Hey this includes some non-sexual nudity! It's not graphic and this probably the only warning I'm ever going to give you ever because I like surprises, and all of the violence is canon-typical anyway.

Enjoy!


Part I

When Sode no Shirayuki appeared in place of the mannequin, it felt markedly different from every other time that she'd shown herself to Rukia. She didn't just materialize and dematerialize at will like a cross between a ghost and an unruly house guest, she came in a burst of cold wind that had Yoruichi taking a cautious step back, and then a few more to give the two some privacy.

More notably, though, Sode looked…well, Rukia wasn't sure how she looked.

Rukia had never once seen Sode like this, eyebrows furrowed on her delicate face, a hand worrying the sleeve of her pure white kimono. She'd seen Sode look serene, disappointed, completely pissed off, and in some very rare cases pleased. This new look scared Rukia.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sode asked quietly. Maybe, despite everything, they had managed to form a bond because Rukia hears the question for what it is, a plea. You don't want to do this.

"Now's a bit late to turn back," Rukia answered with crooked humorless smile. She was getting the feeling she'd made a mistake here.

Sode took a moment to visibly steel herself, taking a steadying breath. Her back straightened, her face relaxed, and that feeling faded away.

"Very well, then." As Sode said this, she held out a hand materializing ice from thin air and gathering into her palm. Before Rukia's eyes she formed a sword with it in the shape of her own. It looked more like a well-made ice sculpture than her Shikai, but Rukia felt the power radiating from it regardless.

With one elegant swipe in the air, a wave of cold went over them and the arena around them was covered in it. Soft snow blanketed the ground. Rock formations were cased in ice. Icicles hung from them catching light from the artificial sun. It was a winter wonderland. Rukia's mouth fell open.

"Don't look so impressed," Sode said, tone full of distaste. "If you complete your Bankai you will be able to do the same." Then, turning her newly crafted blade to Rukia, she said, "Let's begin"

It took Rukia one second too long to figure out what Sode's intentions were, and by then she was tumbling backwards into the snow trying not to get impaled by her own Zanpakuto. Wasn't this familiar.

"Wait!" Rukia cried out between one dodge and the next, "I don't even –" she ducked away from a strike, "have a sword!" It had disappeared with the mannequin, replaced by Sode's current form.

"Then you'll just have to make do, won't you?"

Rukia slipped on a patch of ice at those words, thinking that was pretty damn coldhearted, even for Sode. She scrambled up and found her fingers catching on a very oddly shaped piece of ice. Grabbing it without thinking she wrenched it from the ground, and raised it above her head to block, finding herself holding an exact replica of Sode's weapon.

For a moment, the two were in deadlock, Sode's face unmoving. Rukia slid back, kicking up and into the spirit's wrist and forcing Sode's weapon out of her hands. It shattered onto a nearby rock. Rukia brought herself to feet, a tight grip on her sword.

"That's it?" she asked with a deep frown "No explanation, no long speech, just fight me?" Her only answer was Sode materializing a new blade and going in for another strike (and another and another and another).

Rukia couldn't do any special attacks like this, not with the pace that Sode kept, not with how close her Zanpakuto stayed during her attacks. Even with her newly learned Hohō, Rukia couldn't get a single hit in, mostly because Sode had no problem at all matching and then exceeding Rukia's speed.

Rukia was pushed, pulled, dragged, and sliced, but she tried relentlessly to give as good as she got. The results were…mixed. She wasn't sure how long the fight lasted in the end, but she remembered exactly how it ended.

Rukia was going as fast as she could without faceplanting into the snow in an attempt to set the battle to her own pace. She went just a fraction faster, miscalculated, and found her foot sliding on a patch of ice. She stumbled and that was all Sode needed.

She felt Sode behind her, and before she had any time to react Sode was driving the hilt of her sword right into the back of Rukia's head. She hit the ground, arms going up to catch herself as she ignored the pounding in her skull, landing with a solid thump and a curse.

Crack!

The sound was quiet, but it rang clearly through the otherwises peaceful atmosphere. Rukai looked up and saw Sode's wooden tabi clad foot in between the shattered remains of Rukia's makeshift sword.

The Spirit took a step away, not sparing Rukia a glance as she turned.

"We're done here."

"What?" Rukia asked dumbly. "No! We still…!" She struggled to find the words, panting. "I can keep going!"

Sode wasn't listening. She was walking away further into the training center heading deeper into the mist that had settled in the heart of it. She disappeared.

Slipping and sliding into a standing position, Rukia rubbed the back of her probably bruised head thinking sarcastically that she at least had plenty of ice to put on it if she needed to. She looked down at the half of the broken sword in her hand, and suddenly felt a deep frustration well in her heart. She threw it on the ground, feeling satisfied as it dematerialized, blending into the snow around it.

