Sup everyone! Inhuman here, I managed to get this one out within four months! Yay… So, just an FYI for all those curious, this time the delay was actually because I got transferred to a new department at my job a little bit after the upload of the previous chapter, and it's been extremely mentally and emotionally draining on me. I've had jobs I've disliked before, and even days at my current job where I just wanted to go home, but I have never before truly hated being at work. The past two months, I've dreaded even showing up to my shift and on some days had to force myself from just going back to sleep instead of going to work. But, I've talked it out with my boss and we're working to switch me out of the department, so I hopefully won't have to deal with it for much longer. On that note, I've been steadily scratching out pieces of this chapter over the past month, and here's the finished product! Enjoy the show!

The breeze toyed with my clothes as I sat on the edge of Sokyoku Hill, my hands in my lap and my legs dangling. Unohana and Yoruichi were asleep in Unohana's home. After the events of the night before last, I couldn't sleep, so I eventually had just crept out and escaped here. I didn't know what time it was, probably was somewhere around 3 in the morning. The sun was still asleep, the sky the majestic blanket of night free from the pollution of the Living World. But I couldn't get myself to marvel at it tonight. The emptiness of the Hueco Mundo sky, the loneliness of the crescent perpetually hanging portrayed my current state better. Shiro was sitting with his legs spread out, leaning back into me. Ossan was standing to my left, his cloak rippling softly like a sleeping ocean. Up here, I could track the dots of candlelight from the patrolling Shinigami below, but I would have to strain my hollow hearing to catch the rattles of the lanterns. The air was cold up here, but my Hierro dulled it. Whatever seeped through that was removed by the pulses of Blut Ossan pushed through me. I sucked in a breath, the first real sound in nearly an hour.

"How am I supposed to see Yuzu and Karin like this?" I mumbled. I felt Shiro's head tilt in acknowledgment of my question before returning to its original position.

"Ya think they won't recognize ya as you are? Yer still their brother." I remained silent for a moment.

"I'm a shell of him. The broken pieces." I stared emptily at nothing. "I know they'll recognize me. I'm afraid of what's gonna happen when they do." This time his head turned and remained in that position. I could sense his mind working to come up with a response.

"...What, ya think they won't believe ya can protect 'em anymore? They know they're always gonna be safe with you around."

"…Will they?" My voice was faint, and my body cold. "Because I distinctly remember seeing them dead." He flinched, and I caught Ossan's cloak snap in my peripheral.

"Ya can't blame yerself fer that. Ya weren't in the Livin' World."

"I should've been. The other Front Liners could've gotten through the wave without me. I stayed because I stupidly thought it was better to 'not take chances'."

"Ya couldn't've known they were gonna go after yer family."

"Couldn't I?" I argued. "They were hitting everyone else's sore spots. They were bound to go after mine."

"Y-" Shiro stopped for a moment and growled at himself before growing silent once more. I felt his shoulders heave once as I heard him huff angrily. "Ya couldn't have known that's when they were gonna go after 'em." This time I stilled. If Unohana or Yoruichi were here, they probably could've turned that into something I could lean on. But instead…

"…It wouldn't have mattered when they went after them if I truly could protect them." I whispered, knowing that Zangetsu would always be able to hear me. I caught Ossan's head drop as his cloak flared, as well as the low growl of frustration from Shiro.

"You cannot treat an impossible situation as one in which you failed." I tilted my head up enough to train my eyes onto the Old Man's face.

"But it wasn't impossible. That's our power. Nothing can stand in our way. Nothing can stop us. Nothing is impossible. We could've saved my sisters. We could've stopped Karakura from being blown to pieces. We didn't. We failed." Ossan visibly flinched, and turned his head away.

"You're right." Shiro was eerily calm, his slurred accent removed from his voice. "We can take down anything," I felt him turn his head, as well as the glare that threatened to burn a hole through my head. "if we're there to take it down. If we know where it is to take it down. We can't know what's going on somewhere else. We can't stop something from happening if we don't know it's happening. And you know as well as I do; even the Soul King can't see everything."

"But we can make connections." I snarled back. "If Toshiro's grandma was killed, if Rukia and Renji's friends' graves were disturbed, if Chad's uncle's soul was ripped in half in front of him, then we should've expected that something was gonna happen to us. And everyone knows what we hold precious. Who."

"Stop treating it like it's your fault!" He barked.

"But it is!" I roared back. "We knew, that at some point, Karin and Yuzu were going to be targeted! But we didn't do anything to ensure that they couldn't be harmed! We didn't relocate them, we didn't warn them, we didn't even put up any Kido protection spells! We naively believed, since they hadn't targeted the Living World yet, that they wouldn't! We. Failed. To. Protect. Them."

