak with her alone.

She set her manga aside and without a word, led him to her private room. She couldn't think of anything to say. Normally she would at least have a trite come-on for anyone entering her room, but she was just too worried to bother. "Urahara, what's this about? Is it, is it Nanao-chan?" The blond shakes his head slowly, "No, she's all right, everyone is all right." That was reassuring... the fact that he then kneels down on the ground, pulls his hat from his head and presses it into his chest is not. He doesn't even look up at her. "The promise that I made to you has been broken. You have my most sincere and profound apologies. In none of my wildest plans did I ever foresee a reason why they would give Rikotu back her zanpakutō."

Lisa stumbles back away from him, as if putting distance between herself and the messenger would turn his words into nothing more than a nightmare. Flashes drown out her vision, of helplessness, of fear, of the pain when she realized she was betrayed. It had been two centuries, since she had been raped by Jun'ichi Shiba. Two centuries since that bitch Rikotu had bought herself a spot in the lap of the greater noble houses by selling her Bankai as a perfect alibi for whatever their black hearts desired. Jun'ichi had been murdered by Aizen, the one good thing he ever did, and together with Urahara and the Onmitsukidō, Lisa had made sure that Rikotu suffered a fate worse than death.

They had made her turn in her zanpakutō, and with it gone, any value she had to the greater noble houses and their lecherous swine progeny had evaporated. She'd been tossed aside like garbage, and every time Lisa had seen her railing against her position, every time the damn incel turned down a perfectly good proposal, every time she declared that she would rather be an old maid than settle for a husband with a rank of anything less than the main branch of a greater noble house, every time Lisa remembered how bright eyed her roommate in the Shin'o Academy dorms had been when she spoke of having children of her own... Lisa found herself receiving a little more revenge.

She sits down on her bed, shaken, "Why, why would they do such a thing. It has never been done before, not even for a scion of a greater noble house." He stays kneeling, staring at her floor, "Rikotu asked Chiyo Shizuka for it, implying that she would use it to capture Orihime-chan, no doubt to serve as a bargaining chip against Sōsuke-san. As Shizuka is a Chiyo by marriage but a Shiba by birth, and in light of Sōsuke's hand in their downfall, and her subsequent loss of power for centuries, she likely would have allowed a Rukongai Rat to be the first to do so if she thought it would get her revenge."

Lisa drops her head into her hands, taking deep breaths as she unpacks that. When she thinks she's got it all under control, and she's managed to go from scared to pissed off and determined not to let that bitch get Orihime-chan the same way she got Lisa, she looks up to see if he is still there. Much to her surprise, he's still in the room, even more surprisingly, she can see him... Which is such a weird thing to think, but after knowing him for so long... the fact that he was such a ninja wasn't the issue, it was when he stopped that it was cause for concern.

Over the past century she had thought that the increasing frequency she managed to catch sight of him when he wasn't clowning around for attention was a sign that she was growing in skill and power. It wasn't as if she had anyone else but the other Visored to check herself against, each and every one of them taichō and fukutaichō themselves, only with her success in her personal version of Where's Waldo, to drop off of the map entirely the moment he came face to face with Aizen again. Turns out she hadn't been getting better, he'd just been getting lazy. It was damn disappointing.

She's only a little embarrassed and concerned to find him reading her manga. Don't get her wrong, she had a lot of raunchy hentai in her collection. He actually had the most innocent series in his hands... at least it would be innocent if it weren't The Third Reincarnation, with all of her handwritten notes scribbled inside on sticky notes like tabs in a research book. More embarrassingly, the quote from Orihime, the day the human girl caught her buying the rest of the series, has been removed from the cover of the book, and is slightly crumpled in the scientist's free hand.

She quietly offers a reason to explain her descent into insanity, "During that mess with the Ōin, Orihime-chan called Aizen a former Primary Operator. It seemed so familiar but I couldn't remember from where. It was driving me crazy. It wasn't until he started pulling out all those feral Arrancar and naming them some very familiar names that I remembered where. When we got back to the world of the living, I hit up a local book shop, when I came out Orihime-chan was there waiting and she just looked at me, and I swear it was like I had never seen her before. That note is what she said to me before she walked away. I would have just ignored it, it's such a bizarre out there idea... but the similarities..."

Urahara, slowly closes the manga. He sits up from his slumped position and stares at her wall, and she can practically see the gears whirling a mile a minute in his head. "I was privileged to be present in Las Noches when the Arrancar chose their Zero Espada. Orihime-chan may have been used in place of King-Yama to prevent True Death, but find I must agree. So many other things are disturbingly similar. Dekuyume the redemption arc of the monster Naraku, Kagome the time Kami who provided the means for his redemption, Sōsuke-san who turns himself in at the behest of Orihime, a girl who can revert time. The Hōgyoku and the Shikon no Tama. While I very much doubt that our whole universe is a story there, and hers here, and that the gap has somehow been bridged, it is very probable that this whole series is a frivolity that Sōsuke-san amused himself with while he was waiting for time to roll around... and then continued when it proved to amuse him. He himself has admitted that he frequently snuck out of Senzaikyū after putting his watchers asleep."

He blinks twice before glancing over at her as if coming out of a daze, "I have verified with the data collected by the Kidō corps that the human boy named Sōsuke listed as dead in the article, was in fact Sōsuke-san's previous reincarnation. If it isn't too much trouble I would like to borrow all of these books, fantasy though they are, at the very least they might offer some insight into his thought process. He may be making all the actions of our ally for now, but no matter how genuine they are, I cannot see how his current treatment will endear the newest rendition of the Central 46 to him. If at all possible, I would like to prevent any further hollowfication incidents, massacres, dimension conquerings and collapses of noble houses."

Urahara rises to his feet with an awkward laugh, "I think we can all agree that the most dangerous thing about Sōsuke-san was never Kyōka Suigetsu, or his unusually high Reiryoku, but his mind."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

There is an odd hum in the air when he gets back to his shop, and distracted by the manga and his thoughts he is slow to notice. Cautiously, he moves through his own home, past a reassuringly calm Tessai, and a bickering Jinta and Ururu. None of the three even notice as he walks by. The seals on his laboratory door show no signs of tampering, and the only thing out of place is the open trap door that leads to the underground training area.

Silently he shunpos through the opening and down into the room below. He stumbles to a halt in surprise. Moments later he bursts out in laughter. There was an open Senkaimon and scattered in front of that Senkaimon was a bunch of school supplies, backpacks and pens and notebooks. A bright pink one draws his attention, not for its color, and not because he can see that there is something interesting inside. For all of his attempts he had yet to be able to develop a device or a Kidō which would accurately let him judge a book by its cover... and yet this one was obviously important.

Orihime-chan had labeled the cover Mental Abuse To Humans. If that wasn't a sure sign then nothing was. Wary he opens it, because there was always a chance that it could be her diary, you never knew. He is rewarded for his snooping. Inside is pages and pages of equations. Very familiar equations. Did Sōsuke-san really buy so much into this Third Reincarnation nonsense that he gave a teenage girl Kisuke's calculations to tune the new matter to Reishi conversion gate, never mind the know how to actually put them into use?

Concerned, he quickly reads through the calculations. At the end he is surprised, and reads through them again. Huh, well now, wasn't that a nice surprise. They were all correct, Orihime-chan had managed to tune the gate to just before Sōsuke-san was put on trial last night. It appears as if he wouldn't be heading out to rescue them from a temporal accident.

"Kisuke?" He looks down at the feline face of his dearest friend. "Oh don't mind me Yoruichi-san, I'm just feeling a little useless, a little proud and perhaps more than a little dissapointed in myself." She rubs herself against his ankle offering comfort. With a self depreciating sigh, he bends down to pick her up and cuddle her to his chest. "The gate you see before you is perfect, and aside from being the creator of the equations, I had nothing to do with it. My equations were stolen by our favorite retired tyrant and like robin-hood, they were given to a girl I have continuously overlooked. She took his instruction and the calculations and has managed to both create a perfectly stable modified Senkaimon, and tune it to precisely the time in which she wanted to arrive. The only flaw I can find in the whole thing is that they did not leave anyone over here to shut the door. It's nice to see them all growing up and coming into their own, but at the same time it's a bit painful to realize that not only do they not need me, they are also aware of that fact."

He yelps in surprise when instead of getting a soothing purr, and some words of comfort from her, he instead receives a face full of claws. "Ouch! Yoruichi-san! We were having a moment!" She jumps away from him and trots towards the Senkaimon, "Moments are for good boys Kisuke. Get your head out of your ass and get with the program." With those parting words she disappears into the open portal.

He can only laugh, embarrassed. He tilts his hat down to hide his face, even though there is no one there to see. He can feel the muscles in his face strain, a real smile on his face instead of the fake one he had worn for centuries. He shakes his head and heads in after them talking to himself, "I sent those kids to fix my mistakes and fight a man I knew they could not beat. It's only right, that now that I am once more welcome in Seireitei that I go and back them up myself."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke is jarred from unconsciousness in a corona of glowing golden light. Bright brown eyes meet his from across the Sōten Kisshun barrier, her two fairy healing skill. "Sōsuke-nii! I'm so glad you're awake! Just give me a minute and I'll have you back to normal." It pains him to deny her. "Do not revoke my powerlessness. It is intrinsically tied to the Soul King's soul. I have no way of knowing if revoking one will also negate the other. If that were to happen then I really would be guilty of murdering him."

She cries out, "But Sōsuke-nii, it's because you're hurt that everyone keeps trying to make it permanent!" For a moment he is worried that she will ignore his request, but she relents, the golden glow fading away. Instead he gets an armful of worried girl. She takes his breath away, and not in a good way, "Be gentle Orihime-chan, at the moment, and likely for the foreseeable future, you have more power than I do. It appears that it is your turn to hold an ant in your hand without crushing it."

There is a sharp clang of zanpakutō crashing together. He looks up but if there is anybody fighting nearby... they are moving too fast for him to see. Then, there is a cloud of dust kicked up as someone is pushed back, their sandaled feet kicking up dust as they slide backwards, their Hohō keeping them upright and distributing the force of the attack. Three more people flicker into sight around them, and the powerless man finds himself humbled.

Four Ryoka and one Arrancar had broken into Seireitei once more to save a friend. Never in a thousand years would he have expected anyone but Orihime-chan to come for him. Even if the others were only there to help her, the fact that they had come so soon after his trial was proof enough that if they tried to argue against coming at all, it was a quick perfunctory objection simply for the record.

His breath catches in his throat, and he finds himself dangerously close to crying. Later, when they were all safe and secure, he would let it all out. For now, they desperately needed his attention, he may not be able to fight, but he could damn well still think and plan. Orihime, Ichigo, Chad and Uryū may have been an impressive force with all of their training and experience, one made all the more balanced with the presence of Ulquiorra, but they were trying to avoid massacring everyone and causing an even bigger diplomatic crisis than stealing Sōsuke away from the Central 46 was going to cause. While this was a challenge that the four of them were used to facing, Ulquiorra was clearly having issues deciding just how much of his power to hold back and getting frustrated.

Troublesome indeed when it was the five of them with Sōsuke as a dead-weight that couldn't even use shunpo, against what appeared to be all twenty of the 2nd Division's seated officers, a viciously gleeful Suì-Fēng and her fukutaichō included, as well as a dozen or so Kidō Corps. Up until this point the children and Ulquiorra had fought only opponents that were likely to come at them straightforwardly. The kiting/guerrilla style of fighting that the Kidō Corps units favored was likely proving frustrating.

The Taichō had an ugly vindictive look on her smug face, "So now you reveal your true intentions. I told the sōtaichō that this would happen. It is why I petitioned him through the Onmitsukidō to have you all executed the moment you cannon fodder outlived your usefulness. This is my lucky day, with your despicable actions here today, I no longer have to wait for permission. It is well within my authority as the leader of the Onmitsukidō, our entire force sanctioned by the Central 46 to use whatever means necessary to prevent the escape of Aizen Sōsuke. Not only do I get to put down four Ryoka that don't belong here, I also get to kill one of his nasty little hollow freaks. I wonder what will break him more, the death of a son, or the death of his little human whore."

Like a flash, Ichigo-kun and Ulquiorra-kun disappear from view. The only thing he can make of the conflict is the sparks that light up the night sky when the fast moving zanpakutō clash. Carefully he rises to his feet, unsteady, he has to lean on Orihime-chan just to stay standing. Then, quite suddenly there is a loud boom, the after affects of a high level Hadō. Much to Sōsuke's surprise, when everyone waits for the smoke to clear it becomes obvious that it wasn't one Kidō that had been cast, but two. Ichigo-kun had put his lessons to good use, and used a Kidō of his own to avoid what would likely have instantly ended the fight.

The children and Ulquiorra-kun had had a difficult fight before them, difficult, but not impossible. While he was nowhere near Tsukabishi-san's abilities, Magatama-san was still the current Kidō Chief. And now he was also standing against them.

Just as he begins to seriously worry for them, more people whom he would never have expected, come to his aid. Riku Homura, and Unohana-taichō. The healer steps past everyone without even acknowledging them, coming to stand before Sōsuke with a frown. With a flick of her fingers, and the formation of a skin tight glowing yellow barrier, she wraps him in a Reishi-mippuu and rather firmly orders him, "You are not in good enough health to be standing Aizen-san. Please sit down."

Suì-Fēng crows with triumph, her words, the only reason that he knows that a third person, perhaps the most unexpected of all, has come to his aid. "My day just keeps getting better and better! Urahara you bastard! I always knew you were secretly working with Aizen! And now, when I have blanket permission to prevent Aizen's escape by any means necessary you appear before me and reveal your true allegiance!"

Sōsuke can't help but snort, there is no way she would ever stand a chance against him. Kisuke-san giggles at her, his fan fluttering in front of his face while he does. Sharply it flicks out, causing her to flinch even though it never points at her at all. With his fan closed, he waives it at Unohana-taichō and says, "I apologize but you know how it is, as Taichō of the 4th division Unohana has the final say on medical transfers of ill shinigami and as such she is not required to file the paperwork until after the shinigami in question has been treated and placed in a safe environment. Riku-san was brought for a second medical opinion, and given my credentials as the former manager of the Maggots nest and only person likely to outsmart Aizen Sōsuke I was also called. Orihime-chan you may have guessed would be the carrot and all of her Nakama are the sticks. I do apologize if the excitable little children jumped the gun a bit. I would say that I have no idea why Ulquiorra-kun has also chosen to come, however I am well aware that greater men have done stupider things than risk a diplomatic incident when it comes to trying to impress their love interests. Now if you don't mind we are in quite a bit of a hurry. Aizen Sōsuke has had severe Reiryoku and Reiatsu depletion left untreated in poor conditions for quite an unacceptable amount of time."

With a devious smirk, Kisuke-san then turns and looks down at him. His alarmingly congenial and bright face is not at all reassuring with the glittering sparkle to his eyes. "And now as it is Unohana-taichō's professional opinion that Sōsuke-san not walk, I find that I must take one for the team. Behave now Sōsuke-san, I assure you the indignity of being carried halfway across Seireitei like a princess will be nothing in comparison to being unable to sit for a week after hitting the ground ass first during shunpo." Sōsuke has only a second to mentally curse to himself before the threat is carried out. Any embarrassment Kisuke-san expected him to feel, completely swamped under the nausea he always feels as a passenger of someone else's shunpo. Blessedly Kisuke-san seems to catch on, and other than a, "Hum, learn something new every day.", refrains from talking to him until after he has had time to settle into the locked ward in the 4th division. Unohana-taichō arrives shortly thereafter with medicines, a light meal, and a sincere kind smile.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Once they are all seated in the waiting room, the tears she had been holding back spill over. She leans into Ulquiorra-kun's side and rests her head on his shoulder, the bottom edge of his helmet-like mask bumping the top of her head. "There, there Orihime." From any one else, the emotionless words would have sounded more like an insult than an offer of comfort. But because it was coming from himshe knew, that as awkward as it was, he at least was trying... Kurosaki-kun just leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the room and glared at nothing in particular.

Was he just being shy in-front of their friends? Did he really not care? She didn't see how it could be the last one, one of the reasons she had fallen in love with him in the first place was how sweetly he had spoken at all the tiny memorials to the recently departed that littered the streets. When she found out that he could see spirits, and realized that it hadn't just been the graves he had honoring, but actual people he had been consoling it had only made her love him more... and yet she couldn't ever recall a time he had given that same consideration to her. It made her sad to think that the only time he might look at her with that reassuring expression would be after a death she might not even be in this dimension long enough to have.

She looks away from him and up at the boy who was stepping way outside of his comfort zone for her. It made her heart ache, she had spent so long with her heart set on Kurosaki-kun, but she had pined after him long enough. She didn't have the time to waste on someone who wasn't ready to love her back.

"I would probably have an easier time calming down if I could decide if I was sad or angry. Sōsuke-nii was in such a bad state when I got to him. I just don't understand how someone could do that to another person, no matter how badly that person has wronged them, there's no excuse to sink to that level."

The gentle voice of the 4th division taichō answers, "I'm afraid that people are people Orihime-chan and while Shinigami certainly live longer than humans, it just means we take longer to grow up, not that we have more time to grow wiser. Aizen-san is going to be all right, but I am afraid that I have to keep him under a sleeping Kaidō until he finishes recovering. While Orihime-chan did a very good job healing him, it seems that the last sleeping Kaidō I placed on him was violently and forcibly ended. This particular Kaidō directly interacts with the patients mind to give them a restful sleep full of good dreams. By ending it early, undue stress was placed on his mind, coupled with his already depleted state, it is quite concerning. I am sorry, I know you were hoping to visit with him, but I must insist that his health comes first."

Disappointied yet still relieved, she rises to her feet before bowing to Riku-san and Unohana-taichō, "Thank you both for coming to help us. If you see Urahara-san please pass on my thanks to him as well, it would have gotten really messy without your help." Riku smiles back and offers, "I'll walk with you to the Senkaimon in the Embassy. Things might be a bit touchy with the Kidō Corps at the moment." One by one they file out of the room, though Ichigo lingers longer than the others, only pausing at the door as if unsure. Without turning around he mutters. "Aizen wasn't just a little black and blue when Inoue stopped them from literally dragging him into Muken by his weird white hair. He'd been worked over, with at least two open, compound fractures and multiple lacerations of varying depth and length... and not a single one of them was defensive. So either he didn't even try to protect himself, or he was unconscious when they did it."

Unohana speaks, seemingly addressing no one "Well now, that just won't do." Kisuke, tugs his hat down lower over his eyes, rising from his chair as he speaks, "You mean how he had received a very thorough beating after it had been made quite clear that such behavior would not be tolerated? Why yes I agree." Unohana glances over at him and smiles her most threatening benign smile, "How would you like to ruin their plans and deeply upset Kurotsuchi at the same time?" His eyes are all sharp steel, and his answering grin is outright malevolent. "Don't mind if I do."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Orihime rises up on her tip toes and kisses Ulquiorra at her doorstep. As she comes back down, she takes the hand she had rested on his shoulder and bravely does something that she has wanted to since the first time she saw him. Gently she drags the tips of her fingers down his cheeks, as if wiping away the green tear tracks permanently inked into his skin. "I've decided to place my heart in your hands as well." She slides her hands down his chest and along his right arm, pulling his hand towards her palm up. With a smile she kisses his palm before curling his fingers over it. She glances up at him, a little worried in the face of his silence.

She needn't have worried, he was staring at her as if she had hung the moon in his eternal desert night sky. A bit guilty, but still unwilling to talk about it, she can't help but admit. "Humans, we don't live very long, and I don't want to talk about it, but I have a reason to think that I won't live long even by human standards. It makes me sad, to think that I won't get to have a long time with you, but if you want me anyways knowing that, I really think that regardless of how short my life ends up being, I think that between the two of us, it can still be a very full life."

Once again, whenever he seems to be struggling for the words to say, he simply pulls her into his arms and mulls it over. She didn't know who taught him to hug it out when he couldn't talk it out, but she would be eternally grateful for as long as Kagome let her. She has no idea how long they had been standing there outside her apartment when he finally seems to find the words. "Orihime. I did not expect to have a chance to hold your heart at all. Even when I asked for it, I thought that it was already Kurosaki's. Even still, it made my skin itch and my mask ache when I considered not even asking at all. Anything you share with me is a gift, and I will keep each moment in my eyes until you... fade from my sight. But please... stay as long as you can."

She has no idea how much longer after that she stands there holding him tight, only that she must have fallen asleep doing it as she wakes the next morning still dressed in her clothes from yesterday, tucked into bed by her boyfriend.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 46: Bastardulate: To Emulate a Bastard

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

After his short stay in the locked ward of the 4th division he is released, not into Muken as the Central 46 demands, but into Senzaikyū. With her power as the foremost healer in all of Seireitei, Unohana-taichō declared him medically incapable of enduring the punishment.

The Central 46 responded by revealing a document issued to them by the 12th division, stating that Sōsuke was to all effects immortal. It seemed that during his first bout of unconsciousness, in the wake of the dispersal of the Ancient Wyrm's incarnations, he had been kept unconscious and experimented on. A less aware person would feel violated, realizing that for them to determine any measure of his immortality they would have repeatedly tried to kill him in his sleep. Kurotsuchi-san had likely performed multiple invasive examinations while trying to determine the cause.

Sōsuke was simply grateful that he had been allowed to remain unconscious for the whole thing, and equally grateful that he had been removed from the painted scientist's care before anything other than the testing of his immortality had been done. Though he would have to remember to check in with The Dreaming Kami and make sure that she was ok. It couldn't have been easy keeping him alive in the face of Kurotsuchi-san's persistence.

Curious, he had asked for a copy of the report. Begrudgingly, Unohana-taichō had provided it. It was unnerving to realize that the specimen spoken of so coldly in the report was himself, and only served to strengthen his relief. Fortunately the mad scientist hadn't seen fit to leave behind any presents, and appeared to have grown bored by the end of the experiments.

In response to the Central 46, Unohana-taichō did something all together vicious. Instead of responding to them directly, she must have spoken with Shūhei-san and gotten both the report, the Central 46's letter and her response printed in the Seireitei Communication. It seems that someone forgot to stamp the report and the demanding letter with confidentiality notices.

Her response had been brilliant for its brevity. "The greatest tragedy of a life is not its end, but what dies inside a person while they still live. Aizen Sōsuke, regardless of your personal feelings for him, is universally accepted as one of the greatest minds to ever grace Seireitei. Are you truly brave enough to see what becomes of an immortal Aizen Sōsuke if he is driven to homicidal madness? I do not, so once again, I must respectfully decline your request not only on my patient's behalf, but on behalf of us all."

After a week spent chained to his bed in the 4th division, and only allowed out in the presence of a very busy Unohana-taichō, it is with great relief when he is declared well enough to be moved. Sōsuke would bet every painting in his Atelier that Unohana-taichō had actually been mildly poisoning him. Very few of the Central 46 members were Clan Heads themselves, and of those that were, to the best of Sōsuke's knowledge, only Kuchiki-san of the 6th division was also a Taichō. The demands of those offices were high, and the amount of paperwork, politicking and time demanded of each of them could easily fill an 8 hour day. When the Clan Heads had appointed their new representatives, they had likely all asked that they seek vengeance. Equally as likely, they had not expected their representatives to go this far, bringing public shame and censure, and possibly risking an insane immortal released upon them all.

Surprise, surprise, his odd symptoms had dissipated an hour after Sōsuke finished drinking the tea that she had brought him along with the news that the Central 46 capitulated, and that he would be sent back to his previous rooms in Senzaikyū, albeit with a better guard. He meets that guard when they come to escort him. His eyes widen in surprise, and he sways on his feet when he realizes who it is.

Kisuke Urahara is wearing the taichō of the 9th division's Haori. After a century of seeing the man dressed in sloppy green clothes and that damn hat, it is disorienting to see him back in a black Shihakushō, with the white coat displaying his rank over it. It is equally disarming to see the pure grey color of his eyes, uninhibited from the shadowed brim. In a matter of moments he is assaulted by Miyatsu's grey eyes. He is forced to close his own and take a deep fortifying breath. He opens his eyes and speaks, hoping that he had not been distracted long enough to give cause for concern. "I must say, it is quite a surprise to see you back in the ranks Urahara-taichō. Though I suppose that if they were not going to give you the 12th division again, the 9th would be the best fit for you. Not only would their status as the on-standby combat unit take advantage of your previous experience in the 2nd Division, but their management of the newspaper and magazine should provide some stimulation for your mind."

He tries to smile at the silent man making him nervous, but even without Kyō-kun to act as a mirror, he can tell that the expression fits poorly on his face. "May I inquire, if they have further taken advantage of your experience as the overseer of the Maggots Nest and assigned you the additional duty of supervising me?" A hint of the silly shopkeeper smile graces the other mans face, "You may inquire, but I see no point in answering such an obviously correct statement."

Almost against his will, he can't help but relax. With a roll of his shoulders he nods towards the door, "Very well then, as nostalgic as it was to be back, I am quite ready to get out of here. Shall we go?" It was unnerving, the way that Kisuke-san was watching him, as if sometime between watching him use his Bankai, the genius had gained some new insight into his mannerisms and was seeing all manner of things Sōsuke would prefer that he remained ignorant of. Kisuke-san does not respond beyond nodding his head and leading the way out of the room. If anyone else had come to serve as his escort, they remain hidden from Sōsuke. Not even the people they pass by in the street seem to notice he is there. Even under the full weight of the Complete Hypnosis and the Perception Filter, he had never felt so completely disassociated from everyone else.

"Urahara-taichō, have you placed a Kidō on us? Some new invention?" Again, there is only a small hint of the silly perverted shopkeeper in Kisuke-san's smile, "Please Sōsuke-san, it's Kisuke. As to your question, no. It's nothing you haven't seen through before. At least, not from the outside." Distracted by the puzzle, he turns it over in his mind, only to find himself quite surprised when he looks up to make an educated guess and realize that they were quickly approaching the base of Sōkyoku hill. Had he really gotten so distracted that even with the slow pace of his walking, they were already there?

The silly smile hiding in Kisuke-san's quirked lips has been replaced with a knowing one. Just what was going on? Was this still the same Kisuke-san that he had played Go and sparred with for months? Was this parts of his Onmitsukidō social mask that he had never had the misfortune to meet beyond that first shocking introduction centuries ago? Or was this simply who Kisuke-san was, when he stopped blaming himself for every little failing and gained some confidence. Either way it was... not alarming per-se, though it most certainly left him destabilized and off-guard. "Any idea's Sōsuke-san? Or have I actually managed to finally beat you at one of our games?"

Sōsuke rolls his eyes and marches past the smirking man and begins climbing the winding path up the side of the hill. "Not a chance Kisuke-san. Though I must say that turnabout is fair play. With all of the techniques, Kidō and inventions I've appropriated from you I suppose it should come to no surprise that you would borrow one of my own... Though I must also admit, I never once thought about what would happen if someone else were to do so."

He brings his hands in, and wasn't it interesting, that both of the times he was awake to begin his sentence to Senzaikyū it was as an unusually escorted prisoner. Honestly, at least Momo-san had pretended to bind him. His right hand folds up the sleeve of his blood red shihakushō revealing his pale skin, faintly glowing yellow with a Reishi-mippuu that he hadn't even noticed being applied. Kisuke-san had been invited to Las Noches well after Sōsuke had hidden it away from all conventional and most unconventional ways of sensing it. Understandably, when he was not busy escorting Orihime-chan around, he had taken a look at the security system and noticed how Sōsuke had embedded his own Reiatsu nature into the barrier. The alternating interfering layers of Sōsuke shinigami and Magatsuhi hollow had likely not kept it hidden long from his observant scientific mind.

The people they had passed on the street had not acknowledged either of them because part of Kisuke-san's reputation as the ghost of the Onmitsukidō was due to the expressed nature of his Reiryoku through his Reiatsu. And with Sōsuke's technique of embedding that characteristic in the Reishi-mippuu barrier he had wrapped around Sōsuke, he had shared that seeming invisibility with him. He shakes his head with a soft laugh, "I wonder, were we always destined to stand against one another despite our similarities? I, with my illusions, no one saw anything of me that I did not wish them to see, and you with the adaptability and perpetual change inherent in yourself and subsequently Benihime... You simply slide fluidly from one state to another, in motion and yet completely blended into the background like a perfectly camouflaged octopus. Unseen, until you purposefully move counter to your camouflage, setting yourself in stark relief against the background. Hm. I suppose that you did learn better."

Kisuke-san is the one to nod to the two seated officers of the 9th division that are standing outside the much better fortified door of Sōsuke's previous rooms. They are inside and the door is shut behind them before the grey eyed man turns to him with an odd expression on his face. It looked as if Kisuke-san were trying too hard to conceal his true expression and he probably was if the way the man's hand twitched towards his obi as if in search of a fan was any indication. "Learn better?"

Of all the things to catch, this odd behavior of Kisuke-san's was really compromising Sōsuke. In an effort to look unconcerned about the accidental reveal, he busies himself with searching the supplies in the cabinets to see if they had left his tea alone. He is immensely pleased to discover that everything is not only still there, it is also still organized.

He hums as if unconcerned, responding idly and not worriedly, "Hmm? Ah yes. My first year as an academy student was the same year that you, Yoruichi-san and Tsukabishi-san graduated from the Onmitsukidō and Kidō Corps training. I caught your whole graduating class in the Complete Hypnosis with its first release. You were all dreadfully easy to spot because instead of trying to blend your Reiatsu presence into the background of the chaotic atmosphere of the Academy, each and every one of you left these horrifically large glaring blank spots, completely devoid of Reiatsu, that made it even more obvious that you were there, than if you had done nothing at all. I was only remarking that you had gotten better, it should come to no surprise. I would be rather concerned for the state of the Onmitsukidō if you had remained that way all this time." Finally Sōsuke seems to gain some of the invisible ground between them, Kisuke-san appears quite shocked to realize just how far back he had been influenced by Kyōka Suigetsu.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

No fucking way. Kisuke couldn't believe it, there was just no way. Then again... the man had spent a decade as a hell butterfly and by all accounts he had been self-aware during the whole thing. Furthermore, during the Hell Incursion, he had shown that not only was he capable of using the Forbidden Kidō: Kyouseiteki Ijou, Forced Change on himself; and that he could free himself from it as well. The fact that he seemed to have no idea what it was he had just confessed to, was almost of second importance. The special Kidō that the Onmitsukidō used to erase their presence was a gift from the Soul King to help the Shihōin perform their King Appointed Task. For all that it would only be ranked as a number 10 Bakudō, it was incredibly dangerous.

The presence hiding Kidō, much like the forbidden feline transformation Kidō, could permanently transfer characteristics over to the shinigami, however instead of feline characteristics, the presence hiding Kidō had a tendency to completely erase a shinigami. It wasn't just a simple erasure either, if it was, it would be considered a benefit by the military branch and not a problem. The presence erasure Kidō worked so effectively that not even hell butterflies could deliver messages to a shinigami using it, even if the message sender was standing right in-front of them staring at them. It erased them so thoroughly, that not even the Soul King could find them to reincarnate. He had needed to create a whole separate zone excluded from all of the other realms just for them.

Normal Shinigami, even ones as powerful as the sōtaichō, or as sensitive to the lower, weaker frequencies through intense training like Ukitake-san had been... none of them had ever been able to sense an Onmitsukidō while they used it. For Sōsuke-san to say that it was so obvious... that rather blatantly said that he had the extended Reiatsu sensing range of a Hell Butterfly. Not as part of some odd thing he gave himself, playing around with the Hōgyoku, or extended exposure to Kyouseiteki Ijou, but something he had possessed the entire time. He takes a moment to consider, what it would feel like, to see so far beyond Sōkyoku's Rule, to see so far beyond the one step up and two steps down. How arrogant would a person become, when they could directly measure the relative strength between themselves and the lowest of powers. No wonder he had a god complex.

His mind races as he considers further implications. Sōsuke-san would be able to sense all three of the microscopic variations in a person's Reiatsu. It was spirit pressure yes, but it was also a wave, as in the physical movement of a translating conveyance of force, and a wavelength of light. Not only would he be able to sense the high and low pressure fronts in a person's Reiatsu, he would also be able to sense the tiny aggregates that joined together in all the unique ways that caused each Kidō to be expressed. He would know, without a single word said, what they were casting. In the physical wave, unlike everyone else who could only sense the force behind it, he would be able to sense the whole thing, the amplitude and the frequency, things which they only recently discovered could be used in a far more accurate lie detector test. As if that were not invasive enough, he would also be able to roughly sense the emotional state of everyone around him based on the fractional hue change, of their personal base color in their Reiatsu, it was only one or two nanometers, but Hell Butterflies had been shown to be unable to find emotionally compromised people if the sender had never seen them in a state like that before. He would be intimately aware of the position and strength of every Kidō barrier, even those meant to completely hide its contents and itself.

It made Kisuke wonder if Sōsuke-san had ever needed the Complete Hypnosis to manipulate people. Unless they were a relatively complex person, thinking on multiple levels at the same time, they would have been an open book. He is startled when something warm is placed into his hand. He almost drops the cup of tea that had been poured for him. Of course, no mater how many levels of thought a person engaged at the same time, if they were all on the same subject, they would be equally as transparent. Much as he had been moments ago if the gleam of triumph in the frail man's startling red eyes is any indication.

He really wanted to know when the bizarre coloration shift and the surprising lengthening of Sōsuke-san's hair had occurred. Had it been at the same time his shihakushō changed? He had taken a sample to check, and the coloration was quite natural and not the product of a dye. The fabric wasn't stained red. Absently he raises the tea cup to his lips, not even pausing when he is surprised... and so very dissapointed.

Kisuke had thought that they were past something this... petty. More the fool him, he had even started to feel as if they were becoming friends. He only pretends to take a sip of the poisoned tea he had been served. Without giving anything away in his expression, he subtly stabs himself in the leg with a generalized antidote. In his comparative youth, Kisuke had taken the trouble to build up a tolerance to most of the poisons used in his line of work, for the rest he had created a cocktail to counter them. While it was unlikely that a poison meant to be swallowed was toxic with just a brief touch to one of his lips, it never hurt to be prepared.

Aizen, immune to every poison by merit of being immortal, drinks the whole cup as if he was a thirsty man in the desert. Then he smiles at Kisuke as if nothing is wrong, and pours himself another cup. After everything he had done for Sōsuke, how dare he return Kisuke's forgiveness and good will like this. No doubt sensing the seething anger boiling under his skin, the treacherous bastard looks away from his second empty cup of tea, to peer at Kisuke with poorly disguised anticipation. Well, Kisuke had never been one to disappoint. He raises the teacup part way, pausing as if something just came to mind and sets the cup back down. "Sōsuke-san. I do not know if you are aware, however, in order to get you released from Muken to face Yhwach, I had to reveal that you had an Ōken. May I inquire how you managed to get one, and what yours does?"

The red eyed bastard nods, not a care in the world. He opens his mouth to speak, "The Dreaming Kami's gift is very similar to Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis, only er gipht ish..." Kisuke is amused when the not – quite – as -retired – as – he – was – pretending – tyrant begins to slur his words from the poison, only to be startled when Sosuke's hands dart away from the tea pot he had been reaching towards. Uninhibited by the poison, and so many orders of magnitude stronger than the pathetically weakened tyrant, he has all the time in the world to watch as Aizen's grasping hands come closer. All the time in the world to watch as his face twists, as his hands go, not towards his neck to strangle him, his eyes to gouge them out, or even his wrists to subdue him. They clumsily flail at his fingers, knocking the cup of tea out of his hand... just as his contorting expression settles not on rage, contempt, or smug superiority... but fear.

His words are slurred, tongue numbed by the monk's hood that had been mixed into the tea... By a third party and not Sōsuke-san himself. "Kissshu, pooishn." Suffice to say he feels damn guilty that his first thought upon finding them drinking poisoned tea was that Sōsuke-san was attempting to kill him... in spite of the fact that there were quite a few people who were very upset with the white haired man's narrow escape from being sent back to Muken. In retrospect, sending someone to professionally poison all of the tea in the cabinet was a vicious attack, and one that Kisuke should have anticipated.

Kisuke did not want to think about what would have happened if the first person to have tea with Sōsuke had been Orihime-chan. He uses shunpo to dart out of his chair and around the table to catch Sōsuke as he begins to shake with full body involuntary muscle spasms. Quickly he checks the man's pulse and finds it racing and alarmingly irregular. More disturbingly, within moments of him checking, Sōsuke feebly grabbing at Kisuke's sleeves, eyes wide and fearful as he desperately tries to say Aconite with his mouth almost entirely numb, respiratory paralysis sets in.

Shit. Aconite wasn't something that had an antidote, it's treatment was symptomatic and supportive, that was why it wasn't often used by the Onmitsukidō. Their targets had a rather disappointing habit of surviving if they were tended to in time. Kisuke may have been a genius, but there was no way that he could make something to treat Sōsuke. Not with how circumspect everything in here was now that the tea had been poisoned. "It's ok Sōsuke, I know it can't be comfortable. Just keep reminding yourself that you're immortal and this will pass sooner than later. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Clearly frustrated and still very scared, the shaking man flails his head from side to side. His lips once more numbly twitching through the words, Kisuke and poison. Wondering if something other than Aconite had been slipped in and it was causing him trouble focusing, Kisuke says the words out loud for him. "Yes Sōsuke, I understand, The tea has been poisoned with Aconite, and quite a potent specie if two tea cups of it is enough to leave you like this in only a few moments."

His hair is a vivid white against the mottled color of his face, in spite of the lack of air, and nausea he must be experiencing, Sōsuke shakes his head vehemently and repeats the slurred words Kisuke and poison again. And damn if it doesn't make him feel that much more guilty for his quick assumptions, when he realizes that he isn't trying to warn Kisuke about the poison... he is worriedly asking if Kisuke waspoisoned.

Suddenly, he has no doubt, that if Kisuke said yes, no matter how poisoned Sōsuke was, no matter how weak he was, no matter how much it might cost Sōsuke to do so, the retired tyrant would rip through all of his binding seals and cast a healing Kaidō on Kisuke. He shakes his head, both at his own foolishness, and in response to Sōsuke's desperate question. Softly, as if speaking loudly would break something important he denies it, "I wasn't really in the mood to drink today, I barely had more than a little sip. I only played along because I wasn't ready to go yet either. I was hoping to match wits against you again now that you can't cheat with the Complete Hypnosis. What a poor guard I make, not even in the room for half an hour and you would have died on me if you were mortal."

Thankfully the man half on the chair and half slumped into his arms seems to be recovering as quickly as the poison set in. He gains respiratory control and starts breathing as he fumbles back into his chair with a labored huff and a mild coughing fit. Less than three minutes after he collapsed from a toxic overdose of Aconite, the immortal was back to himself. Sharp tongue back up and ready to spar. "And here I thought you were supposed to be my prison guard not my body guard."