There was nothing she could do about Sode running off, and she knew that. All she could do was hope that Sode was as serious about this as she was and that she wasn't just wasting Rukia's time.

So, Rukia walked away, too, just to clear her head. She walked all the way to the edge of Sode's ice back to a normal looking area of the training grounds near the entrance. There sat Yoruichi at the ledge of the door.

"Were you waiting here the whole time?" Rukia asked absently.

"Naw," Yoruichi said with an easy smile, "I'm not the biggest fan of the cold so I took the time to check up on your friends." Rukia perked up in attention.

"Are they alright?" she asked cautiously. Yoruichi's smile dropped.

"I didn't find them," she said with a shrug. "I also didn't hear any rumors of captured Ryoka, though. They're probably fine."

"They just disappeared?" Rukia asked this more to herself than anything. Her guilt was coming back in full force.

"Moved on is more like it. It was smart of them, too," she assured. "I still wish they'd waited just a little longer."

Rukia nodded, feeling like she needed to sit down, but all she could manage was to lean against the sheer wall of the training grounds. This situation was far from ideal, but it certainly could have been worse.

Then, as her back touched the hard surface she felt herself wince. Now that she was away from the numbing cold, Rukia could feel every bruise and cut that Sode had inflicted. Yoruichi gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Do you know what makes these grounds better than the ones at the Shiba Shop?" Yoruichi asked with a sly grin. Rukia shrugged. It looked a little bigger. The sun didn't come down as hard. Yoruichi put a hand on Rukia's shoulder leading her away. "Come on, I'll show you."

What Yoruichi wanted to show Rukia was at the far side of the grounds, a walk made even longer by how Yoruichi insisted they hug the walls all the way there to avoid the snow. Still, once they reached the place, it was completely worth it.

"A hot spring?" Rukia gasped out. It was beautiful, too. The water was fresh and glistening, flowing into a large pool, steam wafting off the stop. "How did you get a hot spring in here?" she asked, turning to Yoruichi. "Why do you have a hot spring in here?" Her eyes averted immediately when she saw Yoruichi shrugging off her jacket and jumpsuit.

Well, that answered the "why" part.

"It was my idea, actually," Yoruichi said proudly. "I don't really know how it works, but I do know that nothing's better than spending a half hour in here after a long day of training." Rukia heard the telltale sound of shifting water and deemed it safe to look away from the rock she was staring intently at. "Climb in!" Yoruichi said with a beckoning hand.

For a second, Rukia though of refusing, if only because of her own shyness. Then again, the water looked so nice…

In less than a minute she was stripped down and dunking herself in the water with a feeling of satisfaction.

"That's the spirit," Yoruichi said serenely. She was sinking back against a rock, stretched out and relaxed. Rukia let out a pleasant sigh in agreement.

The water felt as good as it looked! Extremities numbed by ice were soothed and warmed. All her wounds and bruises disappeared from her mind. She found herself sinking deeper in, finally relaxing for probably the first time in weeks.

"How are things going with your Zanpakuto?" Yoruichi asked brightly. Rukia sunk deeper into the pool, and this time it wasn't out of bliss. "That bad, huh?"

"She barely even spoke to me. It's like she doesn't even want our Bankai," Rukia said, tugging at a wet lock of hair. "This is Shikai training all over again."

"Hey, you got that one in seven days, didn't you?" Yoruichi assured. "You did something right."

Rukia's mind drifted back to those days. How had it worked, then?

She remembered fighting with Sode a lot, verbally and physically. She remembered failing to intimidate the Spirit. She remembered getting Sode to cooperate which was like pulling teeth at times! She also remembered Sode freely teaching her the Dances once she had gained her Zanpakuto's…respect? pity? She still wasn't sure.

"Sode always responded best when I was bold." Rukia said this with an uneasy sort of smile. "The whole reason she started cooperating in the first place was because I told her I owned her and that she had to. She laughed at me, of course, but I think she liked that I had the guts to talk to her like that." Her smile started fading as she added, "So, what changed? Why go backwards?"

Yoruichi let out puff of air saying, "You got me, kid. It sounds like you just need to talk to her about it."

Rukia had tried that. It didn't work. The woman leaned back further against the rocks, lounging before she continued.

"You're lucky, you know. You and your Zanpakuto get along pretty well. I wouldn't worry about it."

Rukia gave Yoruichi a long hard stare. Was she crazy, or had she just not listened to anything Rukia said?

