New week new chapter. Enjoy!


Part I

"Again!" Rukia barked.

With a determined look in his eye Renji formed a barrier around himself. It was the right shape, the right size, but she could see a flaw in it, a kind of unsteady quiver about the edges.

"Do it over again," she ordered with a frown.

"Oh, come on!" he growled, the barrier instantly falling. "Didn't I have this thing down last night already? It's fine!"

"You were the one that asked for my help!"

"Yeah, and if I'd known you'd be such a slave driver…" he trailed off, hands tightening around the orb, looking down at Rukia. She stared right back up at him, glare unwavering.

Letting out a long frustrated sigh, he raised up another barrier, and Rukia stood beside, studying it with an appraising eye.

Honestly, he had gotten better, a lot better, in a very short amount of time. If Rukia were to guess, she'd say that his number one problem was focus. At the beginning he would just pour in all his power without even thinking about it. The real trick just seemed to be getting him to pay more attention to how the orb reacted to his power, and be more thoughtful about how he poured it in.

Once he learned that, all that was left was practice. Watching him now, a smile creeping on her face, Rukia realized that it all paid off.

"Not bad," she said. Renji opened his mouth looking like he was going to say something snide until he seemed to realize that she had actually complimented him.

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded, saying, "Consider yourself graduated." He still looked skeptical.

"So, no, 'That part's not steady enough, Renji,' or 'Focus, Renji,' or 'Stop making it explode, Renjij?'" he said in a high-pitched mockery of her voice. Her eyes narrowed back into their former glare.

"Well, we could always go over it another twenty times if you want to so badly."

"No, no, no!" he rushed out nervously. "I'm good." Rukia smiled at that. She never realized that thinly veiled threats could be such a good deterrent to mockery.

"Hey, Ruk, you decent?" a voice called from the other side of the door. The two friends' eyes snapped to it immediately.

"I am. You can come in," she said back.

The moment she said that Ganju slipped through the door, and he looked a little different then usual. Over the years she had known him, Rukia had only ever seen him in T-shirts, jeans, and maybe the occasionall hoodie. Yeah, he had his bandana, but that wasn't necessarily odd.

Today he came out in a green vest, a sleevless kimono top, loose fitting black pants, and arm guards. It looked like he was ready for…something. She wasn't sure what, but he was certainly ready for something. First Ishida and now him. Was Renji going to pull a costume change before they left, too?

He continued, sounding slightly exasperated, "Yoruichi wanted us all out back like five minutes ago and that cat is going to kill me if I don't…" He trailed off.

Ganju paused when he crossed the threshold. He glanced between the two teenagers alone in the room, an eyebrow raised. Then, a wide smile crept on his lips.

"Oh, I see how it is…"

Rukia blinked, her brain kind of…stuttering like it was a cellphone with bad connection. Then, realization dawned on her.

"Wait, its, not–!"

"It's alright, it's alright," Ganju said with his hands raised. "I was young too, once, I get it."

Rukia wanted to scoff at that, would have if her face weren't turning completely red. Ganju wasn't even that much older than her! (At least not by Soul Society standards.)

Renji sat silent beside her, face about as red as his hair.

"I'll leave you two alone," Ganju said with a wink. "Just try and not to get to distracted. I was serious about Yoruichi." He finished with a grimace and left them, quietly closing the door behind him.

The room suddenly felt far too stuffy and far too small. Renji was still dazed and Rukia didn't even know where to start in unpacking this mess.

"I…um…need to change," she eventually said, eyes firmly on the ground.

"What?" he asked. He didn't even seem to have heard her, but after a second, he just nodded. "I'll just…uh…yeah."

He left the room in a hurry after that, tripping slightly on his own feet on the way out. Rukia buried her face in her hands the moment the door closed.

She changed in a hurry after that, putting on her black Shinigami robes. When she came out of the room, he was still there, kneeling outside of the door and staring into space. He glanced up at her. She looked back down at him.

They both silently agreed to never speak of this moment again.

By the time Rukia and Renji made it to the backyard of the Shiba house, the rest were already assembled, including Ganju who gave them a wink that sent a shudder down Rukia's spine. Without even a second glance, he continued speaking to the twins from yesterday.

"So, you're sure you two can activate this spell on your own?"

"With our powers combined, we should be able to activate the cannon, sir!" barked the one nearest to her.

"We will not let you or the mistress down, sir!" cried the other one. Ganju let out a hearty laugh.