"Protect who, Kurosaki?" I stiffened at the unexpected voice of Yamamoto. I twisted, catching sight of the Head Captain, sans captain's coat, with Chojiro to his right, also in just his basic Shinigami robes.

"It-" My mouth flapped in surprise at his presence for a moment. "It should-shouldn't really be much of a, uh, concern. To the Soul Society." He merely raised one of his eyebrows and stepped forward. It was only then that I realized neither had their zanpakuto's with them.

"It is good, then," A quiet grunt escaped the bearded man as he sat at the edge of the Hill to my right, Chojiro sitting formally to his right as the tanned man pulled a tea set in front of him and began grinding some leaves. "That we are here not as members of the Soul Society, but as simple men." My breath escaped me as I stared at the ancient Shinigami. As far as I knew, Yamamoto never stopped being the Head Captain. Not even Kyoraku or Ukitake mentioned the bearded captain ever dropping his guard, so to speak. The person in question turned to me, presumably because of my continued silence, and snorted softly.

"Is this a first for the man that has traveled back in time?"

"…Kinda, yeah." I breathed. With a barely-there smile, the fire-user shifted his gaze to appreciate the moon.

"A man of my position, especially in times such as where you come from, does not find many opportunities to be himself. This is not the first time I have sat under the stars in a moment of tranquility. Chojiro can attest to such." The lieutenant nodded in affirmation as he serenely grinded leaves. "I had not planned to do such tonight, or any time soon due to your warning of war. However, I could sense your fluctuating reiatsu." My eyes widened before I dropped them to my lap to stare at my hands.

"Ah, sorry. I normally have more control than that."

"Do not apologize." He responded softly. "Even I am sometimes still haunted by my memories of war." That took me a moment. I blinked, and looked up at the man, whose eyes remained locked onto the sky. "There are moments still where I can hear the voices of those whose lives should not have been lost. I know there still will be days where I cannot in good grace look my pupils in the eyes, unable to suppress the memories of others whom I have failed. I am haunted by nightmares still, of burning away my enemies, and realizing the lives those enemies have taken are still gone." He slowly rotated his gaze down, connecting it with mine so I could truly see the age in his eyes. "And so I ask, who did you fail to protect?" I gulped, analyzing every wrinkle in his face, every scar that had a story hidden behind it, the eyes that understood. Chojiro handed his captain a cup of tea, and he passed it down to me. I took it, hesitating for a moment before taking a small sip as Yamamoto kept the second cup given to him. I turned to look up at the moon, its shining beauty something I felt I shouldn't be allowed to gaze upon.

"Everyone." I was barely able to whisper. I felt the ancient shinigami's eyes fall onto me, doing nothing more than staring for a long moment.

"One that is haunted by their failures does not agonize over them all at once." He cut straight through my attempt to avoid it. My eyes shot to him for a second before retreating back to the moon. I took another sip. Inhaled. Exhaled. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Drank some more tea in an attempt to drown the emotions. Failed.

"…I should've been there." I rasped, self-hatred dripping from my words. Silence rang for a moment, I could almost believe I was alone. "Nothing kept me from going. I should've gone. The others could handle his forces without me. They would've told me to go."

"Where?" Yamamoto gently nudged, his voice almost startlingly soft. It was…I shouldn't say nice, that someone didn't disagree I made the wrong decision. People always tried to tell me things weren't my fault, and it made my blood boil, because how couldn't it be?

"Home." A hum escaped the bearded man. It was at the same time nauseating and soothing how heavy and understanding that noise sounded. I'm sure, if I were able to do anything but pray I could join the moon in the sky, I would've seen Yamamoto sag.

"Kisuke was the one to contact us." I continued. "It should've tipped me off that a messenger ran onto the battlefield with a Soul Pager in hand. I should've started moving as soon as I heard his voice, so urgent and panicked. But I didn't do anything except for stand there like a failure as he told me: 'Karakura is being bombed'. When I moved, the first thing I did was rip open a Garganta. I didn't warn any of the other Front Liners, it was a miracle that they handled me ghosting them as well as they did." A hand lifted my teacup, and I raised it the rest of the way to take a drink.

"When I got there, all I could see was fire. Everything, on fire. The smoke was so thick I couldn't tell that anyone else was in the sky. It was thanks to Zangetsu that I discovered the Sternritter hadn't left yet, and she was in two as soon as I learned where she was. Not that that meant anything," I admonished, "Ignoring the fact that she was later brought back from the dead by Zombie, the damage had already been done. So many died. My schoolmates, shop owners, friends, Ururu and Tessai." I raised my cup once more, but I couldn't raise it beyond a couple inches. I instead fell forward, relying heavily on my elbows to remain as any form of upright. I couldn't look at the moon anymore. I didn't deserve such beauty. "…My sisters." It was barely spoken, the lightest of winds would've drowned it out.