"Don't give me that look," Yorcuihi snorted. Rukia kept giving her that look, and Yoruichi brought up her hands in defense. "Okay," she said, "things aren't perfect between you two, but most have it a lot worse! You should have seen Tatsuki when she was younger. Her and Yakeruni would get into shouting matches just about every time she tried to talk to him." Then with a scoff she added, "The fact that Ichigo seemed to get along so well with Zangetsu only made her madder, but Zangetsu frustrated him plenty, too."

Rukia looked down at her muddied reflection in the water. Okay, she wasn't the only one, but that still didn't help her. She still didn't know what she was missing, here. Yoruichi frowned, pensive.

"Listen," she eventually said. "A long time ago my teacher gave me some pretty sound wisdom about Zanpakuto. Your Zanpakuto is, at the end of the day, a reflection of yourself, which is why it's so goddamn hard to get along with them. They have all those parts of yourself you don't like or ignore and crank it up to eleven. You can't change them. You can't control them. You just have to deal with them. For a rare few, this comes easy, but for most people…"

Okay, that made some sense, Rukia thought. She understood that. She cringed at the thought of what traits Sode just might be reflecting, but she understood it. She just needed some time to consider it.

"What about you?" Rukia asked suddenly. Come to think of it, Rukia had never seen Yoruichi with a Zanpakuto. Was her situation similar to Kukaku's?

Yoruichi shifted, a pinched look on her face as she grew uncomfortable. She took a few long moments to answer.

"We didn't get along, at all," Yoruichi eventually said. "It took me years to even learn her name, and every time I tried to speak to her things managed to go wrong." A mirthless smile grew on her face. "I think she hated me.

"Eventually I became a Captain, and not wanting to be the odd one out, I tried for my Bankai. I used the same method you did… I failed. We stopped talking after that, and I didn't even bring her with me to the World of the Living. Too easy to track, I thought. Not useful enough."

She trailed off for a long while after that, staring into space.

"Was it cruel of me," she asked no one, "to do that?"

Rukia had no way of answering that, and Yoruichi knew it. The woman shook her head apologetically.

"Sorry, I'm depressing you, aren't I?" With a strained smile she rose up from the water. "I brought some food if you're hungry. It's down by the entrance. You should probably get some rest too, while you're at it. You can't tell in here, but it's gotten dark out." She left quietly at that, grabbing her clothes, wringing out her hair, and looking like she had nothing left to say on the matter. Rukia didn't ask any more questions, and instead stayed in the water a little longer.

Tomorrow she would ask her Zanpakuto about what happened, why she seemed so nervous about Bankai, but tonight she would rest. Though the water had muted it, Rukia could still feel her body ache with both new wounds and old. She thought, at the very least, that they might make some impressive scars, though she wasn't sure how she'd feel about the jagged scar that would undoubtedly come from the wound Kenpachi had left in the side of her chest. If anything, Sode might be impressed.

That brought Rukia back to what Yoruichi had told her. If Sode did turn out to be impressed, then wouldn't that mean, on some level, Rukia was impressed, too?

Rukia shook her head. Even entertaining that train of thought gave her a headache. Banishing it away, she settled back onto a particularly comfortable stone.

No more thinking.

Part II

Even after they left the confines of their safehouse, Uryuu had kept a close eye on Inoue. While weaving through the walkways of the First Division in stolen Shinigami uniforms (that did very little thanks to the ridiculously high standards of the First Division), fending off any would-be attackers or whistleblowers (and not doing anything lethal on Inoue's insistence) though still struggling to put together her true intentions, he got a pretty good idea of what she was capable of.

He witnessed her Zanpakuto and its near perfect forcefields used to both protect comrades and keep enemies from running away. In the very next breath, he'd see her heal the same enemy with that Zanpakuto from a potentially fatal wound before regrouping. The display was impressive, maybe even admirable, but it became quickly clear that Inoue's Zanpakuto was not the source of her power.

Uryuu knew very little about Kidō. He'd seen Shiba use it a few times, and with very mixed results, but not much else. Inoue made Shiba look like a rank amateur in the art.

Not much could impress Uryuu, but when he saw this Shinigami girl take out a man twice her size without even wounding him, he was impressed. (She later explained that it was a spell often used to knock out patients for surgeries.)

This mix of watching and fighting and running kept Uryuu and the rest of the group busy for hours, and when they hit a dry spell around late afternoon they were hardly complaining. (Ganju and Inoue did seem uneasy, however.) The Shinigami became far sparser, and if Uryuu had to guess he'd say it had to do with the chaos the Soul Society had been in the last few days.