Kisuke giggles, reaching for his fan to make a grand gesture, only to once again be surprised to find it absent. With a huff he looks up from his obi to find Sōsuke with the cup of tea halfway to his face. "Sōsuke!" Startled by his shout, the poor man spills the rest of the tea in his cup. Dazedly he stares at the cup in his hand as if he were completely surprised to find it there. Did the man truly drink so much tea that the act of bringing it to his mouth for a sip was as much of an unconscious action as breathing?

He is then treated to the rare, magical sight of a charming bastard blushing like an embarrassed school girl. He was red from the tips of his ears all the way to his hands. How was it that he had never known that Sōsuke would be even more fun to tease than the perpetually scowling Ichigo-kun! It gets even better when the red faced man glares at first his hand, then his empty tea cup and lastly the tea pot as if they had all deeply offended him.

He can't help it, he starts laughing and just can't stop. Every time he thinks that he's calmed down he glances up at Sōsuke, and the disgruntled expression in his red eyed face sets him off again. "Was a cup of tea really to much to ask for as a reward for saving all of the worlds?"

Instantly sober, Kisuke decides that, no, no it wasn't too much to ask. Smiling he jumps from his chair and flicks his wrist at the grumpy man carefully cleaning the table. Silently he counts his reaction time. Nearly a full ten second delay, and Sōsuke realizes that he had once again been placed under a Reishi-mippuu. Waiving his hand at the door, Kisuke walks over to it. After opening it and stepping outside waiting for the charming bastard to catch up.

The red eyed man steps through the door, turning to shut it, staring in surprise when the two standing guards don't even seem to have noticed the opening and closing of the door. He even waives his hand in front of the eyes of one of them. Kisuke watches in amusement, oddly flattered that the master illusionist finds his simple camouflage so intriguing.

He leads the way back out of Senzaikyū and down the hill to a little tea shop he thought Sōsuke might like. As they walk, the other man surprises him when he breaks the silence. "Thank you for stopping that first attack upon my person, and for putting me to sleep so that I would not have to suffer further while I was healed."

A bit embarrassed, Kisuke clears his throat, "Ah, well I had hoped that you wouldn't remember that."

"Honestly I only remember the color green, and an unusually unstable Iyashino Suimin, The Healing Sleep. Unohana-taichō does not wear green, nor would her spell be so unstable. I merely made an educated guess from the short list of people who are allowed to see prisoners, or are simply audacious enough to ignore the fact that they are not on the guest list, and were likely to be called "that bastard" by Suì-Fēng-san. Thank you for confirming it."

The genius stumbles to a halt, a little slack jawed with surprise. Did no one manage to keep any secrets from him? Those things that a person did to prove to themselves that they weren't completely inept at something while they were alone were known instantly, and those things which Sōsuke was too incapacitated to remember at the time, he ferrets out with only a few insinuations!

"Sōsuke, you're lucky your as charming as you are a bastard or I would take us back to Senzaikyū right now without getting you a drop of tea. You're also lucky that I think you just might be crazy enough to drink the others in the cabinet even though it's likely they're all poisoned." With a huff, he marches forward through the streets and into the shop.

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In fascination he watches as Kisuke-san, quite literally, has to make a fool of himself just to get the waitresses attention. "Oh pretty waitress! Would you please do me the honor of serving me?" The bubbly girl squeaks in surprise as Sōsuke has flashbacks of a bald grey eyed monk, and then his purple eyed reincarnation. He shakes them off by the time that she reaches the table, "I am so sorry sir! I didn't see you come in. How can I serve you today?" He orders a pot of earl grey tea and two tea cups. She blinks at him, surprised at the odd request, glancing at where Sōsuke is sitting, but her eyes pass right over him, not even noticing that he is there. "Are you expecting a guest sir, if you give me a general description I will be sure to direct them to you when they arrive." All she gets from Kisuke-san is a mysterious smile.

Sōsuke is not at all ashamed to say that he looses himself in the aromas of all the different tea's steeping in the busy tea-shop. He had missed this. The soft clinking of china tinkles in his ears, and a warm slip of porcelain is placed in his hands, slowly easing him back into the moment. From over the rim of his own cup, the most dangerous man Sōsuke has ever met, is staring at him. Now who was the bastard? That was Sōsuke's pose he was imitating. Briefly his thoughts drift to Momo-san, equating imitation with admiration, but it was a silly thought. No one was more aware of just how thoroughly he had ruined the genius's life than he was.

The blond sets his cup gently on the table, "I suppose I should tell you about what happened... and that I am aware that for a man who is supposed to be immortal, you almost died before the Central 46 sentenced you to Muken the first time. I would have spoken with you about it earlier, but we were all rather busy with the War on Souls." Startled, Sōsuke takes a sip of his tea. This was certainly news to him. "Is that so?"

Kisuke-san nods, "At the expense of her own life, you were saved by the woman that was the result of the feral hollow you called Midoriko after it had been subjected to Orihime-chan's 6th and final level of Shun Shun Rika." For a moment Sōsuke's heart beats out of control, and he could almost believe that even without the Complete Hypnosis, or the Perception Warp, he heard Magatsuhi howl in sadness. He feels dizzy and blinks rapidly to bring the world back in focus.

He clears his throat, takes a sip of tea and glances up to find Kisuke leaning against the arm of his plush chair, chin propped up on his hand and fingers twitching as if he wanted to take notes. A bit alarmed with this sudden return to the unnerving Kisuke-san he had met in the 4th division, he clears his throat again and prompts him, "What is it that Midoriko-san saved me from? Was I attacked in my weakened state, by someone other than the flatteringly large force that was sent to capture me that is?"

"Had you performed the same thing on any other soul, forcing the nucleic shift included, you likely would have been just fine, if still a bit spent. However, because it was your past incarnation, when one of the soul fragments was inadvertently damaged during your inner hollow's blind grasping, you triggered doppelganger syndrome when you ejected the soul mass that was your direct component. You started unraveling as if you were thread wrapped around the framework of an invisible Sōsuke shaped doll. Even the ash of the hollow you purified yourself, fell through you as if you were no more real than the illusions you claim as your own."

"She never really said anything to any one, there really wasn't enough time. Not with Orihime-chan still passed out from using what I suppose is her Bankai and you unraveling so thoroughly that there would be nothing for her to reject. All I had to go on was that you had called her Midoriko, and that before she faded away into the cycle of reincarnation she shouted, "Bloom Jinchōge". Curious, I later helped myself to the Kuchiki archives. Imagine my surprise when a cursory search turned up a woman who had been on the King's Guard so long ago, that she had been a shinigami before there were taichō, before there were Asauchi and zanpakutō... long before Kidō were even standardized. It hadn't been a zanpakutō spirit she was calling out to, it had been her Ōken, a gift so powerful that after her presumed death, it had been taken as the symbol of the King's Guard. A tradition that was carried on with the creation of the Gotei 13."

He pauses as Sōsuke pours them both another cup. After taking a sip, he stares contemplatively at Sōsuke, and thankfully continues his tale. This strange new facet of her that neither Sōsuke or Dekuyume had been privy to. "Midoriko's Ōken had been named Jinchōge, Winter Daphne, I am sure that as an avid practitioner of Hanakotoba, I don't need to tell you that the flowers represent Glory, Eternity, Immortality and Pleasure. When commanded to bloom, the blossoms of her Ōken possessed the ability to halt the process of dying in its tracks. As long as a single breath remained in the patient's body, as long as they could still breath the flower in, they would not die. It seems that the moment the blossom disappeared into their body and took root in their chest, it fed on whatever was causing their death."

"Long before healing Kaidō were ever created, bottles of her flowers floating in water were used to save the lives of countless shinigami. Without her power, shinigami may very well have gone extinct in Seireitei's infancy, they had no standardized Kidō, no weapons. But like all great powers there was a drawback. The flowers she gave away were not infinite. Each one was a tiny sliver of her Reiryoku. Her Kami blessed, powerful soul, was giving away that power with each tiny flower she gave away."

He does not have to say that Midoriko-san had been in no condition to be using Jinchōge so soon after being freed. Kisuke takes another sip and finishes, "All I could find in the records after that was that, in preparation for something she clearly did not expect to survive, she gave away most of her great power. Bottled it up and stored it away to ensure the survival of her people. I can clearly surmise that it had something to do with your past incarnation. Do you know? I'm quite curious to hear the ending."

Sōsuke doesn't have any problems sharing, even if he is feeling unusual, almost as if he were dangerously close to giving away a secret he always meant to keep. "The Soul King ordered her to attempt to calm El Blanco Diablo, much like the Soul King, he had no soul of his own, but being the Kami that ruled Hueco Mundo, he was also a hollow, the dysphoria he became aware of when he fell in love with her, drove him to madness. So much so that his counterparts; The Soul King, and the Bone-Clad Judge, were forced to try to destroy him to keep the worlds in balance. It failed, he should have fallen, only to rise again with no memories of what had befallen him before, but because he was the Kami of the hollows, in his madness he had eaten like them, and began using their souls to support him instead of his own godhood. He was too far gone, and he devoured her."

"The remaining Kami couldn't think of anything to do but return to their domains and try very hard to keep the balance between the two of them and make preparations for the absolute collapse of Hueco Mundo. Fortunately their efforts were enough to stave off a full system destabilization until El Blanco Diablo stopped on his own. His feeding frenzy halted when he succumbed to Sōkyoku's rule, ascending in power so high, that not even the normal power of Vasto Lordes was something he could see. It is likely that were the base nature of his Reiatsu not adsorption, the dragon would have kneeled both myself and Ichigo-kun's full hollow form."

The blond tilts his head to the side considering, "Adsorb All of Creation and Stand Alone On Top of The World, Magatsuhi. I don't mean to offend, but that is such a terrible statement to have to live up to." Sōsuke can't help the slightly bitter laugh that escapes him. He takes a sip of his tea, heart and mind a dimension away at a Kōtotsu underneath a perpetually blooming Sakura tree. "The only thing worse than the karmic debt inherited from a past life, is being forced to watch ourselves do what we did to deserve it, and remember enjoying every minute of it."

The words seem to strike a chord in the other man, though Sōsuke has no idea what. He lets it go, mind catching on something more interesting. He laughs quietly to himself. Kisuke-san perks up, visibly curious, "Care to share Sōsuke?" There it was again, apparently Kisuke-san felt comfortable enough to drop any honorifics entirely. Was seeing him nearly die really what it took to get his forgiveness?

Sōsuke returns to the conversation, "I honestly have no idea how many lives she has reincarnated between now and then, but here is hoping that six flowers is where Orihime-chan stops, she's powerful enough as it is, too much more and she will start to make some very testy people nervous."

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Kisuke opens his mouth to ask if Sōsuke is implying that all of the people he matched up with the Vasto Lorde were their reincarnations, only to be interrupted by a hell butterfly. A bit concerned, he extends his hand to receive the message. He chokes on his tea when the stone cold voice of Yamamoto passes across.

Sōsuke hurriedly finishes his cup, certain that their chat is about to be interrupted. "Is everything all right Kisuke." The blond looks up at him sheepishly, flailing ridiculously to get the waitress's attention. After he pays the bill and they exit the shop he clears his throat, "Apparently we've been missing for 6 hours, I've missed reporting that you are stashed in Senzaikyū and the private meeting I was supposed to have with Yamamoto-san about my schedule. They have called an emergency Taichō meeting and are quite worried that I have already managed to misplace you and am instead hiding so that I don't have to admit that I lost you. Its as if they think you are a pot of tea yourself and not the man addicted to it. I'm quite sorry, but we're going to have to make a quick return to the prison."

Without any further ado, he scoops up the man and dashes away in a shunpo. Kisuke pays only half of his attention to where he is going, the rest devoted to the clenched eyed face of the man docile in his arms. Either he was so easily driven to motion sickness, that he just couldn't be bothered to think about anything else, or he didn't care in the slightest that Kisuke was carrying him like a dainty little princess.

They arrive, Kisuke not even stopping to wait for the guards before dashing inside and plopping the motion sick man down on his bed. "Rest up, I'll see you soon. Don't drink any poison, no matter how much you want the tea. Oh, and before I forget. Here's some food for thought... if the base nature of my Reiryoku is to perfectly camouflage into the background, how is it that you always seem to look right at me?"

Without a word further, he is off again. Less than a second later he sheepishly lets himself into the meeting hall. He can feel everyone's judgmental stares when he steps forward, all of his silly antics tumbling over one another before he manages to suppress them. With a sigh, he explains himself without prompting. "I do apologize for my extended tardy. I quite lost track of time. After the prisoner was released into my custody by Unohana-taichō, I promptly delivered him to his previous quarters in Senzaikyū. While I am aware that the Central 46 would prefer he be in the smallest darkest cell in the building. An an argument was made by the Council of Souls, and their Arrancar representative that as their previous king, by treating him like a Shinigami prisoner, we could be seen as a dismissive of their sovereignty. I chose to act accordingly."

"Hoping to gain ground, or at least prevent the actions of the Central 46 from further damaging our accord with the former tyrant, and with him in a cordial mood, happy to escape his hospital bed, I chose to speak with him for a bit. I watched carefully as he inspected the tea and his tea service, before he seemed content and proceeded to respond to my questions as I asked them. Though they were admittedly all fairly trivial. Much as he had done during my previous visits, he served tea to the both of us. I noticed that it was poisoned immediately. Feeling betrayed after he had gone to such lengths to convince me of his change of heart, I gave myself a general antidote and pretended to partake."

"To my embarrassment, I discovered that I had jumped to conclusions; immediately upon noticing for himself that the tea was poisoned, the prisoner tried to slap the cup out of my hands and mouth numbed, still attempted to ask me if I had been poisoned as well. It is my belief that had I said yes, he would have escaped the Kidō seals that protect him and used what power still remains his to try to heal me with Kaidō. Guilty for my quick abandonment of the fragile trust our repeated visits have fostered, after he recovered from the poisoning that would have killed him were he not immortal, when he said that the only reward he wanted for defeating Yhwach was a pot of good tea, I spirited him back out of Senzaikyū and to the nearest tea house. As the guards no doubt noted in their reports, my visits with him tend to extend for hours on end. When he deigns to be more charming than bastard he is an engaging and talented conversationalist."

Sheepishly he shrugs his shoulders, having no further excuse. "Upon receiving your message, I rushed him back to his cell, admonished him not to drink any more of the teas as they are likely all poisoned and rushed over here. So unless he managed to escape during my run over here ,I can say with absolute certainty that I have neither lost him nor helped him escape."

With only a red eyed glower of irritation, the old man dismisses the meeting. Neither one of them have any idea bout the precedent they have just set, one that would cause them both many headaches and much paperwork in the future.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 47 : Bastardior: The Behavior of a Bastard

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He had hoped that without using the Complete Hypnosis to cheat, Sōsuke would be a less challenging opponent for their mental game of Go. Aggravatingly enough, the opposite seemed to be true, as if any benefit gained from the visualization of the pieces had been superseded and canceled out by a countless parade of distractions. Now, without those distractions, Kisuke had Sōsuke's complete attention, and he was being even more thoroughly trounced than usual. If he had thought bringing the offering of newly purchased tea leaves would win him any compassion, he was sorely mistaken.

He needed something to distract the charming bastard, and quick. "May I inquire, if you are aware of the records kept by the Kidō Corps and the way that it can be used to extrapolate out the 2442 variable matrix that the Soul King uses to determine the name and time into which a person is supposed to reincarnate?" The white haired bastard stares intently at the table, unfortunately he doesn't seem to be taking the bait and Kisuke really needs him distracted, if he took the next group during this round, the game was over. "yes.", is the only answer he gets.

Pushing a bit harder, "While normally it is considered quite a violation against the wishes of the Soul King to see a person's next incarnation instead of extrapolating out their previous ones, an exception was made. No one wants another fight with the Quincy and Yhwach's next incarnation. Imagine our surprise when we realized that not only was he already incarnated, but that it was someone we knew. Care to guess who?"

Decidedly placing his imaginary piece in the last place that Kisuke wanted it, the red eyed man looks up and smiles smugly at him, "Uryū-kun." Kisuke can't believe it. He won and guessed correctly? Had someone else told him? Did he somehow still have access to the Complete Hypnosis, or was this granted to him by his Ōken? His runaway thoughts are knocked off track when Sōsuke teases him, "Don't look so surprised Kisuke. Though I suppose it wasn't as if I corrected you when you claimed that Magatsuhi half-blindly fished the Vasto Lorde out of his chest. It wasn't completely wrong you see, only your assumption about which half of us could see them clearly. Mind you, I can only do it with souls I have met previously, and it is fairly pointless if I have ever only met one incarnation of a person."

What the metaphorical fuck. It was bad enough that Sōsuke had somehow managed to convince himself that a manga heroine was his previous incarnation, and that during that life he was a Kami in his own right. Did he really expect Kisuke to believe that he could tell just by looking at someone, that they were one or another person reincarnated? Not even the Soul King had been able to tell his subjects apart. He adamantly ignores the tiny part in the back of his brain that pipes up with "empirical" data from the Third Reincarnation explaining just how such a thing may be possible. For a moment, he is fascinated and his fingers itch to ask the charming bastard for a list of names so that he can run them through the system and check himself. But no, there had to be a line where he remained outside of that nonsense. Orihime-chan couldn't be counted on to be impartial, the girl with her over active imagination had bought right in.

Kisuke rises from his seat to stare challenging down at Sōsuke when he remains seated. "Lets see if your hand to hand combat skills remain just as dangerous after your power loss." The retired tyrant simply sips his tea, "Only if you wear your old hat Kisuke. I do believe that I promised to kill it during our next spar." Well now, wasn't that interesting. That was the first time that Sōsuke had demurred.

Kisuke, regretably leaves shortly after to go back to his paperwork. The warning Kidō he had placed on every window and door in the whole damn palace signals that the patio door had been opened. Popping open his long distance Kidō observation device, he watches as the white haired man steps out.

What is he thinking, when he lets his head fall back like that, the wind catching in his hair and his eyes slipping shut. His fingers slightly spread as if he longed to hold hands with the wind that passed through them. Did Sōsuke's broken mind think that he was preparing for a Becoming, or did he already think that he had gone through one? Kisuke has no way of knowing.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

At yet another "Yay! We Survived The War!", party thrown by Matsumoto, this one held at the the embassy so that everyone had an easy way home. This was the 6th one so far, and after the 5th one had not only trashed the 10th division, but had left a lot of people in compromising positions all over their courtyard, a blushing and pissed off Hitsugaya had banished them all. Ichigo was damn glad that one had happened on a school night, so none of the humans were there.

He was also damn glad that Riku had put her foot down and prohibited alcohol of any kind in the embassy. He just knew one of those weird dudes from the 11th would try to get him to drink and there was no way he was doing that. His Reiatsu control may have improved in leaps and bounds thanks to Aizen being a legit teacher, but he had no desire to test it with alcohol. In lieu of getting shitfaced, Matsumoto appeared to have decided that they would all be dancing instead. Yeah... there was no way in hell he was doing that either.

It was just his luck that when he muttered one word this evening, it happened in between songs and, and his damn voice cracks! Fuck that shit was getting annoying. "I wonder who the Soul King is…" Like a damn pack of hyenas, half of them start laughing like its the funniest damn thing they've ever heard. Even that bratty Hitsugaya smirks. Yeah, you think its funny now, just you wait until its your turn, at least I only have 5 or so years of this, you've got centuries to look forward to. The worst part is that the ones that don't start laughing just stare at him as if he said the stupidest thing they've ever heard.

Waiting for them to spit out whatever dumb shit they thought was obvious, he glares right back at them. He finally takes the hint when Chad shifts next to him. WTF? Seriously? "You're all crazy. All of you. There is no way in hell I'm your damn reincarnated King. Find some other poor dumb bastard to clean up your mess."

Naturally the assholes all ignore him, Yeah, he could kind of see it, I mean between both of his parents and that weird science experiment of Aizen's, he did have all four base types of soul in him. And if you counted the hollow half of his zanpakutō as stable... in any sense of the word, an argument could be made that he kept all four of them perfectly balanced.

And shit maybe he should really be concerned with how his hollow always called him King... and with how involved Aizen had been in all of the major events of his life up until now... fuck... there was just no way in hell they were right. Right? I mean if he really were the King then shouldn't they have been instinctively doing whatever he wanted or something right?

Damn he really didn't want to be responsible for these idiots. He'd take being King of Hueco Mundo over Seireitei any day. All of these nobles with their heads up their asses insisting that their shit didn't stink. All the damn behind the scenes stupid stuff, that was all more Aizen and Geta-boshi's style.

If those idiots were dumb enough to make him their King he would probably abolish damn near every law they had on the books, if only to get out of dying in a sea of paperwork.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Watching her friends once again descend into violence to settle the ongoing argument of who is probably the Soul King, Orihime remembers. In the manga, Dekuyume once thought of souls like chemistry: of Yōkai/Hollows/Catalysts the definition of Evolution, of Human/Buffers, and Holy/Shinigami/Quenchers… She remembers what Sōsuke-nii had told her of The Hell Verse, itself the definition of Stagnation.

And perhaps it was arrogant of her, to assume that anyone could fully understand a soul as complex as the combined, mixed and fused layers of Aizen Sōsuke and Higurashi Dekuyume… but she thought she might know for sure, just who it was he had made The Soul King….

As the arguments go on into the night, wilder and wilder answers thrown out as more and more people try their best to beat their opinion into Kurosaki-kun. Wanting nothing more than for all of them to hold onto their innocence a little longer, she tells no one that they were all wrong… and wonders when it was, that she became the only grown up in this mess.

A comforting presence presses itself back into her side, holding a small paper cup filled with water to her. She accepts it gratefully, smiling up at her once in a lifetime love. Her only regret was that as of yet, the Central 46 was absolutely refusing to let her visit with Sōsuke-nii, so she hadn't been able to share her good news with him. It made her feel so guilty, each day she was away, was another tick closer to some unannounced date when she would just... disappear from their lives forever.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 48: Bastardicide: The Murder of a Bastard

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke sets his tea aside. It appeared that the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived. One by two by three, people appear in his prison, each one seeming to be glaring more hatefully at him than the last... And none more so than Suì-Fēng. The moment he heard, that Tsukabishi-san was likely to follow Kisuke back to Seireitei once the children Jinta and Ururu were grown and independent, he had known what would come soon, and what it would mean to Suì-Fēng. He had known that the goddess of flash would return to Seireitei... for Kisuke and not Suì-Fēng.

He had no idea if Yoruichi-san knew what her repeated abandonment had done to Suì-Fēng. She never should have taken her as an apprentice if she was just going to walk away at the drop of a hat to rescue Kisuke and Tessai-san. Suì-Fēng never had much to say about Tessai-san, but she hated Kisuke. To find that the woman she so fervently worshiped had chosen to follow the lazy bastard she saw Kisuke as? To know with absolute faith, that even on such a short notice, her beloved Yoruichi-sama would have had no problems rescuing them and getting herself back to Seireitei? To know that she had instead chosen to abandon everything she left behind in Seireitei, her rank as the Clan Head of a Greater Noble house, the leader of the Onmitsukidō, the taichō of the 2nd division? To know that she was more than sneaky enough to come back and visit her apprentice Suì-Fēng who had waited and trained and waited for a single visit that never came?

To know that she had only gotten the chance to see her goddess again because Yoruichi-sama had returned to Seireitei as a favor to that bastard? To know that if it hadn't been for that one fight they had, that Suì-Fēng wouldn't have seen her Yoruichi-sama at all? To know that the person she looked up to had chosen to stay in the world of the living with that bastard even after Aizen had confessed and her Yoruichi-sama could come back home? To know, after three years without a single visit that wasn't dedicated mostly to someone else... to know that in the end, her goddess loved that bastard more than she would ever love Suì-Fēng?

The moment Yoruichi-san returned to Seireitei and declared that she didn't want a single one of her previous titles back. The moment she admitted ,that she had only returned to laugh at Kisuke for getting sucked back in, Sōsuke had known this would happen. He did not need the Complete Hypnosis to know that the assassin had destroyed the small altar to the goddess of flash she had hidden away in her heart. Her perfect goddess was now a sullied, tarnished thing and there was only one person she held more responsible for that than Kisuke.

Aizen Sōsuke, the man who made Yoruichi-sama choose that bastard before Suì-Fēng could ever grow up and have a chance to make her goddess look her way.

He had always been able to see right through her. He didn't understand how no one else had seen it coming. He had considered warning Kisuke and by extension Yoruichi-san, but he had no proof and even if there had been... So what of it? The taichō of the Gotei 13 were nearly a law unto themselves and no one would do anything about her unsavory habits unless they compromised the Gotei 13, the Onmitsukidō, or the honor of the Greater Noble house of Shihōin she served.

The world may have changed a bit with his machinations, but not even the Council of Souls could call for a trial of a taichō of the Gotei 13 without solid proof. It seemed like such a terrible thing, to wait for her to attack someone without the express permission of the Central 46, to wait until there was an real victim and not merely a hypothetical one. But the founding taichō of the Gotei 13 had all been criminals, and the laws that protected them had carried on to today. It would take a serious breach of trust to get anyone to do a thing against her.

Her laugh is clearly insane as she stalks forward, her dark eyes glittering when she whispers, "Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi." He never even sees her move, never feels more than the briefest chill of metal as he is stung. "I'm not stupid Aizen. I know that any mark I leave on your body will be found sooner or later. But your body does this lovely thing you see. If the attack is instantly lethal, the whole thing is healed. Only non-lethal injuries linger. So all I have to do is make sure that every thing I do to you is a killing blow."

Sōsuke sees nothing but a haze of Red and black hornet stripes. Anything else is drowned out in the agonizing swirl of having every particle of his body rip itself apart. He isn't even given a chance to catch his breath. The moment his red shihakushō clad body reforms, he is stung again. And again. And again. Each time he falls, each time he resurrects... it is to her insane declarations about avenging Yoruichi, and the discordant laughter of those she trusted enough to bring along to see the show. He is ripped apart and put together so many times he has no way of even telling if he screamed or cried for their amusement.

He jerks up in surprise, his bed-sheets drifting down his chest as he sits up. If he had ever been the type to have nightmares he might have passed it off as just a dream. But she didn't want to allow him that luxury, she wanted him afraid. She wanted him to regret his immortality. He watches as the red butterfly shaped sting mark over his heart flickers out of existence at her will.

There was only one person that had ever made him feel fear, two if you counted the feral El Blanco Diablo as a person, but it was really more of an it. And either way she wasn't one of them. All the beatings he had received since he awoke powerless in the wake of his Bankai, and the only emotion they had stirred was a feeble fear unrelated to them entirely. It wasn't as if he had tried to kill himself to prove his immortality in the wake of his Hōgyoku transformation. It wasn't something you checked on purpose, there was always a chance you were wrong.

Speaking of being wrong, he had clearly misjudged her level of cunning. This wasn't something that could be resolved in a single, admittedly gruesome and bloody exposé. He was going to have to wait for her to make a mistake. That meant many many more of these torture sessions.

If Kisuke notices anything off during his daily visit he doesn't say anything about it.

Nor does he the next day after her midnight torture session.

Nor does he the day after that, when she had shown up alone to ruin his breakfast for two or three deaths before disappearing back out over his balcony taking care to avoid the seals he had found littering the whole doorway.

Against his will, he can feel his muscles twitch in nervous anticipation, as the next day passes without a sign of either her or Kisuke all morning. Morning passes into afternoon with no change. It is only as the sun sinks below the horizon that it happens. He is unaware of just when she arrived, but she announced herself by stabbing him completely through the neck with the delicate blade of her Shikai. He dies choking on his own blood. Through the pain, he reminds himself that this was good, that it meant that she was growing reckless and she was more likely to leave behind proof he could use... but it was never easy to be glad that someone was going to brutally murder you over and over.

As his neck heals, and he lays there panting on the floor, he hears her giggle as she presses the cold metal of Suzumebachi to the back of his neck. Another giggle and she taps the middle of his back. Less than a second later, she has him pined to the floor with her knee digging in to the second mark she put on his back. Like a little girl playing with a cookie cutter she takes her time stabbing him multiple times in the back, each wound far enough apart that the zanpakutō's special ability, two step death, doesn't trigger. Her hand fists in the back of his torn Shihakushō, before she rips the cloth off of his back to check her handiwork. Only the scraps below his obi and the small swathe under her knee remain on his body.

With a hysterical laugh that builds and builds she stabs all the butterfly shaped marks on his back and neck a second time. Over two dozen pairs of butterflies rip him apart. He regains his senses still pinned to the floor under her knee. "One day Aizen, when no one cares about you any more, I'm going to ask them to give you to me as a training dummy for the Onmitsukidō, and we're going to practice assassination techniques on you day in and day out. If there's even anything left of your mind by that time I am going to amuse myself by covering every inch of your body in my stings and I am going to leave them on you permanently so that I never have to sting you more than twice ever again. Do you understand yet Aizen? Just how stupid you were, to force Yoruichi-sama to pick that bastard instead of me?"

In an instant she is gone and groggy, he sits up. With shaking hands, his nerves shot with adrenaline from the stress of dying, he pulls his reformed shihakushō properly into place. At least whenever he died, it resurrected with him. Moving into a restful meditation pose, he brings his breathing back under control to hasten his return back to homeostasis. That had been unusually brief of her. Moments later he finds out why when the sound of countless feet echo through the tower. It sounded as if an army was marching up the steps to his tower. He can hear the guards outside the room speak to one another. He hadn't been able to tell yet, if everyone in the 9th division sent to guard him, was secretly aware of what was happening, if they were willfully blind, or if she was somehow preventing anyone from hearing his deaths.

The marching of the many feet comes to a stop outside of his door, and carefully, cautious of his freshly resurrected state, he rises to his bare feet. He didn't think that they were another angry mob, if they had been, she likely wouldn't have left. The door opens and closes allowing a two people into the room. He is surprised to find that it is the two third seats of the 13th division. Kiyone-chan glares up at him, "I'm going to ask you a question and you damn well better answer it honestly you understand? We love Ukitake-taichō, and it isn't right that he was the only taichō to die during the war. We know that your Bankai has something to do with your Shikai, because the only thing those people that didn't have flowers come out of them had in common, was that they never saw your Shikai. If we get you out of here and into our barracks where everyone else is waiting, would everyone in the 13th division be enough for you to use your Bankai to bring him back to life? It's some reality bending, forcing illusions into truth sort of thing right? We don't quite get it it but one of our unseated officers has a brother in the 12th division who was very excited to tell us all about it."

That was far more than one question, but he didn't feel like quibbling. He wanted the same thing they did, and he was also grateful that they interrupted what promised to be another lengthy murder session. "Perhaps. Does any one know if his body has been buried, cremated, or otherwise autopsied?"

The boy, Sentaro-kun slams his hand against Sōsuke's table, eyes welling up with tears and an occasional hitch in his voice, telling the story of his grief. "No one's done anything with it! Apparently Ukitake-taichō had had something hiding inside his body that may have either been the cause of his sickness, or either it stopped him from getting better. We don't know, no one will tell us anything. All we know is that even though he was the youngest of the family, he had made sure that everyone in the Ukitake clan left Seireitei and went into hiding out somewhere in the Rukongai. When they found out it was all over and that they needed to return to... to decide what to do with his body, it had already been two weeks. When they opened up the Ugendō quarters, where he had been sealed, they were surprised to discover that whatever The Stagnation was, it had also stopped him from... from rotting. Now that asshole taichō of the 12th division is demanding his body for science and no one is letting his family take him, take him away to lay him to, to rest."

Sōsuke finds himself very relieved to hear that. It made their request much less taxing to honor. "No need to worry. It is a good thing that there are lingering effects from Mimihagi, the right hand of the Soul King, which governed Stagnation. It is my understanding that he made a pact with it as a child and while it could not cure his illness, it prevented it from progressing, and leading him to death. If it expended its dying power to keep him like this, then there is a very real chance that it wanted us to succeed in saving him where it could not. Please lead the way."

The two of them hesitate. They may have been the ones to come here with all of the seated officers of their division to take out his guards in a moment of passion, but they were likely well aware of the treacherous line they were crossing. He would have to give them a little more encouragement. "I don't know if you know this, however, Ukitake-san, he was my taichō too, centuries ago. During my transfer from the 4th division, believing my zanpakutō to be a water type, he invited me into Ugendō to display my talents. When I disparaged my skills he teased me, telling me that I was supposed to up sell my self, to boast, so that he could have a chance to put me in my place and build me up from there. I told him that if I did that he would have to give me his position. He took it as a joke, but it was the most honest I had been with a single person since I had first set foot in Seireitei."

He turns his head away from them to look out the window at the starry night sky. "Sometimes, when my fake smiles got too heavy to wear, I would remember that interview... and daydream about how different my life would have been if he had taken me seriously, risen from his seat and drawn his Zanpakutō to test me himself. So if you would please allow me. There is a man I would very much like to see again."

He remains staring out the window as he awaits their judgment. Kiyone is the one to step forward drawing her zanpakutō. "Part your hair, Venus!" He watches with surprise as her blade shrinks down to a small ornate lady's hair comb decorated with pearls and sea shells that she then drags through the air in front of him. To his surprise, he sees that the comb is catching on the Kidō seals wrapped around his body. With a firm tug they remove themselves from him and fall to the floor like so much silk.

Instantly he is assaulted by Reiatsu as his suppressed ability to sense the power of others is returned. His knees buckle and he nearly faints, but before he can do much more than sway, a bright yellow bubble forms around him. He is surprised to find that she knows how to use Reishi-mippuu. Though if he remembered right, her anesan was Isane Kotetsu, the fukutaichō of the 4th. She is clearly focusing hard because she offers no explanation, only slapping her co-third seat in the arm. The tall man grunts with a muttered, "Don't worry you can just put them back on when we're done. No one will find out they came off." Grabs the two of them throwing each of them over a shoulder and jumping out the window and hopping over the balcony to the top of Sōkyoku hill.

Sirens go off up above and anything else Sōsuke might know about the situation is lost as they hit the ground hard. His only consolation is that he is too winded to heave from the nausea as the boy bursts into a clumsy, but functional, shunpo to speed them into the 13th division. Thankfully he is far more gentle with them as he sets them both down. The girl's Reishi-mippuu wobbles as she almost looses focus with all of the unseated shinigami of their division shouting for her attention. She... was making a good attempt, honestly he was rather impressed with her Reiatsu control. It seemed that those who had taken over training the division after him hadn't been incompetent.

As the seated officers arrive in a flicker, he is startled to see a very young boy creeping in through the gates to the barracks, eyes darting every where furtively. He dashes over to them, the large antique key in one hand... and Kyōka Suigetsu in his other. The boy couldn't have been much older than 12, his gap-toothed grin is infectious as he looks up at them all. "Remember I'm just a little kid! There's no way I have Shikai yet, just like there's no way its called Skeleton Key. If I had that, I'd get snatched up by the onmmi er onitsu, the ninjas." With a laugh bubbling out of his throat he bends forward and accepts his dearest friend.

Her control breaks for a moment and he sways on his feet, only keeping his feet underneath the sudden flash of Reiatsu by the force of his pride and the strength he had forged within his body. He holds the blade close to him like a child. He closes his eyes taking a deep breath before sighing it out. He holds out his free hand, and they stare at it blankly. They had taken so many steps to account for his abysmally low Reiatsu, surely they hadn't forgotten the most important one?

"Please tell me that someone thought to snatch a Reiryoku Inundation Pill? As hesitant as I am to put anything Kisuke makes in my mouth without a thorough study, more so when it bares the acronym RIP, it will be a necessity if I am to have enough power to activate Shikai."

"Oh? Well if that's how you feel about it, maybe I should stop bringing you all those lovely tea mixtures…" Sōsuke tenses, turning slowly to look in the shadows of the open barracks gates, where a pair of intense grey eyes stare at them from the deeper shadows of his green and white striped hat. Clearly the reason he had not seen Kisuke today had been because it was his day off. He hopes that he hadn't been caught up in a delicate experiment when all of the alarms in Senzaikyū went off.

Suddenly he is reminded rather forcibly that Kisuke was stronger and faster than he was... It wasn't as if he hadn't known. It had been clear as day when he awoke to find everyone strong enough to kneel him, but he hadn't noticed because Kisuke had gone out of his way to treat him exactly the same as he had before. And now Sōsuke had gone and broken that fragile trust they were rebuilding and Kisuke wasn't going to be nice anymore if his body language meant anything.

He can see his vision getting dark at the edges, and his hands are so clumsy as he clings to Kyōka Suigetsu, stumbling back, away from him. He hadn't meant for it to look permanent. As soon as Ukitake-san was brought back to life he intended to go back. Kisuke tenses as he moves and his mind flashes back to that first meeting, that single fleeting moment when all he had seen had been Kisuke, before his eyes had darted up to check him for an insight. Almost against his will, he finds himself mimicking the first words he ever said to him. "My… My a-apologies Urahara-taichō . I, am very shaken at the moment, I… did not mean to…"

Behind him Kiyone looses her temper and shouts, "The hell you didn't! You agreed!" Her Reishi-mippuu evaporates like fairy dust and he has a mountain dropped on him. It had been difficult enough to handle the suppressed Reiatsu of the two third seats and the muffled Reiatsu of the others in the hall, muffled by the Sekkiseki walls. The moment that she stopped shielding him, there was nothing to protect him at all. He falls forward, bile rising in his throat. He catches himself in a partial squat, his free hand gripping his knee, while the other retains its death grip on Kyōka Suigetsu, even as it plants itself on top of his other knee to keep him upright. He coughs and chokes for air for a moment as he recovers.

A quick glance at his hands reveals that he is wrapped in another, far more stable Reishi-mippuu by the man who had left him stricken with fear only moments ago, the man that was also responsible for making sure that Sōsuke remained imprisoned in Senzaikyū, which he was now quite some distance away from... and that he likely had only accepted a position in the Gotei 13 as the 9th division Taichō for the express purpose of having that responsibility over Sōsuke. Not out of any vindictiveness, but because he cared about him. Suddenly he felt so incredibly foolish for not waiting until morning to ask Kisuke if he wanted another chance to see his Bankai while it was used for a very good cause.

He doesn't even want to know what it is that Kisuke sees when he stares at them all. Though he has no doubt that there are going to be some unusual rumors going around the Gotei 13 about them when everyone gets done telling the other divisions about how they got Aizen Sōsuke to use his Bankai again to bring their taichō back to life. The former shopkeeper doesn't give anything away as he strolls forward, his sandals clinking softly against the ground. The nose is jarring and makes Sōsuke blink. The fools smile plasters itself over Kisuke's face as he twirls Benihime around his finger, before holding out his free hand with a single one of the aforementioned pills, and a water bottle.

Oh. It appeared that Kisuke had not missed Sōsuke's slip of tongue... and poorly hidden fear. The noise and the silly grin had been him trying to reassure Sōsuke that he was Kisuke, Sōsuke's friend, and not Urahara the Onmitsukidō, all while giving the impression that he was mocking Sōsuke to everyone else.

