A/N: It's been far too long, my friends! I hope you have been well and will enjoy the last chapters of my "In Progress" stories. Now that the new Bleach anime is coming out, I can do some proper research for the story that will complete my "SIW"/"TKA" trilogy. Hang tight, I promise I haven't forgotten. I have a handful to thank for the last update: travelqueen124, Bosma19, Alexis 20, NieveDrop, KitElizaKing, Dragon and Sword Master, and Assault Godzilla. Also, thank you to everyone who put this or I on their lists.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach characters, manga, anime, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Tite Kubo et al.

Consequences of War

Pain Takes Many Forms

Ichigo came to with all the finesse of a freight train. He inhaled loudly; the air dragged into his lungs forcefully. Pain shot through every nerve, and he resolutely tried to stay still until it ebbed into something manageable. The bright lights of the room he was in ensured that he kept his eyes tightly closed and the headache that throbbed behind them left him in no doubt that he had some sort of concussion.

"I see you have decided to rejoin us," Ishida's voice snarked, although there was a large amount of relief behind the snide tone.

"Kuso…" his cousin swore and began coughing violently, which only made the pain worse. The daiko felt bandages covering him as if he were a mummy, and he could only assume that his wounds had been just as terrible as he'd imagined before passing out after his fight with Yhwach.

"I would imagine that you'd be in for quite the scold should Kotetsu-san find that you have popped a stitch, or five."

"Unohana-san…" Ichigo felt Ishida's reais fluctuate with emotion and he exhaled on a sigh. "Tell me," he ordered.

A chair scrapped closer to the bed and Ishida sat down next to him. He angled himself so they could look at each other without Ichigo having to turn his head. "It's not good," the Quincy Prince admitted. Ichigo noticed that he had bruises, but little else in the way of wounds. His clothes were dirty and heavily wrinkled, but otherwise whole.

"Start…Beginning…"

"Kyoraku-san and Ise-san are wounded but alive. Same for the top two of the Second Division. How that lazy lieutenant survived is anyone's guess. I don't know about Squad Three. Last I heard they were still working on Kira-san. A joint effort between the scientists and healers. As you've already guessed, Unohana-san is no longer with us. The captain and lieutenant of Five are also alive but severely wounded. Abarai is holding his own. Lieutenant Iba is missing at the moment, but we think he went to take Captain Komamura home to his family. I'm afraid the captain will no longer be able to hold his position. He's reverted back to being a wolf completely, as far as I'm aware. The Eighth has no leaders aside from a very competent Third Seat." Ishida paused to take a sip of the water from the glass on Ichigo's bedside table, earning him a glare that went unanswered. "The Nineth Division seems to have come out with only wounds, as far as the higher ups are concerned. Matsumoto-san and Hitsugaya-taicho are recovering well. As for those top Eleventh fools, the only one that didn't make it is…" Ishida paused and clutched his free hand tightly. It was a gesture that Ichigo had often done in frustration, so he knew the signs.

"Not…" Ichigo whispered; his throat still dry. His word came out in a rasp.

"We can't find her. There's no sign of her body or her reiatsu anywhere. I'm sorry, Ichigo."

"Damnit!" Ichigo yelled, grief welling in his heart. He had sent Yachiru into battle. She had been a lieutenant, but she had looked to him for guidance, and he had sent her to her death.

"Zaraki says it was her job as a lieutenant and no one but the other Quincys are to blame. I'm just as at fault as anyone. If I had gotten the information we needed sooner, learned the techniques I needed to sooner…"

"I'm to blame," Ichigo cut in sharply. "I sent her to do battle. I told her to use everything she had. She was a little kid and I… What kind of big brother am I?"

"That's enough, you two," an alto voice snapped and both teenagers quickly turned towards the door. Or rather, Ichigo gave himself whiplash trying. Rukia stood there; uniform having seen better days but otherwise in one piece. He'd felt her the minute he'd come to, so he'd known, as he'd known about his friends, that she was alive. "You dishonor Yachiru's memory by thinking she wasn't strong enough to handle this war. She went up against someone whose powers she couldn't counter, that's all. If it had been just a matter of strength, she would have won, without question."

"Rukia…" Ichigo began.

"Kuchiki-san…"

"I'm relieving you of babysitting duty, Ishida-kun. Go find some food and a bath." The student body president gave her his seat and with a small bow, went to follow orders.

"Rukia…"

"Yes, we've established that I am not a hallucination." She sat down in Ishida's place and poured a fresh glass of water. She held it to Ichigo's lips and tipped it slightly so he could drink. "You're in a sorry state. Thought you knew better than to throw yourself in without thinking twice."