But the man with me heard. His hand grasped my shoulder. Rather than fixing me to the present, instead of pulling me out from the ocean I was drowning in, it felt more like someone was drowning with me. I glanced at Yamamoto, and he was staring out into the emptiness. Like me, barely keeping himself up. His face was of carved stone, yet his eyes were somewhere painful.

"…I have never had any family to call my own, but before the Gotei 13 was ever a thought in my mind, I had a man who I could call a brother. He possessed neither my great strength nor my ruthlessness. He was my anchor to my humanity." The grip on my shoulder grew tighter, as if he was using me to keep himself from falling. "In my own war against the thieving monster who called himself the King of the Quincies, my brother was slain. None have been able to convince me that I was not wholly at fault." I stared a few moments more, before bringing an arm up to grip his shoulder and joining him in staring into the emptiness.

"…Does it ever get easier?"

"I grew to have responsibilities that made it easier to ignore, but it only made the pain worsen over time." His hand grew tight enough that anyone weaker would have broken. "However, I did not have what you do."

"A second chance?" I asked.

"People left that care for you." My breath hitched. "I had none who attempted to fix what had been broken. None who sought to end my depression, to return my happiness. I am still wounded, still in the same pieces I had been broken into. So I cannot say that the same will happen to you."

"I…I don't think I'll be able to be different, even with help." He only nodded.

"The pain of loss truly is terrible. Such that even I cannot overcome it." He ripped himself from the nothingness to glance at me. "Such is why I will do everything I can to keep others from experiencing that agony." I, too, left the emptiness to look at him.

"Do you think I even can be better? That I can be who I once was again?"

"I do not know." He answered. "I know that, as broken as I am, the pieces of myself still remain. I know that, sometimes, those pieces fit together as they once did. I…cannot say with complete confidence that I believe it's possible, but if anyone can, it will be you." I stared at him for a moment, frozen in shock. When I couldn't look at the hope in his eyes anymore, I lowered my gaze down to my tea cup and stared into the reflection of the moon behind my head.

"Thank you." I rasped. I felt his eyes remain on me for a little longer, before his gaze lifted from me.

"…Of all places in the Seireitei, in the Soul Society, even, why choose Sokyoku Hill to escape?" Chojiro spoke for the first time, his voice soft. He sounded uncomfortable, probably because he was the only one present who hadn't trudged through war. I continued to stare into my cup as I opened my mouth.

"It's quiet, but not empty. I can be away from it all and not worry about keeping myself together. But I can use my hollow hearing to pick up the sounds of the patrols, remind myself whenever I need it that I'm not all alone." I snorted emptily. "And no matter what time of day it is, the view is great."

"…I see." Silence rang for a moment more. "Kurosaki-san, I…do not wish to deprive you of a place in which you find comfort, but…"

"While there is a camera situated atop Sokyoku Hill that captures everything that goes on, the Hill is so rarely used that no one is assigned to watch it. The only time anyone pays attention to it is when there's a noticeable commotion going on, like Rukia's execution." I rattled off automatically. I caught Yamamoto and Chojiro stiffen in my peripheral, and then Yama turned to me, something appearing in his body language that I was unable to decipher.

"…Why is that?" The ancient captain's voice was grave, luckily in a way I was familiar with. Though I had no idea what he was testing. Chojiro seemed just as confused though, so that was a good sign.

"While any events that occur atop the Hill are more often than not worthy of requiring study, such events are infrequent and generally well-telegraphed. To assign soldiers to oversee it constantly is a needless waste of resources, best course of action is to place a recording device to study events in post as necessary." I nearly quoted. I looked up and furrowed my brow when I saw Chojiro looking shocked, as well as Yama turning somber. "What?"

"I must admit, Ichigo," The bearded man's voice was gentle, but strong. "Until now, I was wary of leaving the planning of such a clearly perilous war to someone as young as you. I see I was wrong in that cautiousness." He clapped a hand atop my shoulder. "While I cannot say if either of us can return to who we once were, I can say with confidence that, thanks to you, we will be victorious in the upcoming clash." I wanted to ask what brought that up, but the words caught in my throat as the fire-user climbed to his feet.

"As much as I'd like to stay and enjoy the quiet, I must return to my duties." I couldn't help but stare as his eyes locked onto mine, the newfound belief in his eyes stunning me. "I understand that you do not believe in yourself, that you doubt every action you take and fear every consequence, and that you will not be able to place faith in even my words. But I order you to listen close still as I say this, Ichigo Kurosaki." I straightened my back unintentionally, my hollow hearing activating on sheer reflex. "I trust in your strength. I believe in your determination. I have confidence in your strategy, whatever that may end up being."