With a regal nod, he gets himself back together. Clearly Kisuke was ok with playing along. With a, hopefully believable, sigh of contempt he takes them both and swallows them down. The empty bottle he hands back to Kisuke. There is a tingle from the crown of his head all the way down his spine as the pill begins to work. He isn't given a single chance to enjoy his rapidly growing power, temporary though the effect is going to be, before he is roughly knocked off of his feet and pressed into the ground face first.

Any measure of calm he had recovered a moment ago dies a quick death when he finds himself in much the same position that he had been held in by Suì-Fēng less than an hour ago. The one difference was that Kisuke was a full grown man and easily applying twice as much force as she had, the other was that he had also grabbed Sōsuke's right arm and twisted it awkwardly, locking the joint and forcing his arm straight. Holding this position was almost more painful than being ripped apart by...

Kisuke's voice is quiet, low and deadly as it carries through the night, "It is in your best interests that you refrain from making any noises that could be misconstrued as your release phrase until I give you permission to do so." In a much quieter, but no less threatening whisper he continues, "Do you understand Sōsuke. This is a very dangerous game we are playing and everyone's efforts to keep you out of Muken can all be brought to nothing if we don't handle this right."

It was so incredibly strange to find himself dancing along to someone else's plan with out a bit of input in it. But if there were anyone's plan he would follow blindly it was probably Kisuke's. However, would it be too much to ask, if Kisuke stopped catching Sōsuke on the back foot? Vacillating between friendly and threatening like this was making it very difficult for him to keep up.

He remains still but for his labored breathing, taking that as acceptance, Kisuke pulls down the sheath for Sōsuke's zanpakutō and gently runs his finger down its length. Clearly someone, either Gin-kun or one of his former Espada, had revealed the secret to avoiding the Complete Hypnosis. Beneath Kisuke, Sōsuke trembles; with the new power disparity between the two of them, it would be nothing to Kisuke to snap Kyōka Suigetsu between his fingers like the stem of a flower... Sōsuke had experienced a difficult enough time trying to convince a second Asauchi to accept Kyōka Suigetsu's imprint, it is entirely possible that without the time acceleration of Baraggan's Respira... converting a third Asauchi would take longer than it would take Sōsuke to recover from using his Bankai to defeat Yhwach and pass Dekuyume's Trial.

Valiantly he tries to choke his resurrecting anxiety down. Even if he decided that now was the moment that he would avenge himself for all of the things that Sōsuke had done to him, he knew, he knew that that was not the type of person that Kisuke was. But fear was not something that could easily be rationalized away. With a strained voice, he attempts to lighten the atmosphere with a small quip. "You could have at least asked permission first Kisuke."

It is a tossup between what makes his heart beat faster. The alarm he feels when the normally chatty Kisuke does not respond at all, or the chemical rush from the pill as it reaches its optimum potency in his veins. It only elevated him to the power of the average shinigami, but compared to where his base level was at the moment, it was a phenomenal increase in power.

Kisuke rose from Sōsuke's back, allowing him to rise to his bare feet, naked blade of Kyōka Suigetsu in hand. He wanted so badly to just sink into Jinzen to check on his inner spirits, but this was neither the time nor the place. He looks up from the zanpakutō to stare into the alarmingly threatening steel grey of Kisuke's eyes. He does his best to hold both his ground and that intense stare, hoping to convey his sincerity.

His eyes burn with tears he refuses to shed. He knew. He knew that there was a reason that Dekuyume had shared her kindness first destroy second philosophy with her siblings. He knew how unlikely it was that anyone would ever believe him again. That was why he hadn't tried all that hard to get them to listen to what he had to say, only going through the motions because Orihime-chan asked him to, and he had a very difficult time trying to say no to her. When the atmosphere between himself and Kisuke had slowly started shifting away from two people at odds who reluctantly respected each-others intellect and into something that could be called friendship... he had figured that either Kisuke had managed to discover that Sōsuke's greatest weakness was a well developed sense of isolation... or a small miracle had happened and Kisuke had become an exception to the rule.

A flash of light catches his eye and his heart seizes in his chest. Sometime between getting off of Sōsuke's back and standing, Kisuke had released Benihime into Shikai. He held his zanpakutō's in one hand, the other occupied with the sheath for Kyōka Suigetsu. It... made him nervous, being unable to tell, how far Kisuke's trust extended... and where his caution took over.

The silence carries on for a moment long enough to leave it very clear that Kisuke is the one in charge of this situation, "You may proceed." Checking once to make sure that all of the division members were paying attention, Sōsuke raised the blade before himself, perpendicular to the ground and called out to his dearest friend, hoping that the spirit had recovered and awoken, otherwise this could get very embarrassing very quickly. "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu." The Complete Hypnosis enfolds him like the arms of an old friend.

He closes his eyes, sparing a moment to relish the sensation. As he opens them the purple eyed spirit flickers into being next to him. "Well now Sōsuke, what mess have you got yourself into now?"

He laughs, "Not so much a mess as a rescue mission Kyō-kun. Will you help me perform Bankai again? Ukitake-san... died during the fighting and Mimihagi's lingering magic has perfectly preserved his body. Everyone you just got should be enough to pay the tithe correct?" The spirit tilts his head to the side, considering. "Yes it should be, but whatever you did to get enough power to enter Shikai, it's going to give you a headache worse than any you ever experienced when you first started getting insights."

The white haired man grimaces, "Just what I wanted, a nasty, lingering headache. All well, are you ready?" The spirit bounces behind him and curls around his shoulders in an approximation of a hug. With the spirit clinging to his shoulders like a cape, Sōsuke holds his hand back out to Kisuke, "My zanpakutō sheath please. I need it for this next part." Nearly all of the Shinigami flinch when the blonde moves forward and hands the sheath over, having already forgot that he was there.

Sōsuke knelt on one leg holding the sheathed blade vertically out before him before lowering it so that the end of the sheath just barely grazed the ground. This time there is no Yhwach to taunt, so he simply closes his eyes. "Bankai" His weak Reiatsu flares out, spreading but remaining present. The spirit flickers out of sight in the aftermath, no longer visible now that they were out of Shikai. "Just as the flower must exist to be reflected in the mirror, and as surely as the moon graces the night sky to tease us with its reflection in the water; truth is the place from which all lies are born, and the lies within our grasp are those which lead us to the truths that would otherwise remain forever out of reach. I decide if the world is bewitched by the reflection, or washed of all of it's illusions. Hyakkaryouran Kyōka, Hanran Suigetsu" Sōsuke flinches, when he feels his Reiryoku flicker, flashing out of his body in a burst of violet light. His zanpakutō sparkles out of sight, freeing his hands to curl backwards.

Both of the previous times he had used his Bankai the orb of power that was gathered had been exceptionally large, as well as immensely dense and volatile. This was the first time that he had performed it with so few under the Complete Hypnosis, so it is to little surprise that the result is also much smaller. Instead of the massive, heavy orb he was expecting, he is pleasantly surprised to find a much easier to manage ball the size of a beach ball settling in his palms. Carefully, he sits back on his heels and brings his arms around. Cradling it in the palms of his hands. It was strange, to see that there was nothing in his hands even as his fingers told him that it was there. Bemusedly staring into the heavy void in his hands he speaks his new truth, "With it's last act of life, Mimihagi, the right hand of the Soul King, ensured that his long time host, Jūshirō Ukitake, would not perish, but instead compelled The Stagnation to keep him unconscious in stasis for me to use my Bankai to heal him of both the wounds done to his body, and the problem with his lungs."

His Reiryoku compacts, then his Reiatsu, only for them both to burst outward from him in a single wave that traveled from one end of the courtyard to the other, but no further, before it began to return, flowing back to Sōsuke, exactly as gentle as it had been when it left him. In its wake came flowers. Without the constant swarm of the indigo lotus, Sōsuke could see as he himself emitted one of the blossoms from each sensory organ, the dancing flowers circling three times before leaving to fill in the empty void in his hands, giving it a reason to hold weight. It is only a matter of moments for them all to reach him, unlike before, no dimensional partitions were involved in their return. He feels it, as the only ability of his Bankai finishes its preparations, so he seals it with a whisper, "As I will it, so it is." The power that Sōsuke had been holding in his hands disappears and he is quite relieved to feel his Reiryoku and Reiatsu return to exactly what they were before, no extra payment needed to pay for his manipulation of reality.

Kisuke's Reishi-mippuu is far more effective than Kiyone-chan's so he is forced to assume by how everyone's head jerks in the direction of Ugendō, that they are sensing the awakening Reiatsu of Ukitake-san. That was good, he was glad it worked. While slim, there was always a chance that it could go wrong. That was why his Bankai was considered unmastered after all. He relaxes from Bankai, Kyōka Suigetsu forming out of the air before him as the zanpakutō's Reishi is organically released from his own. Carefully rising to his feet, he checks himself over. There was the splitting headache he had been anticipating, one of the many symptoms he would be having for the next few days courtesy of the Reiryoku Inundation Pill.

When he looks up to find Kisuke in the crowd, he finds him standing like an oasis of calm as they all try to be the first to go and see their taichō. He carefully picks his way through the crowd of excitable children who seem to have completely forgotten he was here. Though he couldn't say if it was because Kisuke had spiked his Reiatsu nature into the Reishi-mippuu, or because they were all to excited about having Ukitake-san back to consider the consequences.

Unwilling to provoke any more unusually aggressive displays out of Kisuke than he already has tonight, he takes a deep breath and holds the sheathed form of Kyōka Suigetsu out to him, only to abort the motion less than half way. Benihime was once again sealed and mimicking a cane and Kisuke's fan was already back in his free hand. The fan waived lazily towards the gate, and he silently led them out of the courtyard and back down the road that would lead them to Senzaikyū.

Sōsuke is pensive as they walk. He had realized that he should speak up with an apology for making things difficult for him, but he honestly had no idea where to start. He is pulled from his thoughts with Kisuke's deceptively mild comment, "Was it truly so terrible giving up control and playing along with my plan?" The words sounded mildly teasing but it was plain to see that he really cared about Sōsuke's response.

Relaxing now that things seemed to be back to normal and with a long sigh, he says the first thing that comes to mind. "Kisuke, please remember that I am an illusionist, not a telepath, if there was some cue you were giving me and I missed it, it was a honest mistake and not a willful avoidance. Furthermore, if I hurt your feelings, I apologize. I was so excited that someone was willing to let me see Kyō-kun for even a little while, that I never even considered waiting to ask you to join us in the morning. As for any... fear you saw... I shouldn't have to remind you that you can be quite intimidating when you want to and I am all too aware of just how powerless I am at the moment. While I have no fear whatsoever you will sneak into my rooms at any time of day or night to murder me repeatedly over and over... Fear is fear. If it were so easily restricted to its real source, the world would be a very different place."

He glances over at the slightly shorter man, only to find him staring at Sōsuke with that same unnerving intensity. Embarrassingly, he trips on a rock. Though thankfully he catches himself before he can tumble to the ground. Resolutely he clears his throat and continues to walk, this time keeping his eyes facing forward down the path and not looking at the man next to him. "Sōsuke, keeping in mind that I am your friend first, your bodyguard second and your prison guard last, is there something you need to tell me?"

His mind churns as he tries to think of a coherent response. Was Kisuke still upset? Had Sōsuke not apologized enough, or for not the right thing? Was he somehow aware of the last four days of murder and delicately asking if Sōsuke had a plan? It is only when they reach the bottom of the path that led to the top of Sōkyoku hill that he speaks. "I do not believe that I have ever learned how to ask for help. Even after I've realized that I need it. It almost seems as if there is something preventing me from doing so, like my life is a video-game and I've run out of experience points to apply to learning new skills. I can say all the words individually. It isn't as if I am too prideful to allow them in my vocabulary. Please. Help. Me. But no matter how much I want to, I just can't string them out into one little sentence. I had always wanted to be strong enough to save myself, yet it appears that after defeating Yhwach, I am no longer capable. First Midoriko-san and now I find myself again in a situation where I am unable to do so. Please forgive me, but it seems as if you are going to have to save me again without hearing me ask you to do so. Please do not let my inability to say so make you doubt how sincerely grateful I am that after our complicated past you have risen above it to become my friend."

Its probably more than a little cowardly of him, but Sōsuke can't bring himself to look at Kisuke to see how he feels about all of that. He could forgive himself this once. Ever since he lost all but a teacup of his power he had been feeling... off. It was difficult to say if it was only Kisuke who was making him so uncomfortable, he was the only one that Sōsuke had seen repeatedly other than Suì-Fēng. It was entirely possible that it had nothing at all to do with Kisuke, and everything to do with the absence of the security that came from being well informed of everything courtesy of Kyō-kun. Even in the aftermath of his first Bankai when he created the Hōgyoku. The moment the power had evaporated, he had brought himself back under, releasing Kyō-kun into Shikai and using the mirror to secret the orb away in his Atelier. He had gone less than a minute without it on himself, and less than a day without it on anyone else.

It was entirely possible that this anxiety inducing, powerless, and lost feeling was the true price that was to be paid for overreaching with Hyakkaryouran Kyōka, Hanran Suigetsu. They reach Senzaikyū a modest hour later, having taken the time to stroll at Sōsuke's walking speed. The halls are empty and silent as they enter. They are also very dark, causing Sōsuke to frown. He raises his hands to push his hair back behind his ears. Pausing for a moment when he realizes that sometime during their walk, he must have subconsciously tucked his zanpakutō back into his obi. He finishes the movement before turning to look at Kisuke. Senzaikyū was an old, old building, not only did it not have any electricity, it also had no other lighting inside either. Any Kidō that could have been used to light the halls were useless, when those walls had this high of a concentration of Sekkiseki.

Before, Sōsuke had simply used the Complete Hypnosis to light the way, or barring that, he had simply channeled even more of his Reiatsu through his eyes than what he used subconsciously to keep his vision sharp to improve his night vision. He could do neither at the moment. Any he request he could have made to Kisuke in regards to light is useless before he speaks them. The white halls are eerily painted scarlet as the darkness is lit by the red glow of Kisuke's Reiatsu. It brings Sōsuke to laughter, "Enough power to punch through the walls, and you use it as a light source. I'd like to say that I've never used my power for anything so frivolous, but I would be lying. Badly at that."

The unusually quiet blond just flashes him a smirk before leading the way up to Sōsuke's suite. There are no guards in the hall, nor are there any standing outside his door. However much to his relief, and to the continued safety of his tea collection, everyone who would normally be outside was standing at attention in the middle of his suite getting dressed down by their Fukutaichō, Shūhei. "The moment that unauthorized persons approached Senzaikyū, the silent alarms should have been triggered. I would much rather have to haul ass down here in the middle of the night to find out you had to tell some stuck up nobles to piss off than be woken up by our taichō who had to come in on his day off, to check in on a full prison alarm I wasn't even aware of!"

"Now, now Shuhei-kun I think they've all learned their lesson. Everyone back to your posts. I will secure the prisoner, and reset all of the alarms on my way out." The division members all bow before scurrying away. Before he can leave as well, Kisuke calls out to his fukutaichō. "Shuhei-kun just to be sure, the room was occupied by at least two people at all times yes? The last thing we want is another poisoning attempt to get through." Sōsuke pauses on his way to prepare a pot of tea. Though... aside from the danger it posed to Kisuke, he didn't really care either. With his affection for Hanakotoba, he had swallowed more than a few toxins while searching for a perfect blend.

The dark haired man bows, "Urahara-taichō. I can confirm. Myself and one other was always in the room. I will not allow anyone to insinuate that the 9th division is only a glorified news office and not the emergency combat branch of the Gotei 13." With that lovely confirmation, Sōsuke continues in his quest for tea. Quickly he heats the water on the stove to prepare a pot of Earl Grey he hopes to share with Kisuke. In another vessel, he adds a generous helping of Lavender and Dandelion, not for their meanings sweet as they were, but for their medicinal properties. The blinding ache had dissipated, but not completely. It had merely lessened from the sharp intensity of a migraine, to the low dull ache normally felt with eye strain. Lamenting that he had yet to receive ginger or linden flowers, other herbs and flowers good for relieving headaches, from Kisuke who had rather adamantly refused to let Sōsuke keep any of the four hundred or so containers of individual and mixed tea ingredient that had previously filled his shelves.

He had refused to relinquish them until, in a huff of exasperation, the former shopkeeper had promised to replace every last one that they threw away. The expression on Kisuke's face had almost made capitulating worth it, when his new tea supplier realized that there wasn't a single can of food in the large cupboards that had once held the supplies to feed all of the founding members of the Gotei 13... but that they were still full, each one packed with carefully organized containers of dried flowers, herbs and spices. What had made it even better, was when the stunned man had asked what Sōsuke ate, and after reminding him that Sōsuke was immortal,he told the man that he hadn't eaten in over four years. He didn't need to drink either, he just... really liked tea.

His attention is brought back to the present as the fukutaichō points over to the floor near where Suì-Fēng had tortured him earlier. For a moment, hope swells in his chest, that they had found something that he could use to prove that he was not lying, only to be dissapointed when he spots the seals still lying like a puddle of silk on the floor. "The prisoner's seals were found over there. Having never seen anything like it before, we did not touched them, not knowing if they were dangerous or not. I decided that if anyone would know what to do with them it would be you. As such I did not request an analytical team from the 12th division."

It is easy to see that Kisuke is intrigued by the puddle of seal and while he examines them, he dismisses his fukutaichō with a negligent wave and only a meager bit of his attention, "That was exactly what I would have asked you to do. Good work. I will take over from here. Go back to bed Shūhei-kun." Clearly, pleased to be praised by the man who had healed and protected his idol the Visored Kensei, the dark haired man leaves without even glancing at Sōsuke.

The kettle whistles so Sōsuke cancels the built in fire Kidō and pours the water over the earl grey. Setting aside the hot kettle, he carries the pot to the table and after a moments hesitation grabs two cups painted with Hazel, hoping that Kisuke knew that they meant reconciliation.

As he sets them on the table as well, the blond shopkeeper turns his curious eyes to Sōsuke, tucking some contraption he had not previously noticed into the folds of his Haori. No doubt it was a new device, anything that was created when Sōsuke could spy on Kisuke's experiments would be recognizable. "Was this your doing Sōsuke? It has several rather interesting applications I would love to study."

Flattered by the compliment, he regretfully denies it. "I'm afraid not, for that you would have to speak with Kiyone-chan, her Kidō type zanpakutō named after the goddess Venus is to blame for that. Her co-third seat said that I could put them back on later and that no one would know that I took them off. Given how he spoke of them like clothing, I was going to try draping them over myself to see if they would simply fall back into place."

Seeing how excited and curious the scientist is, with a shrug he decides now, while the tea is steeping, was as good a time as any to try. Walking over, smirking to himself when Kisuke gropes through his Haori in search of the device he had just hidden away, he waits patiently kneeling next to the pile of seals. When the excited blond nods at him, he extends a hand and carefully picks them up. For Kisuke's benefit, he shares his observations.

"They feels just as much like silken fabric as they appear, no other unusual sensations noted. For your reference, her release phrase was "Part your hair". The blade changed forms into an ornate lady's hair comb decorated with pearls and seashells. She did not call out any special technique. She simply dragged the comb through the air in-front of me causing the seals to become visible, before they became entangled in the comb, falling to the ground after the brushing." Sōsuke grips the edge of one of the seals, allowing the rest to fall back to the ground. To his surprise, when the one he is holding unfolds he sees that they are a single sheet. That would simplify matters. As Sōsuke turns the seals in his hand recalling from memory how they were oriented when they appeared, the focused scientist remarks, "I wonder if her zanpakutō turns all Kidō into tangible locks of hair. What type of lady's hair comb? Ornamental, or decorative Practical?"

Taking the seal in his hands he floats it up into the air like a bed sheet and lets it fall over him. "A bit of both I think? It only had three teeth, but it instead of a decorative bridge, it had a handle that was long enough to fit comfortably in the palm of her hand, though it did not extend further than that." The fabric remains just that and with a tug, Sōsuke pulls it from his head feeling a bit silly. As it falls back into a puddle at his feet he finds Kisuke scribbling in a small notebook.

While he is busy, Sōsuke returns back to the table to remove the infuser to prevent the tea from over-steeping. When he returns he finds Kisuke staring at him intently, clearly wanting something. Sōsuke has a feeling he might know what that is. With an accepting smile he nods at the scientist. "If you wrap yourself in one, it should be safe to remove it. Even all the seated officers and the guards in the hall, and the two third seats in the room were not enough to do much more than make me sway on my feet and feel a tad faint."

A bright yellow Reishi-mippuu forms around Kisuke, soon after that, the one he had placed on Sōsuke breaks, falling into a yellow blob at his feet before it too evaporates. It is a bit of a strain, handling the Reiatsu that makes its way into the room from the two guards standing outside the door, the Sekkiseki in the walls caught most of it, but the doors were wood and had no such properties. Carefully bracing his feet a bit further apart, he carefully kneels on the floor to pick up the silken seals. He only slightly jumps when part of it in his hands instantly begins to glow a soft violet hue, the same color as his Reiatsu.

Instantly the device again makes an appearance the blond kneeling as well to take measurements completely uncaring if his white Haori wrinkles. Carefully, Sōsuke opens his hands and lets it fall once more, only to find one tiny piece, the one that is glowing, stuck firmly to his right hand. Checking the pattern he sees that it aligns with what he remembered. Grabbing another edge, he aligns more of the pattern down the rest of his hand and wrist and over his red shihakushō.

Only the parts that touch his bare skin glow and stick. Eyes widening at the implication he mentally calculates how much of his bare skin he is going to need to get the seals back on given it's surface area. He had no desire to strip naked for Kisuke, not even in the name of science. With a huff of relief, he thinks that if he just slides off the sleeves and pushes his shihakushō and obi a bit low on his hips he should be just fine. With a sigh, careful not to let other pieces of the fabric get stuck in a snarl that would make this far more difficult than it had to be, he does just that. Slowly drawing the trailing fabric-like seals through the sleeve after his hand, mildly surprised that such an open pervert like Kisuke had nothing to say.

Glancing up, he finds Kisuke distracted, staring intently at him. The gentle atmosphere instantly evaporates with the angry, threatening glint in his grey eyes. His whole body was completely still, the knuckles of his hands white against both his invention and the folded notebook, his pen tucked inside.

The old fear starts to rise up. Sōsuke shoves it back down. Kisuke wasn't Miyatsu, Sōsuke had over three hundred years of watching him, and not once had he ever put his hands on someone who wasn't emphatically asking for it. Slowly, Sōsuke lifts the seals, now in quite a hurry to just get them back on so he can get dressed and feel a little less vulnerable.

"Stop." At the sharp commanding word he freezes, hands clenching in the seals. "Turn around." What? Larynx bobbing as he swallows nervously, he shuffles awkwardly around on his hands and knees so that he is facing away. There is a soft clink as the metal device is set sharply on the stone ground. The hand that once held it now pressing hotly against the middle of his back.

Maybe... maybe he was bruised? Both Suì-Fēng and Kisuke had dug their knees into that part of his back just over an hour ago. However the former Onmitsukidō does not perform any healing Kaidō, instead, his quiet voice asks, "Sōsuke. Were you ever going to tell me that Suì-Fēng was sneaking in here to assault you." Instantly, he recalls that before she had thrown him to the floor she had tapped Suzumebachi against both the back of his neck and the middle of his back, right under the very place that she had knelt before stabbing him repeatedly through his Shihakushō. When she triggered them all she had missed one! He had proof!

He relaxes, relieved that he would not have to wait longer for her to make a mistake. "It has only been four days since she started her daily visits, I am quite relieved that this time she left me proof to offer you. It seems that I owe them a great deal of thanks, not only did they give me a chance to see Kyō-kun and restore Ukitake-san, they also managed to interrupt her after she had gotten started, but before it had turned into a long session."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Staring blindly at his hand pressed over the four petal flower shape, of Suì-Fēng's mark for death in two steps, his mind whirls. Sōsuke... had thought that he needed proof to say anything... he hadn't even considered that his word alone might be enough to get Kisuke to even consider that a woman he didn't even like was attacking him cunningly enough to utilize Sōsuke's immortality and resurrection mechanisms to leave behind no proof of her assault.

He doesn't let his mind dwell on just how long those attacks might have gone on otherwise. If the 13th division had not absconded with Sōsuke and Kisuke not seen the alarming red patch in the large mirror Sōsuke had placed on the other side of the room. More worryingly was the... blandness with which Sōsuke spoke of his own torture. As if it were something no more difficult to endure than a long boring meeting, as if he was used to being tortured. It was just so impossible to imagine that someone who had arrived in Seireitei so powerful, could have ever been harmed, never mind tortured. It also couldn't have been from his previous life as a human, that had all been well documented by Sasakibe-san.

His brilliant mind reminds him of Dekuyume's Kami Cursed Health. But, she was just a story, an allegory that he had used to amuse himself while he waited for it to be time for his human life to end, and then perpetuated to coddle Orihime-chan... wasn't it? Worried, he also remembers that Sōsuke had also placed himself under the Complete Hypnosis and that he had also said that his zanpakutō spirit had tested him for his Bankai, but that he would never be able to master it. What was it that he had said. A man does not master his dreams, they make them come true?

What if Dekuyume and the third reincarnation were not a tiny teasing secret he had used the time differential between the dimensions to scatter like breadcrumbs... what if it was whatever illusion that his zanpakutō had tested him with to see if he could be trusted with the ability to rewrite reality. What if so many of Sōsuke's nonsensical actions afterwards were simply him forcing the life he lived to mirror that story?

What if the reason Sōsuke was so inured to being tortured, was because he believed he had spent twenty years as a woman who's constant lethal and often debilitating parade of illnesses, which could be easily likened to constant low grade torture that had been ongoing from the day of her birth? What if Sōsuke had not been playing to Orihime-chan's imagination... what if he believed every last word of it?

With a shaky sigh, he removes his hand, "Sōsuke... You are my friend. If someone is hurting you, you don't need proof to get me to believe you. Everything you've said since you followed Orihime-chan back to Seireitei has now been proven true. We know, you are not a liar and I am so sorry that I didn't notice that you have been attacked every day this week." He stays turned away from Kisuke while he tugs the seal the rest of the way on, the seals themselves almost seeming to move back into position on their own the more that they are brought into contact with his pale skin.

The man tugs on his unusual red shihakushō as Kisuke stands and tucks his notes and Independent Multi-spectrum Analysis Cube back into the pockets hidden in his Haori. When he finds that Sōsuke is finished dressing, he offers his hand to help the man stand up. He had been under quite a bit of strain unprotected by either the seals or a Reishi-mippuu. Gratifyingly, Sōsuke doesn't even pause to consider if he wants to take it, he just reaches out and accepts it. He would have been incredibly worried for his mental health if Sōsuke had become touch shy. Damn Suì-Fēng! She would not get away with this! No matter which one of the Central 46 had passed down the order to the Onmitsukidō, he would see to it that none of them went unpunished! For that matter damn them allfor doing any thing they could to keep from honoring the pardon they had said they would grant were Yhwach really to attack.

With Sōsuke's hand in his, standing above him as he helps him to his feet he is in a perfect position to see the instant the red eyed man falters mid rise, his normally pale complexion whitening even further as his eyes dilate... in fear. Quickly turning his head to check his surroundings, alarmed that Suì-Fēng would be audacious enough to attack another taichō, even one she disliked as much as she did Kisuke... but the room is empty. It is just the two of them. By the time he turns back, Sōsuke has already fully risen and gently tugs on his hand trying to pull it away from Kisuke's.

The signs are all still there, only much better hidden... and Sōsuke isn't looking anywhere but at Kisuke. Sōsuke... Sōsuke who wasn't afraid of being tortured daily, he... he was afraid of Kisuke. Quickly, he lets go of Sōsuke's hand, guilt and hurt blending seamlessly. And just like that any hint of fear is gone, Sōsuke smiles at him wryly, "I am sorry to have ruined our experiment Kisuke. I am also sorry for keeping the attacks to myself. It was never my intention to hurt you." With that he turns and walks over to the tea table.

Kisuke can only stare in shock, something only just now occurring to him. There may be another reason other than Suì-Fēng's attacks for Sōsuke's odd behavior these last few days. When Sōsuke inadvertently revealed that he still had the senses of a Hell Butterfly and Kisuke realized the implications, he had taken the time to stratify his thoughts, thinking of multiple unaffiliated things at the same time. Hypothetically, this would have thrown off his ability to both read the intensity of Kisuke's emotional state, and prevent him from detecting whatever his hell butterfly senses could tell him of Kisuke's thoughts.

He had never stopped to consider what this would do to a person who had likely been relying on those senses since the day he became a shinigami... and may very well have no idea that he had been doing so beyond the more obvious ability to easily identify Reiatsu signatures.

As he follows Sōsuke to the table and seats himself, he considers his options. Silently he watches the other man pour the tea, the rich aroma of Earl Grey filling the space between them. Only after Sōsuke has blown on his cup and taken the first sip, does he follow through with his chosen plan of action. "Sōsuke. I need you to do something for me. Look right into my eyes and try not to hide your expressions while I do something."

He watches carefully while Sōsuke seems to have difficulty deciding if he wants to play along. "Come on, it isn't as if I plan to do anything weird." He does not appear to be reassured at all, and yet interestingly enough, in spite of the fact that Kisuke had scared him terribly only moments ago, he agrees anyways. He cradles the tiny tea cup in his hands before his jaw clenches and he stares directly into his eyes.

Kisuke quickly performs some mental exercises. First he abandons all of his other trains of thought and focuses on the here and now, and his desire to help. Almost immediately the tension in the man's shoulders disappears and his lips twist into a small smile. The tea in the mans hands looses the faint rippling that had indicated Sōsuke was trying very hard to conceal the shaking in his hands.

Next, Kisuke adds a second layer of thought, keeping in mind the one he was following now. He keeps it in the same emotional tone, thinking instead of helping Orihime-chan cut through all of the objections the Central 46 were using to explain their continual refusal to allow her a visit. Sōsuke doesn't appear to get nervous again, though he does clear his throat, take a sip of his tea and ask, "Kisuke? It has been quite some time since I have seen Orihime-chan. Do you know if things are going well for her? I understand that it likely is not safe for her to visit, but I would still like to know that she is happy."

That was both unnerving and extremely intriguing. "She's doing quite well and she is kicking up a fuss with the Central 46 who are doing their best to keep her away. I haven't been able to find out yet if it is simply out of spite, or if it is because they fear that with her power, she will undo whatever damage you did to yourself with your Bankai. She's working through the Council of Souls to get permission, and it may come down to handing her Shun Shun Rika over to the guards at your door to get that permission."

The white haired man nods in gratitude, clears his throat and apologizes for the interruption. "I do apologize for the non-sequitur, you were trying to perform some sort of psychological evaluation on me were you not? I can assure you it is not necessary. Beyond the unpleasant levels of Adrenaline in my system after I resurrect, I am completely unphased by her infantile attempts to harm me." Kisuke blinks very slowly to keep his expression under control. It wasn't that the different trains of thought confused him, it was that he was only subconsciously aware of the fastest moving one. He didn't appear to know that it actually was a very rough form of telepathy, he likely only considered himself more observant than everyone else. However, that did not account for the fluctuating presence and absence of fear.

Sōsuke hadn't been the only one of them startled into reminiscence when he had flinched back upon catching sight of Kisuke and repeated the first words he had spoken to him. Kisuke had noticed that Sōsuke was intermittently nervous, but he had assumed that it's source was his newfound powerlessness. Until Sōsuke had said those words, he had not realized that it wasn't nervousness, only carefully concealed fear. He had only become more sure of that when even after reassuring Sōsuke that he was not angry that Sōsuke had allowed himself to be taken out of Senzaikyū, that quiet fear never completely dissipated. The only reason that Kisuke hadn't noticed was because on occasion, he naturally thought on multiple levels at the same time. It was only after he became aware of Sōsuke's extra insight that he made a concerted effort to do so constantly while he was in the man's presence, thus providing a larger data pool.

The curious scientist continues testing his new hypothesis and changes variables. Keeping both Sōsuke and Orihime on their separate trains of thought, he changes the emotional variable attached to the second one. As if keeping pace with a metronome, he keeps both flowing at the same pace. It is only a bit difficult to keep the old memories of that first meeting with Sōsuke from tumbling forward faster than he wants. Kisuke... had been so happy to find another like-minded soul that he had missed several things that had haunted him after the hollowfication incident. Kisuke can feel his heart clench a bit at the remembered anger.

Sōsuke does not get nervous, but he does frown, "You would tell me if something had happened to her right? You wouldn't keep me in the dark." Kisuke's breath catches from the results. The red eyed man leans forward a bemused smile on his face. Proof enough that the man was also an empath and had caught on to Kisuke's excitement, it only remained to test if, like his telepathy, his empathy was only capable of catching the strongest emotion and not all of them. Quickly he agrees, "Yes Sōsuke everything is fine, its just the experiment. I have one last thing to check before we're done."

The man sitting opposite from him merely sighs, rolling his shoulders in a shrug. After taking another sip of his tea, Sōsuke's gaze returns back to his. With an admittedly high level of difficulty, on the train of thought that contains Orihime-chan he thinks about how angry he had been at himself when he saw the open Senkaimon, and realized just how wrongly he had judged her. On the train of thought that belonged to Sōsuke, he made sure to think more quickly, focusing on the movements made during their last game of Go and not any frustration he had felt during it.

For a moment he thinks that he hasn't got his thoughts in order, and then ne notices it. He had managed to scare Sōsuke so badly that he had stopped breathing. Instantly he releases the trains of thought, feeling guilty for playing with him like this. The man releases his breath, as if he always meant to sigh, leaving Kisuke to wonder just how often he had missed any subtle hidden signs of fear.

"I apologize for that Sōsuke. My, it seems as if I am apologizing for not noticing quite a few things this evening." Sōsuke doesn't say anything in response, he only clears his throat, takes a sip of tea and quirks his eyebrows enquiringly. Kisuke takes a sip of his own tea, "A while ago, you mentioned that my skills as a graduating student of the Onmitsukidō section of Shun'ō Academy were sub-par. I recalled the event and the special Kidō I was using at the time, one which is known to only appear like an empty void to Hell Butterflies. Inferring that you have somehow managed to retain the hypersensitivity you experienced as a self-aware Hell Butterfly, I took steps to make sure that you could no longer use them against me. I apologize because I had not considered how intrinsic those senses had become to your perception of the world. I have not been angry at you, or wished you harm since you turned yourself in."

Kisuke is treated to the sight of Sōsuke bursting into a relieved bark of laughter, the intensity almost enough to bring him to the point of tears. The levity doesn't last long, the small smile on his face twisting into something just a shade wry and bitter. "May I assume that these measures you have taken are the reason I can't seem to decide if you are about to assault me, challenge me to a friendly spar, or ask for a cup of tea?" The man seated opposite him takes a deep breath, and with a frowning grimace, continues, "Have you shared this with anyone? Should I expect others to appear before me as familiar strangers I know but no longer understand?"

That was a low blow. Deserved, but still … Kisuke shakes his head, his bangs swaying across his vision. "No Sōsuke. I haven't told anyone, and even if they discover it on their own, they likely will not make the correct associations... nor will they be likely to implement the same obfuscation methods. As for myself, now that I know how... poorly it affects you, I will likely not use it often or as purposefully as I have recently." The former shopkeeper is treated to another unusual expression of Sōsuke's. His tea halfway raised to his lips, his eyes wide and mouth slightly parted, he stares at Kisuke in surprise... then his mouth clicks shut, he sets down his tea and his eyes dart away as a very faint blush dusts his cheeks. Even his voice is a bit rough. "I... thank you for your consideration. Between your unsettling behavior and the attacks, these last few days have been very... draining."

In silence, Sōsuke raises the tea pot and even though Kisuke can hear that there is still Earl Grey inside, only two cups had been poured and that pot was often enough for eight, Sōsuke says, "It seems as if we've run out. Would you stay for another? Momo-san snuck in earlier and brought me some dried Flax and this Reiryoku Inundation Pill has left me feeling a bit ill."

Quickly flipping thorough his memorized list of flowers and their meanings, recalling that Flax could either be a domestic symbol, it could mean fate, but this time Kisuke strongly suspected that Sōsuke was using it for its third meaning. I feel your kindness. A little bit breathless with wonder, at how far they had come in their understanding of one another, Kisuke feels yet another unusually real smile form on his face, "I do believe that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

The white haired man shakes his head, the long white locks twisting on his back. "It's just tea Kisuke."

But if Kisuke had learned anything at all, it was that, with Sōsuke, it was never justtea you found in your tea cup.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 49: Bastardier: The Atelier of a Bastard

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Whatever Kisuke does to ensure that Suì-Fēng does not return, it works. Not only does it work, it works so well that even the mark she left on Sōsuke fades away by mid-day the next day. Even more impressively, it works so well that when it comes time for Kisuke's usual visit, he brings Orihime-chan with him. Brushing his long white hair over his shoulder, he rises from his seat, abandoning his third pot of Lavender and Dandelion tea of the day, just in time to catch an arm full of imouto.

She squeezes him tightly and mumbles about how happy she is to see him into where she tucks her head into his chest. Smiling softly, he wraps his arms around her to return the embrace. "I missed you too Orihime-chan, and what is this Kisuke tells me about you dating the Primero Espada? You are very lucky that I know you're a smart girl who knows her own heart, otherwise I would have to put my foot down as your Aniki, and inform you that Ulquiorra-kun is much too old for you." The girl in his arms giggles as she pulls away. With an equally bright grin she picks up the backpack she dropped and pulls out a canister of tea. "I hope you like my eclectic and sophisticated palate, because I put this together myself. My friends all laughed and made jokes about you preferring the poisoned tea, but I don't know, I think you can handle it."

Blissfully happy that the end of the War on Souls, and having someone as loyal as Ulquiorra-kun love her back, has brought out so much of her confidence, he smiles broadly. Wickedly quirking his eyebrows, he leans down so that they are face to face, "Bring it on little girl. Bring. It. On."

She brings it on with her dried apples, red beans paste powder, crushed black peppercorn and rose petal tea.

And Sōsuke? Turning mocking eyes to Kisuke when he does everything he can to get out of taking even a sip. Sōsuke puts it away.

Every. Last. Drop.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Weeks pass, bringing with them a sense of building anticipation even as nothing seems to settle back into the way it was before the war. Orihime-chan returns to visiting every time the human world has a weekend, and Kisuke continues visiting every day. Other than that, he has one or two visitors who show up for tea, but no one mentions anything about the Central 46, Suì-Fēng, or Rikotu the woman who tried to kidnap Orihime-chan. To be fair, Sōsuke does not bring them up either, nor do any of them cause a single bit of trouble.