"That's what I like to hear! Get in your positions!"

Ishida, standing a short distance away, ramrod straight and arms crossed, muttered something to himself.

"Ya got something to say?" asked Renji, voice tinged with defensiveness. Rukia almost rolled her eyes. It was too early for this.

Ishida answered back with thinly veiled aggression. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little concerned with how they're planning on shooting us out of a fireworks cannon."

Renji asked, eyes bulging, "They're what now?" Ishida scoffed.

"Maybe you'd know this if you had bothered to be here on time yesterday." Then, glancing at Rukia, he added, "or today for that matter."

Rukia actually did roll her eyes at this. She was pretty sure that Ishida was just messing with Renji. This was the first she's heard of a cannon too.

It was in this very moment that she registered the full implications of that statement. Eye's wide, she looked to the only notable structure in the yard and that was the several stories tall pillar covered in various seals and spells.

"You don't mean…" she muttered. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ishida stiffly nod, a very displeased look on his face.

All this time and she had assumed that pillar was for decoration, but no it was an industrial sized cannon, one that they were going to be launched out of. She almost couldn't believe it, but then again, this was Kukaku's house.

Ganju came back from where the two twins were now positioned, and with a smile explained, "This right here's the Kukaku Cannon. It's a little device of her own invention, and it's going to kickstart this whole mission."

"No offense, Ganju, but that thing's anything but little," Renji said, neck craning to eye the top.

Yoruichi turned to them all at that time, settling a steady gaze on them.

"Regardless of your feelings toward the device," Yoruichi started, "it is the safest way inside, and I, in this case, fully trust Kukaku's judgment. If all goes well we will be meeting out contact in minutes, and right on schedule.

"Ganju, if you would lead the way? I believe it's about time we got going."

"Got it boss."

With a wave of his hand he led them all to the smooth base of the pillar, and without hesitation he knocked on it once, the sound harsh and resounding. Stone melted away and an entrance appeared for them. He walked in quickly after that, and the second Rukia, at the very end of the line, crossed the threshold, the entrance disappeared behind her as if it were never there in the first place.

She gulped joining the others quickly.

Though it was supposed to be a cannon, it wasn't recognizable as one, not that she knew much about a cannon's innerworkings. The pillar was as smooth on the inside as it was the outside. Then again, she was pretty sure that this cannon didn't run off normal explosives.

Yoruichi, standing in the very center cleared his throat, catching the attention of all.

"Before we depart, I would like to go over a few things, mainly the threats we will be facing." The cat said this with a certain seriousness, his normally intense gaze hardening. "There is, of course, what Kukaku has already mentioned, but we have yet to speak of the Shinigami themselves. I am confident that if any of you were to come across a normal Shinigami, you would have no trouble protecting yourself, but not all Shinigami can be considered 'normal.' Be weary of Lieutenants, like the one our dear Rukia ran into, and do not under any circumstances challenge a Captain."

Rukia remembered the Captain she had seen, Ichigo's own father, the one that had almost killed her with little effort. She shuddered.

"They are identifiable by their white haori and are the most powerful people in the entire Seireitei. You will run if you see one and hope that they did not notice you.

"We will not be taking any unnecessary risks in this mission. We are here for one reason and one reason alone."

Rescuing Ichigo

"Understood!" they all chorused. The sound echoed throughout the chamber.

"Ganju, set the Resyukaku down in the center of the room," Yoruichi ordered with the tap of a paw. He waited patiently for it to be placed before him. He then jumped on top of it, carefully balanced on all four paws.

The difference was instant and immense. A barrier was brought up, and this one was larger, brighter, and stronger than any that she had seen created so far. Apparently neither size nor species was indicative of power.

"Everyone, add your own power!" Yoruichi commanded. "We must make this barrier as strong as possible."

They all approached the now levitating Yoruichi, placing their hands on the orb. It took a second for Rukia to realize that Renji was hesitating, was staring at his hand for a second, questioning, but before too long, he had approached, too, placing his hand on it, bracing for it to blow up in his face.

It didn't. It just grew brighter and remained stable. He sent a triumphant grin Rukia's way, and she couldn't help but to smile back.

"We're ready!" Ganju yelled to the open top of the pillar. Though the sound was a bit muffled, she could hear the twins yelling back.

Rukia could also feel herself buzzing with what could have been excitement, nerves, or even just the energy spell surrounding her. She wasn't quite sure, but her fingers still remained steady as she looked to the group around her.