My eyes widened as he kneeled down, the air shimmering with the heat of his power as his hand rested atop his knee in such a way that his entire arm flexed to showcase his strength.

"I finally properly understand, that before me stands a warrior of great strength who has studied his enemy and works to rid himself of his weaknesses." His voice became fortified with confidence, a great blaze lighting his eyes as they remained locked onto mine. "I recognize the wisdom you possess and your determination to overcome that which has stopped you before. In the upcoming war against the Quincy, I, Shigekuni Genryuusai Yamamoto, pledge myself as your weapon." Before I could collect myself, Chojiro stepped next to Yama and kneeled down as well.

"While I have yet to spend as much time with you as Yamamoto-soutaicho, I trust in his judgement. I, too, pledge myself as your weapon in the upcoming war." I couldn't believe my ears. I wanted to refuse them, to tell them that they were making a huge mistake by placing their lives in my hands, but I was stopped by a pair of voices passing through my head.

"He needed to break you." Unohana's firm assurance. "That he believed that he could not achieve victory otherwise."

"We aren't playing by Yhwach's book." Yoruichi's bordering on cocky certainty. "We have all the cards." I bit my lips as their voices drowned out the downwards spiral of the whispers. I took in a breath. Remembered the light I could just barely make out through the clouds. Felt the strength of Zangetsu filling my veins, almost burning from how overwhelming it appeared.

And for the first time in three years, I grabbed that strength, long forgotten confidence flickering throughout my body like an ember ready to catch fire. I stood, facing the kneeling men before me. The air whipped at me, unable to affect me for the moment.

"I accept your pledges. I will not fail either of you."

I stood in front of Squad 2, the temptation to kick the main doors down growing with every passing moment. I had initially come to just grab Soi Fon and go, but one of the division members had told me that she was busy training the squad and would be with me after a few minutes. That was coming up on ten minutes ago. And I've had to spend it all in silence, as my zanpakuto were occupied with their own things. Shiro was with Momo, so far having consistently visited her every day for an hour or so. The Old Man was with Byakuya, thanks to Toshiro's ability to figure out how to train on his own so quickly. Our progress with getting everyone's training started was great. According to Unohana, she's so far sparred with Kyoraku and Ukitake twice. She's confirmed that neither had stagnated in their abilities. Ukitake still suffered from the whole 'his family sacrificed his lungs to a piece of basically God' thing, but I had an idea for that. The problem was finding a way to talk to Kurotsuchi without going to the 12th Division. And chatting with Squad Zero. That, actually, is the easier problem to solve, considering the clothes given to me by Senjumaru were made of Oken, but I need to make sure my idea will actually work first. My train of thought was interrupted by the doors in front of me slamming open by a visibly pissed Soi Fon. Not that pissing the woman off was difficult for me to do.

"I am busy training my squad, Ryoka." She snarled.

"There ain't no point in getting the fodder up to snuff if we don't have people who can take out the heavy-hitters, dumbass." I monotoned back. Her eyes narrowed as they darted around the area. From the soft growl, she failed in finding what she was looking for as she leveled her gaze back onto me.

"Watch your wording!" She whisper-shouted. "How someone like you managed to accomplish what you did, I will never understand!" I felt my face twitch in rage at her words, but reigned myself in. I started walking, waving for her to follow.

"Come on, the sooner we get your training started, the sooner I can move onto someone that doesn't piss me off."

"The feeling is mutual." She snarked as she came up to walk at my side, her arms crossed over her chest. It didn't take us too long to reach the clearing she had fought Yoruichi in during Rukia's execution. She raised an eyebrow upon recognizing the area.

"This is one of the area's you mentioned that is unseen by our enemies?"

"You know anybody that even knows this place exists?" I sassed.

"There have been multiple important events that occurred in these woods. If I were watching the enemy, I would assign spies to oversee this area." She attempted to counter. I rolled my eyes.

"While there have been some important occurrences in the forested area of the Seireitei, such as the creation of the group later referred to as 'Vizards', the rarity of these events and the sheer size of the forested area would render supervision a waste of resources." The assassin's face grew shocked at my words. "So as long as we make sure to not pop in here too often, we have nothing to worry about. You ready to start?" She shook herself out of her shock at my question, quickly removing her captain's coat and shihakusho, leaving her in her assassin garb.

"I was about to ask you that, Ryoka." Her eyes hardened. "Though, I wonder what exactly you would be able to show me, considering how obvious it is that you lack any formal training." My own eyes narrowed in irritation as I focused my reiatsu.