It almost seemed natural, that when one of those things changed, they all did.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The first sign of change is that this time, when he is visited by Orihime-chan, Ichigo-kun is following in her wake. Idly wondering why the boy has decided to come, but not caring enough to dedicate a significant amount of his attention to anyone other than Orihime-chan, he waits to find out. It is only after the boy speaks up and mentions that they had heard about about Ukitake and how Sōsuke had returned him to his subordinates, that Sōsuke thinks he knows why the boy had come. It is with out an ounce of surprise that he listens as the boy he taught how to use Kidō hesitantly asks if Sōsuke could resurrect his mother as well.

Sōsuke is equally unsurprised to find himself willing to assist. All of these children were making him so soft, it was such a wonderful, peaceful thing. After contemplating the best means to do so, Sōsuke quickly checks on two important things, "First, let me ask. Has anyone actually killed Grand Fisher?" By the grumbling, clenched fists, and scowl on the boy's face the answer is a resounding NO, but not for lack of trying. That cleared up, Sōsuke asks his imouto the second important thing, one far more important to Sōsuke for other reasons. "Orihime-chan, I know you had no issues before, however we also did not have much of a choice in the matter. Would you permit me to place and keep you under the Complete Hypnosis once more?"

Seeming surprised that he felt the need to ask, the brown eyed girl smiles at him and instantly agrees. "Of course, I trust you." Sōsuke is humbled. The angst ridden boy tensely waiting, shifts in his seat clearly uncomfortable, but still willing to do anything for his mother, Sōsuke extends an invitation to Ichigo touch his blade before he enters Shikai to ensure he is immune to the Complete Hypnosys. He was not looking forward to taking another of those awful pills. But this too was for a good cause.

When he protests, no doubt assuming some incorrect things Sōsuke amused, informs them, "I will not be using my Bankai to return your mother to you Ichigo-kun. While I understand the temptation to look at it and see a wish granter, the fact of the matter is that sometimes there are far more mundane things that can more easily get us what we want."

"To make sure that we are all on the same page, I will begin by explain what I know of what happened to Masaki-san. Then I will explain to the four of you how I intend to handle it." The two teens look around, startled when they see Kisuke seated on the patio watching through the open door while he sips his own cup of tea in the sunshine, a sleeping Yoruichi-san in his lap, one of her feline ears turned in their direction.

"The first thing you have to understand is that much like Uryū-kun's father, Ryūken-san, Masaki-san was an Echt Quincy, one of their purebloods. Had I never created White, she never would have been considered impure when Yhwach used Auswählen. Of course, you also wouldn't exist either, so let us move on. With a carefully balanced procedure using both the zanpakutō spirit Engetsu, and the physical form of the Asauchi that housed it, Kisuke was able to prevent her from dissolving after White forced its way into her inner world. It left Isshin-san a normal human, and only put White in a form of hibernation, but it at least prevented her from having her soul erased."

Taking a sip of his tea, he continues for his rapt audience, "Eventually, Isshin-san and Masaki-san fell in love, got married and started having children. Ichigo-kun has a four faceted soul because his soul is new, formed when a sliver of soul from Masaki-san, bearing her nature as a Quincy was met with a sliver of Isshin's newly humanized one. Likely seeing a chance to escape, White escaped her inner world and invaded yours, its animalistic mind not realizing that by dragging the Asauchi with it into your forming soul, it sealed its own fate; making the fragment of Engetsu that had imprinted on the Asauchi, and White itself additional fragments of your soul. This is why your shinigami and hollow natures are completely converged. The presence of that Asauchi is the reason that you had Zangetsu in your hands when you escaped the shattered shaft. Without it, you would have had to wait to receive a blank and then wait longer for that blank to accept Zangetsu's imprint."

Taking another sip of tea, he takes the time to see how the two children are handling this far more in-depth explanation. Well enough, though Ichigo-kun is obviously upset. It made Sōsuke wonder if Isshin had ever said anything to the Ichigo-kun after the boy found out that his father had been keeping so may secrets. No matter. "The Asauchi had only contained a sliver of Engetsu, the rest of the zanpakutō Spirit remained in Masaki. It took three slivers to stabilize the Alchemical union. The last fragments of Engetsu's soul that bound the zanpakutō spirit to Masaki-san lingered until they were passed on to the two girls, without White there to suppress, the spirit was free to return to Isshin-san to recover. This is why I expected Isshin-san to be able to prevent the escapees from hell from harming the girls. He is perfectly capable of shedding his modified Gigai and becoming a Shinigami."

With a sigh, he drains his tea cup and pours himself another, the flavor of the sunflowers light and mild after weeks and weeks of drinking lavender and dandelion tea. He had been drinking it almost constantly to ease the headache from that first Reiryoku Inundation Pill. While subsequent pills had not caused the headache to worsen, it had not faded either. Taking another sip, he continues, "At the time that you first encountered Grand Fisher in the rain, Engetsu was completely gone from her. The activation of Auswählen, may have left her powerless, but it also left her something else. You see, I do not need my Bankai to recall her soul from some void dissolved Quincy particles are sent to, all we need is the notes from my Atelier on the use and creation of my single soul extraction glove, because when she was eaten by Grand Fisher, Masaki Kurosaki-san was 100% pure human."

"From what I understand, the last glove was completely destroyed when they placed all of those seals on me and threw me into Muken the first time, thus we must make another. With my notes it should be easy enough for Kisuke to do so. All you have to do is politely ask Nelliel-chan to allow you to have the hollow that ate your mother, and let me know when you have him. If he hasn't left, he is still in Las Noches after I made him an Arrancar. One long distance soul extraction proxied by Orihime-chan through the Complete Hypnosis, and a second modified Gigai, and Masaki Kurosaki has returned to life. No need to alert a thousand other people that a vulnerable human woman has also been brought back to life. I shouldn't have to tell anyone that there are far too many people who would like to have a specimen to study."

While the boy mumbles under his breath about weird clown faces staying the hell away from his mom, Sōsuke tucks his hair behind his ear and leans forward to rest his elbow on the table and his head in his palm as his free hand counts the steps he lists. "The first step will be getting me another Reiryoku Inundation Pill so that I can enter Shikai to get Orihime-chan under the Complete Hypnosis and have the power to ensure that the secret entrance to my Atelier exists. As much as I would like a field trip to the large mirror adorning the main platform of Karakura towns train station, I sincerely doubt that the Central 46 will allow us to get away with it without serious repercussions. Honestly I'll be surprised if they don't try to ransack the place after the door has been opened. With the both of us under the Complete Hypnosis, Orihime-chan can go and unlock the door in my stead."

Kisuke merely appears intrigued, no doubt wondering what other sorts of treasures Sōsuke has hidden away in this Atelier that Sōsuke has made sure the blonde had never heard of. But Orihime-chan's eyes were sparkling, she, knowing perfectly well that the Atelier is wherever Sōsuke wishes it to be. Smiling right back at her, he continues, "It will also serve a second purpose later, after the glove is made and Grand Fisher captured. I will have to manipulate her senses to make sure that she pulls the correct soul out of the hollow. If she just keeps pulling them out blindly she runs the risk of having to pull thousands of people out before finding the right one."

Frowning for a moment he considers some of the other options this excursion into his Atelier provided him. They weren't exactly... palatable for him, but if it eased any of his symptoms, or at least prevented him from having to take another pill should someone else ask him to play savior... Closing his eyes and sighing in disappointment he makes his request. "The Atelier itself, is an admittedly cluttered, 9 tatami room. It is a tiny personal dimension created from my raw Reiryoku. After you are all done in there, it is my intention to collapse it to recover that Reiryoku in hopes that it will help pay the tithe. To prevent the loss of my most important belongings I am going to have to ask you to remove the contents for me."

"Tithe?" Blinking in surprise, Sōsuke turns towards the patio. Had he never told Kisuke why he was not recovering from is Reiatsu and Reiryoku depletion? "Yes, my Bankai is not cheap, every one under the Complete Hypnosis serves as a payment towards it's reality alteration. As you may have noticed, during my last use, only people present in the 13th division were affected, and that is because part of paying that tithe means that I surrender control of them, unless I catch them again, they are completely free from the Complete Hypnosis. I am the same power now as before I healed Ukitake-san, just as I was the first time I used my Bankai to make my Hōgyoku. During the second use, I bought more than I could pay for and the difference was made up for with first my Reiatsu and then my Reiryoku."

"It's not permanent. I will recover... eventually. Think of it more like them being held as collateral while I pay off the loan I took out against the collective reality of the universe. That is why, even if she had been allowed to, I would not allow Orihime-chan to use Shun Shun Rika to reject my current state. Not only is there a chance that she could reject the Soul King's soul, she could also find herself paying that debt herself instead. It is not worth it. I can be patient, after all, I am Immortal, I have all the time in the world to recover."

"Hōgyoku?" Glancing over at Ichigo-kun who was looking confusedly at Sōsuke, he reminded the boy, "It was a small sphere that was capable of breaking down barriers. I used it to make most of my hollow experiments as well as the first hundred or so of my Arrancar. Once I had the one that Kisuke had made, and hidden in Rukia-chan, I used it to create the newest of them. Kisuke's was a vicious little bastard compared to my far more easy to handle but sleepy Hōgyoku. No doubt his sentient orb was quite done with people trying to kill it, but I at least succeeded in part when I fed it to mine."

"I don't suppose that the Hōgyoku is in your fancy workshop as well?", Yoruichi-san asks with her deceptively deep feline voice. Smirking, Sōsuke sets his tea down and raises his hand to his chest tapping over his heart with a single finger, "No one is born Immortal Yoruichi-san. One of the reasons that I created mine in the first place was to make sure that if I ever did overreach with my Bankai I would not die from old age within a month. It's merged completely with me now, down to my very bones."

Smirking at the dumbfounded Kisuke staring at him in slack-jawed surprise, Sōsuke recalls that he never did get around to telling Kisuke just where he had gotten his Ōken after he had recovered from the poisoning. He knew that Kisuke had known that Sōsuke had an Ōken, the scientist had used it as one of his reasons for ensuring the Central 46 released him to fight Yhwach. He had assumed that Kisuke had also deduced where he had gotten it from. If Kisuke hadn't known that the Hōgyoku was now his Ōken, just where did he think Sōsuke had gotten it?

He gets them all back on topic. "Orihime-chan, if you would write this down? Since it is unlikely that I will be released any time soon, I am going to have to do something else with my things." The girl grabs her backpack and pulls out her notebook. "The first thing you need to understand is that the pocket dimension my Atelier exists in is a mixed space, I have things in there that are made solely out of Reishi and things that are wholly physical that I acquired from the living world, some are even a combination of both. Things from all three categories will have to be handled differently. It is just our luck that I was very methodical when I made my choices."

"For the objects that are a combination of both, I would ask you to store them for me in the living world, as the only things in this group are my paintings and art supplies, if anyone stumbles upon them they won't see anything supernatural, merely unusual art. Once we are finally free of the Central 46 and I am a free man, I would very much like to have them back. You needn't worry about having space in your apartment, or money to pay for a storage unit. The next group of things, money, jewels and handmade furniture that is likely now considered antique since I acquired it all during the 1700-1800's are all goods I have taken from the living world and I wish to give them to you. If anything is not to your taste, feel free to sell it."

The girl looks up from her notebook in surprise, "But Sōsuke-nii! I can't just take your money and sell your things! You'll need them eventually!" He reaches across the table to hold her hand while tears threaten to spill from her eyes, with a soft smile he explains, "I am a powerful soul, not that I can do much of anything at the moment… Unusual side effect of Baraggan's Respira aside, it will take longer for me to age 10 years in appearance… than you will live as a soul in Soul Society. Your human life will pass by in a blink of my eyes if I look away. You've accepted me enough to call me your brother, please, as my imouto, allow me to share my wealth with you until I can be there for you in person."

With a sob she lunges around the table and into his arms to cuddle and cry. Patting her back while she does, he looks back at Kisuke. "The last ones I am going to have to ask you to hold onto for me. The only objects in my Atelier that are wholly spiritual, are all of my handwritten text books, research notes and... I suppose you could call the remainder personal journals. Feel free to look through my research, though I would ask you leave the others alone."

Predictably Kisuke pouts exaggeratedly, "What? I can't even read the text books? Are you trying to say I won't understand Sōsuke? That's not very nice." Sōsuke snorts, rolls his eyes and gently eases Orihime-chan back. "I have all of my revisions there Kisuke, some I wrote when I pondered becoming the Soul King myself, others I wrote after I decided that I would rather be the one to teach the newly en-souled Soul King instead, all of which were composed before I abandoned the plan I had begun implementing for the last three hundred years. They all need to be revised again now that my goals have changed yet once more." Sōsuke shakes his head when Kisuke continues to pout, "Very well, read whatever you please, know full well that I won't hear a word one way or another about them if you take exception."

With that, he rises, drawing Kyōka Suigetsu and extending the naked blade towards Ichigo-kun. "Just touch the blade. As I am incapable of entering Shikai at the moment you may be assured that in doing so, you will forever gain immunity to the Complete Hypnosis, even if you were to see me release into Shikai in the future." After the boy taps the blade, Sōsuke sheaths it and they all get back to making their plans.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Less than an hour after everyone dispersed to get things started, Suì-Fēng assaulted him once more, bragging about having allowed Rikotu to mimic her and have a very public date with a woman from her clan.

Unbeknownst to Sōsuke, three hours after everyone dispersed to get things started, Suì-Fēng, Rikotu Ami and Shizuka Chiyo met in the council woman's private sitting room. They parted not long after with plans to raid Sōsuke's Atelier... and a backup plan to bomb it. They knew that none of their plans for vengeance would come to fruition if he was allowed to recover his former power.

Too bad for them, two hours after everyone dispersed to get things started, they had everything in place to do so. By the time that the three conspiring women could do the same, the Atelier would already be emptied and collapsed.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Sōsuke? Is everything all right? Surely you didn't think that Ichigo-kun would allow us to take long enough for you to take a nap?" Rising onto his hands, he dazedly turns on his bed to find Kisuke walking into the room with all the other key players following after.

He opens his mouth to inform his body guard that he had failed in his duties, when Suì-Fēng's parting last words echo in his ears. "Even that fool Urahara has to sleep sometime, do you really want your tattling to be the reason I kill him and that stupid human girl?" No, no he did not. But he also didn't expect her not to kill them if he kept his silence either. He opens his mouth to respond, but he chokes on his words. All he can do is shake his head, so worried for the two of them that he can't even find the words to tell them to be careful.

No doubt alarmed by his behavior the two come over to him in alarm. Kisuke stands at the side of the bed while Orihime-chan kneels down next to him to reach out and hold Sōsuke's hand. "Sōsuke-nii? Is everything ok?" Forcing an embarrassed smile on his face and desperately hoping his voice does not reveal that he is lying he says, "Ah, I am quite all right my dear. You just woke me from the middle of a nightmare."

Suì-Fēng, invisible to the senses of anyone who did not have the senses of a Hell Butterfly, smiles wickedly at him and disappears into the night as if she had never been there at all. The technique that Kisuke had spoken of, the one the Onmitsukidō used to completely hide their Reiatsu presence... Somehow Sōsuke had never considered the fact that it would work on Kisuke, the genius always seemed so above such simple trickery.

As he looks from the girl still holding his hand and meets Kisuke's concerned grey eyes... he forces his smile to strengthen reassuringly... because it was clear from the expression on the man's face that he hadn't noticed the assassin in the shadows at all.

A resolve forms deep in his chest, Suì-Fēng's threat stirring not fear, but anger.

Because Sōsuke was the reincarnation of Dekuyume Higurashi.

And no one threatened her precious people.

No one.

Deep in his heart, an ancient dragon and a dreaming Kami wake up.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Something was going on with Sōsuke-nii. She didn't know what, didn't know if it was good or bad... She only knew that after they had startled him out of his nightmare that he seemed really focused, she almost expected laser beams to shoot out of his eyes! Maybe he was just excited to get some power back? Or maybe he was embarrassed that they had caught him sleeping? Sōsuke-nii was really comfortable in her presence, but she had never really seen him sleep either. Maybe he didn't need sleep anymore than he needed to eat? She just didn't know. But that didn't stop her from enjoying herself.

She laughs quietly as she carries Kyōka Suigetsu through the train station, "Kou. Kou. Kou." To her right, the purple eyed spirit laughs, and to her left Sōsuke-nii reminds her that she is doing it wrong, "Ku. Ku. Ku." Her grin brightens and she follows the two illusions through he train station, her Nakama and Urahara-san trailing behind her completely unaware of just how much they were blind to outside the Complete Hypnosis.

Out of the corner of her eyes, just past illusion – Sōsuke-nii, she catches the scientist staring at her. She can't help it, it makes her giggle when she remembers the look on his face...

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

10 minutes ago

With a grimace on his face, Sōsuke-nii swallowed one of Urahara-san's special candies. The medicine must have tasted bad, then again did any medicine taste good? It wasn't as if any of them were red bean paste flavored. But Sōsuke-nii took it anyways so that he could temporarily gain enough power to enter Shikai. Then Urahara-san spent a full minute dispelling all of the Kidō seals that were on Sōsuke-nii.

With a much happier smile on his face, he drew his zanpakutō, winked at her and said "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu." Her world exploded into color and sound. A dark haired man appeared next to her, his pretty purple lipstick and eyes helping her to remember that this was the spirit that lived in her aniki's zanpakutō. Much to her surprise, the surprisingly strong slender man wrapped her in a surprise hug and lifted her up, spinning her around the room.

"Hurray! I get to go on an adventure with my shinigami's most precious person! Oh, Orihime-chan! We're going to have so much fun! Those sticks in the mud have no idea what they're missing by denying me!" As happy and unsurprised as she was to find that Sōsuke-nii thought of her that way, it also made her all the more aware of just how much it would hurt him when Kagome-chan's Naohi Becoming took Orihime as well.

When the excited spirit sets her down, she turns to find Sōsuke-nii grinning brightly at her, and Urahara-san starring in absolute shock. What was it? Did she do something weird? In the green and white outfit he seemed to prefer to wear when going to the living world, the former shopkeeper turned to Sōsuke-nii and said, "Sōsuke... did an illusion, a hallucination, just pick Orihime-chan up and twirl her around the room?"

Smirking at the blonde, he replied, "I think we can all agree that as a Zanpakutō Spirit, Kyō-kun is a great deal more than a simple illusion, even if he weren't, a person's reality is determined by how they perceive the world. If sight shows us it is there, if we hear it breath, if we smell it's scent, feel the pressure it exerts when it touches us, does not then..." As he trailed off, he turns to her and quirks an eyebrow. With a laugh, she speaks at the same time he does, "the power of the illusion make it real?"

For a moment she thought the scientist kind of looked as if he had just been told that none of his inventions had been based on real science and were the imagined inventions of a fantasy manga artist. But then with a shake of his head and a tap of his cane on the floor he spurs them onward. "The others are waiting for us. We should hurry back." Sōsuke-nii seems to agree, because he gently sheath's his zanpakutō and places it in her arms.

Once more, he trusted her to protect his oldest friend. She would not let him down. Urahara-san is already waiting at the door when she turns around. Scurrying after him, she is halfway down the steps that led to the exit of the prison when she notices that the zanpakutō spirit is still with her. "Oh, Kyōka Suigetsu-san, I didn't realize you were coming too!" With a mischievous glitter in his eyes the spirit looks over her head behind her. "Oh, did you think that I was the only one who wanted to be there when we let people into our secret hideout?"

With a surge of happiness and surprise, she turns to her other side to see an illusion of the man they had left upstairs walking next to her. And she knew without a doubt that he was an illusion... because it may have been a man's kimono he was wearing, but it was with Dekuyume's flowers blooming and vanishing and moving on the fabric. It may have been his snow white hair, but it was pulled back into Dekuyume's high, braid crowned ponytail. But their red eyes... they were, as always, exactly the same.

In a soft voice, as if speaking loudly might cause him to disappear, she says, "Oh, Sōsuke-nee-chan, you look so pretty." Urahara-san trips and falls down the next two flights of stairs. Next to her, the two illusions laugh as they all run down the stairs to check on him. "Urahara-san are you ok?" Before she can reach him, he disappear, from the doorway, he clears his throat pretending that nothing happened, his fan open and hiding most of his face, "If you and the illusion's following you would hurry, Tessai has rented us a moving van and they're dreadfully expensive. Best not to waste time."

She might have thought she imagined the whole thing, but the fan wasn't wide enough to hide the fact that his ears were bright pink.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Orihime-chan? Is Sōsuke saying something?" Blinking rapidly as she brings her attention back to the present. She finds them all standing around in front of the large mirror that they are pretending is the only way in or out of the Atelier. "Oops! Nope I was just thinking about how well bananas would go with red-bean paste and curry." No surprise when her friends seem to collectively shudder at the thought. She almost felt guilty about how good she was getting at this whole lying thing. But she must have spent too much time with Sōsuke-nii since she was starting to find lying almost kind of fun.

She steps towards the mirror, Urahara-san staring intently. It kind of makes her nervous, but Kyōka Suigetsu-san helps by stepping between the two of them blocking Urahara-san from her sight, "Now be a dear and remove the sword from the sheath." She follows his instructions. "Good, now, point the tip at the mirror and bring it close enough to almost touch. But not all the way though! I know exactly where that mirror has been and I don't want any of it on me!"

Giggling, she does so, and he gives her the last instructions. "Good, now be a good girl and help me prove to all of these stubborn jerks that you don't need to be under the cComplete Hypnosis to be convinced a lie is real. Say Ripple, Kyōka Suigetsu." She does. "Ripple, Kyōka Suigetsu!"

Urahara-san's sandals click loudly in the empty station as he shifts on his feet. Wide eyed at the slow rippling of the mirror as it seems to first turn to liquid and then part like curtains, she listens as Sōsuke-nee explains. "While a zanpakutō in Shikai can be removed from a shinigami's hands and even be picked up and used as a sword by another, the spirit will barely tolerate it even if they are close friends. I should not have to say that a relationship less than that could see the perpetrator in a great deal of pain for daring. It is unheard of that the spirit would allow another person to use any of their special abilities for them. Even with my ability to directly speak with Kyō-kun, even with how tightly our souls are bound by fate, I find myself surprised that he would allow you or anyone else to see him even through the filter of the Complete Hypnosis."

Bravely she steps through the portal when the grinning purple eyed spirit waives her in. Following after her, Sōsuke-nee continues to explain. "Because we are both under the Complete Hypnosis, because I am both here and not and because Kyō-kun was intrinsic in the creation of my Atelier even if it was made of me, it is simple enough to make it seem as if we have breached that limitation. In Reality, all Kyō-kun has to do is borrow some of my admittedly meager Reiatsu to form the door. Everything else is normally under his purview whether he is in Shikai or not."

The spirit dances across the room to sit down at the writing desk, music swells, an up beat pop-song that sounded like it was in English. Leaning down to whisper in her ear, the white ponytail draping itself over Orihime's shoulder, Sōsuke-nee says, "This is his favorite pastime, he loves to tease me and try to break my acting with unfortunately timed music. I swear, every time you were seated at the table with my Espada, that damn song Heathens was playing on repeat…"

She laughs, and turns to her friends as they hesitantly follow her through the looking glass. She looks around the room, wondering if Urahara-san was too distracted and was still standing outside. At her side, the illusion's kimono blanks a pure dark black before tiny red poppies bloom all over it. Fun Loving? Her curiosity is answered when one of his hands rises and points across the room. Following it by line of sight, she spots Urahara-san staring in surprise at the paintings that framed the door. Walking over to him while her friends begin working she explains. "Anisan likes to paint people with their past incarnations, the private journals he talked about are actually just notes about what he remembers about them."

Behind them, box and stack of bubble wrap squares at his feet, Ishida-kun speaks in an incredulous voice, "Orihime-chan? Why does Aizen have a painting of my father?"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Glancing at the beautifully done painting of Ryūken Ishida standing next to another man that at first glance could be mistaken for himself, but upon closer inspection, there was just something slightly different about their expressions that gave the impression that they were two different people entirely. The brass plate on the dark wooden frame stating that it was titled One step to the left.

Kisuke returns to his thoughts. When an Atelier had first been mentioned he had been surprised, only to quickly thereafter chastise himself for not considering that Sōsuke had to have performed his experiments on hollows somewhere. He had thought that it would be something remarkably similar to his own personal lab only to be surprised when the first thing he asked them to remove was not lab equipment or stored experiments, but art.

His next thought had been that there would be a few paintings of questionable merit. Because surely on top of being a master manipulator, strategist and king, surely Sōsuke was not also a master artist? His skill with the Complete Hypnosis should have at least been cause enough for Kisuke to rationalize that Sōsuke would at least have a keen eye for detail... But he had never considered that well over half of the space in the Atelier would be devoted to paintings.

There were so many. His eyes scan those that he can see. While there were many of them that he found he recognized both people portrayed, he also found that he recognized at least one person in all of them... even if the person he recognized was a far more lifelike depiction of a character fromThe Third Reincarnation.

Curious enough to actually help pack, he grabs a box and some bubble sheets and begins pulling the paintings off of the rack in-front of him and after examining them, layers them into the box sandwiched with the bubble sheets. Three in and his breath catches. Slowly drawing it out he finds himself holding something amazing.

Sōsuke is framed on each side by Naraku and Dekuyume in all their glory with Sōsuke himself partially hidden behind a violet tinted hell butterfly over his eyes. The brass plate on the blood red frame states that it is titled: Phases of the Higurashi's Midnight Moon. Kisuke is stricken with curiosity when he sees the red eyed theme between the two standing on either side and remembers the new red eyed look that Sōsuke boasted. The Third Reincarnation had not been in color, and for all that she was the main character, Dekuyume had never been on the cover.

Gently, he packs it away as well and looks at the next one. This one also has Sōsuke in it, though he is also with Orihime-chan. Together they stand inside a pink and black Yin Yang, his sash pink, the black lining of her Arrancar outfit its counterpoint. This one is titled Oil-Black and Holy-Pink. Again, another reference to The Third Reincarnation.

The next painting makes him laugh, reminding the others that he was still there. Amid jokes about being surprised to see him working, they come over to see what it is he is looking at and several of them laugh as well. This painting did not have Sōsuke in it, though it still held Orihime-chan. She sat together with Ichigo-kun, the two of them asleep seated on the ground back to back and school work spread around them. The aspects of the boy's soul seated around them grinning and playing tea-party with her fairies, it's woven wood frame bearing a silver plate sating that it was titled Not Telling the King About This.

Next to him, Orihime-chan turns to the air on her other-side, looking up at someone only she can see under the Complete Hypnosis, "Sōsuke-nee it's so cute!" He forcibly denies his mind the chance to drift off and consider what it is that she is seeing that she would use both Sōsuke's name and call him sister at the same time. There is a pause, before a wide grin breaks out on her face, "Really? I can keep it? You don't mind? Huh?", the girl turns further to look behind her, a sad expression passing briefly across her face. Quietly she calls out to the boy who had not noticed a thing about what they were all looking at. "Kurosaki-kun. He say's that you can keep it if you want."

Following her line of sight he finds Ichigo-kun holding up another painting, this one showing his family. Isshin is dressed as a shinigami, looking far more reliable than he did these days, with Engetsu hovering in the air behind him, the faintest outline of a man to be seen, Masaki stood next to her husband in traditional Quincy garb. At their feet, the hollow named White lay on the floor pretending to be a carpet, the three children playing on top of him looking like little hybrids of all four of them. Little Ichigo-kun was pretending to defeat White, while the dark haired sister Karin cheered him on, and the red haired sister Yuzu stared in surprise at the three of them as if she had no idea what they were looking at. It was titled, If only.

While all of the children are distracted in their perusal of this newest reveal, Kisuke comes to some curious and surprising hypothesis. Orihime-chan was not experiencing planned and prepared illusions, not only was she reacting to things as they happened, she was also reacting to things she wasn't even aware of. Kisuke had noticed instantly when Orihime-chan had gone from not being able to tell that he was in the room to looking straight at him. That meant that even across the dimensional barriers, Sōsuke must be receiving a live information feed from her.

This was how he had always seemed to know everything that was happening. This was the second source of his apparent omniscience. This was how he had known about the mistake in Kisuke's calculations, and how he had possessed intimate knowledge of all of his created Kidō and devices. This was why, not once, had he ever been able to outmaneuver the retired tyrant.

This was how Kisuke was finally completely convinced, that even as far back as the hollowfication incident, Sōsuke had never intended for Kisuke to die at his hands. Himself, Yoruichi-san, Tessai and the Visored, they remained hidden in the human world only because it had pleased Sōsuke for them to be so.

Any further thoughts on the matter are completely derailed when he hears Orihime-chan gasp and whisper, "Oh, poor Deku-nee. That makes everything make so much sense." Glancing up he sees the painting she is looking at, and his mind blanks all thoughts screeching to a catastrophic abrupt halt.

The Onmitsukidō, Urahara Kisuke, stands next to his incarnation. Miyatsu the monk, his eyes just as cold and grey, standing apart from them, another monk, Miroku, his purple eyes ashamed and sad, looks down at his sealed cursed hand. The girl looks up into the air at her side and after a moment, wraps the painting in a dark black cloth covered in paint stains that floats its way over to her from next to the easel. She hides it away and packs it in the box at her feet.

Miyatsu. Of all of the people in The Third Reincarnation that Sōsuke could have chosen to associate with Kisuke. Miyatsu, the lecherous monk who had raped Dekuyume's previous incarnation when Onigumo had experienced a moment of weakness. Miyatsu, whom Naraku had cursed so thoroughly that the curse was bound to his soul. Miyatsu who had hurt his friend so completely that even after they had both reincarnated, Naraku to Dekuyume and Miyatsu to Miroku, that even then, she could not bring herself to spend even a moment in his company.

If Sōsuke believed these story characters to be real reincarnations, if he believed that Dekuyume had become Sōsuke and that Miroku had become Kisuke, did this mean that he thought that Kisuke was capable of... that there was a single chance that he would... Was the Hollowfication Incident their rendition of Dekuyume adamantly refusing to allow Miroku near her party? Was the friendship they were slowly growing between the two of them, was it reminding Sōsuke of Onigumo and Miyatsu. Was the reason that Kisuke seemed to be the only person ever to make him feel fear... was it because Sōsuke thought that Kisuke was only one bottle of sake away from raping him?

Unable to help himself, he drifts out of the room and leans against the wall in the train-station. Slowly he sinks to the ground, grateful that his Reiatsu nature made him so easy to overlook, he pulls out his fan, tucks down his hat and silently cries. No one sees him, even when the boys begin hauling boxes out of the Atelier and through the train-station to the moving van parked at the curb. Grateful that Orihime-chan and whatever illusionary Sōsuke it is that she is seeing remain inside.

Quietly as they started, the tears slow and then stop. With a deep breath and a quiet but emphatic, "Fuck.", muttered under his breath, he rises to his feet and straightens his clothes.

If Sōsuke believed these story characters to be real reincarnations and he was still brave enough to extend his hand in friendship, then Kisuke was just going to have to reach back and hold onto it so tightly that Sōsuke would never be afraid of him again.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

If Kisuke had expected the collapse of a dimension to be interesting to observe, he was quite dissapointed. Once all of the things had been removed from the unique little pocket space and they had all shuffled out, the mirror had simply rippled back closed and that was it. The only indication that anything had happened at all, was when Orihime-chan looked up at her side, grinned broadly and said "Really! That's wonderful!", to that empty bit of air before turning to the rest of them and saying, "Sōsuke-nii says that it collapsed beautifully and that while he's nowhere near as strong as he was before, he's definitely got enough Reiatsu and Reiryoku to take keep the seals off and use his Shikai without any more pills."

Luckily for him, the halfway house his candy shop has been converted into is far closer to the train-station than Orihime-chan's apartment. After several promises to Ichigo-kun, swearing that he will create the Soul Extraction Glove as quickly as he is able, the boxes are loaded into the old storeroom, and Tessai has driven off with the children to move the rest.

He is left alone with all of Sōsuke's books. Hiding in one of those boxes was a journal, Miyatsu shakily written on the spine. He leaves the boxes labeled Journals alone and grabs the nearest box labeled Textbooks. Kisuke may have tricked Sōsuke earlier into giving him permission to read whatever of his books that he wanted but the thought of doing so now left a bad taste in his mouth, no matter how curious he was.

In his lab, he quickly moves all of the reference books over his calculation and writing bench off of their shelves and into piles underneath. Placing the box on the table he surgically cuts through the tape holding the box closed and pulls out the tiny sampling of Sōsuke's character change. After taking a moment to make sure that all of the editions were in the correct order, he began reading the first set, the large title on the cover stating that it was "Fundamental basics of Kidō, 1st Edition", and yet the first page inside has humorously had a single line drawn through the repeated title and an edit note changed to: "Fundamental basics of Kidō, or, why the Magatama have completely failed in their King Given Task. 1st Edition."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It is well past 3 a.m. when he looks up, empty boxes littering his floor and Sōsuke's handwritten textbooks on Kisuke's shelves all in order. Each one telling a story of a man that Kisuke was only just beginning to have the chance to meet.

The first series had contained Thousands of invented Kidō, massively extrapolating out from the two hundred and fifty that had been listed, organized and numbered by the Magatama. It hadn't just been a list, it had been a dissertation ranting at the sheer ridiculousness of needing an incantation to shape the soul magic when the caster was using only their mind and Reiatsu to form them. His assertion that all incantations were nothing more than a crutch, good for learning focus but ultimately unnecessary when simply mentally preparing yourself for the casting of the Kidō for the same duration of time that you would spend speaking the incantation had the same results. He had even gone on to detail his own experiments admitting that it was possible take the concept even further. To train your mind to such an extent that you needn't say anything, however it was his belief then that the bare minimum that needed to be said for a Kidō was its identifying number, type and specific name, as anything less than that meant that in normal conversation one might accidentally cast the Kidō.

The next series had clearly been created after Sōsuke had decided that he wanted to teach the next soul king, not how to manage souls, but how to rule a people. Each new edition had not been a revision of the one before it but an encyclopedic series all set in a tone of voice that was both easy for a child to understand and refrained from speaking down. One had set about teaching about project management, giving the example of a project that would see every last soul in the Rukongai able to read and write. Others on how to read sheet music, Hanakotoba, the importance of symbolism and the effectiveness of subtle warnings instead of violence. Another had explained how houses were built, farms were managed and safe handling of livestock. There were even more on Noblesse Oblige, Ethics and their application to the reincarnation cycle of souls.

The last series had been penned during the time which Sōsuke was considering becoming the soul king himself. Many of the ideas inside had been tidied up and refined in the series that had come after it, but it was in these books that Kisuke saw the most of his friends brilliance. In the margins of his own books, likely when he was preparing to rewrite them all for the young Soul King, he had written notes.

None were so revealing as the last book he had read, Sōsuke's first dissertation on the nature of right and wrong, it's relation to the concept of justice, and how by his own judgment Sōsuke himself is a criminal.

It makes his heart ache, because every textbook he had read was meant for teaching not by rote, but true, honest to goodness understanding, blatantly stating in several places that it was the duty of the people, to dream of a better world and demand it of their Soul King. The brutal honesty of Sōsuke's confessions to his future people… destroying any perception that the would-be king was perfect, dragging him out of the sphere of gods and placing him on equal footing with his people. The most powerful man… but still just a man, who loves the world enough to live for it. Giving Kisuke a glimpse into what a world led by Sōsuke would have been. He finds himself wishing… just for a moment, that Sōsuke had not turned away from that path at the whim of a high school girl.

With a sigh, he turns back through the pages of the dissertation to his favorite notes, slightly dissapointed that Sōsuke hadn't found a way to add them to the edition meant for teaching the Soul King. He draws his finger against the aged paper as he reads the beautiful English words once more.

"Here I stand like a flower at the edge of a cliff, at that precipice that stretches out towards infinity to my left and to my right. The dividing line between all the things which I know, and all the things which I do not. Fearlessly, I step forward into the unknown. And as my foot sinks down, it finds purchase in the abyss. Not in the sacrament of faith, the logic of science or the wisdom of learning... But in the breathlessness of wonder."

"When we are in a dark place we tend to believe that we have been buried alive. We're not wrong, but we have forgotten one thing. All flowers have to be buried alive to grow. We have not been left to die, we have been planted and it is time for us to ❀bloom❀."

Dawn sheds its soft light through the window, but Kisuke is not awake to see it. Soul extraction glove in one hand, and Sōsuke's notes in the other, his head rests on the dissertation as he sleeps dreaming of flowers.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 50 : Immortals -or- Do Not Hunt That Which You Cannot Kill

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From Sōsuke's perspective as permanent resident of Seireitei it is the next day when Orihime-chan returns with his zanpakutō. From another perspective he had watched her for the entire week she spent in the world of the living, only now returning to him now that it was the weekend; the brilliant girl using her knowledge of how to program Kisuke's modified Senkaimon to tune the time discrepancy in her favor.

It wasn't cruelty or carelessness that had kept her away, quite the opposite in fact. While he remained seated at the tea table idly drinking yet another batch of lavender, dandelion, Linden flower and ginger tea, his mind was with her in her apartment watching though her eyes as she interacted with an illusion of himself and Kyō-kun as the three of them helped her unpack all of his paintings. It was a great, great joy to share each and every one with her, even those that said far more than he cared to share.

It was only when the strain of expending so much of his Reiatsu to maintain Shikai became too much that he even asked her to return his zanpakutō to him. He did not release it until he saw that Ulquiorra-kun had arrived in the world of the living to ask her out on a date and saw no problem with escorting her all the way to Sōsuke to make the delivery first. Sōsuke had been glad to see the two of them when they arrived, and Kyōka Suigetsu safely in his hands, had watched her float out of the room, stars in her eyes. He was so very happy for the two of them.

Which made it all the more enraging that Suì-Fēng had dared to threaten her life. That she had possessed the audacity to threaten Kisuke's on top of that had only ensured that instead of merely dying, she was going to die painfully.

Following the plan that boy-Sōsuke had made with Dekuyume had driven him into a burnout so deep and terrible that he had barely managed to bring himself to make plans that had began or lasted for longer than a single day. But for the sake of handling Suì-Fēng, Sōsuke makes his first long term plan. His first step takes care of itself. The bleary eyed blond genius comes for his next tea visit and at Sōsuke's request, simply refrains from placing the Kidō seals back on Sōsuke. The second step is far more time consuming.

Every waking moment he spends outside of Kisuke's and Orihime-chan's presence, he spends in the little side room the guards once used to practice kata. It was no secret underground training area, but for what he needed it for, it was perfect. The training room had only one door that opened into the kitchen/tea room. Three days after her last visit, Suì-Fēng descends upon him once more.

