New week new chapter. Enjoy!


Part I

Where was she?

Crouched on the top of a building, right at the outskirts of the First Division, Tatsuki found herself stumped by this question, in a situation that was as unusual as it was unnerving.

Tatsuki was one of the greatest trackers in the entire Seireitei, able to sense a Hollow from a kilometer away and tell you its classification. Finding one little Ryoka again really should have been easy for her. She'd had no trouble finding the girl before this point, but now…it was like Orikasa had just disappeared.

The fact that her "disappearing" was a possibility was no comfort to Tatsuki. She knew about the Ryoka's fight with Captain Shiba, knew that there was a slim chance that encounter ended with Orikasa dying not long after being carried away by someone that Captain Ukitake identified as former Captain Yoruichi of all people.

Nothing about that explanation sat right with Tatsuki, though, even if it was the chief rumor she'd heard thrown around on her way here. The people that were saying that didn't know Orikasa. They didn't realize that she was just too stubborn for something like that to happen. No, Tatsuki was confident that something very different had taken place, and there was plenty there to support her conclusion.

With that, an idea rang through Tatsuki's head. It was so obvious, she almost wanted to kick herself.

Climbing down from her perch, Tatsuki kept a brisk pace through the First Division going no faster than she would if she were called for a meeting with the Captain Commander. She didn't want to attract any suspicion after all, even if that little voice in the back of her head was telling her to hurry, that she finally had a vague idea where Orikasa might be so she should go faster dammit!

Orikasa was picked up by Yoruichi, a Captain famous for inventive fighting techniques, speed, and most importantly the cloaking and tracking methods that made the Onmitsukidō what it was today. If anyone would be able to throw Tatsuki off, it would be her.

So, now that Tatsuki knew searching for traces of Orikasa was utterly pointless, she was able to get her priorities straight. It wasn't about what was there but what wasn't, and there was a whole lot of nothing that Tatsuki could sense right in the area.

It was a place that she wouldn't think to check in any other circumstance, one that criminals tended to stay away from for good reason. Once upon a time, there were rumors about that place, though, talk of a secret base frequented by who else but Yoruichi. However, it was never something that Tatsuki believed, and if she had, she would have picked a much more sensible location, like the forest of the Second Division, or somewhere in the Twelfth Division Labs, not Sōkyoku Hill.

Still, it was still the only lead she had, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to at least check the place. When she reached the edge of the hill, facing the path, she started running.

Tatsuki kept her steps light as she scaled the hill, searching for any subtle changes on the typically empty landscape. This was no easy task. She'd find herself darting off for false alarm after false alarm. One time it turned out to be a nest of lizards. Another time it was a particularly old tree. By the time she had "discovered" her third bird nest Tatsuki was getting annoyed.

She was a good deal up the hill now and was starting to wonder if this search wasn't flawed from the very beginning. Maybe she just needed to go back to the drawing board and consider ways to snoop around the Twelfth Division without looking suspicious.

Before she could truly consider turning back, her eye caught something, an odd ledge on the side of the cliff. It wouldn't have been visible from anywhere else, being too well protected by surrounding trees, but she had a pretty good view of it from right below. She craned her neck trying to get a slightly better look. There were no paths that led to or from it. It was wide enough to walk around on, stable enough to support weight, and with some strain she was able to spy the edges of a door frame.

Tatsuki moved forward, ready to land on the ledge and see if she really was looking at what she thought she was, but something happened that she couldn't quite make sense of. There was a pain in her leg. She was suddenly kneeling on the ground, a hand buried in her hair, jerking her head back painfully. Another hand was on her throat, cracking with the energy of a Kidō spell. Above her Yoruichi was smiling dangerously.

"That's as far as you're going today, honey," the former Captain said softly.

"I was right," Tatsuki hissed out, pride swelling within her chest alongside fear. "You were here."

The light at her throat grew brighter. The grip on her hair tightened. "Mind telling me what you were going to do with that information?" It was a lightening spell of some kind as far as Tatsuki could tell. It was one that would probably leave her near death if that hand got just a little closer. Tatsuki was getting tired of being grievously injured lately.

"It's not what you think," the Lieutenant pleaded. "I'm just here to help, honest!"

Yoruichi's eyes narrowed further. Her almost playful smile dropped. She wasn't buying it. Tatsuki could see it in the woman's eyes.

"Would…would I really come here alone if I was going to fight?" Tatsuki tried, squirming against the grip, futilely trying to put distance between her and the attack. "I knew you were here, Yoruichi. I knew I would have just gotten killed."

"Is that flattery Miss Arisawa?"

Tatsuki stiffly shook her head. "A fact."

A long moment of silence stretched on after that, Tatsuki squirming under the former Captain's gaze. It was an odd experience being threatened by one of your childhood idols, but these last few weeks were lousy with odd occurrences.

Yoruichi eventually broke the silence, simply asking, "Why change your mind?"

This answer came easy to Tatsuki. She hadn't stopped thinking about it since she woke up in the Fourth Division.

"I realized a few things," she started. "I was just letting some stranger do all the work rescuing my friend." She hadn't been acting like much of a friend at all. "I just want to see him again."

She also realized that if she did nothing, she'd never get the chance to say sorry about that, to patch things up like she'd always thought about doing for the last few years but never had the guts to. She didn't want to live with that kind of regret.

Tatsuki wasn't looking at Yoruichi when she said that. In fact, her eyes were screwed shut. Every muscle in her body was tensed as she waited for the lightning to strike, for her to get dragged away and dropped back in the Fourth if she was lucky, for her to die if she wasn't. That would be the worst death imaginable, wouldn't it? To be killed by your hero because you personally gained their mistrust and ire.