"Bakudo 61: Rikujokoro." She wasn't able to react before the spell hit her, a heavy grunt escaping her from the spell impacting her body. A little side-effect of casting a binding spell with more reiatsu than the average Shinigami. In addition to becoming stronger, it would reach the target much faster and with much more force. If her body hadn't locked up from the spell, she'd have collapsed onto her knees. "I've barely had to deal with it directly, but I'm already fucking tired of your bullshit attitude. Yeah, I get it, I didn't go through the academy. I'm still alive, you dumb bitch, what do you expect? Don't even try to bring up that 'Ryoka' crap, you really think I don't know that you would've exiled yourself just to be with Yoruichi?" The woman flinched, as much as she could, at least. "And don't even get me started on how fucking retarded your hate boner for me is just because Yoruichi likes me. I don't fucking understand why either, asshole, I'm just as undeserving as you fucking think I am, but it's goddamn useless to change her mind. Hell, trying to get her to see how much of a goddamn failure I am is just fucking over your own relationship with her. Just do what I do, accept that's what she thinks and just be happy she's fucking there, ok?" Her eyes widened, just about the only thing she could do at the moment. I waved my hand, the spell releasing, Soi Fon collapsing onto her hands and knees. She was gasping for air, I must've accidentally put too much power into the cast and prevented her lungs from moving. "Now, you got any more bullshit I need to bury or can we finally get to fucking business?" She rasped out a word, but since I wasn't expecting her to actually respond, I couldn't make it out.

"Come again?" Her face shot up, a vicious glare making her appear animalistic. Fucking great, instead of listening to me, she only got angrier.

"You," Soi Fon seethed, "Are an imbecile!" My eyebrow twitched.

"What are you on about now?" She clenched her fists as rage rippled off of her.

"Ignoring the complete and utter filth that just came out of your mouth that desecrates everything honorable in the Soul Society, and the lack of respect you clearly have for Yoruichi-sama, your idiocy is incomprehensible!" She shouted. My rage built with every word she spoke. "Do you mean to kill us all?! If your words are true, then the enemy you warn us of and train us for can't possibly remain unaware of your time travel! You emphasize how important it is that we keep our awareness of the enemy secret, yet you blab to everyone you meet! You don't even attempt to stop the rumors flying around! You openly talk of it during the captains meetings! For gathering intelligence on the enemy, those are the first places to target! For someone who claims to have returned for the sole purpose of granting us victory, I cannot foresee this ending in any other way than the enemy crushing us once more!" That did it.

"You…dumb…fucking BITCH!" I finally screamed, the woman flinching at my response with her eyes wide. "Between the two of us, who watched everyone they know and love die?! Who went through seven years of failing everyone they promised to protect?! Who watched as everyone they cared about became a shell of what they once were as everyone around them died?! You really think I would even permit a chance of any of that happening ever again?! You think I would run the risk of finding Unohana's dead corpse just lying on the ground again?! You think I would allow the chance of Yoruichi dying in my arms again?!" Every example that ripped from my throat appeared as a physical blow upon Soi Fon, the woman unable to keep herself from recoiling back with horror and shock growing on her face. "Do you know how many months I spent hunting down and memorizing every piece of information I could find on the Quincy?! Do you know how many weeks I spent only having enough energy to function through absorbing reishi because I refused to stop to eat or sleep?!" I slammed my finger against the side of my temple. "I can recall anything that the Quincy did throughout the war at a moment's notice. I've memorized nearly every single back up plan they had. I know exactly what areas are or aren't being watched, why or why not, who watches what and when they switch shifts. I can rattle off every personality quirk, strength, and weakness of any Sternritter you name. I don't know how to win this war without anyone dying, yet, but don't you fucking dare think I would allow anything that would fuck this up." I growled. She stood frozen for a moment, before her face twisted into a snarl and she began shouting back.

"That changes nothing! Your words still contradict themselves! You state our enemy is one who has watched us for a millennia, analyzing our every move and keeping a close eye on our strengths and weaknesses. You claim that if they were to even suspect that we are aware of them, then your journey will have been for nothing, that your preparations will be rendered useless. But you allow word of your travel to spread around the Seireitei, you openly speak of it in meetings and you allow your Quincy spirit to roam the streets freely?! You state that you've memorized every piece of information you could acquire of the enemy but what you've done so far contradicts the most basic of tactics!"