Kyōka Suigetsu is sent flying across the room as Sōsuke is grabbed by his head and swung around in an arc, his neck snapping with the force. The zanpakutō clatters to the floor with a loud clang. Sōsuke barely has time to resurrect before she crushes his skull in her bare hands. As he resurrects once more, panting and dazed and bloody on the floor, she bends over and pats him on the head like a dog, smearing his own brain tissue and blood into his white hair, "There, there Aizen. Don't feel bad that this is all we can play today. One of my informants told me that Yoruichi-sama is out on a date with that bastard. Don't worry, soon I'll make an appointment with Rikotu and make sure I can dedicate a whole day to punishing you. In the mean time, clean up this mess, we wouldn't want that bastard to find out would we? I would just have to give him a personal demonstration about what a person can make of themselves if they aren't lazy and sloppy."

He doesn't even see her go. But he certainly knows that she is gone. At his side, the two of them leaning against the wall opposite from where the door opens into the room Kyō-kun shakes with rage. "Sōsuke, I know we miss a lot when we don't have access to the information feed from the Complete Hypnosis or Perception Warp, but have we really missed her treating you like this?" Sōsuke, who had slipped away under the Complete Hypnosis while she waited for his first resurrection, winces, not having considered how seeing him brutally murdered repeatedly would affect his zanpakutō spirit. "I'm afraid so Kyō-kun. I can tell you with absolute certainty that this was the last time she will have the pleasure of doing so."

The spirit huffs in irritation, though not at him at least, "Damn right she has. I'm going to make her destroy her damn life before we kill her. Her precious Yoruichi-sama is going to see every last inch of what a rotten little psycho she's become. As for you, you're lucky that only doing kata that would keep me pointed towards the door and continually mentally calling out my release before relaxing back out of Shikai over and over caught her the first time, because there is no way in hell I would have let you do this again if we had missed. We didn't get through the ancient wyrm and Yhwach just to let some whiny little notice – me – sempai yandere lay her grubby little meat mitts on you."

Sōsuke slides against the wall until his shoulder comes to rest against Kyō-kun's. "I am sorry to worry you all, please tell the others that I will come for a visit just as soon as we're done dealing with her. I'd visit sooner, but it is going to take a great deal of my Reiatsu to keep up the Complete Hypnosis until you have everything set up. Please also tell them about their parts of the plan." The purple eyed spirit sighs, a little alarmed at how blasé his shinigami was about being tortured, an odd juxtaposition, as in all of their past lives together he had been concerned about how blasé Sōsuke was when he was the torturer. "Really though Sōsuke. For the rest of us, take better care of yourself. Please?" Leaving the room to go relax and drink more of his headache herbal remedy tea Sōsuke doesn't say anything at all, because Suì-Fēng may be the reason that he made a plan that lasted longer than a day, but she just wasn't important enough to make him continue the trend.

The red eyed man stays at the table drinking tea, all of his refills performed by Kyō-kun in between the spirit's meddling in Suì-Fēng's life. It was a bit awkward, what they were attempting to do, as only she was under the hypnosis, a single person questioning what was going on and the hyper vigilant assassin may realize what is happening. They also couldn't be too obvious, Suì-Fēng was no simple forgetful fukutaichō like Kaien Shiba had been. Foul play would be suspected if she just sloppily left incriminating documents out for anyone to see.

No, instead they had to hide everything in such a way that only Yoruichi-san would find after Suì-Fēng accidentally gave away the fact that she had kept some things that the cat woman had given her as a child. Looking for some fun, fodder for a cute little teasing of her cute little Suì-Fēng, Yoruichi-san would go looking for it. A hidden cache of all of the things she had received from her mentor, and hidden inside of that, she would find all of the trash and things that Suì-Fēng had chosen to keep after they had touched her Yoruichi-sama's body. Disgusting, incriminating things, that would leave the golden eyed woman completely aware of just who Suì-Fēng had been all this time... and when Suì-Fēng was finally rejected to her face by her goddess and she came to take it out on Sōsuke...

Two weeks after he placed her under the Complete Hypnosis, head throbbing, and having consumed far too much sugar, Yoruichi-san sends Suì-Fēng into tears as she runs away from the goddess that spurns her. It was finally time. Quickly he rises to his feet and moves over to the side of the room, anticipation boiling in his veins, the Complete Hypnosis bringing the silent, void-space Reiatsu and utterly infuriated woman into the room to attack the chair she was convinced was him.

Red eyes as cold as week old blood, Sōsuke raised his hand and dragged it down his face. In an instant, the room flooded with hollow Reiatsu. Only Sōsuke had paid the tithe for his Bankai, Magatsuhi was untouched, the moment the mask forms, his perceived time throttles, allowing him to move and think and act much faster than before. He has his left hand pierced into her chest and wrapped around her heart before the surprise and pain startles her out of the remnants of the Complete Hypnosis, Kyo-kun's hold slipping off as Magatsuhi takes over, Sōsuke without enough Reiatsu to support them both at the same time. His right hand snaps a tiny Cero at the doors to melt the latching mechanism into a seized lump. It feels as if the guards in the hall take several minutes to shout in surprise at the sudden hollow Reiatsu in his rooms when in reality it is only a matter of seconds.

Suì-Fēng choking through the pain and shock, she weakly grabs at his arm, legs spasmodically kicking and spits, "You won't get away with this. They'll never stand for you murdering me." Behind his mask he smiles viciously, his black sclera and red irises are a reflecting pool as his bi-layer voice reminds her, "Oh? Did someone other than Yoruichi-san actually care for you? Furthermore, you seem to have forgotten that you setup your Alibi with Rikotu today... Or is it that you remember, and instead misunderstand. I cannot possibly kill Suì-Fēng. Suì-Fēng is out on a date right now. How can I kill someone who is not here? Fun fact, it wasn't your alibi you set up, it was mine."

"They'll still... recognize me and... ask questions." Her skin takes on an ashen hue as her blood continues to drip on the floor.

"No Suì-Fēng, they aren't going to be able to recognize you at all. In fact they aren't even going to notice that someone died." She brokenly breathes in to scream, only to be cut off when she has no lungs to do so. Violet light pouring out past where he has his hand in her chest. It was an incredibly painful way to die, a hollow slowly forming a Cero in your chest, with hits hand wrapped around your heart.

Not an ounce of remorse touches him as he watches her slowly be erased. "Everything is lethal in high enough quantities, few things more so than arrogance and surprise. You're still stronger than me, still faster, Magatsuhi is still recovering from facing The Ancient Wyrm and I have little Reiatsu to support him, and nowhere near enough to support my Ōken. The only reason you're dying and I am not ,is because you forgot one very important thing. I am immortal and only the suicidal hunt that which they cannot kill. I like to consider myself a very tolerant man. I endured every one of your attacks in silence since it was only you airing your grievance against me. However the moment you threatened to assassinate Kisuke and Orihime-chan, you signed your own death warrant."

Her body evaporates away to nothing from the Cero, the Onmitsukidō only Kidō that had kept her invisible from everyone else when she attacked him, the last thing to fall. That which had served to allow her to infiltrate now serving to hide her death. With a last small Cero at the floor to clean up her blood puddle, sweaty with exhaustion Sōsuke watches Magatsuhi's mask crumble off of his face. Wiping at his forehead with the hem of his shihakushō he sighs, "If there is one thing that reincarnation has not been able to wash out of my soul, it is that I will tolerate no one threatening my precious people."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kisuke stares at the screen of his long distance Kidō observation device as the guards manage to break down the doors, bursting into the room. Sōsuke holds his hands up in the air, "Easy, easy gentlemen. I do apologize. I did not mean to cause such a ruckus but it seems as if I am recovering nicely, as my inner hollow has just re-awoken and was quite upset to find us still imprisoned."

Shūhei-kun glares Sōsuke assessingly, "You know that if you are lying Urahara-taichō will find out." Kisuke watches as Sōsuke smiles and shrugs, "Kisuke is my friend, there is little to find out when all he needs to do is ask."

When it comes time for his daily visit Kisuke does just that... and Sōsuke... Sōsuke tells him the truth mixed in with a small reprimand.

"If you don't want me to take matters into my own hands, don't let an assassin stand right behind you making threats against your life while I am standing there watching."

A new invention and some archived observation data later and Kisuke has the moment in question. If that was what Sōsuke called waking up from a nightmare, he was rather afraid of what Sōsuke would consider being trapped in a nightmare.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke gets a new visitor a few short weeks after Suì-Fēng disappears, her absence only noticed when a hell butterfly meant to inform her of a Taichō meeting is unable to locate her to deliver it's message. This visitor at least is far more welcome, and like Kisuke, equally unconcerned about the presence of Kyōka Suigetsu in Sōsuke's obi and the complete lack of sealing Kidō upon his person. Why would he be concerned after Sōsuke had gone though so much trouble to bring him back to life.

Jūshirō watches the other shinigami prepare tea, mildly concerned for him. Upon showing up with a fresh container of lavender blossoms, happy to contribute to Sōsuke's stash of non-poisoned tea, the other man had smiled a bit awkwardly before he carried them away saying, "I'm grateful, I was almost out of lavender you see." Between the expression and the statement, it almost felt as if Sōsuke wasn't drinking it for pleasure but out of necessity.

"If now is a bad time I can come back later, mostly I just wanted to thank you for helping me, and chat for a bit." The man, who's hair was now just as long and white as his own glances over his shoulder, red eyes warm instead of piercing, "It's just a bit of a headache from dealing with my hollow, and I have no intention of allowing such a simple thing to deprive me of good company."

Relieved, Jūshirō relaxes at the tea table, tossing his hair out of the way as he settles in. "Yes, it just seems so surreal how in all of the chaos, everyone managed to forget that you were a Visored. I understand that your mask was only revealed for a moment, but it was quite a momentous achievement, defeating the remains of El Blanco Diablo. Now that everyone has been forcibly reminded, the Council of Souls is trying to use it as an excuse to get you released."

Sōsuke returns to the table with the steeping tea, the scent of lavender rising up through the air now only nostalgic instead of medicinal. Taking a deep breath, Jūshirō sighs, relaxed and happy that he had managed to avoid having Shun and Nanao tagging along. Just himself and Sōsuke, just as they had been in Ugendō what seems like a lifetime ago. He is startled from his reminiscence by the clinking of china as Sōsuke pours the tea and comments, "I rather imagine that it is going poorly. No matter what documents and agreements they may have signed, it isn't as if we live in a fantasy with magically binding contracts. If the Central 46 does not want to do something, no amount of paper and ink is going to change their minds. We're lucky enough as it is that after Kisuke, the children and Unohana-taichō pulled their stunt, they didn't decide to have them all assassinated by the Onmitsukidō."

He can only shrug, "I may be the head of my house and the oldest member of my family, but my younger uncle, who is sitting on the Central 46 is just as much of an ass as my cousin you killed with the first batch. Theoretically I am supposed to have some control over him, however he has a lot of rich friends and our house, noble or not, is quite poor. The only thing I can really threaten him with is changing him out for someone else, but no one else wants the position. In their anger, they have lost the Central 46 any honor and prestige sitting as a member used to hold. Now everyone is doing their best to stay as far away from it as possible if they can, and those that can't live in fear of another culling."

The white haired man across from him snorts and rolls his eyes, reminding Jūshirō that for all they strongly resembled each-other now and for all that he had masterminded, Sōsuke really was still terribly young, only a mere 300 years old. The young man across from him flashes a grin and comments before returning to his tea, "Well it won't be me that leads the revolution this time. I've got my hands full."

Curious, Jūshirō raises a dark eyebrow, sips his tea and asks, "Is your hollow giving you trouble? From what I understand, the other Visored had quite a hard time in the beginning, what with the hollow constantly trying to take over." He is relieved when he receives a small smile and a shake of a head in response, "No, the only reason anyone was aware of the incident at all was because I was startled at first when he re-awoke. He had been in a deep slumber along with my Ōken spirit and instead of slowly stirring awake he did so like a sleeping cat dropped in a koi pond. That I managed to suppress him again without assistance should be more than enough proof of that."

Grinning back, and refilling their teacups, Jūshirō changes topics and gossips, "Well, you can rest easy that The Central 46 are likely to be distracted with matters other than you for the foreseeable future. No matter how many nobles hate you and thirst for revenge, they're all cowards who care about their safety, and the safety of their secrets more. At the moment they are all distracted and outraged. Not only has Suì-Fēng-taichō disappeared, a cursory investigation has revealed that Rikotu Ami has been using her zanpakutō to disguise herself as prominent figures and blackmailing them. She even went as far as to try such a thing with a taichō of the Gotei 13. That of the taichō, she was foolish enough to also choose Suì-Fēng, the head of the Onmitsukidō, was sheer greed and stupidity."

With a sigh, he shakes his head at her audacity, "More shockingly were it not for the dubiously legal actions of the speaker of the Central 46, the woman would not have even had it. She had turned in her zanpakutō and taken an oath centuries ago to never seek out another in exchange for being thrown in the maggots nest. When it was revealed that it had been returned to her with the express purpose of furthering the power of the speaker and to kidnap a human woman, everything was thrown into further chaos. I don't even want to consider just how big of a mess everything would be if it weren't for Yoruichi-sama stepping in to take over the Onmitsukidō. With Rikotu's actions we aren't even sure just how long Suì-Fēng has been missing."

Across from him Sōsuke merely smiles and continues to drink his tea peacefully, grinning back at him, Jūshirō prattles on happy to be the one sharing the news instead of being bombarded by it while he recuperates in a medical bed. "She is, that is Yoruichi-sama, quite adamantly refusing to take the 2nd division, and the chances that Suì-Fēng will be found alive are growing smaller and smaller with each day that passes without a clue as to her whereabouts. So now the sōtaichō has asked us to tentatively begun considering our divisions and whom we would recommend take the Taichō exam."

Across from him, Sōsuke smirks, "Well, Ukitake-taichō I am sorry to say that if I told you what I was really capable of, you would not have to give me your position." Green eyes dancing with mirth, Jūshirō throws his head back in a laugh, so very grateful that this charming bastard had given him a second chance at life.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Time, as always, moves awkwardly in relation to all of the dimensions. While so much time had passed here in Seireitei, very little had passed in the world of the living, but even more time had passed than the first two combined in Hueco Mundo. So it was without much angsting and scowling on Ichigo-kun's part that Nelliel delivered a bound and gagged Arrancar Grand Fisher to the secret underground training area beneath the halfway house. The green haired woman on the other hand however, had spent literally months first discussing the political ramifications of turning over an Arrancar to an outside authority and only succeed in the end because Ichigo had gone to Las Noches himself and promised that as soon as he got his mother's soul back he would let Grand Fisher go until he could hunt down the bastard properly on his own.

Sōsuke however has merely spent his time relaxing with his inner spirits in Jinzen and enjoying tea, his only awareness of the situation arriving on the wings of a Hell Butterfly. With a smile, he releases Wasabi Green to return back to her master before he rises to his feet and draws Kyōka Suigetsu. A whisper of thought, "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu.", is enough to bring his zanpakutō into Shikai. The warm arms of Kyō-kun and the Complete Hypnosis envelop him and an illusion of himself appears next to Orihime-chan in the world of the living.

The girl smiles brightly up at him wiggling her fingers in the recreated single soul extraction glove. He grins when he looks over the top of her head and sees Kisuke taking notes and monitoring the dozen or so instruments he has pointed at the unconscious captive. Nelliel-chan, who has also seen this before appears far less engaged than Ichigo-kun who is staring intently at Orihime-chan trying his absolute best not to get in the way. Of them all, only Orihime-chan can see Sōsuke, if that wasn't a metaphor for his life, nothing was.

He carefully lifts up Grand Fisher, careful not to jostle any of Kisuke's sensors, and begins searching for a familiar face. After a full minute of searching, the most quiet Ichigo-kun thermonuclear event seething in the background, Sōsuke spots Masaki's face. Careful following her flowing form across Grand Fisher's skin, he makes sure that she can see it too through the Complete Hypnosis. "Carefully now, make sure that you get every last bit of her form. Curl your fingers like you are trying to strain her out and then gently pull."

The red haired girl is adorable with her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth as she stares intently at her hand as it disappears beneath Grand Fisher's pure white hollow hide. Perfectly, she follows his instructions. Grabbing her wrist, he twists it gently to take a good look at the soul in her hand. "Excellent, good job. Now did Kisuke give you instructions on how to help her into the special Gigai he made for her?"

Orihime nods and with a "Yep!", skips across the room to gently push the soul into the mouth of the blank Gigai unknowingly mimicking Gin-kun decades ago when he shoved shinigami turned hell butterflies into the construct that became White. Unlike Gin-kun it wasn't being attacked that she had to worry about when Masaki returned to life, it was being caught between a crying naked woman and her son in a powerful hug.

The sweet girl is a little embarrassed but escapes with her dignity intact and also helps the resurrected woman get dressed, the first half an hour of Gigai use always awkward and fumbling. At Orihime-chan's side he laughs when he see's Kisuke use his Reiatsu nature to erase his presence from everyone in the room and instead of examining his instruments, he pulls out a familiar bookmarked research journal and settles into the corner to read. The blond even leaves it to Nelliel-chan to release Grand Fisher, he is so absorbed in reading Sōsuke's research about Tier's Uncle, whom Sōsuke had dubbed The Twice Drowned Man.

When it comes time for Orihime-chan to leave as well, he closes the connection, not wanting to intrude when he spots Ulquiorra waiting outside, having traveled all the way from Las Noches just for the chance to walk her home that night.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 51 : Sympathy for the Man in the Mirror

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

One month after he brought Ukitake-taichō back to life, amid the Central 46 still self-destructing over the missing Suì-Fēng and countless scandals brought to the surface as the investigation into Rikotu gets deeper and deeper, Sōsuke receives another visitor that want's him to use his Bankai to return the dead to life.

He is just as willing to help this man as he was Ichigo-kun, and the 13th division. There is a soft thud, as the two guards outside of his door are knocked unconscious. Sōsuke himself may have regained enough of his power to pass himself off as a modest Fukutaichō after he collapsed his Atelier, but he was still left a bit dizzy and breathless from the Reiatsu the man before him emitted as he swept though the door and into the room.

Kuchiki Byakuya looked nothing like he normally did. The man's hair was up in a ponytail, his kensaikan nowhere to be seen. He was dressed as neither a noble or a shinigami, neither his windflower scarf nor his zanpakutō present. It was clear that the person that stood in the doorway of Sōsuke's prison was only Byakuya, a selfish man who fell in love with a nameless woman from the Rukongai and held her in his heart so deeply that she had surpassed even his devotion to his noble house.

Nothing need be said, Sōsuke knew what the man had come for. With a sigh Sōsuke rises from his seat, "It was easier, to revoke Jūshirō-san's death as his body had not yet dissolved back into free floating Reishi, that said it still took all of the members of the 13th division. To make matters worse, we do not know what it is that caused her death in the first place. I do hope you have enough people in mind who won't mind being subjected to Kyōka Suigetsu to restore Hisana-san." It is clear from the way the man in the doorway shifts on his feet that he is surprised, whatever grand speech or pleading he had prepared beforehand sputtering to a halt.

Byakuya was taken aback, he had expected to have to grovel, to beg Aizen Sōsuke to give him back Hisana. The thirteenth division had clearly bartered allowing Aizen to retain his zanpakutō, though Byakuya had no idea how they mustered up the authority to do so. For all that he was a noble, Byakuya hadn't thought that there was anything that he could offer. All of his influence in the Central 46 wasn't enough to see Aizen released, nor was the imprisoned man greedy or materialistic enough that Byakuya could simply purchase his services. He hadn't been able to think of a single thing he could provide that Aizen might want and did not already have, but unwilling to wait any longer for the chance to see Hisana again he had come anyways, hoping that if he sank to his knees and begged, Aizen might pity him enough to agree. He... had absolutely no idea what to make of the fact that simply walking into the room was enough to get what he wanted.

The dark haired man knows that the man donning his shoes across the room has seen the lovelorn look upon his face when Aizen quietly comments, "You are not the only man of great power to lose his heart to a woman beneath him in stature, and yet so high above him by merit of her kindness… I am helping you, because if I did not I would not be able to look Orihime-chan in the face when she next visits. I'm not going to make you grovel. The fact that both of us know that you would do it if I demanded it is enough to prove your sincerity to me."

Byakuya breathes deeply, his eyes sliding shut in sudden understanding, perhaps Aizen Sōsuke was more noble than anyone born into a Noble house, he had left Las Noches and the Arrancar with law and order in his wake, and now, as he led Byakuya out of Senzaikyū ignoring the guards who were already arriving to help their comrades whom Byakuya had knocked unconscious, seemeing both put out and resigned, Byakuya thought he might understand just why everyone who spent time in Aizen Sōsuke's company fell under his spell. How could they not when the world he lived in was so utterly enchanting?

At the foot of the prison Sōsuke steps aside holding the door for Byakuya. The quiet noble nods and begins leading him through the streets to the Kuchiki estate.

In the shadows, unnoticed by Byakuya and the tragically weakened Sōsuke, Sasakibe sighs. Allowing the Central 46 to reinstate without stacking the deck in their favor was a mistake, even knowing why Sōsuke was once again out of his cell would not stay their hand. They were like an anthill that had been kicked by a child. The small minded creatures snapping and biting at anything that came close. Deciding that it was best if this was kept quiet he sent two hell butterflies, one to Ejisai-dono to keep him up to date, and the other to Urahara-taichō even though there is a strong chance that the man is already aware that his charge has once again left Senzaikyū.

As luck would have it, Kisuke was lounging with an awkward Tessai and a grouchy Yoruichi-san in the private room of a small restaurant in Seireitei. The woman had been complaining for hours about the Onmitsukidō's incompetence and how disgusted she had been when she found jars of toenail clippings tucked away in Suì-Fēng's creepy Yoruichi-sama shrine. Now that she had been venting and steadily becoming more intoxicated from the shots she was pounding back after every repeat, Kisuke was quite glad to see the hell butterfly crawl under the door and flutter over to him.

With the same caution he had given every hell butterfly after Sōsuke had revealed that he could change into and out of the form at will, he extends his finger to allow it to land. With a quirk of an eyebrow he settles his hat securely on his head and bids his leave abandoning Tessai to deal with the drunken goddess of flash. As grateful as he was for an excuse to escape... How many times was he going to have to fetch Sōsuke after someone pulled a stunt like this, last time he checked, prisoners were meant to stay in prison, not get checked out like library books.

He moves like a ghost through the Kuchiki estate, not that there was anyone to see him. Rubbing his temples from all of the paperwork that he is going to have to do, Kisuke steps out into the main courtyard. Every last member of the Kuchiki house, all of their vassals, and an astonishingly large population of Rukongai civilians were held hostage on their knees, the silvery pink petals of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, Byakuya's Bankai an effective threat. Kisuke at least, has the pleasure of being able to honestly say that he arrived too late to make a difference, as Sōsuke is politely looking away from the sobbing noble holding his resurrected wife in his arms.

Hoping to at least give himself a leg to stand on when it is time for him to give his report to the sōtaichō and the Central 46, Kisuke uses Shitonegaeshi, cushion return on Sōsuke. A slight push on the mans forehead with the cane form of Benihime, just enough to knock him off balance and onto his back, and a bit of fancy footwork to move around his falling form so that Kisuke is kneeling by his head, Benihime pulsing with enough Reiatsu to briefly flicker from cane to unsheathed zanpakutō.

It's quite easy to measure just how much Sōsuke has recovered based on his increased, but still lagging reaction time. The charming bastard was tense and alarmed during the maneuver, but relaxed the moment he is on his back and Kisuke is kneeling at his head. Kisuke would surmise that releasing his Atelier had returned enough power to Sōsuke to give the white haired man enough Reiatsu to be on par with most Fukutaichō. This is a far cry from the amount of power creating such a space would have demanded, so either Sōsuke only got back a fraction of the power he had used to create his Atelier dimension, or the tithe demanded of him was a terrifyingly expensive burden. One that he was foolishly risking yet again.

The prone man has the gall to smile sheepishly up at him, "Why Kisuke, how surprising to see you here? Did you come all this way to pick me up? How thoughtful."

With a sigh, he helps Sōsuke stand and takes his irritation out on Sōsuke by sweeping him up into his arms like a pretty princess and bursting into shunpo going as fast as he dares. They arrive at Senzaikyū before anyone besides the 9th division and hidden Sasakibe are the wiser. That nauseous shunpo passenger face was a good look for Sōsuke was even better at making Kisuke feel avenged for all of the paperwork he was going to have to deal with later if Byakuya did not handle his people well. There was only one thing that could be better, "Sōsuke, how would you feel about another spar?"

The man lying as still as possible on the floor, arm slung over his eyes not hiding the slightly green tinge to his face in the slightest, moves nothing but his free hand which he uses to flip Kisuke off. "Give me a minute to recover you cruel fiend."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Frowning Kisuke examines his sweaty opponent, while there was no denying that he had wanted to relieve some stress with a good spar... "Losing on purpose a few times won't make me go easier on you Sōsuke." The man flips his hair over his shoulder, blowing the stray tendril in his eyes, one hand wrapped green and glowing around his other wrist as he heals a slight sprain. "Kisuke… that was me doing my best."

Bewildered, Kisuke can't help but refute, "but you lost… dozens of times in a row." And then Sōsuke rolled his eyes… Kisuke was offended… he hadn't said anything silly enough to merit an eye-roll… yet. "Kisuke… you lived in the living world for over a century… have you never played a RPG? Any teenage human could tell you that the illusionist class is a support class. And that in a no magic fist fight with an assassin class they will loose every time."

Finished healing his wrist he stands up again, settling into a combat ready stance with a mocking grin. "Why are you so surprised to find that without my illusions misdirecting you, and cheat code levels of Reiryoku and Reiatsu, I wind up losing? Really, for a man who hadn't trained at all for a century, and then only once or twice after you started to take me seriously about Yhwach, you move damn fast."

Kisuke can feel his mouth drop open in surprise, shock causing him to barely doge out of the way as Sōsuke makes a swipe for Kisuke's lovely striped hat. A quick set of half-step turns is enough to allow him to both doge and counter attack as he trips his lunging opponent. "You were cheating!"

The red eyed man laughs from his position on the floor, "Ku. Ku. Ku. Really Kisuke, I live and breathe Illusions and misdirection and you're surprised I used them to ensure I had a fair fight?"

"Fair!? Stand back up and I'll show you a fair fight you charming bastard!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 52: How to Slay a Charming Bastard

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Orihime wakes up in a pool of sweat, her breath short, her hands trembling and a strange irrefutable tugging at her soul. Filled with the unshakable feeling that today was going to be her last day on earth, she curls in on herself and quietly sobs into her hands.

The early light of dawn begins to shine through her window.

Her alarm clock rings, telling her that it was time for her to get up and get ready for school.

She rises from her bed, meticulously making it before dressing herself for the day.

Comfortable leggings.

A cute skirt and blouse.

Orihime was a lot of things. She would be both more and less things come tomorrow. But for today at least... she wasn't Kagome.

She wouldn't go in a high school uniform. It was a fine line. But it was one that only Orihime could choose to cross.

There were a lot of lines that only she could choose to cross.

And for today at least... she was going to be selfish and cross them all... choosing all of the things that mattered to her as Orihime...

but not Kagome.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

There is no one in the halfway house when she arrives, no visiting shinigami, and Tessai walking Jinta and Ururu to school, she pauses only for a moment, letting herself in with the key that everyone knew was tucked on top of the door frame. Quietly she moves through the building and down through the trap door into the secret underground training area. Pulling out her Mental Abuse to Humans notebook, she uses the calculation set that would open a same day modified Senkaimon to Seireitei. Wasabi Green greets her as the gate opens, and her eyes water, but she holds back her tears.

When they make it to the other side, she nods politely to the two guards that stand outside the gate in the Council of Souls. She waits for the automatic closing to occur on the opposite side before she calls for Wasabi Green to land on her finger to collect her message.

Ulquiorra-kun. If today was my last day, how would you want to spend it with me? When you've decided, come and pick me up from visiting Sōsuke-nii. If your decision is that you wouldn't want to see me at all... if you would rather pretend that I have simply gone on a long adventure, and am just taking a long time to come back. I'll be sad, but I will understand.

Today I am going to be selfish too. I don't think that any of them have noticed, but I've been quietly saying good bye to all of my friends for what feels like forever now. There are only two people I want to see on my last day. My only two requests are that you make the decision that will be the best for you, and that after I am declared missing, you deliver the stack of letters I gave you months ago. Love Orihime Inoue.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

As she makes her way through Seireitei to Senzaikyū she thinks about time, and how before today it had felt as if she would never have enough, and yet how now that today has come, it feels as if she has had exactly as much time as she needed. She knows, she could have run. Today was her last day, but that really only meant that at she could not have the day after today. There wasn't really anything stopping her from gabbing Ulquiorra, returning to that quintessential August 1stand running off to the Bahamas to earn herself another few extra years of life.

She pauses at the top of Sōkyoku hill. The white petals blowing in the breeze, the eternal springtime on the hill,it's so peaceful. That's how she knows its ok that today is her last day. She had spent all these months worrying, but now that it was time... she wasn't afraid, she didn't wish she had more time. She just wanted to spend what she had left, well.

She gently brushes the petals out of her hair and continues her trek to the first person she wanted to see today, marveling at just how much she had grown since she met him.The only reason she had all of the calculations to tune Urahara-san's special Senkaimon was because she had asked Sōsuke-nii just how likely it was that she would have to go through with another August 1st again after she had experienced it so many times. After Sōsuke-sensei had finished explaining all of the complex math, she hadn't ever had any issues with Vector Calculus or Matrices Math.

That hadn't been all that he had taught her, and if she took the time to think of everything, she would quickly find her day over with. He was a great teacher, an amazing brother, and the kind of supportive friend she wished she could have had from the beginning. Don't misunderstand. She loved her friends, all of them... but not even Tatsuki-chan had embraced Orihime for all that she was, not like he had.

And now it was time for her to say good bye. Though it was more of a goodbye for her than for him. Orihime was going to become part of Kagome because of Naohi, and while this was a permanent goodbye for her, it was less of one for him. She had no doubt that once the Soul King reclaimed their throne, Sōsuke-nii's trial would end and he would be allowed to go back home. Back to his home dimension. Back to his Kagome-chan. Back to his her.

So today she was going to be as selfish as an Orihime was capable of being. She was going to surprise him with a visit, drop a hint so he wouldn't be too surprised when she was gone and tear the world apart looking for her tomorrow when she was no longer here, and then she was going to run off with her boyfriend. Today was going to be just for Orihime. She was going to wrap herself up in a love that had only ever belonged to Orihime and not anyone else. If things went the way she hoped, her last breath would be spent whispering the name of the one person who loved no one but her. She takes a deep breath, knocks once on his door, and enters when he invites her in.

She smiles as she enters the room, well aware of just how selfish she is being. But that's ok. If there was anyone who would understand and forgive her for being so selfish, it was Sōsuke Higurashi. After all, he was the one that had taught her how.

The tea is already on the table, the cups are already served.

All that is left... is to drink it.

"Sōsuke-nii. I'm sorry to visit at such a weird time, but you're really the only one that I can ask." She lifts her cup and takes a long sip, the flowery mixture isn't anything that she can identify, for all that to her it tastes like finality.

Peering at him over the rim of her cup she asks, "What can you tell me about Naohi?"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

moments earlier: Sosuke

Sōsuke blinks in surprise when he feels a familiar tug at his senses. His ability to sense herhad been an indelible characteristic of his soul since before he was ever Dekuyume. But never before had it been so strong that he felt her arrival in Seireitei as if she were a Tsunami crashing over him.

Worried, he briefly enters Shikai and peeks at her through he Complete Hypnosis. She is lost in thought, but appears otherwise ok. Certainly it doesn't appear as if she is in distress, or danger. Rising from his chair, he finishes off his nth pot of Lavender mixture tea and prepares a pot of tea just for the two of them, dried white rose petals a fragrant and powerful contrast to the gentle undercurrent of the dried jasmine blossoms. Both components seamlessly blending together in a swirl of white when mixed. As the water heats he sets the table, with cups decorated with Oak leafed Geraniums. Friendly Silence and Graceful Devotion to his Innocent Friend.

The tea finishes steeping just as she approaches the stairwell. Humming thoughtfully under his breath, he pours the two of them cups and adds sugar. He may not have any idea what's bothering her enough to visit early in the week from her perspective, but he can at least relieve her of some of her worry with a ready cup of tea and a willing ear. By the time she makes it to his door, the cups are cooled enough to drink. Smiling from his seated position, he welcomes her the moment she knocks on his door.

His unease grows exponentially when she smiles calmly as she enters the room. There are no bounces, chirps, or giggles nor are there any tears or subtle requests for comfort. It is so unlike the usual Orihime-chan that were it not for the fact that he knewit was her he would suspect that she was an impostor instead.

He is beset by chills when the first thing out of her mouth is so ominous. She takes a sip of tea and looks at him over the rim of the glass, and her mannerisms mimicking his so well it's almost as if he is looking into a mirror. Off balance, he can't understand why he feels so cold and afraid. Not until she states the reason that she came. Naohi.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The GFM-DCOM lags for a moment, the data packet requested by the user authorized by The Eternal Battlefield is massive. The time dilation between the user on board The Soul Society and the GFM-DCOM servers on the immortal plain is forced to adjust to accommodate the load. The data packet is compressed, encrypted and ZIP'd closed. The file is sent, and once it is completely passed over, the time dilation returns to normal.

The strangle weed threaded through the soul's fragments, flairs and glows, almost shuddering with the force thrown against it. The file cracks open like an egg, spilling its contents all over the thickly knotted vines. It acts like silicone oil, lubricating the knots, allowing the vines of strangle weed to slide along themselves in pursuit of more soul fragments. Most of the information is absorbed by the vines as if the information was memories, only a few meager droplets make their way through the thick mass to fall into Sōsuke's consciousness.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sensation{Pain, Agony, Loss, Grief, Hope, Fear}

Image{open wound}

Image{a man strapped to a chair getting lobotomized}

Image{a woman getting her heart ripped out by a black shadowy beast}

Image{a family photo album where one person just simply fades out of existence, one at a time until only the scenery remains}

Image{a flower at the edge of a cliff, only for the cliff to give way, tumbling the flower down the mountainside, the soil that once held it above, now serving as its grave soil.}

Image{a man looses their soul mate, and after searching the whole world for the reincarnation of his lost love, dies old and alone without succor or salvation.}

Audio Clip{an unrelenting high pitched electric whine}

Audio Clip{the crying of children begging for their mother/father/ sister/ brother to just open their eyes}

Audio Clip{the screaming of a thousand souls screaming in denial}

WARNING [Naohi] State-Not Found

[The Celestial Ocean] Direction{#all#} Movement{Outward Vectors} State-Halt

Command Prompt {open}

Run Program{Search{for} THE [Naohi]} IF = [FAILURE] repeat

A Kami's perspective of discovering to their horror, that the Avatar of Naohi had lost the essence of Naohi instead of passing it on. The Celestial Ocean, the Absolute Kami that governed every dimension under its creation and all of the Kami held therein, ceasing its outward expansion and devoting all of its efforts to locating the Naohi spirit.

The pain of a being without a soul, experiencing loss, and without an understanding the concept of death, searching endlessly for a precious person who hasn't come home in a long, long time.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke gasps in surprise, spills his tea, and goes almost as pale white as his hair. That... what in the name of Dekuyume, Kami of The Eternal Battlefield, had that been. It had been so strong, so overpowering and real, as if it were another of Dekuyume's memories he was witnessing first hand. But those had seemed to have completely tapered off, and this tasted so foreign, as if it were someone else's memory entirely, a Major Kami's version of a history lesson viewed in first person.

Dazedly he blinks in surprise when a towel appears before him and starts cleaning up the spilled tea he had just been staring at like a fool. Following the towel, and the arm and hand attached to it, he sees that it is Orihime-chan kneeling at his side cleaning up. He blinks again, reminds himself that in order to talk, he also has to breathe. He chokes on another breath. The one after that comes easier, but by that time, Orihime-chan is already at the sink rinsing out the towel to prevent it from staining.

It seems as if an instant later, she is back at his side, carefully setting his teacup to rights, refilling it and gently grabbing his hands to wrap them securely around the cup. At a loss, he raises it with trembling hands and drinks until it is gone.

When he lowers the cup he feels much better, though still... fragile. As he gently sets the cup down and unwinds his white knuckled fingers from it, his eyes find hers and she smiles sadly at him. Like a dream, she opens her arms and sinks into his. A warm soft embrace to ease away the shaking, and a whisper in his ears to ease away his baseless fear, "That was about what I expected. Thank you Sōsuke-nii. I know it couldn't have been easy to answer my question. I would have loved to spend the rest of my time here, but Ulquiorra-kun is here to pick me up now and I need to see him too."

If he feels a deep sense of loss as she wriggles out of his arms and makes her way to the door, he doesn't call her back. He loves her too much to keep her from the things she feels that she must do. But as always, she saves him without even really trying, shoulders stiff, she pauses in the doorway, tears and sadness coating her voice as she asks, "You'll be ok right? Even if it will be a while before we meet again?"

He was worried, that sounded so very much like a farewell, but if that was how she meant it, then why was she promising to see him again? And just who or what could possibly exist that would threaten her life with all of the powerful souls that had gathered around her as friends, comrades and Nakama?

Or did it have nothing to do with her death at all, and instead someone had found a way through the principles of Naohi to forcibly remove the Ōken from his bones and they had set his execution date? His mind sputters for a moment at the thought, arching like lightning through his own prodigious memory in search of all of the information he had gathered in his studies of the intricacies of Riku Homura's crystallization, Hollowfication and the dichotomy of Shinigami vs Hollows and is forced to come to the conclusion that, yes, actually not only is that possible, it is also feasible within the means available to the Central 46 if some enterprising Onmitsukidō had managed to sneak into Kisuke's lab in the halfway house and steal Sōsuke's research notes.

More at peace with the realization that he was soon going to die than was probably healthy, grateful that she had been allowed one final goodbye even if it was part and parcel of informing him of his eminent painful demise, he forces a smile on his face, hoping to offer her comfort.

The greatest tragedy of a life was not it's end, but what died inside of a person while they still lived.

He responds, his voice cracking in the middle, "People are resilient. So long as they know that one day it will end, and that one day all of the pain they suffered will seem like a bad dream, they can endure almost anything."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

moments earlier: Orihime

Heart breaking, she watches as Sōsuke-nii seems to freeze like a computer screen the moment the word Naohi crosses her lips. Just like how the cursor on a computer kept whirling around in a circle as the computer struggled to process data, the only proof that Sōsuke-nii hadn't suffered from a blue screen of death was the rapid-fire flickering movement of his eyes, as if he were reading a really long essay at a thousand words per minute.

It takes him ten minutes to finally respond to her calling his name. Her tea cup has long since emptied, but she can't bring herself to pour another. Not when he's going to need it. Her heart aches just a little bit more, when his first response to her calling for him is to startle, spilling his tea without him ever having taken a sip.