All he had to go on were fragments of hushed conversations that were often heard moments before they were suddenly in another battle, but Uryuu was able to put together that along with the death of a Captain, in-fighting was becoming more common, they were arresting highly ranked officers, and the overall stability of the Soul Society had been put into question. That was good, he thought. Let them get tangled up in their own issues and keep them distracted from getting on the Ryoka's backs.

It was while stuck in these thoughts that Uryuu spotted someone, a Shinigami that struck him as vaguely familiar (though many did look alike with those uniforms of theirs). The Shinigami was alone, and seemed distracted, so without giving it a second thought Uyruu drew his bow, aim steady, and fired.

"Blossom! Shun Shun Rikka!" His arrow hit a forcefield halfway between him and his target. It broke and disintegrated in the air.

Uryuu turned sharply to Inoue ready to tear into her for wanting to protect every Shinigami they came across whether this was out of softness or perhaps something much more sinister, and then he saw the look on her face.

She looked shocked, mouth slightly open and eyes wide as she took in the appearance of the person before her. Then her brows quirked in confusion. Finally, it all melted away, and a grin broke out on her face. She ran towards the Shinigami, arms open, and practically tackled him in a hug, though the man didn't even stumble.

"Chad!" she cheered. He gave her a gentle pat on the head, and, well, Uryuu felt like he had lost the plot a while ago.

He also felt just a little irritated, though he wasn't sure why.

"It's you!" Abarai said suddenly. "We beat you back in the Seventh!" He said this as if it were supposed to make them feel better somehow, like they had just run into a kid from another class. Uryuu kept his guard up.

The man nodded curtly.

"You came all the way from the Seventh?" Inoue asked, amazed.

"I was looking for you," the man finally said, but he wasn't addressing Inoue. He was staring right at Uryuu and Abarai.

Uryuu scowled. "Explain."

"Hey," Ganju said with a deep frown, "I'm all for story time, but maybe we shouldn't do this out in the open."

The nonchalance of which he said this struck a nerve with Uryuu. Was he really the only one here that cared about being cautious?

They ended up in an alleyway that Uryuu deemed "private enough". Inoue used a few Kidō meant to keep anyone who wasn't looking too closely from seeing them. With that, Uryuu repeated himself.

"Explain."

Chad cleared his throat, visibly uncomfortable before starting. "After you defeated me, I heard you say you were going to save Ichigo. I decided I needed to find you, then. He's a good friend of mine, and I want to help."

It was roughly the same reasoning that Inoue had given when Abarai had asked her out of curiosity last night, but it was so short Uryuu was almost expecting more. A long pause went through the air after.

Ganju broke it saying, "Story checks out with me. It's good to see you, buddy."

Abarai sent the guy a grin and Inoue clutched a hand over her heart like Chad had just given a moving speech. Uryuu was scratching his head wondering why everyone was so eager to take his words at face value.

Anyone with enough determination could find them, and he'd file people they'd beaten with, at the very least, the motivation for such a thing. It was so obvious he wanted to laugh. Then again, this Shinigami did come a long way (while his organization was in a time of crisis) just to find them. He was instantly recognized by Inoue, and more importantly, Ganju who seemed to believe him trustworthy.

Uryuu frowned. At the very least, the archer would be able to shoot him in the back if he ever betrayed them.

He let out a sigh. "Let's just get moving again."

"Where are you headed?" asked Chad.

"The Repentance Cell," Inoue answered. "Our plan is to get to Ichigo before… We're going to meet with the other Ryoka there, if we can."

With a frown Chad shook his head. "Captain Shiba fought someone that tried to break Ichigo out this morning. They ran away, so guards have been posted, mostly from Division Two."

Inoue went pale, and Ganju hissed out a curse. This certainly made things harder.

"Shit, now what do we do?" Abarai asked grimly.

Uryuu wasn't sure and judging from the silence that answered Abarai's question neither was anyone else. Their semblance of a plan had been thrown out the window.

Then again, Uryuu was hardly letting all this work be for nothing. "We need to catch them when they're vulnerable," he said carefully.

Abarai made a noise of confusion before his eyes lit up. "Orihime, when would Ichigo have less guards on him?"

"Probably during transport," she said bringing a hand up to her face, "and his next one would be when they move him to Sōkyoku Hill in two days." Her eyes widened then. "That'd be the perfect time!"

"The Captain Commander is watching the execution," Chad said, giving her a nudge.

Orihime gulped, nodding. "We don't want to be even a second late. We have to intercept them before they get a chance to reach to top."

"Then as long as we time it right, we've got this in the bag?" Abarai asked with a grin. "That sounds like a plan to me."

Uryuu did see one glaring flaw, though.