"Like I just said, I have a reason for everything I'm doing, you stupid bitch! You think the Quincy watch captains meetings? Of course they fucking used to! But when was the last time anything they wouldn't have already known about was mentioned in a captain's meeting?!" The veins in her throat bulged as she readied to answer, but I continued. "After Yama defeated Yhwach, nothing happened for 800 years! After that, you really think the Wandenreich wouldn't have known about the mass slaughter of the Quincy in the Living World?! Here, I'll let you know something I learned straight from Yhwach's notes: 'The Quincy in the Living World who have denied joining my army are being targeted by the Shinigami. I am going to keep this information from my army, as those who chose to remain weak do not deserve a place in my new world.' They were perfectly fucking fine with it!"

"You know that's not-"

"What's next, the hollowfication of the Vizard and the exile of Urahara? That's a big fat 'so fucking what' to the Quincy! They already had soldiers dedicated to watching Urahara, he's one of the three people the Quincy deemed a legitimate threat at the time! And of course, last but not least, Isshin Shiba going to the Living World to fight a Vasto Lorde and being deemed KIA by the Soul Society. Which the Wandenreich already knew was false! How about I just summarize all that for you into a single sentence; The Quincy deemed it a waste of resources to watch the captain's meeting room when they're already better informed!"

"Fine!" Soi Fon acquiesced. "That doesn't excuse you freely allowing the truth to spread-"

"I'll agree with you that the rumor's had potential to fuck us over, but you wanna know why I'm letting it happen? BECAUSE YHWACH SPECIFICALLY ORDERED HIS SOLDIERS TO IGNORE RUMORS!" I screamed. "After the original Blood War finished, the Gotei neither had reason to grow in strength as much as during wartime nor reason to keep battle plans, training areas, or special abilities hidden! With all of that out of the way, the only things going through the rumor mills were useless gossip and drama! What the fuck is an enemy wanting to learn how to defeat us gonna do with knowing how many women find Kyoraku sexy?!"

"That-" she seethed for a moment, her frustrated growl echoed across the clearing. "That still doesn't excuse you allowing your Quincy spirit to roam freely in the Seireitei!"

"Roam free-YOU THINK HE'S JUST GOING WHEREVER THE FUCK HE WANT'S WITHOUT A CARE IN THE WORLD?! He's the main reason I've gotten this far in my planning and how I managed to stay sane while I was preparing, you dumb fucking cunt! He's avoiding area's where he could be seen, and doing everything he can to make sure that he, above everything else, is never caught on the Wandenreich cameras!" I could feel my own veins pulsing with the rage at her accusation that either of my zanpakuto spirits would willingly or inadvertently mess up everything. And I glared at her with all of that rage as I watched her mouth flap in slowly fading frustration as everything I had told her filtered through her head. I could see her body deflate as her mind properly cleared and the logic of what I said made itself apparent.

"I…" The assassin's voice was soft, she looked like her whole world had been flipped upside down. "…I didn't know…"

"More like you were too focused on being pissed off to think straight." I huffed. "You ready to fucking listen now?" Seemingly unable to speak, the captain of the 2nd nodded meekly. "Good. So, you're right in that I can't teach you normal shit. Or even the same way I'm teaching anybody else, it's fucking annoying that I can't just save time and train multiple people at once, but fuck me if I can't have it easy for once. However, I can snap you out of your funk."

"My…what?"

"You're too focused on trying to be Yoruichi." I grunted. She looked like she wanted to be mad, but stopped herself.

"I-I could never reach Yoruichi-sama's level."

"Which only makes it worse." The woman blinked. "Not only are you ignoring your own abilities in favor of trying to recreate someone else's, but you're also downplaying your own power by believing you can't keep up."

"So what is my training then? If I'm following you correctly, I really can't think of a way to strengthen my zanpakuto."

"Your zanpakuto isn't what we're going to work on." I rumbled as I rested Zangetsu against a tree, then began removing my armor and top. "You aren't completely wrong in trying to copy Yoruichi. You managed to bullshit an ability specific to the Shihoin clan by just watching her use it a few times, after all, and you've become one of the fastest Shinigami ever. On some level, your and my abilities aren't all that different, considering my entire kit is something everybody else can do. Where you're fucked up, is that you haven't made it your own. You're using shunpo like Yoruichi does, Shunko like how you've seen her use it. And on more than one level, that's prevented you from becoming stronger." I saw her eyes grow determined, a mostly hidden level of excitement filling her stance.

"Then how do I do that?"

"Honestly? I can't tell you." She blinked. "I was never taught Shunko. Never interested me, doesn't give me anything I can't already do, doesn't mesh with my fighting style well. All I know is that you managed to unlock your own, proper, version of Shunko. I'll do my best to help you out, but Yoruichi is gonna be the best person to show you how to use Shunko the way it's supposed to be used." I popped my back and started stretching my limbs as suspicion entered Soi Fon's face.