Ganju was just to her left, eyes glued to the orb. He was biting his lip, deep in focus. Even he seemed nervous, and something about that was incredibly comforting.

Renji was to her right, eyes lit up with excitement and pure energy. A smile was still tugging at his lips, and for a second he caught her gaze. He gave her a single nod.

Ishida was right across from her, looking comparatively nonchalant. He gazed down at the orb, with the same air of confidence he had when drawing his bow.

By the time her eyes reached Yoruichi, Rukia realized that the cat was staring right at her. She stared right back, and after a long moment of holding this, she had realized something that Yoruichi didn't need to say.

They knew exactly what they were here for, and they were ready. At that very moment, the twins began to recite the spell.

"Seventy-two pairs of illusions."

"Thirteen pairs of illusions."

"The monkey's right paw captures a star."

Rukia could feel another energy building around them. This was really happening!

"Held in the embrace of twenty-five suns, the cradle of sand will flow with blood."

"Flower-Crane Cannon Launch, Method Two! Kagizaki!"

They were launched, and it happened so quickly, Rukia couldn't even pinpoint the moment. They were hurtling through the air going at the speed of a bullet.

"Woah!" gasped Renji. "Woah" was right, Rukia thought.

They were in the air, gazing down at the forest and town, far above the wall to the Seireitei. They were so high up! Rukia subconsciously brought herself closer to the orb.

Ganju, on the other hand, went further away from it. He took one hand off the orb and begun fumbling for some papers that were tucked within his vest.

"I thought we were supposed to stay focused?" Rukia sked with wide eyes.

Ganju didn't answer at first, working quickly to unfold an incredibly long piece of paper covered completely in hard to read cursive script.

"You have to stay focused," he eventually answered. "I need to use this to stabilize the cannonball." With a frown, he scrutinized the text, mumbling something before adding, "I'm gonna have to let go. I need you all to compensate for the lost power, got it?"

He didn't give them time to answer. Just as they reached the apex of their arc he released his hold, and Rukia was scrambling slightly to adjust. She almost released her own hold when something loudly crackled beside her.

"Abarai, tone it down!" yelled Ishida.

"Hey, how do you know it's my fault?" Renji snapped back.

"Who else would it be? Yoruichi?"

"Ishida's right," Rukia said carefully. "You're putting too much into this." This only seemed to frustrate Renji more.

"Well…I'm trying! If this guy would get off my back–!"

"All of you shut up!" Ganju yelled. Then, looking back at his scroll, he cursed. "This spell isn't exactly easy, ya know! I need to concentrate!"

"Blame that guy!" This was yelled in unison by both Ishida and Renji. The second they realized it, they sent each other harsh glares.

Muttering something under his breath about "troublesome teenagers" Ganju glanced out of the cannonball, sweat visible on his brow. It wasn't difficult to see why he was so nervous. The cannonball was picking up speed, the Seireitei was coming closer and closer. Impact was coming sooner than expected.

"Ganju, you might want to hurry up on that spell," Rukia urged.

"You think I don't know that?" he huffed out, eyes furiously scanning the paper. He finally began reciting (again.)

"Flower-Crane Cannon Launch, Method Two. Secondary Spell. Fate of three sparrows, fate of four dragons–!"

"Ganju," Yoruichi interrupted. The man glanced up, looking for a second like he wanted to pull his own hair out. "We're out of time. Everyone put as much power into this as possible. We're going to have to strengthen the barrier manually and hope for the best."

That didn't sound terribly confident. In fact, it sounded downright worrying, and from how Renji gulped beside her and Ishida turned a shade paler, they agreed.

Without so much as a word they all increased their power input, and it became immediately obvious as to why this method wasn't preferred.

The barrier brightened to near-blinding levels, and energy began crackling around them. The orb felt burning hot underneath Rukia's hand to the point where the had to force herself from flinching away.

In the meantime, the Seireitei was growing closer and closer, and they were crashing down like a meteorite. Then, they hit the barrier.

For a second, it was as if they had struck a wall, and then, an electric fence. The pressure increased to the point of asphyxiation and lightning crackled around them. The whole time, Rukia was thinking that there was no way the entire Seireitei didn't know they were here.

The tension in the collision built and built, until it finally snapped. The barrier broke with a sound somewhere in between shattering glass and a sonic boom, and then she was weightless.

"Quickly!" yelled Yoruichi. "Grab onto each other. This state won't last forever!"