"How do we know that Orikasa and Yoruichi will have a compatible plan?"

Chad blinked, seeming a little taken aback by the name "Yoruichi". He turned to Inoue with an eyebrow raised and she simply grinned and nodded at him.

"We don't," Ganju admitted, but we do know they'll be headed to the same place, and that Rukia probably needs some time to recover after her last fight. I'm sure we can figure something out when the time comes."

Uryuu doubted he was getting a better answer than that, for now, at least. He dropped the issue.

Everything was culminating towards one date, one time, one place, and there was little room for error. In two days, before noon, they'd be on Sōkyoku Hill, ready for whatever faced them. All things permitting, Orikasa would be there too. The only thing left was to keep on moving.

They kept running long after dark.

Part III

Rukia stood in front of a solid stone tower. Her eyes were steady on the locked door, her heart pounding in some painful cocktail of anticipation, fear, and even happiness. She had made it, she had finally made it.

Craning her neck up to the sky, she saw the tower extend up into the darkness of night. It went up and up and up until it faded into haze and stars, taller than she could even comprehend. It didn't really matter, though, how tall the tower was. All that mattered was getting inside.

She drew her Zanpakuto and cut the door cleanly in half, reducing it to nothing but rubble, and she stepped calmly over the pieces and into the tower. It was dark, almost completely devoid of the light the stars outside had provided. She found herself squinting against it, looking for anything.

"Ichigo?" she called out. She stuck a hand out in front of her and met nothing but air, taking a cautious half-step forward. "Ichigo?" she called a little louder.

Why wasn't he answering? He was supposed to be here, wasn't he? She took a larger step forward, only for her foot to catch against something. She slipped and fell forward landing hard on the structure in front of her, dull stone edges digging into her skin.

"What the…" she groaned. She patted around, feeling what she was on. They were stairs, that much was obvious; she wasn't sure where they went, except for up.

Dragging her hand up the wall, she felt around hoping to find a rail or something. Her fingers closed on a ridge, less of a rail and more decoration, but it was something. She dragged herself up with that, taking a cautious step forward and up. She began her ascent up the steep winding steps at a painfully slow pace.

She didn't trip again after that, despite how she could hardly see where she was going. She just walked up…and up…and up…

How high do these things even go?

They stretched on forever, it seemed. How long had she even been going? Was it a few minutes? A few hours? She didn't remember anymore.

Then, suddenly, she saw a burst of light. She flinched against it at first, eyes straining against the soft and gentle glow, but soon enough she found herself drawn towards it. She ran up, to see an open window and through it, the moon. She laid a hand on the windowsill, leaning over, just to get a closer look

It was huge, hanging peerless in the night, so close that she could almost touch it. Staring at it, letting the cool light wash over her, she felt she could stay here for the rest of the night, just admiring it.

No, she didn't have time for that, she reminded herself. She tore her eyes from it, and with a resolute nod turned away fully. Well, she tried to, anyway.

"What the hell?" she muttered. She was trying to bring her hand from the window, but she just couldn't. It was was stuck to the smooth stone, it seemed. She turned back to it, tugging with her other hand, but it stayed glued, the skin pulling harshly. Biting the inside of her cheek, she gave it one strong pull and stumbled back with the force, just barely managing not to fall down the steps.

She brought her hand into view, frowning deeply at it. Even in the limited light, it looked reddish. Some of the top layer of her skin had peeled away, and flexing her fingers, she realized they felt numb.

Almost like frostbite.

The thought tore through Rukia like a bullet. She took a large step back, almost pressing herself against the wall and could finally see it. Frost was on the windowsill, and it was spreading. She turned and with gasping breaths visible in the cold she ran up the steps.

In the corner of her eyes, she could see more. Ice was chasing after her, tendrils like fingers crawling up the walls and steps, reaching for her. She ran faster and faster, but it just wasn't letting up. It was so close she could feel its touch on her skin sinking in like claws –

Rukia's eyes snapped open to the view of an Ice Blade coming down at her from above. She didn't even have time to remember where she was and she was already rolling out of the way, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. The Ice Blade sheared right through her cot sending stuffing flying and the case stiff with frost.

"What the hell?!" Rukia yelled from her crouch. She was staring up at Sode. (Who else would attack her in her sleep?)

"Sleeping during our training?" Sode said with a sneer. "Pathetic."

"You're the one that called it off yesterday!"

Her Zanpakuto didn't answer. She just started slashing at Rukia, pushing her around the room. Rukia scrambled back, panicked when suddenly her feet met with nothing but air.