"Yhwach didn't exactly give me a lot of time to think when he was attacking. His clairvoyancy was a real pain in the arse."

"You won, that's all that matters."

"What about…?"

"The only other ranking officer that you knew that didn't make it, that I'm aware of, is Nemu-san. She sacrificed herself to help Kurotsuchi defeat an opponent. I'm afraid I don't know the status of absolutely everyone that you might know here. It's been a mess, Ichigo. I can tell you that we lost a lot of unranked soldiers, as was expected. It's going to take a long time to rebuild. Our human friends are all injured and recovering. The captains well enough to squabble, are arguing over what to do with Ishida. Technically he's now the leader of an exceedingly small group of people."

"Goat-chin and Ishida's dad?"

"Your father is off visiting your Shiba relatives and because the Senkaimon will take another three days to send you all back, Ishida senior is making himself useful by being a doctor and surgeon. He's also driving Isane-san crazy with his smoking."

"I can imagine. What about…?

"Urahara-san, Yoruichi-san, her brother, and Grimmjow are all in stable condition. If it weren't for Neliel-san's actions, they'd be dead. It's going to be a long road, but the healers believe they'll live."

Ichigo fell silent and let the quiet fill the room. Rukia's reiatsu brushed his and he let it sooth him. After several minutes, he turned his head to look at her again. It hurt to move his head, but he wanted both eyes on her. "Is it over, do you think?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "He made that insane claim about coming back at your happiest. The words of a delusional man, or part of the prophecy that has already come to pass? Either way, it doesn't matter. The only thing we can do is rebuild, get stronger, and wait for the day when the next megalomaniac decides to rear their ugly head. Whether it's Yhwach 2.0 or some other being, we'll just deal. We can't live our lives by what he claimed right before you sliced his head off."

"You're right," Ichigo agreed, lifting a hand slowly to brush against her leg. "If I hadn't met Omi-san, I probably would have taken it seriously. I probably would have done something stupid like try to make myself miserable for the rest of my life or just be "content."

"Like marry Inoue-san and have a kid and be teacher, or something equally as dull, but necessary?"

"Translator, probably. My English is pretty darn good, you know. That's what I was thinking of doing for a career before I got my powers back."

"You still can. The Captain Commander is concerned that your human body can't contain your power at its current level, but I can feel that you have a greater control over it than you used to, so that probably won't be an issue. I imagine when all is said and done, the "Special War Time Powers" can all go home and graduated high school as they should. That's not to say that you won't have duties as a Shinigami daiko, though."

"Course not. Going to have to help out a lot here when I can. Gotta make sure my lieutenant doesn't work herself sick."

"Baka," she insulted, but there was no heat behind the slur. Rukia slipped her hand in his and squeezed gently. "I want you to have a life beyond this," she said softly.

"I will; but there is no life without you."

A gleeful shout of joy in the hallway ruined the moment and they both shuddered in dread when Isshin's voice boomed through the air. "My son and third daughter have confessed! They're going to get married! My beloved wife would be so proud. Hey, did you hear Ryuuken? Did you, did you? Better go make nice with the Kuchiki elders, I guess. Lots to plan. Oh, Isane-chan, would you mind scarring up a Hell Butterfly for me? I should tell Kūkaku about this too…" The doctor's voice drifted away as he wandered down the hall and the two younger Shinigami sat in silent dread.

"He's dead when I get out of here," Ichigo promised.

"You'll do no such thing, Kurosaki-kun," Isane admonished. "Shiba-taicho was always excitable and he could be quite the joker when he wanted to be. He means well though, and we could all use a little joy right now." The lieutenant came into the room and began checking his vitals, tsking under her breath when his blood pressure was higher than it should be.

"Don't encourage him, Lieutenant," Rukia begged. "If you give him one ounce of support, he'll have us married before the Senkaimon is fixed."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry, Kuchiki-san. Noble weddings take ages to prepare."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I can't get married until my birthday in July…" Both women looked at Ichigo in confusion. "Men have to be eighteen to get married in Japan."

"Ichigo," Rukia sighed in exasperation. "We're not in Japan," she reminded him when his brown orbs became hesitant.

"Oh, right. Rukia's right, Kotetsu-san, don't encourage him. He really will do something stupid."

"You really have no faith in him."

"Look, I realize you probably knew the old coot before he met my mom, but he's not quite the same person. Mentally speaking. He's lost a few more marbles in the twenty odd years he's been gone from here." Ichigo closed his eyes again, Isane's bright light having increased the headache again when she shined it into his eyes.