"If you possess no knowledge of Shunko, why are you training me and not Yoruichi-sama? If she is, of course, the superior teacher, why not start with the better option?"

"Well, for one, it's because we wouldn't we working out other stuff if Yoruichi were training you. She doesn't have my knowledge from the future, she doesn't know what's holding you back. There's a few walls you wouldn't know you have to climb if I weren't here, walls that can make more of a difference than you'd think."

"Fair. You spoke as if there were other reasons?"

"I just really wanna punch you in the face." She blinked in visible surprise, and then squared her shoulders.

"Well, at least that makes two of us."

"Good. It's gonna be easier to show you while we're actually going at it, so let's just-" In a flash of shunpo, Soi Fon was in front of me with a fist cocked back. I caught it with hollow strength filling my veins and held her in place as I reared back and launched a full power haymaker at her head. She barely twisted out of the way, the force of my blow snipping off a few hairs. She leaned into the movement, her legs coming up. Her left leg wrapped around my arm while her right aimed at my head. I tanked it, enjoyed her shock for a split second, and slammed my elbow down into her chin. Her head snapped back, I shot my hand forward, got my fingers around her neck and spun around to choke-slam her into the dirt.

"That's from Yoruichi. Don't try to play it off, I've seen her move exactly like that thousands of times. You're not Yoruichi. She's like a living lightning strike. Fast, agile, and slams into you with the force of a nuclear warhead. You're fast, but you don't have the explosive power she does. Well, at least, when you do, you sacrifice your speed."

"So what do you propose." She forced out from under my grip.

"You tell me. When you aren't trying to slam into the opponent like Yoruichi, what do you do?"

"Use Suzumebachi." I tossed her across the clearing, raising my voice so she could hear as she landed on her hands and feet in a ready stance.

"And when you use Suzumebachi, how do you fight?"

"Quick, precise strikes." Her eyes narrowed after she finished speaking.

"Now you're getting it. Why don't you try to fight like you're using your zanpakuto?" She remained silent as she burst around the field with shunpo once more, this time darting around and waiting, presumably, for an opportunity. She shifted into an attack without any warning, flying over my shoulder with her right leg poised to strike at my back. Just as quickly, I spun and blocked her kick with my right wrist, catching the moment she curled around with her hand flat to spear at my neck. I captured that as well, my right leg rocketing up to crash against her stomach before she could continue attacking. She coughed and flipped back, landing in a crouch on the ground before kicking back so she was a few feet out of my reach. She seemed irritated again.

"Yoruichi-sama is perfect. There's no reason to think her fighting style isn't just as flawless."

"Yoruichi's fighting style is perfect. For her. She crashes into you before you can react and bombards you with hits strong enough to flatten most people until you stop moving, and most people can't do anything about it because she's one of the fastest Shinigami to ever exist with the power of a captain. You don't have the overwhelming power she and I do. To pretend like you do is stupid. You try to pummel anyone captain level or above and they're gonna laugh at you. Take on any Espada with that strategy and they're going to be the one's crushing you. Try against any Sternritter and you will end up the same way, if not worse."

"I'm not Hitsugaya-taicho. I can't completely change my fighting style on a whim."

"But you won't be. Just abandon what's holding you back. Stop going at it like Yoruichi would. Stop trying things the way you see Yoruichi do. Lean harder into how you fight. Your shikai is all about forcing a weakness onto your opponent for you to exploit. Your bankai is about eliminating your enemy as efficiently as possible. So work on being faster. Work on being more precise. Work on getting the most out of every strike. Aim for poking as many holes as you can until your opponent can't keep up anymore." I felt like smirking as an idea popped in my head, but I would save it until much later, if Soi Fon gets the joke after unlocking her Shunko. "Try to be a gust of wind, nudging your enemy from all sides until they can't stay standing anymore." She seemed to seriously contemplate my response as she raised her right hand into her vision.

"Lean…into how I fight…" She mumbled as she stared at her hand. She balled it into a fist and snapped her gaze up to me, something dancing behind her eyes. I couldn't make it out, as she disappeared in shunpo before I could really analyze it. She didn't wait nearly as long as last time, appearing at my right side and slamming her foot into my instinctual block before buzzing away. I barely had time to glance around before she was back at my right side, a fist coming at my face. I leaned to the left, but before I could retaliate, her outstretched arm grabbed my shoulder and she launched herself past me. I turned around just in time to be able to hop over her leg sweep, and I smirked as she continued the movement to shoot behind me. Before I could land, I felt a foot slam into the small of my back and I tumbled across the ground a few feet before I flipped around and rose, an uppercut following my chest. Just as I predicted, Soi Fon was less than a foot away from me, her own fist flying at my head. I let my grin tear across my face, my Hierro flowing across my head as I focused on smacking her fucking jaw. A jolt of fear fluttered across her eyes as she became helpless without any leverage to move out of the way. Our fists crashed into each other's faces at the same time. I remained as unmoving as a statue while she was sent across the clearing. She landed on her back, and I took the time to crack my knuckles and pop my neck as I sauntered forward.