Mind stuffed full of all sorts of symbolism, she moves from her spot to kneel at his side, using a tea towel to clean up the spilled tea, before she returns to his side, pours him another cup and wrap it securely in his hands. Today she was going to die, and it was going to hurt him deeply, and no matter what, he wasn't going to be able to just get over it, not until the day she returned to clean up the mess, pour herself back into his life, and let him hold onto her and consume her until he was finally sure that she wouldn't leave him again.

Without a word of protest, she watches him raise the cup to his lips and gulp it all down without taking a single pause for a breath. She wonders what it says about her, that even this particular symbolism does not frighten her. Even now, the only reason she is worried at all, is because she doesn't want him to act out of surprise, ruining his chances of successfully completing his trial.

Unable to just leave it at that, Orihime pauses at the door, unable to look back without collapsing into tears she knows won't stop, heart breaking, she asks, "You'll be ok right? Even if it will be a while before we meet again?"

She can't hold back the few tears that spill over when he responds, his voice cracking in the middle, "People are resilient. So long as they know that one day it will end, and that one day all of the pain they suffered will seem like a bad dream, they can endure almost anything."

A surge of relief crashes over her, he had understood her warning, he was giving her permission to go, he wouldn't destroy the world just because she wasn't here for him.

He was strong enough to wait for fate to lead them back to one another. Because souls only met repeatedly at the behest of the Kami, and none could force the issue more undeniably than Dekuyume, Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield. Because in the end battlefields could be forgotten, they could be ancient, and they could be bloody, but they never ever died. They were a fundamental property to any world that contained souls, that was why, no matter how scary she could be, to the Higurashi, Deku-nee was a promise of homecoming in a multiverse full of uncertainty.

With a much lighter heart, she leaves to see the second person she wanted to spend her last day on earth with. He meets her on top of Sōkyoku Hill, the white blossoms a stark contrast to has black hair. He greets her with a deep consuming kiss, and she never even notices the Garganta that opens up behind her.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke doesn't really recover from whatever the hell that was with Naohi, until long after she has gone. He really only begins to come back to himself after he raises his teacup to take a sip, only to realize that not only is his cup bone dry, but the teapot is empty as well. Shaking his head, a sharp migraine pierces his skull. Wincing in pain that has nothing to do with the low grade headache that never really went away after his first Reiryoku Inundation Pill, he doesn't even bother trying to clean up, he only sluggishly stumbles over to his bed, falls upon it face first and falls into a deep sleep.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Under his breath Kisuke curses in every language his considerable grasp of human communication can muster, as he rushes through the Senkaimon and into Seireitei. He had used his day off to visit the world of the living to check in on his adoptive children, Jinta-kun and Ururu-chan. Taking them to Tokyo DisneyLand to celebrate them getting good scores on their most recent practice High school Entrance exams. It had placed him far out of reach, and the frequent kidnappings of Sōsuke to go and perform this or that person's resurrection had inured him to the warnings and alarms that he had gone missing. It wasn't until Ulquiorra-san stepped out of a Garganta to deliver Orihime-chan's suicide note that he realized just how serious the issue was.

He had never opened a Senkaimon and moved through the dimension void faster in his life. His office was destroyed as he threw things out of the way in his haste to pull archive data from the long distance Kidō observation device. His hands shake as he calls up the relevant timestamps.

Heart in his throat, he watches Orihime-chan's last visit with Sōsuke, heart breaking when he realizes that the girl had come to warn him of her imminent demise, whatever this Naohi is seeming to be a volatile subject powerful enough to send Sōsuke into shock. It is equally apparent from their subsequent exchange, that Orihime-chan thought her message was delivered... but as the premier expert on Aizen Sōsuke, Kisuke is damn sure that Sōsuke has absolutely no idea that the girl is talking about her death and not his. What in the name of all things science and logical was Naohi, that simply mentioning it could make Sōsuke react like that, and then come to the conclusion that it could kill an immortal.

Quickly, he opens the next timestamp. Ichigo-kun had used his hell butterfly, and the fact that in his shinigami form, he could open the standard Senkaimon with his zanpakutō in order to enter Seireitei and haul ass to Senzaikyū, breezing past guards that were in no way shape or form powerful enough to deny him entrance. The boy then destroyed the door, kicking it open, and used shunpo to flicker across the room to shake the sleeping Sōsuke awake. Even if Sōsuke hadn't recently had some sort of mental breakdown, he wouldn't have been able to follow the boys movements. The situation only worsens when the first words out of Ichigo-kun's mouth are, "No one has been able to find Inoue since she was missing from school today. Use your Shikai to find her so we can all calm the fuck down and stop worrying."

It would be comedic, watching Sōsuke scramble across his bed to reach for the sword stand and Kyōka Suigetsu, if Kisuke didn't have such a painful awareness of what Sōsuke would find when he, "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu.". Disbelief, fear, desperation, the three emotions pass over Sōsuke's face before it settles into complete denial, the retired tyrant's head shakes back and forth before he starts to shake, repeating, "Not her, anything but her.", over and over again as if the act of saying it enough will make it true.

Ulquiorra-kun has the bad timing to show up at that exact minute to deliver Orihime-chan's suicide notes to Ichigo-kun and Sōsuke. Ichigo-kun tears into his note in despair. When he reads to the end... Ichigo-kun collapses to his knees, appearing catatonic, eyes fixed fixed on the last lines of his note.

And Sōsuke... Sōsuke walks over to the balcony, opens the door, steps outside, and jumps off of the edge. After Suì-Fēng's threats, Kisuke had upgraded the microphone sensitivity. Now he wishes he hadn't as they're now sensitive enough to pick up the sharp crack of Sōsuke's body hitting the ground. The guards that were supposed to remain at the ground entrance to Senzaikyū are already upstairs trying to talk to Ichigo-kun by the time the front cameras pick up a bloody but whole Sōsuke running as fast as his weakened body will allow past the ground entrance and into Seireitei proper.

The ghost of the Onmitsukidō pulls his hat down low over his eyes, Sōsuke's continued chant of, "Not her, anything but her.", ringing in his ears. The timestamped segment ends with Shuhei-kun's arrival, the dark haired fukutaichō standing at the edge of the balcony looking down at what was likely a very obvious red smear on the ground below, "There was a lot of speculation that even after he lost his power, the only reason we managed to keep Aizen in Senzaikyū was because of the tea and whatever his relationship is with Urahara-taichō is. Pretty much everyone assumed that if he ever decided to leave, he would use some tricky little plan in order to escape. It never even crossed our minds that he would jump out of a 70'th story balcony and use the fact that he instantly heals from lethal damage to just get up and walk away afterwards. Immortal or not, you can't be in a good frame of mind to think that's the best way."

With a long sigh, Kisuke closes the timestamped archive file and searches through the discrete sensors he had hidden throughout Seireitei, he catches sight of Sōsuke again, but only after the clearly emotionally compromised man has managed to sneak into and is on his way out of Muken an hour ago local time. For a moment, Kisuke is perplexed. Why would Sōsuke have gone there of all places? Then Sōsuke walks around a corner, the angle of the sensor allowing Kisuke to see that Sōsuke had yet to open his letter from Orihime-chan.

Sōsuke didn't know, or more likely simply refused to believe that Orihime-chan had committed suicide. Unfortunately, Kisuke's own letter hadn't contained much information beyond the fact that Orihime-chan believed that she was dying from something that no one could help her with, and a request that he collect all of Sōsuke's things from her apartment and keep them all together with Sōsuke's books. Therefore, whatever this Naohi was, Kisuke had no more information than before, at least on that account.

Briefly his mind reminds him about the time that Sōsuke had gone comatose as he was released from Muken while his Shikai had been active. Given that Sōsuke had just gone into Muken, most probably in search of Orihime-chan, it could be surmised that the complex dimensional twist that held Muken completely isolated from the rest of Seireitei somehow blocked Sōsuke from seeing into the senses of someone under the Complete Hypnosis.

Mind racing, he simultaneously files away that interesting cop-out, and begins hypothesizing other locations which might also fall under that particular set of circumstances, as that is most likely where Sōsuke will attempt to search next. As the fairly tame dimensional borders of Hueco Mundo, the living world and Seireitei do not appear to be an issue, the validation of that hypothesis being the rather obvious case of Orihime-chan and the rest of them clearing out Sōsuke's Atelier.

For a brief moment, he wonders if Sōsuke had been able to use the Complete Hypnosis on someone who was inside of his Atelier only for the realization that there was another closed off dimension that could possibly be outside of Sōsuke's ability to see into... The Royal Palace. There was only one problem with that however, technically, as a bearer of an Ōken, Sōsuke could enter The Royal Palace from anywhereinside of Seireitei.

Once again cussing in every language he knew, he renews his search through the sensors to see if he can find Sōsuke before the retired tyrant accepts the fact that Orihime-chan is dead, and decides to come out of retirement in order to avenge his imouto.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Not her, anything but her, he could have endured anything but permanently loosing her. He was prepared to meet her soul for the first time for a thousand times over, to search through all of the dimensions, each time she entered the cycle of reincarnation. To always say hello one more time than he said goodbye. To protect and guide her soul, no matter who or what she became. To make sure that no matter what, she lived long and well and happy.

When he thought that it was him instead, that he was going to die first, he was also ok with that, it only meant that the compass in his heart that always let him find herno matter how far apart they were, would one day lead him back home, so that two strangers could find peace in one another again.

He could endure it all, all but this, to exist in a world where she existed once... but not twice.

Life was simultaneously too long and too short, to miss someone you could only hold once.

He had never been afraid before, not like this. He had gone alone into Muken, finger combed the darkness, unable to emit enough Reiatsu in order to light up the prison cell. He had crossed its entire breadth and depth three times before he was forced to accept that she wasn't there. It was both a relief that she hadn't been subjected to the void, and a terror, because there was only one other place where the Complete Hypnosis had never been able to reach. The administrative side of The Soul Society.

Finding a clear open bit of land that was simultaneously out of sight, and wouldn't likely catch on fire if he did this incorrectly, is a chore and a half, but he endures it, each minute of delay only stirring his fear into a further frenzy.

He enters Shikai one more time in spite of his Reiatsu depletion to search for any sign of her, but an illusion of the Dreaming Kami and another of Kyō-kun appear to distract him. "Sōsuke!" "Aniki!", The two spirits call out to him, wrapping him in their arms, holding him down, holding him back. "Listen!" "You have to calm down! Magatsuhi has gone absolutely feral and he's tearing up your inner world! You have to calm down! You have no idea how dangerous it is to have him free to wander outside of your heart's home and tear up the place!" "Aniki! He's too strong! We can't fight him! The only way to get him to calm down is to calm down yourself so you have to stop feeding your chaotic emotions into him!"

Sōsuke shakes the two of them off.He doesn't care what happens to him, he's never really cared, so long as it meant that he could continue to stand by herside. "The Dreaming Kami, my Ōken. Open the gates to The Royal Palace and let me through." The two spirits gape at him in shock, "Sōsuke!?" "Aniki! You can't be serious! If I do that you'll just collapse on the other side cycling through instant death and resurrection until one of the Royal Guards find you and sends you back!"

Angry that they would refuse him, completely ignoring their logical reasons for doing so, he demands again. The two spirits look at each-other worriedly. Fury momentarily spiking even higher than his fear, he exits Shikai causing them to disappear and with jerky anger clumsy fingers, he removes his zanpakutō, sheath and all, and prepares to throw it against the wall.

The anger fades, the fear circles like a buzzard overhead, and a deep aching chasm of grief threatens to pull him down. His hand holding the zanpakutō shakes and he collapses to his knees in a sob, curling inward, cradling the zanpakutō to his chest. "Kyō-kun, Kami-chan, don't you understand? I love her. Why won't you help me find her?"

It was ok, it was ok if he couldn't search the administrative sector for Orihime-chan. If she had somehow ended up there, if she had for some reason been chosen as a Royal Guard in-spite of the fact that she was still both alive and not a shinigami, a notice would still have to be sent to the Gotei 13.

He continues to stumble through the streets, her last question about Naohi ringing through his ears leaving him with an even greater fear... that the reason he can't find her, is because she is not here to be found... not anymore.

But he can't accept that... he can't. He starts to think about where else she could have gone, the thinks of the living world and wonders if anyone has asked her aunt. Orihime-chan could have gone on a surprise visit to some foreign country... right?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Ichigo had never wanted to kill a human being more than he did in this moment.

After Aizen had disappeared, off to who knows where in his state of denial, and Ulquiorra had vanished back in his Garganta to deliver another of Inoue's goodbye letters. Ichigo had managed to get his shit together and get back to the world of the living and texted everyone else in a massive group text, they had all decided to get together after everyone got out of Saturday cram school.

They'd all arrived as a group at 1pm, only to find someone already there, clearing out Inoue's apartment... and throwing everything away in the trash. This fucking bitch. She was Inoue's Auntand less than 48 hours after Inoue was gone, she was just throwing away everything that remained of Inoue's life.

The auburn haired woman fucking rolls her eyes at them, giving zero fucks about the scowl Ichigo knows is plastered all over his face and the heavy crossed-arms and disappointment radiating out of Chado. But this woman just continues to spew shit, "The girl may have been polite enough to send me a note, but couldn't she have been more considerate! The lease is renewed monthly on the 15th! That's tomorrow! I've paid for her to have this apartment for years now! She could have chosen a better time, or at least had the grace to clean up after herself instead of leaving it for her busy aunt to take care of!"

Tatsuki, bless her violent heart, punches the fucking bitch in her filthy mouth. Even in his human body, if he'd done the same thing he would have straight up killed the woman. The squawking bitch stumbles on her feet holding her mouth, as she runs away, she fucking screams at them! "How dare you! First that crazy man wakes me up at midnight to pester me with questions, and then I have to deal with this! I should have known that Orihime would turn out to be a whore, who made bad choices just like her mother!"

The lot of them just stare at her as she runs, each one of them knowing that if a single one of them moved, they'd all descend on the fucking bitch and wind up going to jail for manslaughter. It isn't until that waste of meat is out of sight that he turns and walks away, the others falling into place behind him as they head up to her apartment to find out just how much of Inoue's things they're going to have to dumpster dive to get back. Hopefully it won't smell too bad when they haul it all back over to his place to sort through.

Only good thing about that damn harpy getting there before they did. All of Inoue's things were either in boxes or extra large trash-bags, making it all easy for them to transport. Without a moving van or the ability to drive, they were all stuck walking the few blocks from her house to his, one person always staying back to make sure that that vile woman didn't come back and fuck with anymore of Inoue's things.

The only thing sadder than Inoue being gone, and that fucking painful letter she left behind for him, the only thing more painful than realizing just how bad her relationship with her last living family member had been... is realizing that it only takes them an hour to get everything over to Ichigo's house and that just about half of the things worth taking were actually Aizen's.

Fuck it all to hell... how much of Inoue's weird food combinations had been because she damn well couldn't afford anything else with how damn stingy her Aunt had proven to be and how difficult it would have been to hold down a part time job on top of high school and all of their extracurricular supernatural happenings.

Its hard, its really fucking hard, even with everyone there, to go through her things and distribute what she asked them to in her goodbye letters, that fucking painful letter. There isn't a dry eye in the damn house, even his own eyes burn with repressed tears. Only consolation is that goat-face isn't there to make a mockery out of them all, though thankfully having kaasan back has curbed a lot of that fucking ridiculous behavior.

The woman on his mind enters the room at that time, bearing hot chocolate, matcha flavored cookies, and a tiny dipping cup full of red bean paste. He fucking loved his mom, she'd only known Inoue for a few months, and she already knew both her, and exactly what the rest of them needed to get through this fucking disaster.

One by one they take their snacks, and the sad faces are replaced with weak, watery smiles.

Its Yuzu, who finds Inoue's diary. The room comes to a complete still when she quietly mutters, "Oh.", and the rest of them look up to see what it is of Inoue's that she's found. They all stare at it, wondering, if they violated Inoue's privacy and read it, would they find out more? None of them really knew much about what happened than just a vaguely worded statement that Inoue had known she was going to die as far back as when they had brought the Fullbringer into the Council of Souls. Inoue hadn't even really told them what it was she was dying from!

Surprisingly, it's Yuzu who makes the decision for them. "You all will stay here and keep sorting. I'm going to take this upstairs to see if there are any clues. It's an embarrassing invasion of privacy, but at least I am both another girl, and someone she knows without being so close that there is a chance she has written personal things about me. We can also rest easy knowing that I'm not the type of person who would give away Orihime-san's secrets, even if someone makes me very angry. Are there any objections?"

Knowing full well that if even half of what was written in his letter is also present in Inoue's diary, Yuzu is going to be very dissapointed in him, he still keeps his damn mouth shut.

Yuzu comes back down an hour later, her expression grim. She doesn't say a word as she takes the diary and a load of flammable trash to the incinerator behind the clinic. They're all quiet and waiting when his little sister comes back in the room looking pensive.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Yuzu liked to believe that she had an open mind. Her father, her brother and her twin sister could all see ghosts even though she couldn't. Her brother could exchange the soul in his body with that of a candy soul he kept in a stuffed lion so that he could run around as a Shinigami – hollow hybrid saving the world. Her father absolutely refused to admit to the fact that he was also a shinigami, to the point that her brother hadn't spoken to him for over a year, not until their dead mother had been brought back to life by the use of a device that was invented by and only able to be used properly by, the super powerful shinigami that had turned himself in because Orihime-san had nicely asked him to.

A realist would have chosen to believe that her family was playing a mean joke on her, that her brother had multiple personality disorder, her father and brother had a fight about something neither of them wanted to talk about, and that her runaway mother had run out of cash and places to go, and had decided to return back to them after being gone for the first 14 years of Yuzu's life.

But as she mentioned before, Yuzu liked to believe that she had an open mind. But even still, she isn't entirely sure she believes, though she understands very well that Orihime-san had certainly believed. If even a fraction of it was true, there was someone who desperately needed information.

Like lost puppies, all of Orihime-san's friends follow Yuzu when she goes to the halfway house. Their complacency switching almost instantly into chaos when she asks Tsukabishi-san to open up a special Senkaimon so that she can go to Seireitei and speak with Aizen Sōsuke. Understandably, they burst into worried protests, none louder or more scowl~y than her own brother, but she puts her foot down. "I may be the sweetest twin, but I have my brother and sister's pigheadedness too. You can either take me to see him, or I'll find my way there on my own."

"That will not be necessary." A very haggard, morose, and emotionally destroyed Aizen Sōsuke leans heavily against the door to the halfway house.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Weakened as he was, it would have been impossible to use Kidō to trick Orihime-chan's Aunt into seeing him well enough to put her under the Complete Hypnosis, and even more impossible for his Ōken to gather up enough energy to use her Perception Warp. The only reason he had been able to see The Dreaming Kami earlier was because she had appeared present through Kyo-kun's powers. The little butterfly barely had enough power to keep him alive when he was hurt.

Without his vast amount of power, it had been impossible for him to create a Gigai of his own. As a result he had been forced to resort to sneaking into Kisuke's shop converted into a halfway house, to steal a Gigai conveniently stored in a hallway closet like an old coat. He had slipped into it, and made the journey to see Orihime-chan's aunt. He hadn't had high hopes. Orihime-chan, said very little when she spoke of her Aunt, the most she ever mentioned was that the woman paid for her school supplies, food, apartment and utilities under the condition that she got good grades. Sōsuke had never had a good opinion of a woman who would pay for her niece to live in apartment all on her own, when the woman lived in the same town.

After his emotionally draining and disappointing conversation, and he uses the word loosely, he had come to the conclusion that he just simply couldn't let her walk away like that, and had blessed the horrid woman with a Kidō that latched onto her own Reiatsu, minimal and pathetic as it was as both a weak person and a living soul, and used that power to perpetuate its own existence. It was the essence of a nightmare, a never ending illusion. The Kidō would slowly deprive her of everything she found beautiful. If she lived long enough to die from natural causes and misery, her world would be devoid of color, she would have never hear a kind or even a polite word spoken and everything she had eaten would have tasted like ash. It was such a malevolent, sensory corrupting thing, that even after she reincarnated, it would still be stuck to her like a leech. Even her stay in Soul Society would be empty and miserable.

With vagabond feet, he had stumbled listlessly away, only to collapse unconscious on a park bench, his Reiatsu depletion finally getting the better of him. Thankfully, after a short nap, which no one disturbed, he woke up on his own and began to make his way back across the town to the halfway house still wearing the Gigai he had stolen earlier.

He had made it back to the former store just in time to hear the youngest Kurosaki daughter demand to see him. "That will not be necessary.", his heart aches. He knows, he knows, he knows... once he hears what she has to say, he knows that there won't be any going back. Heart shattering to pieces with every step, he crosses the room to fall to his knees next to her, staring at her with sad eyes. Voice rough as if he had spent hours screaming, he quietly asks, "You know, don't you Yuzu-chan."

With a sniff and teary eyes the girl nods, "I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news Aizen-san, I read through Orihime-san's diary before burning it so that her secrets could be kept safe. Apparently, just after Ichi-nii made friends with some people called the Fullbringer, she received a dream message from her soul echo, Kagome-san. She didn't want to tell anyone because she didn't want them to treat her any differently with what time she had left before... She returned to Naohi."

The gathered people are treated to something they never thought to see. Aizen Sōsuke collapsing to the ground in tears, brokenly speaking gibberish about the unification of all echoes of a soul as they condense into the Avatar of Naohi.

Yuzu-chan, tears in her eyes as she pats him on the shoulder, tells them all what Sōsuke already knows, "Orihime-san didn't just get sick and die, in another dimension in the multiverse, a piece of her soul became something called the Avatar of Naohi, calling all of the pieces of her soul to her. No matter how far or how long we look, we're never going to find Orihime-san's reincarnation because her soul has moved beyond any of the dimensions we can find her."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 53: To Regret Immortality

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Sōsuke was in hell. To sit here listening to the birds sing on a bright sunshiny day, and know that he couldn't share it with her. To know where Orihime Inoue had gone... and be unable to follow, not for a long, long time. It would take decades, for the Soul King to live their human life, and many more after that for them to catch up on their work, determine if he had passed Dekuyume's Trial and begin the process to transfer a soul from this dimension back into the one that had stolen her away from him.

To know that nothing remaining in all the realms had the ability to kill him... not even himself, his hypothesis about the crystallization properties of a destabilized soul weren't actually enough to force the Ōken from his body. They had been incorrect... he had tried. To know that he was trapped here, unable to avoid the pain of missing her by hiding it all away under a new layer of reincarnation. To remain here alone, a victim of his own superiority... proof that everything was lethal in a high enough quantity... including immortality.

To be trapped in his own skin in a world that no longer contained her... and never would again. It made his heart ache, because if he had known this would be the outcome, he would have never thwarted Yhwach... except he would have wouldn't he? Because a world in which she looked upon him in disappointment was even more miserable than a world where she did not exist.

A person moves next to him on the traditional back porch of the halfway house. They say something, but he tunes them out in his grief. He sinks into Jinzen, into his inner world, stumbling through the destroyed garden, rocks and flowers thrown about by the muddy dragon that now listlessly tried to drown itself in the trickling water.

He lays himself upon Magatsuhi's back, and together they grieve.

Because Sōsuke had always been this dimension's Magatsuhi's 2nd reincarnation, this dimension's Naraku.

And the two of them should have remembered, that before the Kami had created so many folds in time, Naraku had died miserable, utterly human, and painfully alone in a world that had never allowed him to keep Kikyō.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Ulquiorra had finished delivering Orihime's letters, and he had wanted to return, to tell Aizen-sama about the message he had received from her, and how the two of them were the only two people she had wanted to see on her last day. When he saw his former king again, after he had finally accepted that Orihime would not return, he had not expected what he found.

He had always believed, that if love should exist, it should be as limitless as nothingness… it does not take much to realize that it is… for Aizen Sōsuke. His hollow hole aches intensely as he discovers a new emotion. Painfully, he wishes he could ask Orihime… to be sure… because he thinks that it is pity. To think that of all of the people in the world… he would feel it for Aizen Sōsuke.

Kisuke watches the Arrancar leave, the taciturn man having left within moments of realizing that no matter what he said, Sōsuke just wasn't going to respond. It was all such a wasteful tragedy. After all of the trouble that the Central 46 had given them, it had only taken a single modified Gigai to get them to leave Sōsuke alone. Kisuke didn't even want to know how one of the prototype Gigai he had created to suck the power out of Rukia-chan and subsequently the Hōgyoku he had hidden inside of her soul matrix had gotten mixed up with all of the spare standard Gigai.

That particular model had been discarded because it had worked too well... The moment Sōsuke had put on that Gigai, he had made himself mortal, a human, albeit a ridiculously overpowered, Kidō using and zanpakutō summoning rendition of human. He couldn't wiggle out of it, the only way to take it off was to kill him and send him along on the cycle of reincarnation. Best not to mention just how it was he had discovered that unfortunate accident.

In a single move, by donning that Gigai, Sōsuke had removed every last bit of authority the Central 46 could claim over him. It was a pity that there was almost nothing left of the Sōsuke that Kisuke knew to enjoy it. But he had promised to himself that he would hold on to Sōsuke's hand because the man had been brave enough to extend it, and that wasn't going to change now that he needed help putting himself back together.

Within a day, Kisuke resigns from the Gotei 13 and returns back to the halfway house. The somber guardian of a man too heartsick to eat, or sleep, kept immaculate and healthy by the merits of his immortality.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dimension: Inuyasha 11997637

Held safely within the Higurashi Sanctuary, a massive bright pink crystal sphere was guarded by a dozen Higurashi at all times. Swimming inside of the crystal like a mermaid in a pink dewdrop, Kagome no Kami receives the last remaining echo of herself. She feels the echo that had been known as [Orihime] join with her, having shot its way through The Celestial Ocean like a comet all the way from Bleach: 12679752. Her sense of self blurs for a moment as the soul echo seeps back into her and slowly begins to recombine. It was perhaps fitting, that [Orihime's] last strongest thoughts were for the one person that they shared between them.

[Orihime] had always wondered, the moment she discovered that she was a soul echo of [Kagome]... just what it said about the fundamental properties of their soul, that even when [Orihime] knew that [Sōsuke-nii's] obsession for [Kagome] had transferred to [Orihime], that even when she is sure that they both, [Orihime] and [Kagome], have always known that the only thing stopping [Deku-nee] from tearing the world apart at the seams, a far more terrifying Kami of The Eternal Battlefield than the Shikon no Tama had ever been, was only [their] presence in [Deku-nee's] life.

[They] may have led her back down the path of Yin to the crossroads that marked the separation between the path of Yin and the path of Yang, and [Deku-nee] may have found the strength to forge her own path between the two principles... but [Deku-nee] had never become a traditionally good person... she had only become a person who was kind as long as it was practical, and gentle with those who were brave enough to stand behind her and be engulfed in the shadows of the Higurashi's Midnight Moon. She may have come to hold affection for people other than [themselves] but if any of the Higurashi, even [their] otouto [Sōta-kun], had tried to forcibly separate [them] from [Deku-nee], she would have shown them just how much of a monster she still was beneath her pretty smiling face.

Not once had [Deku-nee] ever stopped being the dangerously obsessive person that would rather kill the object of her affections than let [her]go. It just hadn't been blatant because one thing that [her]had managed to teach [Deku-nee], was how to share [her]time and heart with others, and for all the danger of being the object of such a dangerous person's obsessions, the remaining threats that normally came standard were nowhere to be found.

[Deku-nee] used her shape shifting incarnations so spectacularly well, that there was no sensation of being hounded by a creepy stalker. If [Deku-nee] hadn't straight up told [her]and the Higurashi that she was watching every single thing they did, if [Deku-nee] didn't occasionally break character, a stranger revealing the familiar soul behind the mask, no one would ever know exactly how much of an illusion their sense of privacy really was. The only reason [her]could be sure that [Deku-nee] hadn't simply replaced everyone that [her]knew, leaving [her]a pretty bird in an invisible cage, was because [her]had asked, [Deku-nee] had said no, and if there was one thing that [Deku-nee] had never been, it was a person that would lie to [her]when directly asked.

[her]didn't even have to worry about the second danger that came from being obsessed over, no matter what their programmed behavior was, not even the surveillance incarnations showed any signs of lust the moment [Deku-nee's] primary consciousness took over. [her]couldn't ever actually remember a time in which her previous reincarnations, [Naraku], or [Magatsuhi] did either. As best [her]could tell, asexuality was just another thing that was hard-coded into [Deku-nee's] soul along with her unerring ability to sense [her]even across great distances, reincarnations, and through concealing magics.

The only danger [Deku-nee's] obsession posed, was that of violence if [her]ever decided to try to run away. If [her]never tried to completely leave, there was no issue at all. Even during [her]soul echo life as [Orihime] the promise alone, that she would meet [Sōsuke-nee] once more, was enough for her to be allowed to just walk away. Because another thing that [Deku-nee] had managed to learn somewhere along the way, is to have faith, to believe, because no matter what, [her]was a [Higurashi], and the [Higurashi] were blessed by ,[Dekuyume no Kami] Primary Operator{of} [The Eternal Battlefield]so that they would always be able to find their way home.

Now it was [her]turn to wait. Because [Sōsuke-nii] had accepted that he was a [Higurashi] too.

And one day, even if she was wearing his face, [Deku-nee] would come home.

Between her last combined thought and her first breath, she finds herself in a strange and familiar place.

The Higurashi had always used it as a metaphor, she'd never once considered the fact that it could very well be a real place. Without moving from her spot, she turns her head to look back over her shoulder down the narrow path behind her. She knows, she knows, that if she turned and walked down that path, she would find herself at a crossroads, dirt packed tight as cement under the feet of the countless souls who had come to that very spot, before choosing to turn left down the path called Yin or right down the path called Yang.

Only the souls that had gone down those roads and turned around, only they would ever have the chance to see, that hidden behind the large billboard like sign, was a third path, overgrown and treacherous that straddled the line perfectly in between the two concepts.

The only ones brave enough to head down it, were those that were led there by the Avatar of Naohi, that spirit guide that led them to the end, only to loose their power to the one that they guided, tripping on the path at the last step, and falling either to the left or to the right, but never forward. Here at the end of it she remembers the last time she stood at this place, even though the memory had not remained when she awoke.

She looks down at her feet, the stone she stood on was the last on the path, it was a rich mossy green the perfect reflection of a woman who had been known far and wide as Midoriko (the green child). To her left are the shadowy, mist laden woods of Yin, to her right, are the open flower studded plains of Yang. Before her is the precipice of something entirely new.

Breathless, wondering just what sort of stone she will leave behind now that she is Kagome Higurashi, fearlessly, she tips over the precipice to make it one step further than before. There is no fear, not when it feels like falling through time… on her way back home through the well.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

She had been aware this whole time, inside of the pink crystalline sphere that had formed around her the moment she began to change into the Avatar of Naohi. She could feel it, their love, their friendship and with the wisdom she had gained along her travels, she knew that there was only one last little bit that she was needing to complete her transformation. A treasure she had left for last. She only needed a little bravery.

Deku-nee had promised that no matter how a Higurashi changes, they will always find their way back home.

Inside the crystal, Kagome's eyes open, and with a smile, she finds her courage.

The crystal shatters like the relief of a thousand baseless fears being eternally revoked. Lightly she lands on her feet, her family rushing over to see her, shouting her name. With a heart full of warmth, she embraces them, her only recollection of her transformation a slowly fading thought:

As Midoriko she had stood once… at the end of the path of Yang

A spirit of kindness and light… and loved only for her sacrifices and perfection… glorious… and untouchable

Four souls… four souls had given her the strength to turn around and go back the way she had came

Given her Love- even if she was not perfect

Given her Friendship- even if she was a little selfish

Given her Wisdom- to understand that in her pursuit of perfection she had given up all of the things that made life worth living

Given her Courage- to step off of the pedestal, and head out into the shadowed path between Yin and Yang in pursuit of herself

As Kagome, she had reached the end of the path between Yin and Yang

and four more spirits of love, friendship, wisdom and courage

had shown her the way back home.

Kagome no Kami opens her eyes, wondering when she had closed them. Honestly, she is a little amazed that the only difference she feels after her transformation is the odd way the skin on her forehead wrinkles around the four pink stones on her forehead... and a little sad that the last bit of courage she needed, had been taken from the one Higurashi that had yet to find their way home.

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Chapter 54: The Passing of Time

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The strangle weed was so dense and knotted that there wasn't more than a single sliver of room left between the soul fragments. The Shinigami of The Sacrificial Death watches with anticipation, waiting for the growing parasite reaching out to puncture and permanently ensnare the last remaining free soul fragment. At that exact moment, her soul would be unable to grow and he wouldn't get any karmic debt for destroying Dekuyume's soul. Surreptitiously he checks once again to see if anyone has noticed. This was a dangerous game he was playing, planning to slip in and kill her and then out before anyone notices.

He had no intention of laying his hands on the Primary Operator seat of The Eternal Battlefield, desiring it would only mean that he had to turn in declaration of intent paperwork. He wanted to leave no traces behind, sacrificing that woman's soul so that he could ensure that she never created another Kami's soul again, threatening the power of the Soul Kami and the monopoly they held over the souls within The Celestial Ocean, not to mention the threat she posed to his own dimension. It didn't matter if The Eternal Battlefield conjured her back into being again. If the domain didn't wind up choosing another soul entirely to be it's Primary Operator, at the very least she would come back as a small child and have to grow up devoid of the memories that had given her such a big advantage over the rest of the Kami.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke neither knows nor cares why no one ever saw fit to return him to Senzaikyū; never once asked that he leave the halfway house that he drifted through listlessly with nothing to show for it but a mild appreciation for the view from the engawa. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring. They were all lovely... he wished that he could share them with her.

If any one speaks to him, he does not hear them, if anyone reaches out to him, he does not feel them. He only sits and stares vacantly, with no need for food or water or sleep he just sits there.

It is possible, that he would have stayed like that for many, many years. But sitting on the engawa in the deep silence of winter, he hears a little girl crying, soft and pitiful. Slowly, easing himself from his seat, knees not even cracking from his long motionless vigil, he steps into the back yard and follows the sound around to the side of the house.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Yuzu felt so useless and pathetic. Once again, some strange happening had occurred that meant that the strongest souls in the living world, Soul Society and Hueco Mundo had to gather together and go solve it. Once again they had come to the Kurosaki household, and once again Ichi-nii had gone off to save the world. But this time they had needed a powerful Quincy for whatever reason, so Masaki-kaasan had said that she would go, that had led to their father shedding his human form and going along as well. Even Karin-chan who had proven to have inherited most of their mother's abilities had gone along for some practical experience as Kaasan's apprentice.

As the only Kurosaki who couldn't see spirits, Yuzu had been left behind. She wasn't jealous, she wasn't. It just hurt that the one thing that seemed to be pulling their family tightly together, was the one thing that Yuzu herself would never have. She had trained herself so hard, and yet she had never been able to do much more than tell if a ghost was nearby. It had proved impossible to tell who, or even hear what they were saying. The only thing that she could do was make dinner and hope they got home in time to enjoy it.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke stares. He knows it isn't her, but the red haired girl hiding her tears in her knees, curled up away from sight along the side of the halfway house looks so much like Orihime that his heart aches.

Spotting him, she stops crying, rises to her feet and rubs at her eyes as she apologizes for disturbing him. "Sōsuke-san! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize that I was making such a racket that I would disturb you!" She finally looks up, peeking at him through her red puffy eyes, and her face goes pale. She rushes over to him, gently tugging at his sleeve, "Sōsuke-san! Are you! Are you ok?"

Curiously his face tickles at that moment and he raises his hand to wipe at his face, only to find it damp. Ah. He must have been crying. It wasn't really a surprise, he was more concerned for her. Gently, he reaches out and traces one of the tear tracks still left on her cheeks. The little girl sniffles, looking away a little embarrassed, "The world needs saving again, and as the only Kurosaki who can't see spirits I got left behind again. I don't really mind that, the getting left behind that is! After all fighting is scary, and it's not like they all went on a family vacation without me, I just... I just wish I could see too you know? I feel like I'm missing so much about their lives because I can only see them when they're in their bodies. It gets so lonely when they all stop talking in the middle of dinner and turn to face the empty guest chair and they all nod along at words I can't hear." She sniffles again and rubs at her eyes some more.

He crouches down to her level, his heart breaking in familiar ways, but for new reasons. With a soft, sad smile, his voice rough from disuse he asks, "Seeing? Is, is clearly seeing spirits really all you want?" The girl's dark brown eyes are pleading and hopeful as she peers at him, "Really? Could you really make it so that I don't get left behind?" He nods, and with a squeal of joy she lunges forward and wraps her arms around his neck for a hug chanting, "Thank you. Thank you thank you."

Gently pushing her back he rises to his feet, willing Kyōka Suigetsu to materialize. This odd Gigai he was in could allow for the manifestation of his zanpakutō and Kidō as if they were physical world phenomena instead of spiritual. If Sōsuke got out much, it would have been inconvenient to have the effects of his Kidō showing up to the sight of one and all and not existing solely on the spiritual spectrum out of sight of those who were not spiritually aware.

With effort, his Reiatsu control poor after nearly a full year of doing nothing but suppressing it, and his voice heavy, he calls out to his oldest friend, a surge of guilt momentarily overriding his grief for how long he had ignored Kyō-kun, imouto-chan and Magatsuhi, "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Yuzu is awe stricken. To think that all this time, the one person who could grant her wish was also the one that had been responsible for bringing her mother and father together. The moment he says his release phrase, her world bursts into color as if her whole life she had been seeing everything through a color smothering filter, and he had, with just three words, removed it. So this was what it was like to be under the Complete Hypnosis, no wonder Orihime-san had spoken of it so much in her diary.

She can only stare as a man dressed in old fashioned robes and brilliant purple eyes appears out of thin air. Ignoring her, he stomps over to Aizen-san and grabs him in a strong hug, crying as he clings to him, "How dare you ignore me for so long Sōsuke! Don't you remember? Shared joys are doubled and shared sorrows are halved. She may be gone but you have me to share your burdens with, you have Kisuke, and the dreaming Kami as well. Even Magatsuhi, for all that he just lays under the water and howls about how cruel the Kami are these days. We're all still here."

With wide eyes, she watches a little girl appear, her three sets of pure white butterfly wings fluttering as she joins in on the hug. Unsure of just who these two spirits are, but heart going out to him all the same, she steps forward too, looking up at him when he chokes in surprise, she smiles, "You have the rest of us too you know, we miss Orihime-san too."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Shinigami of The Sacrificial Death screams with rage when the last soul fragment begins to glow, expanding and hardening as the soul in it's entirety grows, the sharp edges of several soul fragments cut through dozens of tightly packed vines shearing them in half. Like a bag full of magnets that has just burst, the soul fragments that were just liberated jerk backwards creating more space between them. The vines of strangle weed that had been cut begin to wither.