A chocked curse made its way out of Rukia's mouth when she tumbled back, hitting the sandy training grounds, kicking up dust and dirt. She looked up at Sode, sword still in the Spirits hands. Rukia gulped, turned around, and ran towards the snow.

God, she didn't even have time to get her shoes on! She felt every inch of the cold through her Tabi socks, biting her lip to keep from gasping at the shock. It was probably that which made her trip for the second (no, it was the first time, and she really needed to wake up more) that day. She slipped on a patch of ice and fell face first into the snow.

Wasting no time, she brought herself up on her hands, pausing slightly when they met with something.

"Found one!" She grabbed the hilt of a barely concealed Ice Blade, got to her feet, and ran faster, deeper into the icy terrain, glancing back at Sode just to make it clear that this wasn't a retreat, it was a challenge.

With a self-satisfied smirk, Rukia had to admit she was getting pretty good at Hohō. It even had more uses than she first thought. Slipping was no longer a problem when she was running on her own Reiryoku.

All this was just for buying time, though, and she knew it. She needed answers from Sode, and to get those she needed a plan.

"Here's hoping this works," Rukia huffed out. She slid abruptly to a stop and faced her own trail, sticking her Ice Blade into the snow. "White Tree," she called out. Then, she waited.

She tried to control her breath, waiting for Sode to fall into the trap. Her Ice was completely invisible against the snow to anyone else. She, however, could see the trail with extreme clarity. She spread it outwards, looking for anything that moved to latch onto.

Sode no Shirayuki came into sight then, anger clear on her face as she ran toward Rukia, faster than she'd ever seen the woman. Her Geta touched the trap, and judging by the look on her face, Sode realized exactly what happened, and didn't like it. She halted, eyes on the ground, a scowl on her face.

"There," Rukia said, hand on her hip, "now you have to listen to me." Sode crouched down, inspecting her Geta.

"Hardly," she answered, continuing to try and find a way out. Something about the way it was said, the sheer apathy behind it just made Rukia snap.

"That's exactly what–!" She cut herself off with a growl of frustration. "I just don't get you! Sometimes you want to help. Sometimes you hate me. Sometimes it's both for some deranged reason! Would you at least tell me what the hell is going on in your head, so I know I'm not just wasting my time?!"

Sode still wouldn't meet Rukia's eyes after that. They just hardened as she continued to stare down at the ground. "So, is that it?" she asked. "If you don't get the answer you want to hear you're just going to throw me away like Shihōin did to her Zanpakuto?"

"I…no! Why would I?" Rukia stammered. "Why are you like this? It's like you want to make me mad or trip me up or… We're supposed to be in this together and you can't stop acting like you're above me somehow! This power's mine as much as it yours!"

Besides, Sode shouldn't think for a moment that Rukia didn't notice how she only started using Hohō after Rukia learned it.

Sode huffed out a sigh, fingers fiddling with her sandals. "Ah, yes, I remember. How did you put it again? I'm a part of your Soul so I 'belong to you?'"

Rukia sat on the ground with an eyeroll. "That was a bluff, and you know it."

Sode snorted, cracking a half-smile. Rukia felt like her breath was taken away. Was that the first time Sode had given her a genuine smile? Rukia couldn't help but crack a smile back.

"You still haven't answered my question," Rukia continued. "Do you actually want to help me?"

Sode's lips pursed as she seemed to carefully consider her answer. She opened her mouth, closed it, shifted her position into something more comfortable, and tried again.

"I'm not sure," she finally said. Rukia's heart sunk, not that the answer wasn't expected. Sode continued, "I don't hate you, though, and I honestly haven't for a while. It's why I've been trying to help. I'm just…uneasy about our Bankai."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked quietly.

"I think you might know."

Rukia swallowed. She'd had her suspicions, but she wasn't sure until now. "It's the Hollow, isn't it?"

Sode grimaced.

"When your chain was severed," Sode said solemnly, "when you called upon me at the brink of darkness to pull you out, something else followed, clinging onto us like a parasite. I've kept it at bay so far, even controlling it as well as I can to help you survive, but it grows with us. I realized that recently."

"How powerful is it?" Rukia asked. She could feel her hands shaking. Was it really that bad? She feared the answer she would get.

"I don't know. It's strong, strong enough to give me trouble. I don't want to know how strong it may be with the power of a Bankai."

Rukia had been trying to place the expression on Sode's face, the feeling that her Zanpakuto had been giving off ever since she was summoned. Maybe she'd had so much trouble because it wasn't an emotion she was used to seeing on the Spirit, but now it was quite clear what it was. It was fear.

"What happens if you lose control?" Rukia asked hesitantly, moving closer, closer than she'd ever been.