"Would it be so bad, to have a celebration now that the war is over?" Isane asked, tears gathering at the corner of her own eyes. "Unohana-taicho would have been most pleased at this turn of events, and she'd want us to be happy for each other. She had a soft spot for you, Kurosaki-kun."

"Yeah, I know. I liked her too. Never did get to thank her properly for what she did for me during the war with Aizen." Both women looked at him, the question clear in their eyes. "She restored my reiatsu to the best of her ability when we were coming back from Heuco Mundo."

"I do seem to remember a report about that," Isane mused. "Well, you're not exactly hale and whole, but for the moment you'll do. Just rest and try not to move too much. I'll send one of the male orderlies in to help you with some light bathing and anything else you might need."

"I could help," Rukia offered, ignoring Ichigo's blush. It wasn't like they hadn't seen each other naked before. "There's no reason to take them away from their duties for this lout. I need to step away from all that paperwork Ukitake-taicho left me, so this would be a welcome reprieve." It would also keep her mind on something other than the fact that her captain was dead. Ichigo hadn't asked and she hadn't offered any information, but she thought he knew without asking. He'd gotten particularly good at detecting reiatsu lately and Ukitake's would have been someone's he'd have naturally sought out because he cared about him.

"Uh…" Isane was redder than Ichigo by this point and began stuttering. Were they really that close? "I don't think that would be appropriate, Kuchiki-san. Engaged or not, it wouldn't be proper for you to see him unclothed before the wedding night."

The two younger Shinigami exchanged glances, silently agreeing not to tell her about what happened the night before Byakuya's funeral. Rukia stood and straightened her shihakusho as much as she could. "You're right, of course, whatever was I thinking? The fatigue must have muddle my brain for a moment. I will ask Chad if he's up to helping. Ichigo would feel better if a friend helped him in any case. Chad's strong enough that he can bear Ichigo's weight long enough for help to arrive if necessary." Rukia left the room, a bit of a blush on her cheeks. Really, what had she been thinking?

Chad was more than happy to help Ichigo, his arms still recovering from the fighting but still usable. Orihime had healed them to the point of splints and the rest of him would heal in its own time. Going to his friend, the large teen was relieved to see his long-time nakama conscious. "Ichigo," he intoned, watching as the other teen tried to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Chad, please tell me you're healed enough to help me to the bathroom. If I have to use a bedpan, I'm not sure I'll survive the embarrassment." Everything hurt and Ichigo wasn't sure he could stand without falling on his face.

"Well enough," Chad replied and made his way slowly across the room. "Heard your dad," he said while they crawled their way to the restroom in the corner.

"What exactly was he spouting when you heard?"

"A wedding."

"Lovely."

"Rumors going around. Inoue-san heard."

"Kuso. Wish he'd kept it to himself long enough for me to tell Inoue about it myself." Contrary to popular opinion, he was not oblivious to Orihime's feelings for him. Ichigo had hoped to let her down easy and turn her Ishida's way. The student council president had been falling in love with her from the moment they became friends, and it was only right that he got a fair shot at being with her.

"Would let her have the rest of the day to herself. She's been pushing herself too far trying to heal everyone." Chad wasn't one for long explanations or conversations, so Ichigo took his words to heart.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for always having my back. I didn't think we'd get out of this one alive."

"Some didn't," the larger teen acknowledged and stared out the window for a moment. He'd been told, along with their other friends, who was known to have perished. "A couple of the Sternritter survived. Everyone wants them to be executed by rebuilding the…"

"Hell, no. That thing is never getting rebuilt if I have anything to do with it. Where's Kyoraku-san?"

"With the other captains who can get out of bed, I think. Why?" Interest lit brown eyes and Chad had to hold his friend back from trying to leave.

"Because I want to talk to them. Right now. Just lead the way, I'll…" Ichigo stumbled and had to have his classmate carry him back to bed.

"Maybe you should rest more first."

"Yeah, great idea, I'll just…" Ichigo's head swam and he promptly passed out. Chad grunted when Ichigo's considerable weight pulled him down and he slowly placed the daiko back on the bed.

"Rest, my friend." The taller high school student left the room, closing the door almost completely. He doubted Ichigo would wake again for a while, but he'd send out the word that the hero was adamantly against rebuilding the Sōkyoku. He rather thought that the captains and Central 46 would bow to the daiko's wishes. The execution stand had caused a lot of pain in the past and if it was one thing the Soul Society did not need, it was more pain.

No matter what form it took.