He is very angry at the set back. He had been this close to taking care of this menace. Now he will have to wait for the withering parts to fall off before the vines will even try again to reach for the newly liberated soul shards. It was aggravating, but clearly no one else had seen what had just happened. It was still only a matter of time before he finally achieved his goal, even if it had just suddenly increased in length again.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dealing with the most recent issue to trouble the afterlives hadn't been anywhere near as difficult as anything Aizen Sōsuke had thrown at them back in the day. As a group, they decide to return to the halfway house for some R&R only to all crash into each other in the doorway to the main room. Sneaking invisibly past them Kisuke ignores them all to head back to the engawa to check on Sōsuke. Only to be halted in his tracks by the soft clinking of china and a rough voice he had not heard in over a year. "Kisuke. Won't you join us for tea? It's all old and has lost most of it's aromatics, but the company at least is good."

With a wide smile on his face that he doesn't even try to hide, he joins Sōsuke and Yuzu-chan at the short table, "Well Sōsuke, May I Inquire, just what it is that has lured you back? I don't mean to pry, I merely wish to ensure that it becomes a trend and not a singular miracle."

The miraculous little girl at the table, giggles as she pours him a cup of admittedly bland tea, "Sōsuke-sensei has promised to let me use the Complete Hypnosis and Perception Warp to make up for the fact that I can't see spirits as well as everyone else. He's also promised to give me some special training so that I can eventually see them on my own without help!"

Across the table, Sōsuke merely smiles, a little sad, a little happy, but all over, more gentle than anything Kisuke has ever seen before, forcing him to acknowledge that while Sōsuke may have recovered enough to feel up to interacting with people, he was by no means better. He was still an emotionally battered man, and it would likely take a lifetime to make him whole again.

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Chapter 55: The Trail of Seeds that Leads Home

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El Blanco Diablo, the Primary Operator of El Hueco Mundo

Once, a seed of eternity had fallen away from El Hueco Mundo. The fragment of domain formed when it's first Primary Operator, Magatsuhi, was schismed from his domain, and released upon his death eons later. It had but a moment to float, adrift in the celestial Ocean before it was recalled back into the dimensions that had created it. Because while seeds of eternity could not be forced to rejoin the domain they were separated from, they could be used for other things.

Tens of thousands of years before Yhwach was even a thought in his creators mind, the Soul King of The Soul Society, reached into the sea of Aether and grabbed the seed of eternity that had once been his counterpart. Perhaps it is nostalgia, perhaps it is loneliness, but he can't help but want to hold close the only thing that remained of his counterpart outside of his memories. Though he was already the master of the domain, El Hueco Mundo, though the insane carcass of his counterpart still roamed the eternally changing desert, though it was not needed, the Soul King did not want to let go. And so, he did not.

His left hand closed tightly around the seed of eternity, and by the power invested in him as the only Soul Kami with authority in this dimension, he bound the seed of eternity to his left hand with a soul plucked from the Soul Cradle. The Soul Cradle was the isolated net he had created to catch souls that had been rendered invisible to his eyes due to the overuse of The Sneaking Spell he had given to his vassals on the soul tending side of The Soul Society. Slowly a slit forms in the palm of his hand, opening like an eye lid revealing a single orb with two pupils.

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The Bone-clad Judge, the Primary Operator of The Hell Verse

The Bone-Clad Judge did not die at the hands of their last remaining counterpart. They died at their own. Her name had been Sai, and of the three Soul Kami that governed these dimensions, she was the only one who had possessed a soul first, her domain choosing her to be its Primary Operator instead of conjuring one up from its stored Aether. Unfortunately, she was also the only one who never should have possessed a soul. For hundreds of thousands of years, she watched as those who were assigned to her domain endured this hellish refrain, this Hell Verse. Resurrect , fight , die , resurrect , fight , die ... For hundreds of thousands of years she watched and listened to their three step beat of existence, and yet none of them ever, ever changed, not even herself.

Every day for millennia she watched and the only thing that never changed was that eventually the souls she governed grew bored of the endless repeating refrain and simply stopped. The final note of their personal song ended not on a loud crashing DIE. But a soft whispering die, soft as the sound of their crumbling bones as they broke down to become the sand at the bottom of their hourglass.

A relentless metronome as another soul arrived to continue the refrain, resurrect , fight , die , resurrect , fight , die . The final note of the soul that no longer sang along, poignant only because they at least had managed to stop themselves from repeating their personal verse.

Sai's only change, the chorus of The Soul King and chaotic bridge of El Diablo Blanco was now broken. One was driven mad by the souls he was not meant to carry without a soul of his own, and the other had no interest in singing along. The only sound she heard now as just a hellish verse forever on repeat. Resurrect , fight , die , resurrect , fight , die .

It should come to no surprise to anyone that Sai herself eventually chose the only out available to those who unwillingly called The Hell Verse their home.

When her seed of eternity floated past him on a wave of Aether, the Soul King snatched it from the air and did as he had done upon the death of his other counterpart. Into his right hand The Stagnation was born.

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The Soul King the Primary Operator of The Soul Society

The Soul King did not understand the concept of loneliness, which often led souls from the world of the living and into his domains. In the attempt to remedy this he came across a problem, to feel loneliness, you must have someone to miss. He decided then to create someone that would foster this feeling of loneliness in him. He created a replicate called a son because it was male. He did not want to give it a soul, as the chaotic nature of souls would likely spoil the experiment. So instead of soul fragments he gave the child two seeds of eternity one from his first domain, and another from his third domain. Again there was no reason to add further chaos to the experiment, something that would be all but guaranteed if he contaminated his son with the catalytic nature of El Hueco Mundo.

Shortly after he is done creating his son he sends it away to another part of the palace and waits to miss the child. He waits a very long time, so long in fact that he eventually dismisses the experiment as a failure and moves on to other things, even as the boy he had abandoned learns that if he gives out fractions of his own soul he can gain power of his own.

The boy never learns that what he had been giving away were the seeds of eternity that created him, nor that he had created for himself a composite soul out of all of the tiny fragments he stole from his supplicants. Millennia later, enraged at the heartlessness of his father, who allowed such a sad system of life and death and loss and loneliness to persist, sought to take the Primary Operator seat. In the end he succeed only in snatching his father's legs, another seed of eternity before he was banished.

Perhaps the Soul King had wondered if he simply hadn't sent his son far enough away to feel loneliness. Who is to say? Even Dekuyume knows only that Yhwach walking away with those seeds of eternity was programmed into the GFM-DCOM. Just as the son of the Soul King was programmed to keep not a single one of them. Indeed, he passes them on to his Quincy without ever knowing, each embedded in a soul fragment as it is passed on once more to three of his supplicants in exchange for the promise of a future return on the investment.

But sometimes investments never come to fruition, and Yhwach is sealed by Yamamoto before he can recall those fragments. Each of which is passed down parent to child, over and over until the inbreeding of the so called pure Quincy results in the only possible end. One single Quincy carries all three soul fragments, and their embedded seeds of eternity. Her parents name her Kurosaki Masaki.

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The Soul King the Primary Operator of The Soul Society

Much... much later

Once there was a heart, that was in a body, that had lost both of its arms and legs. The mind had gone to sleep never to wake again, and the heart was lonely. With no arms it could not even hold its own hand in comfort and so it broke free. Crawling from the flesh, blood and bone prison that held it captive it wished it had a body of its own, with hands to grasp, a mind to think, legs to walk, a soul breathe life into it, and the power to make sure that it never wound up so lonely again. In the living world, Gerard Valkyrie awoke in the body of a full-grown man. He possessed a soul because a soul Kami had willed him to have one, though he had given up his status as a Kami to have it. But not his power, in his leave taking and creation he had stolen from his/self creator a seed of eternity, a tiny little miracle he would one day claim as his Quincy gift M – The Miracle.

Upon his death, the seed of eternity remains within him, carried further than most souls ever travel, reincarnating in the far past as the child of two spirits in Soul Society in a time long before Shinigami ever used Zanpakutō. He lived a simple, albeit charmed life as his parents were vassals of the Soul King and served in the administrative sector of The Soul Society as technicians. Upon reaching his majority he chose to follow his parents into the service, just in time for the roll-out of a new means of overseeing the souls the technicians were reincarnating. He became the Zanpakutō spirit known as Engetsu and he found it to be very rewarding work until one day something strange happened.

A man in a green and white stripped hat, convinced his Shinigami to use him as a catalyst in some weird spell. He slept for two decades beneath a soul that wasn't even his shinigami, before he stirred awake safe once more inside his Shinigami's inner world. The Soul behind the Zanpakutō spirit Engetsu was relieved to find himself unchanged. He would never ever know that during his slumber he had been used as far more than a catalyst, but not by any insidious mad-scientist shopkeepers.

It was simply nature at its most unrefined. Because when two soul fragments came close enough to touch, a new soul could be created. That the soul fragment lost by Engetsu contained a The Soul Society, seed of eternity stolen from the Soul King during his past incarnation had nothing to do with science, only fate. Fate Matrix fate, no less.

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El Blanco Diablo, the Primary Operator of El Hueco Mundo

During the first Quincy war, Yhwach managed to slice both of his fathers hands from his body. After being severed from the Soul King, the right hand, The Evolution, and took up the name Pernida the same time it joined the army of the one who had freed it from its endless boredom attached to the Soul King.

He is killed a less than a thousand years later and when his soul reincarnates, it brings the seed of eternity with it, the Technician in charge of his reincarnation assuming that the divine tag attached to his soul is a chunk of the Soul King, and never even suspects a seed of eternity never-mind one formed from El Hueco Mundo. To be fair, it wasn't as if they were all that common in these dimensions.

The technician never gets a chance to find out as the soul is still relatively young, just another nameless shinigami that becomes a victim of one Aizen Sōsuke's experiments. As the soul is fed to a synthesized hollow named White, the technician is booted from the system.

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The Bone-clad Judge, the Primary Operator of The Hell Verse

Unlike it's mirrored twin, after being severed from the Soul King, Mimihagi, the right hand, wishes only to return to how things used to be. However with it's power of stagnation, it could only maintain things as they currently are, it had no power to cause change. In the end it simply lays where it fell, waiting for The Soul King to retrieve it. Over time, souls build a shrine to it, but it does not care. They come sometimes bringing pleas, prayers and begging for help. But once again Mimihagi was helpless to help them. They asked for change, and change was not something Mimihagi could do. Change was only something that could be done to it. And change, something did. One day a boy came to the shrine with his parents, who pleaded for Mimihagi to make their son well. The boy was very sick, exhausted from his rampant coughing fits which he could not seem to get enough respite. Mimihagi did nothing, they were asking for change and change it could not do. But the boy, in a rare lull in his coughing, looked up at the right hand of the soul king, and with a ravaged voice, finally asked for the right thing, "You don't have to make me better Kami-sama, I just don't want to die."

A deal is struck, because Mimihagi was only a hand that could not change anything, but the one thing he wanted more than anything else was to return to how things were, bound and relaxed as just the right hand of The Soul King and not Mimihagi The Stagnation, the Right-hand of the Soul King. Mimihagi's part of the deal is fulfilled immediately, and while the sick boy never gets better, neither does he get any worse than when he made the deal.

Eventually the day comes when it is time for the boy to make good on his end of the deal, he calls Mimihagi from its deep slumber and it awakens to a world awash with chaos. Yhwach risen once more, the left hand and heart having long since taken up names of their own, forsaking their connection to the Soul King. With something close to heartache, Mimihagi discovers that it is never going to have its true wish granted, all that remains of the Soul King is an empty husk, a bundle of programming struggling to keep the system in motion while all three domain ships wait on standby for some pre-programmed signal.

In a rush of divine power Mimihagi checks the local GFM-DCOM only to be dissapointed. It was not what it wanted, but it was not for the hand to want something other than what the mind told it to want, and it was only a hand of stagnation. It could not fight against the fate of all souls. Quietly it accepts its orders, collapsing the remains of the husk of the Soul King and commanding his priest to go on a suicide mission to exterminate the remaining fragments of the Soul King.

Together, they die, one to await his resurrection, the other to vanish deep into the administrative section of The Soul Society, to hold the balance of a chaotic world still until it was time for the re-appointment of it's Primary Operator. Mimihagi dies as it lived, just a hand unable to cause change, but still capable of being changed itself. A fragment of the priest's soul remains un-relinquished, even as it collapses down into a seed of eternity. Their unfulfilled bargain a heavy weight that greatly shapes the future of the soul that reincarnates from the union. The black haired, green eyed child becomes the son of Ukitake Jūshirō.

Three times over the soul reincarnates, but there are some things that can never be washed out of a soul, and in the case of the 4th reincarnation of Mimihagi, that was an unrelenting desire to make sure that the important things in life never changed. Sometimes to his own detriment, his desire to cling so strongly to the past is ultimately what causes Isshin Kurosaki to play the fool even as his son is dragged further and further into the chaos of the afterlife.

It should come to no surprise that one of the three soul fragments he passed on to create the new souls of his children was one which contained a The Hell Verse, seed of eternity embedded in Mimihagi so long ago. Merely, fate.

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Chapter 56: The Soul King

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Yuzu wondered if it had been unplanned, or if the Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield had known of her desire for non-combative equals, a healthier relationship than what she had shared with El Diablo Blanco of El Hueco Mundo and The Bone-Clad Judge of The Hell Verse. Though they had been her counterparts, they had been more rivals than anything and their conflict had led to the insanity of one and the suicide of the other and her possession of their domains for the stability of their shared dimension. An important thing at the time, as she hadn't existed outside of it and hadn't wanted to flicker and disappear into nothingness.

Carefully, she stretches her Reiatsu, and wiggles her jello like Reiryoku, testing out her limits. As far as personal strength went, she wasn't all that much to write home about. If it were not for the power of her domain supporting her, she wouldn't be able to breathe from the ambient pressure. She would become impressive with time, she didn't get to start out that way unlike Ichi-nii, who had the catalytic nature of a hollow to rapidly spur his soul's growth.

Delicately, she feels through her divine power, slowly enabling all of the processes that had been held in standby first by the Husk she had left behind, and then by Mimihagi. With a fond farewell, she takes up the balance, and allows Mimihagi to enter the reincarnation cycle. Grateful that she has so easily and quickly taken up her duties, she ponders her next step, and her current position. It would serve those nasty nobles right, if her next action was to move out of the administrative section of The Soul Society, and completely disband them. Nothing she had ever heard about them, not before Sōsuke-sensei killed off the first batch, or escaped the machinations of the second, nor what her family complained about when they visited her, had left a good impression.

Really though, they could all wait. They had made enough of a mess of things, that waiting a few days longer wouldn't leave her with any less of a mess to cleanup. She had better things to deal with first, her family is waiting for her and she has missed them. Kami lights gather in the very center of The Soul Society. Her family, whom had likely used Kisuke-san's reincarnation tracker to determine when she would appear in Seireitei, were waiting outside of the Kidō Corps garden for her butterfly form to appear. It was going to worry them when she didn't, so she had to hurry.

She does not appear anywhere but where she was always meant to be. She finishes her awakening on a throne, appearing as she did in her thirties, long light brown hair curled in an elaborate hairstyle, black, red, white bone and gold ornaments serving as her crown. The only parts of White that extended past her crown lay in her staff-like continuous release zanpakutō.

The Soul King rises from her seat, the duality of her soul bound memories and ancient memories as a derived Kami mixing for a brief moment, before the oldest of them settles, folding underneath the other. The final step of her en-souling process complete. She has finished her Becoming, and now it was time to see to it that her siblings and counterparts finished theirs.

Stepping down from her throne, she twirls in a circle, looking around to get her bearings, grateful that the iromuji kimono shape of her Shihakushō does not trip her, though it will restrict how wide of a step she can take. The body of it was white, its simplicity only serving to highlight the beautiful and elaborately tied obi depicting a profusion of gold Ginkgo, and knotted into a butterfly knot at her back. Running her fingers across the fabric she remembers Sōsuke-sensei's lessons, all with a far deeper purpose now that she is aware of her position in the grand scheme of things, strength, hope, peace, longevity, endurance and vitality. This was a good message to carry with her wrapped around her body like armor.

She can feel it, as her vassals become aware that she has returned. She can tell each movement that the countless numbers of them make, guards and technicians, as they move through her halls. She knows that they are coming to greet her. But there are some people that she had to see first.

In her left hand is her zanpakutō, a staff of bone, with stripes of red and black spiraling around it from crown to base in a helix. At its base is a three inch zanpakutō and at its crown is a globe of clear glass containing three tiny glowing stars upon a tiny three armed scale. With a soft laugh she shakes her head at the wonder of it all. It is a simple matter of will, of taking a single step forward and she is no longer in her palace, but in the northern part of Seireitei. The simplicity of a Kami exerting their power in their own domain.

Taking her time to see how her people are doing, and reminiscing, she slowly makes her way to the hell butterfly garden where she knows she can find her family. At least, where she can find most of them, there were two people that had become precious to her that would likely never set foot in Seireitei again. Of the two of them, one couldn't and the other would not leave the other behind. When it came time to return Sōsuke-sensei back to the Higurashi, she wondered what Urahara-san would do.

After that day that Sōsuke-sensei had granted her deepest wish and begun to speak again, the Kurosaki and Urahara households had closed ranks around him. Even though he was speaking and interacting with people again anyone with eyes could see that Aizen Sōsuke was a broken man. The candy-shop had long since been fully converted into a halfway house for those who frequently transferred back and forth across the Dangai. Without Urahara-san conducting his experiments there, and with the lab safely sealed up and not needing a guard, Tessai had been free to get a day job and Ururu and Jinta free to focus on school.

It had almost seemed as if nothing had changed when Sōsuke-sensei settled in like an invisible, listless ghost after Orihime-san disappeared into Naohi. The day that the Central 46 had declared they would no longer pursue him as long as he remained in the world of the living, Urahara-san had moved back. They had tried to prevent him from doing so, but he had simply argued that with so many powerful souls in Karakura town it was in their best interests if a Taichō level soul was permanently stationed there, thus freeing up the patrols to handle the rest of the world instead of investing so much of their time there.

The Kurosaki had stepped in to help Urahara-san care for Sōsuke-sensei when a plot had been hatched to distract Urahara-san with a drugged up Vasto Lorde released into the center of town, while an assassin went after Sōsuke-sensei. Fortunately for everyone involved, her mother had had an appointment with Urahara-san to check her non-standard Gigai, and Ichi-nii and her father had gone with her. Masaki-kaasan hated going there, because even though he was easy to avoid, she hadn't wanted to see the man who had done so much harm to her family.

Urahara-san always made sure to keep them apart, especially after Masaki-kaasan threatened to kill Sōsuke-sensei and send him to his just punishment at the hands of the Central 46. Isshin-otousan's vigorous agreement hadn't helped at all, and the only reason it hadn't happened was because Ichi-nii and Kairin-chan refused to allow it. At the time, Yuzu herself hadn't known much of anything to make a decision either way. Masaki-kaasan's opinion was forced to change however, when they arrived at the halfway house and discovered the assassin stabbing Sōsuke-sensei over and over, and him just sitting there taking it, too despondent to care, and too immortal for the assassin to matter. Hatred had turned to pity which had turned to gratitude a few short months later when Sōsuke-sensei had granted Yuzu's deepest wish.

When Yuzu invited him over to have dinner as a way of showing her gratitude, he came, and not a single person objected. Remembering what Orihime-san had written in her diary about Sōsuke-sensei loving to teach, she had purposefully waited until he was scheduled to arrive to pull out her homework for her most difficult subject, hoping that it would draw him further out of his shell. Seeing her struggling he had taken the bait, and together the two of them had the longest conversation that he had participated in for over a year, even if it was on geometry and the Pythagoras theorem.

It had been natural, to ask him to be her tutor, and even more natural for Karin to join in as well since they were in the same classes. After that Ichi-nii had even settled in to study with them, though she could never remember if it was because Sōsuke-sensei had used her geography lessons to explain why something was happening in his history homework, or if it was simply because Ichi-nii pitied Sōsuke-sensei and missed Orihime-san too.

Sōsuke-sensei had become less of a tutor and more of a real Sensei when Ichi-nii started taking classes at the community college, unwilling to bring the insanity of afterlife politics out of their tiny but well protected town. After he complained about not having any good resources for his business courses, Sōsuke-sensei had disappeared for a moment into Urahara-san's lab and returned with a book that Yuzu had instinctively known that she wouldn't have been able to see if it weren't for Sōsuke-sensei and Kyōka Suigetsu -san proxying everything supernatural to her through the Complete Hypnosis. It had been one of the books he had written himself when he had planed to be the one to do the formal education of the newly en-souled Soul King. Curious the three of them had asked to see the rest, and he had provided them without a single objection, only a small secretive smile. Looking back on it, with what she knows now, it makes her wonder which of the two of them had manipulated whom into becoming Tutor and mentee.

After graduating, doing all of his internships and taking all of his tests, Ichi-nii became a doctor at Ishida-san's hospital. He was the first one to realize that Masaki-kaasan's cough wasn't just the flu, but a serious issue with her Gigai. After a long family discussion it was decided that it was time she and Otousan returned to the other-side. It had been a sad but happy affair, the two of them pretended to die together in their sleep, and stayed long enough to receive the well wishes of the people in the living world that came to their funerals.

Taking the opportunity to visit, Ichi-nii had decided to go with them to make sure that they made it all right. It was only supposed to be a short visit, but it could have so easily turned into a tragedy. Sōsuke-sensei and Urahara-san had stayed with Yuzu and Karin in the world of the living, the four of them mourning a little in Masaki-kaasan's favorite cake shop when Sōsuke-sensei suddenly lurched to his feet, mouth open in surprise. He had leaned forward, slapping his hands on the table forcefully and his mouth moving as if he were speaking though no one could hear what he said. Thankfully Urahara-san managed to calm the wait-staff who were alarmed by his behavior and the four of them left the shop.

Just outside the doors, Sōsuke-sensei collapsed from Reiatsu exhaustion, leaving them all to hurriedly make their way back to the halfway house in search of news. Ichi-nii had come back with his shihakushō torn and a scowl deeper than they had seen in years on his face.

Aunt Kūkaku and Uncle Ganju had been fooled by one of the former Espada who had hidden in their house for years pretending to be Uncle Kaien. The serial killer had been eating people on the sly and had been hiding there in hopes of being the one to do what no one else could. Be the hollow that finally managed to eat Kurosaki Ichigo. If Isshin-otousan hadn't listened when Sōsuke-sensei had screamed at him through the Complete Hypnosis, the serial killer would have succeed. No one at the Shiba estate had been under the Compete Hypnosis, so Sensei had never seen the serial killer arrive, and Masaki-kaasan had demanded the same immunity that Sōsuke-sensei had offered Ichi-nii and honestly Yuzu was surprised that their otousan hadn't as well.

She was glad that he hadn't, when their Shiba cousins had angrily investigated, trying to prove that Sōsuke-sensei had made Isshin-otousan kill another Shiba, they had discovered enough bloody and torn clothes to garb a whole district. They had been shocked, naturally, and on top of settling into a grudging neutral stance when it came to Sensei, they also worked with their ancient enemies the Aizomeya to push reforms through the Central 46 to fix the processes that were used to handle souls that appeared in the Rukongai so that no one would simply disappear without a single person noticing they were gone.

The next one to move over to the other-side hadn't been Ichi-nii like everyone was expecting, it had been Karin. Her twin sister hadn't died of natural causes, she just couldn't stand to remain the world of the living after her husband Jinta and newborn daughter had died in a car accident. Ichi-nii had attempted to linger in the living world for Yuzu's sake, but it was easy to see from all of the trips that he was taking back and forth that he was really worried about Karin and wanted to join the search to find Jinta and their daughter and reunite them. After much encouragement on Yuzu's part, he had gone.

It was only supposed to be a short trip, just for a couple of months in time measured by the living world but it was one that became permanent. Kon-kun, the little spirit that protected and piloted Ichi-nii's body took over while he was gone. He was used to protecting them from hollows. That a crazy Nurse would purposefully infect him with HIV because Ichi-nii refused to date her was something he had never considered. Her beautiful face was so ugly, twisted with madness when she screamed and shouted as the news vans recorded her being dragged into the police car. It was a sad tragedy for anyone looking in from the outside, it was worse for those who knew... the reason Ichi-nii had refused to date her was because of how much she looked like Orihime-san.

In the end, Kon-kun begged to be allowed to be the one to die in Ichi-nii's body to atone for failing to protect it, no matter how everyone assured him that it wasn't his fault. Ichi-nii eventually agreed, and his short but successful trip to Seireitei became permanent. Now it was Yuzu who was the one that was infrequently visited by her dead family members, visits that became more and more uncomfortable as they began to get worried about her age, lack of husband, and long string of exes.

Yuzu halts in her tracks, palming her heated cheeks as she blushes, recalling the long embarrassing talk she had had with her mother when the sweet woman had tried to hint that her family would love her just the same if she was homosexual. However, in her typical naive and blithe manner, she had completely missed the point that her mother had been trying to make until, frustrated, her mother had just blurted it out point blank. She had been so embarrassed! Just thinking about it, even after all this time, was enough to make her embarrassed all over again.

It had eventually been Sōsuke-sensei, who had put an end to all of the harping. It had been simple and uncomplicated, just a ruffle of her hair and the words, "Don't let them push you into anything that will make you unhappy. There's nothing to be ashamed of, being Aromantic and still sexual is not a sin. What matters is that you feel comfortable in your own skin. The reason that they are pushing so hard is because they don't want you to be lonely. It isn't that they do not care about your feelings, it's because they don't understand them. Knowing this, the solution is easy enough, wouldn't you agree?"

In that moment, more than any of the others during her long life, she had understood the peace and relief Orihime-san had expressed when she realized that Dekuyume-neesan always took the hardest step out of any battle. Before he had said the words, she hadn't even understood just what was wrongwith her that made it impossible for her to love her exes back the way that they loved her, and why she could put up with it for only so long before trying left her feeling uncomfortable, and the desolate hope in her exes eyes made her feel so damn guiltythat the only thing she could do was end the relationship. Aromantic. One little word that connected her to a whole world of people who liked sex, but never felt or wanted romance. One little definition that meant that she wasn't a slut, she was perfectly normal, and there were so many other people just like her that they had their own definition and their own little pride flag.

She had cried for days after that, she was so happy and relieved. The catharsis of three decades of not understanding herself. Here, at the age of forty-two, she finally had the words to explain to her family why she was happy with her private life, just the way it was. Worries eased, the frequent, worried visits tapered off into something much more manageable. After a long and happy life, fruitful after she decided to adopt two orphans who could also see the supernatural, Urahara-san and Sōsuke-sensei serving as her assistants, time eventually did what it does to everyone but Sōsuke-sensei.

Surrounded by her adopted children, and her grandchildren, Sensei and Guard at her side, her family ready and waiting to escort her to the other side, Yuzu Kurosaki died at the age of 123. Her soul instantly vanishing off to Seireitei without the need to be helped along.

At her deathbed, they had promised to wait for her at the hell butterfly garden, never realizing just how long it was that they had been waiting for her all ready. With a grin, she arrives in the Kidō Corps Hell Butterfly Garden, just not in the way that they had likely been expecting.

"Yuzu!" She is tackled to the ground in a strong hug, by a much younger version of her twin. Ichi-nii standing near by. She quickly lets go of her sister to hug him as well. His voice is rough as he hugs her back, "Hey Yuzu. The trip here wasn't too bad I hope."

Realizing that they have no idea she is speaking about her whole life she grins, "No it was good. Everything I could have ever hoped for." A little puzzled by her behavior and strange arrival, Ichi-nii who had mellowed with age, just shrugs and starts leading the way away, "C'mon lets get you inside."

Upon arriving at the Shiba Estate she gets even more hugs from her mother and father, and finally unable to bear the curiosity, Karin asks about what she is wearing. It was the question she had been waiting for. Nervous anticipation surges through her and she pushes it aside.

Blushing she clears her throat. "I am sure that everyone remembers that the reason why Sōsuke-sensei was eventually driven out of Seireitei was because he had caused the Soul King to enter the reincarnation cycle." A flabbergasted look plasters itself over her brother and twin's faces. She can't help but grin when she thinks about how surprised this next bit is going to make them.

Reaching out to grab the hands of her two siblings she releases their domains back to them, "I am the fulcrum upon which the balance of the worlds sit, I am The Fulcrum of Souls, Last of the Three Soul Kings, Yuzu no Kami. My domain is called The Soul Society. In my Right hand is The Stagnation, the Second of the three Soul Kings, Karin no Kami, The Bone-Clad Judge, her domain is called The Hell Verse. In my left hand is The Evolution, the first of the three Soul Kings, Ichigo no Kami, El Blanco Diablo, his domain is El Hueco Mundo. By our authority as Primary Operators I declare our vacant thrones filled."

Looking down at herself she smiles mischievously, "Though I suppose they will have to call me The Soul Queen now won't they?"

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Episode 33 : The Kingmaker and the Three Kings

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There had been a lot of work to get through, countless errors and issues that the husk of the Soul King had not been able to address and literal mountains of paperwork to deal with. Thank their lucky stars that someone on the immortal plain had already laid the groundwork for converting from paper to electronic otherwise their hands would have become mutilated from the paper-cuts and hand cramps.

It had taken a ridiculously long time, time dilation cranked up to max in the administrative sector of The Soul Society where the three kings had gathered to get through the backlog, but they had finally caught up... and abolished several dozen useless forms and reports that served no purpose other than busy work for the Central 46, which they had also quite gleefully dissolved.

With a twist of her will, The Soul Queen dilates time so that they arrive at the time for their next appointment. The Bone Clad Judge and El Diablo Blanco sitting at her sides, the three of them already having decided that after this last important thing they were going to move into the Council of Souls to conduct all of their future business.

A tall man with a white-blond mullet and zigzag eyebrows strides into the room wearing fancy western clothes looking like a male Gothic Lolita. He nods politely to them before extending his hand and floating over to them a bound sheaf of paper. " I, Jareth, The Goblin King of The Labyrinth, derived minor Kami of Matter and Soul, conclude my service as the Arbitrator for the Trial of Dekuyume by delivering unto the Primary Operator of The Soul Society my final report." With nothing more than another nod, the other Kami spins sharply on his heels and strolls out of the room, hands clearly washed of the matter.

Ichigo no Kami snorts and rolls his eyes, "What a weirdo." Karin no Kami just shakes her head, "You don't know what weird is, I woke up halfway through." Yuzu no Kami gasps in surprise, "Halfway through what?" Karin no Kami flinches a bit before glancing over at their brother who is suddenly scowling at the report as if it has offended him, "Remember that time that we found out that otousan was a Shinigami because Sōsuke-sensei had to go and rescue us from the prisoners who had escaped from The Hell Verse?"

Yuzu no Kami nods at the reminder and her twin continues her explanation, "We got you out pretty fast, but Sōsuke-sensei and I got stuck there for a lot longer, and he did the best he could, but I still wound up starving to death since there wasn't any food for living people there. The moment I died, my Domain accepted me as Primary Operator, but it was way too early, my soul wasn't even developed enough to speak. I had enough control to get us out of there, and set the gates to recreate my mortal body. I forgot when I woke up but I remember now. It'd be the same as having a perfectly clear memory of floating around inside your mother's womb before being born. Like I said weird."

Ichigo no Kami snorts, "That guy was still weirder... and kind of a dick. From this report it's pretty clear that he's really only nice to abandoned kids and his consort and thinks that everyone else can go fuck themselves." Karin no Kami nods, flipping through some more pages of the report, "I still disagree on the weird part, but he was definitely a jerk, I'm surprised that Sara Williams actually managed to convince him to go and save Sōsuke-sensei during his first encounter with The Ancient Wyrm." Yuzu no Kami frowns flipping through her own set, "Wait, didn't he wind up saying that it was to completely pay off some debt from before?"

Karin no Kami snorts, "Harsh.", and Yuzu no Kami can't help but agree, "The whole Trial was way harder on Sōsuke-sensei than we had ever intended for it to be." Ichigo no Kami flips through the pages and pulls one out handing it over to her, "Doesn't really matter how difficult we wanted it to be since his previous incarnation was the one who programmed his fate matrix. Not a single thing happened to him that wasn't wanted. On top of clearing his own Karmic Debt, he still managed to prove that it is possible to give someone a soul without a Soul Kami having to sacrifice a great deal of their power in exchange for the increased complexity, he also proved that is possible to do it without muddying the authority a Kami held over their domain..."

Yuzu no Kami grins, "And since he proved that he was noble enough not to take advantage of whichever Kami it was that he was en-souling, I proudly declare that he had passed his Trial to our satisfaction! Furthermore, because of his actions, so much of the prejudice that would have made our lives difficult is gone! All three domains are already working together perfectly! Just think about how many dimensions similar to ours exist where everything has gone to shit!"

Looking back and forth between her siblings she bounces excitedly in her seat, "What do you say we give Sensei a reward for doing such a good job!" Ichigo no Kami looks concerned and hesitant for a moment before his jaw firms and he nods, Karin no Kami already nodding along.

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She greets them in the Dangai as a side passage opens to reveal her standing on a disembarking platform as if she were a spaceship docked to the timeless space. The expression on her face is soft and warm and strong in ways that none of them were really expecting, even knowing who she had been before. She bows politely to them "Thank-you for allowing me to dock with your inter-dimensional dock between The Soul Society, The Hell Verse and El Hueco Mundo. If you will excuse me for skipping the pleasantries? There is a Higurashi here on your mortal plain and it is far past the time they were expected home."

Ichigo no Kami clears his throat, and awkwardly bows back politely, hating the fact that his sisters are leaving this all up to him. But given who it was had come to pick up Sōsuke-sensei, was it really a surprise? "Nah, that's cool. Go right on ahead." She smiles brightly at him and his heart clenches in his chest, a poignant ache that only gets worse when she turns and walks away without a second glance.

Ichigo was a Kami now, one who remembered everything that would have, should have, could have happened, had Dekuyume no Kami not had her Trial here in this dimension. He knew, that if Sōsuke-sensei hadn't gone out of his way to build up Orihime's confidence, if the looming threat of a young death from Naohi hadn't spurred her on... Orihime would have been his wife, not just in five lifetimes, but in thousands of dimensions.

But not this one, because Orihime was part of Kagome Higurashi now, and Kagome Higurashi's heart was already spoken for.

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Ururu's grand children were sparring down in the underground training area, practice difficult not because of their abilities, but because growth spurts were a nightmare when you had started training young. As one, the two of them freeze, just out of range of a square stone well that seems to materialize out of nowhere. A pale feminine hand reaches up over the lip and hoists herself out.

Upstairs, Sōsuke freezes, his eyes going wide with shock for a moment before a beatific smile graces his face. He jumps from his seat, leaving his tea and a surprised Kisuke behind.

Kisuke can only stare in surprise as Sōsuke lurches up from their tea and imaginary Go game and runs out of the room a breathtaking smile on his face full of hope and wonder. Kisuke follows after, awash with curiosity. He arrives in the underground training area just in time to see Sōsuke stumble to his knees, "Imouto...? Is it really you?" The black haired, blue eyed woman with the four slivers of pink jewel on her forehead wraps her arms around the kneeling man's shoulders and cradles his head to her stomach where he sobs like a retired tyrant who has just been absolved of all of his sins.

The woman, who Kisuke can only presume is some manner of reincarnation of Orihime... but has a very strong resemblance to Kagome no Kami from "The Third Reincarnation", gently rocks him back and forth, "Yeah, it's me. I came the moment we got permission to pick you up. Your Trial is over and it's time go go home. Are you ready? Is there anything you need to grab?" Sōsuke inhales deeply before rising to his feet, staring at the woman as if she were the mortal incarnation of the concept of Salvation.

He turns away from the woman for the briefest of moments, gazing back at Kisuke a world of complicated emotion on his face. Sōsuke says nothing, only sighs, turning back to the woman with a soft smile, "No, I... I'm good. The Soul Kings already know that I'm leaving, and we said all of our important goodbyes while they were still alive. As for Kisuke... he won't miss me for long." Sōsuke follows her over to the little well that is suddenly in the middle of his training ground, and Kisuke really, really can't believe what he is seeing. The woman giggles when she follows Sōsuke, "You've really got plans for everything don't you. That's our Deku-nee, the most prepared Higurashi."

Sōsuke climbs up onto the lip of the well, and just like that, he's gone. Kagome makes a shush motion with her finger over her lips when she glances over her shoulder at Kisuke, and with a wink, both she and the well disappear.

Kisuke blinks in surprise, when the children continue sparring as if nothing had happened at all, realizing that if that was Kagome no Kami and she really was the Patron Kami of Time Travelers... then for the briefest of moments, the world had stood still, just long enough for Sōsuke Higurashi to disembark.

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The three Soul Kami of Bleach:12679752 watch them go. Yuzu sniffs, eyes puffy from tears, "That was so beautiful. As sad as I am to see him go, he really deserves to go back you know? After you all had died, he and Kisuke-san were my best friends. I'm going to miss him so much!", more tears fall from her eyes, while she tries to soak them up with a handkerchief.

Karin shifts on her feet awkwardly, she had never had as strong of a connection to Sōsuke-sensei as the other two, but she kind of thought that she was going to miss him too, and that really wouldn't do, they were Kami now. "What if I said we didn't have to? Hear me out. We're Soul Kami, when it comes to souls, nothing happens against our will. So while it will never be the same, that doesn't mean that we can't create a soul, someone who was Almost Sōsuke Higurashi."

Yuzu considers it a moment, but it makes her heart ache, "Karin, people just can't be replaced." However, it is Ichi-nii that speaks for the idea much to her surprise, and the way he phrases it makes it all that much more better. "Not a replacement, it's a tribute, like a cover band." Lightly Yuzu grins, still a bit sad. "We do need a proper priest."

Together, the three of them perform their first combined Divine Magic, the creation of a soul that would serve as a tribute to Sōsuke, who had led them safely down this path at great personal cost. The creation of a new soul to serve as their priest. Yuzu no Kami contacts the technician who had just been ejected from Sōsuke, the one who operated as Kyōka Suigetsu, as well as the Master Technician who operated as The Dreaming Kami, both of which who are happy to answer the call to service. Ichigo no Kami and Karin no Kami working together directly to grow and suppress different soul fragments so that they match the memories and character of the soul that had just departed from their dimension... but one who would not be in agony missing his her.

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Chapter 57: The Higurashi Sanctuary

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A deep overwhelming sense of nostalgia carries him as if he were walking on clouds as she leads him through the portal in The Well of Time and out into the Higurashi Sanctuary, leading the way over to the center, the kotatsu underneath the Sakura tree, chattering away about Naohi. There are many hugs during the happy reunion, Sōsuke can barely go a few feet before another Higurashi smiles brightly and throws themselves at him in a hug. Sōsuke has never been embraced so much in his entire life, including what he remembers of his life as Dekuyume.