It took a moment for Rukia to even realize what Yoruchi was talking about, but when she did, oh boy was it surreal.

"What the…" she trailed off.

She was perfectly suspended in the air, upside down, and floating amongst the others all scattered around the atmosphere. In the middle of them was the orb, energy lazily sprouting from it and becoming weaker and weaker by the moment.

Then, before her very eyes, it dimmed completely, and an entire new energy sprouted from it. Formerly still air started whipping about wildly, currents picking, and, much to her horror, dragging her and everyone else apart. All she could do was wave her arms about uselessly as everyone else panicked around her.

"Dammit!" Ganju cursed, fighting earnestly against the current. Rukia had no idea how he managed it, but he squirmed his way toward her, getting just close enough to grab the back of her robe, anchoring himself to her, all the while muttering things about how they needed to "stay together, dammit!"

It wasn't a moment too soon, either. The winds that had pushed them apart were starting to pull them down, and before they even knew it they were in freefall.

The two spent the whole way down clutching to each other for dear life and screaming at the top of their lungs.

Part II

Not even a minute later, Rukia found herself on her hands and knees coughing up an entire bucket's worth of sand. A meter or two away Ganju was doing the exact same thing.

"Didn't know you could…" Rukia took a moment to catch her breath, grimacing at how gravelly her voice sounded there for a second. She continued, "I didn't know you could just make a crater of sand out of nowhere."

"It's an easy enough trick," he said, shaking sand out of his shoe. "I'd show you how, but we need to get going. This place is going to be crawling with Shinigami in a moment."

"Got it," she answered with a nod. She frowned when this nod dislodged about a cup of sand from her hair. Bringing up a hand to shake out the rest of it, she followed him out of the crater and into a nearby alleyway. He was glancing around, mouthing words to himself with his brows furrowed. He looked like he was trying to recall something.

Rukia hoped in her heart that Ganju would be able to act as a decent replacement guide to Yoruichi. She certainly didn't know where they hell they were.

The Seireitei, like the town outside of it, looked like it was from a different era, though not the same one. Every building was exactly alike, with brown curved roofs and everything was made of concrete and stone. It was uncomfortably clean, and its inhabitants were sparse.

They weren't sparse enough, however. Within minutes of walking Ganju was holding her against the wall, waiting for a small group of patrolling Shinigami to pass.

"Come on," one of them said. "Mr. Ayasegawa told us the Ryoka were somewhere in this area."

"Ugh," another groaned. "I'm not good at this 'sensing' stuff. Why couldn't they have landed in the Eighth? I was in the middle of kicking Toga's ass and everything!"

"You can save the fighting for later. If those Ryoka get away it's all our asses on the line," a new voice said.

"Yes, boss," a few of them chorused.

The group passed by quickly after that having not even noticed Rukia and Ganju. Both still waited a few more seconds before moving again, heading back on the track that Ganju set, crossing the street that the small squad had been through just before quickly and quietly.

"You know where we're going, right?" asked Rukia in a hushed tone.

He sighed, "Not really. I'm not even sure where we are."

"Then…" Rukia stopped in her tracks. She leaned against the nearest wall, trying not to sink fully to the ground in in sheer frustration. "What do we do?" Ganju shrugged.

"I'd say we find the others, but I'm not really sure how. Kukaku really wasn't kidding when she said this place was fucking huge."

"That's comforting," Rukia muttered. "That's not really an answer, though. Do we try to find Ichigo? Do we just stay out of sight? What?"

Pursing his lips, Ganju said, "I guess we can…Wait!"

"Wait?" Rukia asked. "I'm not sure what good that'll do us."

"No, no, no, I think I figured out where we are." He turned fully to her. "You know what Divisions are, right?"

"Kind of," she said with a shrug. He seemed to think that was good enough.

"I think we're in the Eleventh," he said. "You won't find any muscle heads like the group that just passed us before anywhere else."

"Is that a good thing?" Rukia asked with a raised eyebrow.

With a grimace, Ganju resolutely shook his head.

"We go south, and we'll meet my brother who wants to kill you. Go north, and we'll run into the Third Division who has a Captain that's even worse. Go east and we get taken down in moments by those crazy ninjas from the Second."

"Go west and we hit a wall," Rukia finished with a frown.

"Exactly."

"Then staying out of sight's basically our only option."

Nodding solemnly, Ganju said, "Let's just hope that Yoruichi finds us before someone else does."

Somehow, Rukia didn't think it would be that easy.