"Well, that's out of my system now. How 'bout you?" I called. She sat up slowly, careful of her broken nose and the blood pouring from it.

"Until I can do the same to you, this will have to suffice. If you say some joke about 'knocking some sense into me', however, I will stab you with Suzumebachi." I barked out a laugh.

"Have fun with that." I looked up at the sky, nodding to myself before looking back down at Soi Fon. "A group og Soldats who particularly hate 'Watch the Shinigami' duty are on top of Squad 2 for the next four hours or so, so we've got three hours before I'm gonna start getting uncomfortable with you not being at the Squad 2 training grounds."

"So we have three hours today to become stronger for Yoruichi-sama."

"…Sure." I shrugged. "But know that part of your training is to stop worshipping Yoruichi."

"Excuse me, Yoruichi-sama deserves to be worshipped! She is beauty incarnate!"

"I wholeheartedly agree, but that doesn't make it okay to buy anything and everything related to black cats." Yoruichi's 'Little Bee' turned crimson.

"She, for some inexplicable reason, is infatuated with you, so what do you propose?"

"Loosening up. You know as well as I do how much she hates tradition and stuffy noble stuff, so just relax and, I dunno, go drinking with her once in a while." Her blush deepened.

"I-I can't drink with Yoruichi-sama! The chance of embarrassing myself in front of her…"

"I can tell you right off the bat that however drunk you get, she will be twice as drunk. Just try to have fun, and it'll go well. If something embarrassing happens, she probably wanted it to happen anyway." We both got into battle stances.

"But how do I ensure that she enjoys herself?"

"She'll take care of it. She's wholeheartedly into 'enjoying the moment', so the less you got planned out, the better it'll end up being for both of you. Just go up to her, ask if she wants to drink with you, and watch her light up. Just, if she starts trying to get you to come with her to Unohana's place, say no." A look of confusion dusted Soi Fon's face.

"Why would she wish to take me to Unohana-taicho's home?"

"Because I stay at Unohana's place and she is way too confident that all you need to do to open up is get laid. Plus she really wants to see her two favorite students to go at it." Her face became horribly conflicted.

"I…the thought of bedding with you disgusts me, but the thought of how disappointed Yoruichi-sama would be…" I felt a vein in my forehead twitch and I glared at her.

"I swear to fucking-I'm especially not gonna sleep with you if you're doing it for Yoruichi!" The captain of the stealth force glared back at me with equal intensity as she crouched low, ready to attack.

"You're far from the only one who finds such a situation repulsive, but would you disappoint Yoruichi-sama over something as simple as bedding a woman?!" I raised my fists as she launched at me, spinning in the air to aim a foot at my head.

"If you do that, then she's just gonna keep upping her game!" I blocked her kick. "She'll get every woman in the Seireitei in my bed if she can just to lorde over everyone that she and Unohana have got me all to themselves!" She leaned in close with a fist pulled back behind her shoulder.

"If Yoruichi-sama wants you to bed every woman in the Seireitei, I will assist in making that a reality!" She let loose her punch and I caught it once more, throwing her through a tree.

"Whose side are you on?!" I shouted. She recovered quickly, shooting forward out of the forest with an axe kick ready to snap down.

"Yoruichi-sama's!"

Oh, ye of little faith. Or, Y'all of little faith, to be more accurate. I've been saying that I've been planning this whole thing out since the beginning, and making sure to really drive home how important it is that the Shinigami's awareness of the Quincy is kept secret. Some of you even acknowledged that when you mentioned that Ichigo appeared to be doing a shit job of keeping it a secret. Given that I recently established that the man had a full-on mental breakdown after the Blood War, did you really think he wouldn't pull out every single stop there existed and then some to make sure that he would be prepared the second time? Though, to be fair, from what I can tell through the comments, everyone missed the little bits spread throughout hinting about him having memorized everything there was to memorize in preparation for the time travel, so I digress. As I'm hoping this chapter cleared up for all of you, no, Ichigo isn't being retarded by allowing his time travel to essentially become common knowledge among the Seireitei. He just needs, like a lot of help.

Next Chapter(Because I totally didn't forget last time): Helping the Sakura Tree Blossom. (I imagine this one is rather obvious as to who it is about)