He can't help but stare in wonder at it all. He was home, home, a word that hadn't meant a single thing to him since the moment he was born, given meaning, not by the place he stood, but by the people that surrounded him. Of first importance, but not the only, she was here, and Kagome no Kami, Dekuyume's and now his imouto, the one whom had become the Avatar of Naohi, fusing Orihime-chan into her soul matrix, the complete collection of all of the soul echos that existed for her soul... she was everything that he could have hoped for.

Sōsuke smiles adoringly while she continues to chatter, "So turns out the reason that all soul echos are considered the same soul is because when they become the Avatar of Naohi they all combine. When all of my soul echoes combined, all of that additional complexity converted into power. If normal souls have that much power when they are first created no wonder they burst across the Celestial Ocean and leave echoes in all of the dimensions contained inside of it. That's why souls on the immortal plain praying to Kami don't increase the power of a Kami, they can't even stop them from flickering because power is exchanged for complexity. A single soul echo on the mortal plain is growing and learning and feeling and stuff, but people don't really change once they die and arrive back on the immortal plain, their potential is all gone."

Kagome-chan looks over her shoulder at him, grinning when yet another swarm of little Higurashi swarm around his knees forcing him to crouch down to get a hug from each one of them. She keeps talking, even as he receives his welcome homes, "I thought I was strong before, but I was wrong, I'm crazy strong now, I had to dump a bunch of it back into my domain, otherwise my usual otherworldly glowing aura would be visible even to people who's spiritual senses are psychically deaf."

Her voice gets a little softer as she continues, "We saw that you pulled the information about Naohi from the GFM-DCOM server for the dimension you were in, so I'll just give you the short and sweet version of what I saw on this end. We were just celebrating the fact that Sofu's reincarnation, Kiyoshi-otousan's priest, just mastered the ritual spell to create anti-harm barriers when all of a sudden all of my joints locked up and I passed out. The others told me that I started to glow the same color as my magic and that body and all, I collapsed into a sphere about the size of an ostrich egg. Shikon-chan laughed and said that my Soul Sphere looked like a fat Shikon no Tama, brat."

"I woke up just as the pressure was enough to force out all of the seeds in my soul except for my seed of eternity, no idea when they had been de- germinated. Those went whoosh! Off into the Aether and I remember hearing a humming that sounded... familiar, my own personal frequency that perfectly matched the original I AM HERE that my soul shouted out to create all of my soul echoes. One by one it caused all of my other echoes to break apart into Kami lights and make their way to join with my soul sphere, every time more little lights arrived I got to see where that soul had been, what made them who they were, and my soul sphere got just a little bit bigger."

"When the last soul echo arrived, the one you knew as Orihime Inoue, I... had a dream, and when I woke up I was Me. Just me, just Kagome Higurashi. I... I'm." At the first hint of her hesitation, Sōsuke can't help himself, he steps forward and offers her a hug, she takes it instantly. Into her hair he speaks softy, "It doesn't matter what else you are. You're my imouto first and foremost and no one will ever be able to take that away from you."

The girl in his arms laughs, "Even if becoming the first Kami to also be the current Avatar of Naohi means that I've now become the first Kami of any domain, Mater, Energy, Space, Time and Soul, to have a soul of their own while also being a Major Kami? Even if there are so many things I understand now, like how the basis for the idea of reincarnation was formed from the never ending chain of Avatars of Naohi. All of the soul echoes coming together, the next Student chosen as the Teacher gives away their balance, their soul appearing on the immortal plain, only to shatter apart into soul echoes once more?" Sōsuke shakes his head, white hair falling over his shoulder to brush against her ebony locks, "Even then, for always."

The two of them part then and finish the rest of their long walk. As he approaches the kotatsu, that heated blanket table, he looks up at the head of the table, where the fan lays waiting and a cup of tea gives off white steam... admittedly a little unnerved by seeing Dekuyume seated at the table, alive and breathing but clearly without a soul. An empty husk compared to the last illusionary dream shared between them, when she said goodbye to him while they were seated at an imaginary replica of this same location.

Tentatively, the Higurashi looking on, many of them he recognizes as Dekuyume's children, he places his hand on Dekuyume's shoulder. Fear and dread and cold chills slide down his spine when the red eyed construct turns and looks up at him coldly, "This Eternal Battlefield already has a Primary Operator. Do not behave so presumptuously." He stumbles away in shock, falling onto his ass as he trips. Staring at the domain ship before slowly turning to look at the other Higurashi at the table in horror, faintly, he asks...

"I...", tears spill, the agony of having his new feeling of home brutally ripped away, "...What?"

A cold eyed Shikon no Kami stalks over to him. His white starburst swaying in the air as he moves, "Really now? Another fool dares to attempt a domain takeover of the Higurashi Kami?" Sōsuke can hear Kagome-chan shouting her denials, but his sight is completely taken up by Murasame pointed at his neck, Shikon squatting over his prone form. "Hold still and maybe you'll live through this." Likely as ghost white as his hair he complies, what else was there to do, Sōsuke had no idea what was going on. Where had his happy reunion gone?

The Greater Soul Kami places his hand over Sōsuke's heart. Moments later Shikon spits out a muffled curse, Sōsuke is surprised to find that there is someone who is even faster than any shinigami has ever been, when Shikon throws him over his shoulder and blurs into motion. With no explanation he finds himself inside The Colloquium of Souls, only recognizing bits and pieces of it from when Dekuyume had shared the prophetic dream with him, when she tried to find out what had happened during the attempted Domain takeover that happened in the middle of her arrest.

Just as quickly they are leaving the ship, somewhere else far, far away from the part of the immortal plain they had been at just before. He has no idea where they are when Shikon throws him into a Genesis pod and disappears behind a control panel.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Shikon transfers authority over to The Turning of The Wheel of Reincarnation. Furiously he drags his hand through his hair. What in the name of all things sacred and profane had happened? Where had the strangle weed come from and how had it grown so thick and dense that... If The Eternal Battlefield hadn't rejected Sōsuke, if Shikon hadn't looked to see who this soul trying to sneak in was; if Shikon himself didn't prefer to be shape-shifted into his Hiei incarnation these days, giving him instant access to his supernatural speed... if the strangle weed inside of Sōsuke's soul had been given five more minutes liberated from the unwitting suppression of the zanpakutō and Ōken technician spirits, his soul would have been unrecoverable.

Shikon sighs, plopping into one of the seats in the room, he doesn't care which. Grateful that as a Greater Kami he had much better access to the Major Kami, and that he had already made an appointment with The Wheel of Reincarnation to give his mother a checkup to make sure that everything had gone smoothly. Transferring souls across dimensions and pantheons was quite lucrative, but also had a higher chance of system errors from incompatible soul identification tags. He hadn't expected a soul that looked so healthy on the outside to be so compromised on the inside. This situation was so bad that he wasn't brave enough to try to deal with it himself. Thankfully the appointment with The Turning (of) was already set, and the Major Kami knew this soul even better than was really acceptable. That was going to save Dekuyume's reincarnation now.

The Genesis pod beeps it's confirmation and begins to pull out of the wall transferring to a different location. That could only mean one thing, The Turning (of) was going to perform a manual operation. Shikon sinks further into the chair behind him, hands shaking for a reason he had never expected. Dekuyume had always seemed immortal in a way that not even most Kami could achieve... She planed for everything, wish granting jewel causing problems, she's got a plan, other Kami trying to unmake your creation myth, planed for that too, jerk trying to assassinate you, and a greedy Major Kami wanting to see your naked soul? Dekuyume's good, give her three seconds to use an incarnation to rewrite a whole section of the Fate Matrix for an entire dimension and a whole bunch of plans will be ready to take care of that.

As great as the Higurashi presumed Dekuyume's planning prowess was, it was damn difficult to imagine that she planned for the memory vine in her soul to mutate and turn into a parasite that grew so big so fast that it started choking her soul, making her root bound to the point that it gained enough force to pierce her soul fragments and leave her so close to the point at which even if they managed to completely remove the soul parasite, and prevent any of the tiny roots that had fused into her soul fragments from sprouting into new plants... there was still a chance that she would have had her soul fragments shattered and broken to the point that without the vine there... her soul fragments just crumbled like so much shattered stone, forever destroying any possibility of Dekuyume properly reincarnating, never mind being recognized by her own domain.

With a pained hiss, Shikon rises from his seat and zips out of The Wheel of Reincarnation and back aboard The Colloquium of Souls so that he can go back to the Higurashi Sanctuary and... share the bad news.

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The Turning (of) The Wheel of Reincarnation is aware the first moment that the Primary Operator of The Colloquium of Souls arrives. The Major Kami is distracted for a moment by a reminiscence, after all this wasn't the first time that this specific Greater Kami had brought that particular soul on board.

It had been intensely curious when it had realized that [Shikon] Primary Operator{of} [The Colloquium of Souls] intended to fuse the souls together to perform the reincarnation. Though wary of another mishandling, The Turning had allowed the procedure, and the power the Kami called [Aether] to be taken from its domain because [Onigumo/Naraku] had been beautiful, and even before being placed in a mortal form, the fusion had been breathtaking, the experiment had already been ruined, and it had wanted so badly to see what next it would become.

The Turning had been quite put out when it realized that it had not seen the soul in a while, and [The Mount Kailash] had informed it that the soul had deified. It was unpleasantly rare that a Kami was reincarnated, the souls ascension had taken away it's chance to see what had become of the fused soul. Then a Trialing was declared, and quite overjoyed The Turning had demanded [The Mount Kailash] locate the fused soul and ensure that it wound up sentenced to The Turning for reincarnation as part of its trial.

Regardless of the previous prohibitions placed on it in regards to this soul, The Turning had a legitimate reason to be involved. The memory vine placed in it's soul was special. It had not been disappointed, not even when the soul had managed yet again to harm it though to a far lesser extent than the first time.

Eager to see what would come after such a stunning, bold piece, The Turning had told [Dekuyume] to calm down. By the time it told her that it recognized her it had already forgiven the slight. The soul had made the silly noises that they used to communicate with other lesser beings that couldn't share knowledge and experiences directly. It had informed the soul that it did not speak silly noises and had been preparing to summon [The Mount Kailash] to explain in silly noises to the soul, the Trial and how it had no choice but to submit to reincarnation… Only to be surprised when the soul managed to speak back [The Eternal Battlefield] [Apology}The Wheel of Reincarnation{The ruin of its domain}{The loss of its power}{The harm to its domain} It was a bit jumbled, with experiences and knowledge mixed up in the wrong places, and none of the proper functions but intelligible enough to be understood if read only in text format all carried on a heady gust of [Aether].

The Turning had been surprised and curious, because it knew that the soul was only a Kami, and it had never been able to talk to something so… small before, but of course it would make sense that this soul was special, after all this soul had been it's own for a long, long time. Still, it had been shaken by the intensity of a voice so powerful on something so small. The voice was also dangerous, so dangerous that The Turning had almost fallen, because the soul had a voice as beautiful as its form… and the soul had prayed both with its soul… and its domain. As if the power of the souls prayers weren't enough, the added temptation of [Aether] freely offered in the form of prayer from the Primary Operator{of} [The Eternal Battlefield] was almost too much.

But it remained resolute and in control of itself, because the Major Kami had made a vow to [The Celestial Ocean], That while The Greater Kami and those below them may vie for territory, but they, the Major Kami, as the representatives of the Absolute, would refrain… their domain would be as it formed, and they would not take another… so as not to shake the heavens. Their power then came from the tiny souls that prayed and contemplated the idea that made up their domain and additional power forwarded on to them by The Greater Kami who in turn got their power from the paperwork the Kami submitted, as well as their own received prayers.

Of course, that oath was only limited to domains and no fuss was made about collecting Greater Kami and marking them as their own. It was with great benevolence that The Turning placed a marker next to the label on the soul. No matter what Greater Kami [Dekuyume] was supposed to answer to, it was The Turning's now. With great interest in what would come next, it told [Dekuyume] what it wanted itself, without the need for an intermediary to speak for it. It was not disappointed when the tiny sweet voice gave its adorable response, [The Eternal Battlefield]{Want, Need, Solace}{a place labeled home}{Remembrance}[Dekuyume] {More. More. More} [Dekuyume]{Not Enough… Never Enough}

It wasn't cute enough to change it's mind though, and it had repeated its demand, knowing full well that the soul understood. Though the souls response had proven that there was still some miscommunication going on, it had at least gotten the gist of what The Turning wanted. [The Eternal Battlefield] {Acceptance} [The Wheel of Reincarnation] {Price of }{Hurt done}[The Eternal Battlefield]{Plea} MINE marked souls [The Wheel of Reincarnation]MINE marked souls{to cling to fiercely again}{Even when}After [Dekuyume]. The sentiment had been sweet, and as it meant that The Turning would get to see the soul again without having to wait for another Trial, it had agreed to reincarnate the soul again, but back into the shape of [Dekuyume] so that the souls it had marked would recognize it.

Even better, The Turning hadn't needed to make any demands to see that beautiful soul again, [Shikon] Primary Operator{of} [The Colloquium of Souls], had already made an appointment to bring the soul to visit for a check up. The Turning saw no reason to inform the Greater Kami ferrying the soul that arrangements had already been made between the soul and itself for a reincarnation and not just a mere post inter-dimensional reincarnation examination.

The Genesis pod finishes making its way through the systems and into the central spoke, already closed and sealed up.

And then the pod opens.

It had been so eager, only to be horrified by the state that the soul was in. Instantly it rushes to pour its Divine Magic all over the soul, holding it in place so that the vine seed that had gone parasitic halted immediately in it's tracks.

It had only finished reassembling itself, bringing all of its soul echoes back together just a short while ago, and yet here it was again, exchanging power for complexity. It may have needed the power of a Major Kami to halt the process, but it would take complexity to undo what had been done. With barely a flicker of concern:

Command Prompt {open}

Run Program{[Primary Operator Soul Genesis] #10X# [Speed]}

Quickly the process finishes, rushed and hurried, ignoring the fact that the Souls of Kami and Greater Kami were dangerous to create in such an uncontrolled manner. Never mind the exponential increase when it came to Major Kami. This was because their shout of existence was the loudest, resulting in more incarnations and subsequently more chances for one of those incarnations to become a Kami of its own... or become so tangled up in the Absolute's Paradox that it takes an action of Divine Intervention by another Kami just to get that soul echo back.

All well and good if the personalities of said souls are easy going enough to just combine, but if they fought… Doppelganger syndrome on the scale of a Kami was bad news for everyone. If the other soul became a Kami on it's own, it could cause massive Domain shifts and conflicts. Between those soul echoes and the echoes caught up in the Absolute's Paradox, it was possible for a Kami to irrevocably loose so much of their power, that the last time it had happened to a Major Kami, it had been permanently downgraded in rank to a Greater Kami.

Though The Turning of The Wheel of Reincarnation did not know it, this would prove to be a problem later. Though, if asked, The Turning would say that it would make the same decision again even knowing the consequences.

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Chapter 58: The Last Living Soul

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The Turning rises from their Primary Operator seat and hurries across the room to gather the battered soul from it's genesis pod. The moment that they lay their hands on the soul they know. They had received the soul and halted the parasitic vine in time.

They take a deep breath, system pinging in the background letting them know that they are feeling relief. Taking a closer look at the soul they let that breath out in a long slow sigh. The state of the soul was terrible, the parasitic green vines had torn through the layers of identity and bloomed into tiny choking tendrils on the surface. Deeper down, it had overgrown and was choking the soul… They had received the soul in time to make sure that it wouldn't die… but there were bound to be complications.

Glaring at the nearest tendril they will it to de- germinate. Much to their consternation it completely ignores them. Indignation floods through their veins, causing their breath to shorten, vision to blur and hands to shake. Carefully they keep a hold of the soul and sink down to sit on the floor, cradling the soul all the way there. The only reason for the seed to ignore The Turning would be if it were commanded to ignore orders to cease and desist unless it's root was directly in contact with the one giving the order. This was not something that could happen on accident. This was purposeful, an attempted assassination and not an accident.

Whomever it was that had started this... they would soon come to regret it. Major Kami were not Gentile in their Anger.

For now, they had more important things to do. With a huff of irritation they begin to unwind the vines from the soul first. As the limp vines come away, freeing up the surface so that The Turning can peer inside, and they start to gently pull at the thick dense mass below, they come to a different opinion. In retrospect this was probably the best way to handle the issue anyways, while slim, cradled in the lap of a Major Kami of Souls and Reincarnation, there was still a small chance that trying to de- germinate the parasite could cause it to do further damage to the soul, turning it inside out in some places as the vines retreated.

The Turning glares at the long strands that slowly grow in thickness and weight as more and more of the snipped out pieces are added to the pile next to them. Seeing that this next piece still has some of the soul's original memories from it's previous life called Dekuyume, they carefully squeeze out the memory and allow it to fall back inside the soul matrix. As the memory returns back The Turning watches it curiously, only to pinch their nose in frustration.

They wished that they had known about the soul parasite that called itself Kagerōmaru, because no one ever got just one parasite, not even when it came to soul parasites. Nasty little fragments of soul that were too small to be complete souls of their own, just individual fragments that floated about in the Aether, a product not of the Kami but of the foolish things living beings did when they trespassed into the domain of the Kami and performed Divine Magics without a Domain to protect them and power the spell.

Slowly, the battered soul beneath all of the vines is exposed and all of its fractured soul fragments. Why would anyone want to attempt to destroy this soul? The Turning could ask themselves this, but they already knew why didn't they? For all of their vast power, few Kami could afford to pay the Aether they would have to pay, and no Soul Kami was willing to pay for someone else's soul creation. So many choosing to flicker out of existence than chance loosing so much Aether that they wound up less than even a demigod, just another entirely average soul.

But Dekuyume's new method giving a soul to the soul-less was so novel… because it didn't detract from their power… it only added to it, only a tiny smidgen since a brand new soul was a tiny little blip in the grand scale of things… but they had an infinite capacity for growth… and The Turning wasn't the only one who was going to use her method in the future instead, the only reason to choose against it was that unlike what The Turning did with his programming, this en-souling as Dekuyume called it was a permanentthing. Curious, a Soul Kami had tried to unmake the soul of one of the Kami that she had en-souled in the beginning, and unlike the standard method, the one who had done so had incurred Karmic debt.

This was not a method that one could abuse to gain crazy amounts of power by en-souling and dissolving soul after soul.

If they wanted more power... they actually had to be brave enough to live.

That, The Turning decided, was probably the reason why someone had dared to try to assassinate this soul. After an immeasurable amount of time has passed, courtesy of the oscillating time dilation of the axle and the rest of The Wheel of Reincarnation, The Turning finishes unraveling the parasitic vine, all of the memories and information that it once contained now poured back into the soul.

Staring at the fractured remains of the layer that had identified itself as Sōsuke Higurashi, The Turning finally gets a good look at the root-ball that had been the starting seed the parasitic vine had mutated from. Never before had the Soul Kami seen such a devastated soul. Were it not for the fact that this soul had previously had so many souls fused into the same soul, the fractured pieces would likely be in critical condition, breaking down into further soul parasites. As it was, the damage was severe, but the soul itself was actually quite healthy underneath. Instead of being destroyed, the soul fragments had instead split along the fuse lines. It was an ugly mess, but much like a ceramic pot that had been shattered, with care and attention, it could be fused back together with gold. In this case, The Turning was going to use the Aether of The Eternal Battlefield, for the domain's Primary Operator, nothing could be better.

The Turning does not know what makes them more infuriated, the state of the soul, or that the seed that had mutated at the behest of another Soul Kami was none other than the special memory vine seed that The Turning had modified just for the Dekuyume Higurashi layer.

With the utmost care, The Turning unwraps the layer that had originally been named [Sōsuke], gently folding it and setting it to the side. With gentile hands, they tug free the layer [Dekuyume], still beautiful even with all of the punctures from where it's information and identity had peeled away to stick to that of the [Sōsuke] layer. Like a master craftsman, The Turning strips the transferred bits from the back and stitches them back onto the [Dekuyume] layer.

With fine attention to detail, only now seeing just how often and deeply this soul had reached back and pulled it's previous lives memories to the forefront of the next, The Turning carefully peels off all of the remaining layers and patches them as needed.

If The Turning had felt a bit guilty when considering their interactions with this soul before, it was nothing on how they felt now as they looked back through each reincarnation and realized just how... merciless they had been. Now, all of the individual layers carefully set on the floor it was painfully easy to see. Most souls had some solace to balance out all of the strife, and yet solace was so noticeably absent that the soul had clung desperately to the first source it had been offered that the pattern carried on from one incarnation's layer to the next. The pattern so perfectly copied that even without the deification that occurred in it's later layers, the soul would have been able to recognize the soul of the other when they met.

Finally, the soul's naked core is exposed. Under The Turning's direction, all of the soul fragments reorganize themselves, slotting back into the place where they belong. Through the sensors along the wheel frame, The Turning contacts the autopilot function of The Eternal Battlefield. Receiving the query, and permission to scan past the firewall of The Wheel of Reincarnation's axle, for the soul of it's Primary Operator. Locating it's primary operator and receiving the request of The Wheel of Reincarnation to use the The Eternal Battlefield's Aether for soul repair, the domain ship creates a small instanced incarnation to carry the Aether from it's docked spot as the central pillar of The Higurashi Sanctuary to where The Wheel of Reincarnation is docked onboard The Assembly.

Utilizing time dilation it is a matter of a blink of an eye to have Aether specific to The Eternal Battlefield delivered and transferred to the axle. With a paintbrush, The Turning carefully paints the edges of each shattered soul fragment and glues them back together with the Aether.

It is a work of patience and attention to detail, both of which The Turning of The Wheel of Reincarnation has in spades. After gluing the last piece together, they begin the arduous task of reassembling all of the layers, of redressing the soul in all of its glowing lights and flowing colors. The patched and mended layers go on one at a time in the order that the soul experienced its incarnations.

Meticulously, The Turning makes sure that for each layer, that perfectly transferred pattern is perfectly aligned. It is only when they reach the end that they deviate, placing the [Sōsuke] layer before the one that was [Dekuyume]. There was a problem however, the layer [ Sōsuke] was larger, it was meant to go over the other. With gentle tugs, artful creases and beautiful folds they make sure that [ Sōsuke] would fit perfectly underneath [Dekuyume].

With deft hands, they release the seams of [Dekuyume], expanding the space between so that she would have more room to grow. The stitches replaced, The Turning completes the last step in the arduous process of repairing and restoring this beautiful, precious soul.

The moment that the last incarnation layer is folded and tied shut, the soul effervesces, Kami lights sparkling.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Last Living Soul of The Eternal Battlefield awoke in the grasp of The Turning of The Wheel of Reincarnation.

It remained aware…

for the eternal moment it took to meet The Wheel of Reincarnation as an equal,

before it fell asleep,

dreaming it was a soul named Dekuyume.

Just another returning echo in the darkness.

Just another returning echo of Dekuyume's own voice in the darkness.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 59: Bastardess: The Feminine Version of a Bastard

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Turning stares in awe at the simple Kami stirring awake in their arms. No one had ever seen The Turning in this state, no one had ever set foot in the axle when the Primary Operator seat was present... and yet The Turning was not afraid, content to let this soul stir awake in their arms like a tiny baby.

Once again, this soul was breathtakingly beautiful, not because of their careful repair, but because The Eternal Battlefield, The Major Land Kami that would exist only if Dekuyume was willing to sacrifice her soul to do so, perhaps the most powerful Land Kami to ever exist. Just how broad was the Domain, that the shallow bits of it that overlapped with The Turning's own would reveal themselves to be so grand?

The Turning smiles sweetly at the soul the moment Dekuyume's perfect red eyes open. Upon meeting their eyes, the Kami smirks, "I do hope you won't go around spreading my secrets. A lady has to keep a few to herself you see." The turning grins back at her in response. Because unlike a painting that would only decay, souls grew, and with this secret of her soul, The Turning had seen in the sparkling lights they knew that no matter what happened she would only get more beautiful.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dekuyume experiences a rather interesting journey via Genesis pod transport from The Turning's Primary Operator room back to a reincarnation room. A bit like being on a roller-coaster, but without the view. The uncomfortable trip was well worth while however, when the first thing she saw after exiting the pod was Kagome-chan standing there waiting for her with open arms.

"Deku-nee!" With an arm full of imouto, Dekuyume can't but help smile. "When did you get here? I hope you haven't been waiting all this time." Before she even finishes speaking the words, she already knows the answer. Glancing over to the corner of the room by the door, Dekuyume spots the synthesized incarnation that brought over the Aether now holding her soul together. They had both come at the same time.

The information had not come from the incarnation, the Complete Hypnosis or the Perception Warp. She wasn't piloting the first, and the last two, while the tools she had been using in her last incarnation, were no longer things she had access to here in this dimension. The information had come directly from her remote connection to her domain. The Eternal Battlefield was already answering her call even though she had yet to return to her Primary Operator Seat.

Kagome shakes her from her thoughts, "Nope! Well what do you say? Are you ready to try this again Deku-nee?" With an answering smile the red eyed goddess follows her blue eyed little sister through the halls and out to The Well of Time. Memories ping and tinkle like glass and fairy dust, remembering all of the times during their epic quest through time to tie a peony knot with three time lines in order to write themselves a creation myth that no Kami could unmake.

In a matter of moments they are leaving the command center of Kagome no Kami's domain and are exiting through the well at her entrance to the Higurashi Sanctuary. A shiver of fear presses on her, a pointless, senseless thing. There was no reason for her to be afraid. She had already been here once, and all of the Higurashi had welcomed her home. The only bad thing that had happened last time was The Eternal Battlefield refusing her. She already had proof that wouldn't happen again. So why was she so... her hands tremble slightly, though she hides it by tucking her hands into her long sleeves.

Her heart catches in her throat when something catches her eye. The fear she had been trying to shake off evolves into dread. She wasn't overwhelmed this time. Not like she had been as Sōsuke whom was greeting the Higurashi for the first time and had only a few of Dekuyume's memories of them. Her eyes pass across all of the familiar smiling faces, doing her best to smile back when they shout, "Dekuyume-sama! We knew a stupid mutated seed wasn't enough to take you down!"

That was the problem. The familiar faces. There were too many... and not because they were lingering spirits. In between when she was arrested and when she had returned as Sōsuke nearly 8,000 years had passed on the immortal plain as measured against the Major Kami The Beginning of Time. There shouldn't be this many familiar faces, they should have reincarnated into more Higurashi. Strange familiar people whom she shouldn't be able to identify until she sat in her Primary Operator seat and checked the idling domain's archive for the incarnations it had performed.

Slowly she stops walking, causing Kagome to halt as well, looking back at her in surprise and curiosity. "Deku-nee? Is everything all right?" Cautiously, Dekuyume glances around, clearing her throat and awkwardly mumbling, "There are more familiar faces than I was expecting after being gone for such a long time."

Contrary to what Kagome was probably expecting, the reincarnated Kami's heart sinks into her stomach when the other chirps happily, "Yep! Oh my gosh you have no idea how hard it was! There I was braving the Great Tyrant of Math to adjust the local time dilation with the area held stable not by a single domain ship but as the docking area for FIVE domain ships without one of them actually serving as the docking location! And while I was dealing with that 2 meter high stack of paperwork and calculations, Shikon-chan took over reincarnating souls!"

"By the time I finished and Shikon-chan got everything sorted out we managed to get it so that it's only been about a hundred years here in the Higurashi Sanctuary and everyone who reincarnated wanted to just wear the same faces again, so while different people are their parents, everyone should still look the same!" Kagome finishes her explanation on a happy note and seems a little put out when Dekuyume can't muster up much more than an awkward smile and an, "I see."

It all comes to a head, the moment she lays her trembling hands on her domain. She's accepted instantly this time at least. And yet...

How arrogant she had been. So blinded by the time travels and the Shikon quest and the formation of the Higurashi Sanctuary that she had inflated her own self-importance. Only to have it slap her in the face when she returned from her Trial.

Her prayer box was empty.

A hundred years local time and none of the Higurashi had even spoken to the placeholder she left to help them.

All of the observation instanced incarnations she left on autopilot had issued no intervention triggers rendering them about as useful as mobile surveillance cameras.

The Eternal Battlefield had simply idled, gathering power from the battlefields across the entire dimension. Kui-Xing the minor Kami of Paperwork who was Shikon-chan's vassal had done what little paperwork was required of Dekuyume's domain. So there wasn't anything for her to do there either. The reason for her unease during her second return to the Higurashi Sanctuary hadn't been latent fear... it had been denial of the unavoidable realization...

She wondered how it could be, that she was so happy to be home, and still missed it so much, her heart clenched in her chest no matter what chemicals she released into her bloodstream to ease it… Unwilling to prolong the inevitable Higurashi Dekuyume opens her eyes for the first time in this newest incarnation of herself, a fully seated Land Kami, Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield.

How painful, to find out that there was something worse than Magatsuhi's desperation, Naraku's Jealousy and Sōsuke's Solitude. Because as she looked at all of the smiling faces gathered around the kotatsu, she realized… she wasn't needed.

Something of her realization must have shown on her face, because she is asked what is wrong. Still shaking hands reach out and accept the tea and the fan that are placed before her, grateful for the offering, but so damn hollow now that she knows what little it is worth. "It... it's nothing all that important in the end."

Ah, but she wasn't Sōsuke anymore, she wasn't the only one who could use Divine Blessings and Magics to make sense of a senseless world. Shikon-chan, once again in her teenage girl transformation drops her tea, eyes wide in surprise. It really shouldn't have come to Dekuyume's surprise that she knew what Dekuyume was really thinking, Shikon-chan's domain was Learning and Souls after all.

Clearly angry, but mostly sad the Greater Kami tries to explain, "Dekuyume-chan, I have reincarnated most of the mortal Higurashi by now, the yōkai exterminators, several hanyō including Jinenji-san, and all of our fully human kin, even Sōta-kun, though Kaasan is lingering instead as Otousan's Kami Consort. So I can say with the authority of an Absolute… you were needed to bring us all together. Nothing else would have worked. But more important than being needed, you are wanted. Your presence was sorely missed when you were away, and you are loved dearly. Wanting you to come home to familiar faces, having missed as little as possible of our lives is why Kagome-chan went through such trouble to adjust the time dilation. It's why everyone chose to reincarnate so directly. We all wanted you to feel like you were coming home to a place that actually felt like home."

Dekuyume looks around the table in surprise, her parents and children seated at the table, the extended families all seated around them having pick-nicks on the grass. Everyone nods and makes shows of agreement, some even cry, even the stoic Sesshōmaru agrees. And yet she has an empty prayer inbox that proves otherwise.

Seated to her right, her father Kiyoshi no Kami of The Sacred Tree implores her, "Deku-chan, everyone pulled together to avoid asking your placeholder for things so that while you were gone you wouldn't have to worry." Wryly he adds "Nor did we want you to have to clean up after us first thing when you come back, not all of us are your children." That gets him a few snickers but try as she might, she just can't bring herself to smile. He may have been trying to comfort her, but didn't his words also mean that the Higurashi had all worked together so that they wouldn't need her?

"Deku-nee." Red eyes dart over to Sōta as he calls her name, his voice so much deeper than she remembers, forcing her to once more acknowledge just how much time had passed since she last walked among the Higurashi. She had left her teenage otouto behind and during the time she was gone he had grown into a man, died and grown all the way back up into a man again.

Tears spill from her eyes, pearlescent and hardening into stones the moment they leave her eyes. Shimmering dark purple Hiroseki, a biological modification she kept when she had created Shikon-chan's incarnation Hiei so long ago.

Sōta moves around the kotatsu to kneel at her side, grabbing her hands, wrapped tightly around her tea. He stares deeply into her eyes, "John Donne, an English poet, once said that no man is an island. I call bullshit. Everyone is an island, isolated and self-sufficient. You don't need anyone to live, not really. And no one can honestly say that a life lived like that wouldn't be fulfilling, only very quiet and full of hard, labor intensive work. But Deku-nee, the thing about islands is that with a little bit of work, you can build bridges between them, trading companionship and burdens."

Sōta lets go of her hands and spreads his arms out wide indicating all of the Higurashi listening with love and worry, "Your bridges are still here, they haven't sunken into the ocean without you here to maintain them. Bridges do go both ways after all. They're just..." He holds his arms out to her, in offering, "They're just not built out of what you thought they were."

Sniffling, she lets her much bigger little brother hide her away with a hug, into her hair he keeps trying to convince her, "People are meant to die, and we are meant to go on without them. No one is needed, even if we like to pretend otherwise. Not you, not me, not Shikon-chan or The Colloquium of Souls, Not even The Assembly, or The Wheel of Reincarnation. No matter what happens, there is always another way to get it done. It's all in the fate matrix. No one is vital to the system, that's why we can afford to have free will, as ironic as it is."

He pulls back smiling as he holds out his hand to her, "But we can be wanted. No one noticed, but for a long time I felt unnecessary to the Higurashi, even Yusuke and his team could have done without me." He rolls one shoulder shrugging off the protests from the gathered Higurashi, ignoring them, he continues, "All the magic I know I learned from you, even with decades of practice I'm still only so-so in combat... and it seemed like every time I turned around there was another instanced incarnation of you lurking around keeping an eye on me like I was incompetent to even live my own life, but no matter how much I complained about some of them, it made me happy every time one would show, do you know why? Because it let me know I was wanted."

"You and Shikon-chan both have the ability to reincarnate souls, no matter how haphazard I am with my life… Ultimately one of you will catch my soul and I will be a Higurashi again with me deciding how much I remember. So there is no need to watch over me, but you wanted to, because that incarnation of myself was precious, just as my current one is, and the thousand after that."

"Deku-nee, when you left your placeholder behind you didn't just leave behind the anchor to the Higurashi Sanctuary and a wish granter, you left behind a reminder that no matter how far the other Kami took you from us, you wanted to come home. And we didn't bother it because we didn't want you distracted while you were away, because we wanted you to come home too."

Heart aching, Higurashi Dekuyume takes her little brother's hand… and learns another lesson.

Tears flowing freely down her face, plunking into her lap she grins, "Out of the mouths of babes, when did you get so smart?"

Laughing in relief with the rest of the Higurashi, he grins back, "Well you see, I had this really great teacher who sat at a kotatsu with me every time I did my homework…"

Dekuyume snorts, The Eternal Battlefield bless the Higurashi.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Several Hours later

In spite of the false and then rocky starts, there was one thing that the Higurashi really wanted to do, and by the will of the 5 Kami present they were going to do it. That's right, they were going to throw a welcome home party.

Higurashi were scattered everywhere through the sanctuary, many had been called home when Kagome went to go fetch Sōsuke, with the delay that it took to fix everything, by the time that Dekuyume returned it was as the last Higurashi to return home.

With so many yōkai, hanyō, Kami and mortals running about, each of them a Higurashi with a great and epic story behind them, it was a chaotic and jovial mess. Dekuyume didn't even have to get up from the kotatsu, everyone came to visit with her at the table in twos and threes, each time bringing her more tea.

Ambrosia, her son, Land Kami of The Little Mountain, had matured while she was gone, going from a little boy to a teen. His pale green hair had darkened, though his eyes were just as intense with red sclera and white pupil-less irises. Another thing had changed about him as well, "Welcome home, Kaasan." She smiles back happily, it was the first time she had heard her son's voice, he had been voluntarily mute before. She quirks her lips into a grin, "I see someone has inherited my Naraku voice, and what's with this, why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

Ambrosia grins back, "While most Kami would be embarrassed to have their soul marked as the possession of another Kami, I'm hardly the same. Unlike all of the others, I am a Kami who has a Higurashi Butterfly on my back, not a Naraku's Spider shaped Scar." Sighing, she shakes her head, "Silly boy." Glancing around she takes in all the small changes she had missed before, "I can't believe how much more stable the Higurashi Sanctuary is now. It was so unstable before, too unstable for a single one of the domain ships to move from this spot on the immortal plain. Now Kagome-chan and Shikon-chan are zipping about all over the place."

The green haired teen's hair flops back and forth as he nods, "Yeah, it's a little difficult, but I've grown up a lot and Kiyoshi-san has recovered a lot of his power as well now that he's had time to get used to having a soul of his own. Between the two of us, both of us being Land Kami, it wasn't too difficult to stabilize this part of the immortal plain by using a Divine Intervention Magic that named it the Higurashi Sanctuary turning it from a random section of the immortal plain into a Divine Land. It will be even easier to maintain when you get around to adding yourself to the list of Land Kami supporting it."

There is a shout of surprise and the crowd around the kotatsu clears, revealing a pure white deer, its massive antlers ebony black. Grinning, Ambrosia waives her goodbye and trots over to the deer, grabbing a hold of one of the lowest prongs of its antlers and using it to haul himself up onto the deer's back, "Gotta go Kaasan, one of the Does is giving birth."

And with that, the deer springs through the crowd carrying her son away. It seems that next it is her other Kami child's turn to have a little chat with her. Sometime between when she last saw her daughter and now, Shikon-chan had transformed once again back into her Hiei form. The Greater Kami's almond shaped red eyes glitter at her as he takes a seat.

"So... no easy way to say this. Are you aware that the whole mess with your reincarnating wasn't a stupid act of vengeance from The Shinigami of The Sacrificial Death but instead part of your trial which was less judicial and more Herculean?" With a breath of relief, the red eyed goddess waives her fan at her son, "Yes, I figured that much out while I was still Sōsuke, however we never figured out what it was I was being tested for."

Hiei clears his throat, and passes over a project folder. "This was delivered to the Higurashi while Kagome-chan went to Bleach:12679752 to pick Sōsuke-san up. We've been waiting for you to open it."

Quickly, using the data processing capacities of her domain to their fullest, she downloads all of the information. While she does so, several Higurashi who had been too curious about the delivered information for their own good make their way through the crowds to gather at the kotatsu in eager anticipation. Whatever it is they are expecting it isn't what happens.

Dekuyume groans, dropping her head into her hands and rubbing her temples. Sōta practically bounces in his seat, "Deku-nee, come on! Tell us what it is! You have no idea how jealous I was when we found out you went outside of our dimension and into a popular boys manga!" She wonders just for a moment just how different her last incarnation would have gone if even a single one of the Higurashi of this dimension had come with her.

Wryly, she looks up at her Higurashi, "Quick question, anyone here heard of Naruto?"

Sōta jumps up from the table with a shout of glee, "Hell yes! Deku-nee, Deku-nee please say that you get to bring people with you!"

She snorts and rolls her eyes, "Before you get too exited, just tell me this, would you still want to go if some Fan-fiction Writer from Dimension: 42 thought it would be an absolutely hilarious idea to switch Naruto's Kyuubi and Puella Magi Madoka Magica's Kyubey?"

Sōta plops back down into his spot with a gasp, starring at her for a long moment before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh Kami! Deku-nee! Now you really have to take us!"