Part III

Far away from Rukia and Ganju, Renji was kneeling at the base of a tree puking up a whole lungul of lake water. A meter or so behind him Ishida was lying flat on his back, panting and soaked to the bone.

"Ugh," Renji groaned, "I think I landed weird." The words quickly sent him into another coughing fit. He felt fucking miserable.

"Shut up," Ishida panted dragging himself into a sitting position, "before your nagging gets us caught."

"If anything's going to get us caught it's you," Renji bit out after the fit passed. "You sound like a goddamn asthmatic."

Ishida didn't say anything back. He just flipped him off before bringing himself to his feet.

"Get up," he eventually said. "We should go deeper into the forest. It should give us some cover."

"Should" didn't sound too sure but considering how Renji could hear people in the distance calling out how about searching the lake it was worth a chance.

They ran into the trees, escaping being spotted by the skin of their teeth. They ran in no particular direction, avoiding any stray Shinigami and trying to stick to where the foliage was thickest. Eventually, they were alone, or at least alone enough to openly complain at each other.

"I can't believe I'm here with you of all people," Ishida said with a scowl.

"Hey, it's not like you were my first choice! I just grabbed whatever was closest to me."

"And that happened to be my leg. Thanks for that, by the way. I'm still sore."

Renji growled. Goddamn prick.

They trudged along, a little dryer than they were when they first crash landed but no happier. After enough of this, stomping unhappily in the forest, the thick foliage became sparse again. They were reaching a clearing.

"Up ahead," Ishida whispered.

They had reached buildings, finally, though these were a bit different from the ones in the village. They looked like if military bunkers were made by people a couple hundred years ago, but that was far from the most important thing he saw. Two Shinigami were in the distance, milling bout, perfectly visible.

"We're going to have to make it through there undetected," Ishida continued.

"Well, I figured that much."

The archer ignored his sarcasm, continuing, "After that we'll need to find the others and regroup."

Renjii scoffed, "You were paying attention, weren't you? This place is huge. I doubt we could just find them like that."

"I'm not saying we wander indefinitely, idiot. We just have to…make it up as we go along." As he said this he shifted around uncomfortably. "Playing it by ear" didn't really seem to be Ishida's style, and it became quickly obvious to Renji that he was uncomfortable with the very idea.

"What if we just headed towards that?" Renji said, pointing up and ahead.

His eyes were trained on a set of buildings, much taller than any others. They were far away, but large enough that they were clearly visible, even from this distance. Renji may not have been the best judge of of itt, but they looked like they'd take about a day or so to reach by foot.

Ishida shook his head resolutely answering, "Those are likely government facilities. We'd get caught."

"Exactly!" When Renji exclaimed this, Ishida looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Have you lost it, Abarai? I said we'd get caught."

"I'm not talking about that," Renji insisted. "I'm talking about the 'government building' part. What kind of building do you think Ichigo's at right now?"

Ishida paused for a moment, considering. Then, realization dawned on him. "He'd be in some sort of holding cell, likely, there," he said, glancing back at the towers. "And Yoruichi might head there after he's finished with the contact…might."

"It may not be perfect…"

"But it's all we have to go on," Ishida admitted. He didn't look too happy about it, either. "Okay, we'll head there. Hopefully the others will have thought of the same thing, and hopefully Yoruichi will have found us before somebody else can."

Renji was optimistic, and feeling a little bit smug, but somehow, he couldn't shake the feeling that it wouldn't be that easy.

Part IV

Yoruichi had a much smoother landing than the others. Gracefulness was a bit of a specialty, after all. That amongst other things, anyway. Sadly, those didn't include preventing things from going wrong at the most inopportune of times.

The cat let out a silent sigh. Everyone one was scattered across the Seireitei, just as Kukaku had feared, and well, even the best had trouble tracking down individuals in the sea of Reishi that was the Soul Society. Luckily, Yoruichi was the best, but there were other things that had to be taken care of first.

The mission was priority. Ichigo's life was on the line, and the best place to start the mission was with the contact. The others could take care of themselves for a while.

Besides, sitting at the top of a pillar deep in the Seireitei, Yoruichi felt a twinge of nostalgia.

It has been a while, hasn't it?

The cat smirked before diving down.

Part V

Gin Ichimaru smiled as he left the Emergency Captain's Meeting. Oh, this day had become far more interesting than he could have imagined, and he was relishing in it.

Of course, this day wasn't wholly unexpected. There was always the chance that someone would come running after Ichigo, but he certainly hadn't imagined that they would be this dramatic about it, explosions, light show and all.