The Spirit shook her head furiously. Either she didn't know or didn't want to think about it. Rukia laid a comforting hand on Sode's shoulder before she even knew what she was doing.

She wasn't sure what she needed to say, just that she needed to say something. Then, she remembered something. It felt like it happened so long ago, but now, the words were quite clear in her mind.

"When I first met you, before all…that, you told me you'd change if I decided to bring us back. I wasn't sure what you meant then, but I think I do now."

Sode brought a hand up to her temples. "I wasn't supposed to be like this. I don't know how, but I just know it. That thing did something to me, Rukia. I don't want to lose any more of myself."

Rukia's hand tightened on Sode's shoulder involuntarily. All this time and her Spirit was carrying that kind of burden…

Rukia cuffed Sode on the back of the head.

"Hey!" the Zanpakuto cried out, hand clutching her head. "What was that–?"

She cut herself off when Rukia dragged her into a hug. The Spirit felt cold to the touch, but somehow it wasn't unpleasant. It was like she had her own special brand of warmth.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rukia whispered. Sode stayed relaxed in her grip. "We can handle this…together, and if you think getting Bankai is a bad idea, we don't have to."

"Really?" Sode asked quietly, so quietly that Rukia almost didn't hear it. Rukia couldn't see her face, but she could imagine. "You'd do that for me?"

"Hey, we've made it this far, and that was just with our Shikai," Rukia said with a chuckle. She broke the hug, taking another look at Sode. Something in the Spirit's eyes looked hopeful.

Sode looked back at Rukia, searching, before clenching her fists and nodding.

"No," she said, "we're getting Bankai. I'm always getting on your case about being afraid. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't do this."

"A-are you sure?" Rukia asked.

"I'm sure."

"Okay…okay," Rukia said. She needed a moment just to let it sink in.

"If we're going to do that, though," Sode started with a frown, "we should be doing more than hugging each other and crying about it. We need to get back to training."

"I assume it'll actually have a point this time," Rukia said with a smirk.

"Of course," Sode said, even sounding offended. She reached for her Ice Blade, feet shifting, and Rukia had a second to realize that the Zanpakuto had broken away from the trap. "And you've left yourself wide open."

Rukia took a scrambling step back from her crouching position, reaching for the nearest Ice Blade. Some things never change, she supposed.

Part IV

Uryuu kept to the back of their little charge. He was the one with the longest range, after all, and it certainly helped that it had the added benefit of keeping an eye on their new companion. Uryuu had grown to begrudgingly trust Inoue, but he had yet to get there with "Sado".

Yasutora Sado (a very Japanese name considering he didn't look Japanese in the slightest) or Chad had yet to do anything to earn their mistrust. That, of course, meant it was up to Uryuu to keep an eye on him until he actually managed to earn their trust.

Sado's Shikai was as Uryuu remembered it, a body-armor like gauntlet that went up to his shoulder in stark stripes of black and red. It seemed to give him amazing strength on top of his already impressive regular strength. He looked like he could bench press about two Uryuus, even though they were the same physical age.

He watched as Sado and Inoue interacted, casual, friendly, and clearly fond of each other. He could only guess at their history until one of them bothered to tell. He would have entertained a few of those guesses if someone hadn't suddenly nudged him in the ribs.

"Hey," Abarai whispered. He had a smirk that couldn't possibly mean anything good. "You jealous?" Uryuu froze for a moment, halting his steps. He turned to Abarai very calmly.

"What?!" The others turned to him, Ganju and Sado looking confused, with Inoue showing a tinge of worry. Uryuu waved them off, adjusting his glasses and continuing his walk. Quieter, Uryuu asked, "Is this the best time to be talking about this?"

"Do you really think they're paying attention?" Abarai said with an eyeroll. He motioned to Inoue and Sado who were at the very front of the group having an animated albeit one-sided conversation about the merits of black pepper as an ice-cream flavor.

"I suppose your right," Uryuu said bitterly.

With a renewed grin, Abarai said, "So, tell me. You like this Shinigami girl, don't you?"

The irony of getting interrogated by Abarai about crushes was not lost on Uryuu. He would have scoffed if there wasn't a tiny, microscopic, infinitesimal chance that his classmate was onto something.

"As if I'm admitting anything to you," he said instead.

"Ha! Knew it."

Damn him.

"I sure am surprised, though. I didn't think she'd be your type," Abarai said casually.

"Since you're apparently an expert on the subject," Uryuu said sarcastically, "why don't you tell me, what my 'type' is."

Here, Abarai starts looking sheepish, refusing to look Uryuu in the eye. Oh, this was going to be good.

"Well, and don't take this the wrong way, but I kinda thought your type would be less Orihime and more…Chad."

Uryuu snorted. "You thought I was gay?" Abarai quirked an eyebrow.

"That's not the response I thought I was gonna get."

"What," Uryuu said with a scoff, "you thought I was going to throw my hands up and yell and cause a huge scene? I'm a guy that sews and designs clothes for fun. I know how that looks."

"When you say it like that I kinda feel guilty," Abarai said flatly.

"Don't," Uryuu said dryly. Then, he muttered, more to himself than anything, "Besides, you're only half wrong."

Abarai caught what he said, though, judging by the look on his face. "Wait, are you…?" Something akin to realization was in Abarai's eyes. Uryuu did not want to deal with this right now.

"Do you really want me to give you a rundown of my sexual preference, here, right in the middle of the Seireitei?" he snapped. "How did we even get on this topic? Oh, I remember! You suddenly wanted to gossip about crushes like a thirteen-year-old at a slumber party."

Uryuu hadn't realized his volume had gone up just a little too much until Ganju glanced back at them to give them both funny looks. He then shook his head and proceeded to look forward.

"Okay, topic for another day, I get it," Abarai continued. "I still want to know about Orihime."

With that, Uryuu knew he wasn't getting out of this any time soon. He only hoped that by tomorrow his brain would block out this entire conversation.

"I don't know," he said exasperatedly. "She's nice, she's pretty, she's competent, and I'm pretty sure I don't have a chance in hell. I mean, you're seeing the same thing I am, right?" He gestured to Inoue and Sado ahead of them who were still talking.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure she's got a thing for Ichigo and not this guy, so…"

"You aren't helping," Uryuu said with a glare.

Abarai shook his head. "You're going about this all wrong. Just drop the paranoid Quincy shtick and actually goddamn talk to her!"

"Ugh, it's not…" Uryuu trailed off. There was no point in convincing anyone that he wasn't just "paranoid". He scoffed. "For once, you might have a point."

"Watch it," Abarai said warningly, "and good. Those two aren't that bad once you get to know them."

"Shush!" Ganju sounded. "I think we got company."

The two silence, activating their weapons. They were in an alleyway, just about to turn a corner. At the edge of that corner was Sado, peering around and darting back. He held up his hand.

5…1

Six

Sado's other hand was already reaching for his Zanpakuto, and clear as day, Uryuu could hear footsteps and uneasy mutterings of Shinigami that had probably sensed their presence already.

The head of the group of six turned the corner. His eyes widened, Zanpakuto already drawn, and before he could get a word out, he was knocked back by a Kidō blast right to the face. The chaos begun.

Uryuu kept to his position in the back, providing support in the tight quarters as Inoue and Chad helped them out of the bottle neck. He took down a Shinigami that Ganju was grappling with, distracted another just enough for Abarai to land a finishing blow, and kept his eyes open to strike anywhere he could.

There was a split second when he was distracted from this role when one Shinigami decided to go after him specifically, Shikai activated. Uryuu aimed quickly and fired, shaken but not surprised at the presence of the Shikai.

"Ishida, look out!" Abarai yelled.

He sensed the second Shinigami at his back before he saw him, Uryuu silently cursing himself for not noticing earlier. He spun around, bow in hand, thinking that he was probably not coming out of this unscathed.

He turned to find himself staring at Sado's back, his Shikai clad arm guarding against the Zanpakuto that would have sliced right into Uryuu if he'd been there a second later. He had the enemy down with a shove followed by a well-timed punch. With that, the last of them were dispatched.

Uryuu's bow dissolved in his hand as he stood there breathless. He heard Ganju say something about how they needed to keep moving. He heard himself say something in agreement. Just before Sado was about to pass him, Uryuu blurted out the only words that were on his mind.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Sado gave him a thumbs-up before moving on ahead. A pretty hokey response, really, certainly not the one Uryuu was expecting, but it was a response.

Yeah, maybe they weren't so bad after all.


Yoruichi's Zanpakuto was one of the many great unanswered mysteries of Bleach. I, of course, am here to give a personal theory that probably isn't true due to tweaks in lore it requires, but I like it.

As for Sode, how she was "supposed to be" was her characterization in the Beast Swords arc in the Anime. She's kind, polite, and very friendly towards Rukia. The Hollow's influence changed things, but I won't get into that too much until we reach the Visored Arc.

Also, no, "half jokes" aren't politically correct but as I bi person I still find them funny. I'd like to think that Renji acceptance is in part due to his mom being bisexual, but I'm not sure I'll ever get the chance to bring it up in story. (That's why I'm telling you here.) Do you disagree with me? Fight me in the comments. (They give me life.)