Everything about this, from how they had bursted in without warning to how Kenpachi had rushed out of the room the first chance he got with a wild grin on his face, why, it made him absolutely giddy.

Sadly, there wasn't much he could do about that now. He had an assigned post after all, as well as quite the part to play later. He barely spared his Lietenant a glace as they walked in step back to their Division.

Oh, this week was going to be fun.

Part VI

Ichigo could pinpoint the exact moment that the Cannonball hit the barrier. It wasn't that his dulled senses could feel it, but rather the sheer chaos that unfolded around him that cued him in.

Guards and other officers on the outside of his holding cell began scurrying around, panicking, and saying things about Ryoka, intruders. They yelled about posts, and about protocols. It was a little difficult to make sense of it all, at first.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked the nearest one with a scowl and the most commanding presence he could manage from the inside of a cell.

The man seemed nervous about answering, but quickly gave in, saying, "There appear to be intruders. We're searching for them as we speak, sir."

"I figured that much," Ichigo scolded. "Who are they? Have any been identified?"

"We're not sure," the officer admitted, "but apparently there was an unauthorized use of a Senkaimon yesterday, so whoever it is, they're from the World of the Living."

Ichigo took a step back from the bars after that.

"Dammit," he cursed to no one in particular. The officer probably assumed that the former Lieutenant was worried about the Soul Society, but really, his mind was on other things.

He never wanted anyone to come for him. He just wanted to face his crimes in peace, not drag anyone down with him. A part of him wanted to jump for joy. Rukia was alive. This was proof, because really, who else would do something like this, but another part of him…

Helping Rukia had been a choice he had make, one he still didn't regret, and one that she shouldn't have to suffer for, not her, and not those friends of her's. (He wasn't an idiot, he knew they wouldn't leave her alone if she were coming here, and if he had to guess, his aunt was definitely involved in this.)

So, here he was, sitting in a cell, knowing that people he cared about were putting themselves in harms way to get him back, and knowing that the chances of them succeeding were slim to none. Death for all of them was the most likely outcome, but perhaps it wasn't the only one?

Behind bars, Ichigo listened for any new information he could get, asking whenever the guards seemed to have some kind of new revelation. It was tedious, he felt powerless, but for one he didn't feel completely in the dark, waiting for death. As long as no one reported any captures, he could maintain hope.

"Captain, sir! What are you–!" one of the officers exclaimed just out of Ichigo's line of sight.

"I'm just here to see my son," Isshin said, and he sounded serious. Goat-chin sounding serious was never a good thing under any circumstances. Ichigo had no choice but to wait not-so-patiently for his dad to stop in front of his cell and when he did, Ichigo saw that he looked as grim as he sounded.

His father gulped, shifting slightly.

"I…" Isshin started. His words seemed to get caught in his throat. It took a moment for him to continue. "I've been speaking with Central 46 about your case," he finally said. "They haven't responded yet, but hopefully we'll be able to smooth this all over."

Ichigo didn't respond to Isshin. He felt like he just had nothing to say. He knew his dad had been speaking with Central 46, and he knew that was never going to get them anywhere. His dad knew this, too.

"Until, then, though," he continued, "I'm going to help find the Ryoka." Ichigo snapped up at that, eyes widening.

"Wait, you can't do that, I–!" Isshin held up a silencing hand. Whatever words Ichigo was trying to rush out died on his lips.

"Whether you acknowledge it or not, that girl is why you are here. She carries some of the blame, and for that, I'm going to find her."

Ichigo let out an unsteady breath, processing the words. There had to be something he could do to convince his dad otherwise. Maybe he could give him a good kick in the face. Maybe his dad would just suddenly break into a smile and say he was kidding all along.

This time, goat-chin wasn't kidding, though. He could tell, just by looking in his eyes exactly how serious he was, and Ichigo understood why. If their roles were reversed, he isn't convinced he'd be doing any differently.

So, Ichigo just stayed silent. He let his dad turn away and leave because he was behind the bars and his dad wasn't. He stopped asking the guards questions. He stopped paying attention to the chaos surrounding him. His helplessness turned to hopelessness, a feeling that was becoming more and more familiar by the minute.


Things are finally picking up, here in more ways than one! If you've been enjoying this story feel free to review and tell me how you feel. (Or if you have some criticism, or just want to say hi. It's all good.)

Because, yeah, your reviews give me life!