The hand retreated. The light faded. Tatsuki opened her eyes.

"Come on. Rukia will want to hear what you just told me," Yoruichi said. Her hand was extended to Tatsuki, and meanwhile Tatsuki was just staring up at her, mouth agape in shock. It took her a moment, but she grabbed that hand, levering herself up with it as dread and defeat turned into something else entirely.

Yoruichi wasted no time in jumping up to the ledge, urging Tatsuki to follow with a muttered, "This way." Tatsuki followed quickly, finally getting a look at the rest of the wooden door she had gotten a mere peak of before.

She was led in, first to a cramped dark room that had her a little confused. Then, Yoruichi kicked aside the bookshelf and Tatsuki's mouth was agape yet again. She stood under a desert sun, amazed.

"I'm really here," she gasped out. "I bet that Ryoka doesn't even know how big of a deal this is."

"Don't worry," Yoruichi assured with a laugh. "She was properly awed."

Good, or Tatsuki may have to change her plans again and beat Orikasa up until she realized how many people would have killed to be in her place. Tatsuki almost found herself beyond words it was all so cool! Speaking of cool…

A blast of ice beamed out from the side of a frozen hill. Sounds of a fight were echoing through the chamber. Waves of power were flowing through so intense that Tatsuki had a hard time believing any barrier could contain it. (Then again, this was a Yoruichi barrier she was talking about.) Had humans somehow gotten tougher since Tatsuki had last checked?

Orikasa tumbled from the other side of the hill, rolling out of the path of a strange looking sword, and holy shit was she fighting her Zanpakuto Spirit?

"Sode no Shirayuki!" Yoruichi called out. The Spirit halted, turning her head slightly. White hair fell over her shoulders in waves. Her pale skin shone brightly in the sun. She was so beautiful Tatsuki found herself looking away before the Spirit's eyes could settle on her. "Take five," Yoruchi continued, "Rukia has a visitor."

"Tell her to wait. Rukia stops when I say so, no sooner." The Spirit said this, voice as cold as the ice surrounding her.

"Tatsuki?" Orikasa gasped out from the ground. Her eyes were wide, and her Spirit looked at her, disgruntled. The Spirit looked back at Tatsuki, glaring.

"Five minutes," Sode no Shirayuki said, and with little fanfare she walked back towards the hill, disappearing from sight.

Tatsuki had never met someone else's Zanpakuto before, but something about seeing that level of moodiness from the other side was as bizarre as it was satisfying.

With a grimace Orikasa stood up, dusting the frost off her uniform. She looked at Tatsuki, unsure and just a bit wary.

"When she says five minutes, she means five minutes," Orikasa eventually said. "So…" She looked at the Shinigami expectantly.

Tatsuki had openers that have been on her mind for the better part of a day. She had more questions than she could count, at least half of them being a result of what she had just seen. She said none of those, knowing how startlingly literal Zanpakuto could be. Besides, she was sure that those would just be her wasting time.

"I've decided to join you," she said instead. "I want to help you rescue Ichigo, and I know I haven't done much to earn your trust, but…"

Tatsuki's fists clenched on their own accord. She felt so nervous, standing here and basically begging for forgiveness. She realized she needed to try, but somewhere in her heart she resented that. She knew her own feelings. She knew what she needed to do.

She continued, "but I need to save my friend. I don't need you to trust me. I just wanted to tell you."

The Lieutenant (possibly a former Lieutenant if she's being honest) didn't expect anything. She'd tried to kill the girl in front of her not once but twice. She wasn't looking to be greeted with open arms, here. That just wouldn't be realistic.

Orikasa scoffed, "You're not the first person who's tried to kill me that's had a change of heart." Then, she paused, blinked for a moment and added, "Actually, you're not even the first person this week. Yoruichi has this whole master plan going; though, so, you should check in with her if you want to do something."

Maybe Tatsuki just needed to throw realism out of the window, today. That seemed like a good plan. The explanation was a weird one, but it lifted a weight off Tatsuki that she didn't even know she had. She looked to Yoruichi in anticipation.

"Guess that leaves me no choice," Yoruichi said with a sigh. "I could bring you to the others, once I find them, anyway. They could probably use some help."

"Um…" Tatsuki interjected. It was just one syllable, but it felt so wrong, talking back to Yoruichi like this. "I was actually wondering what type of training Orikasa was doing, here. I was thinking I could help her."

"Let me guess. You want to try this training, too," Yoruichi said with a knowing smirk.

Well…yeah.

Yoruichi tapped her chin, thinking. "Perhaps. How close are you to Bankai?"

"Close," she said. Yakeruni had been talking a lot about them reaching it lately, and she knew she had reached her Shikai's upper limits some time ago. It took a moment for the implications of Yoruichi's question to sink it. "Wait, is Orikasa trying to get Bankai?!"

"That's the idea," Orikasa answered with a tired grin.

"Your five minutes are up!"

Orikasa was suddenly flying forward, impacting the ground hard as Yoruichi casually took a step away from the violence. Recovering quickly from the hit the Ryoka materialized an Ice Blade out of thin air, turning to her Zanpakuto with a growl.

"Oh, that's it," Orikasa said, bringing herself up into a fighting stance. She moved as if to run towards to her Zanpakuto who was standing there, brandishing her own blade, right before pausing and turning to Tatsuki, a smile on her face.

"For what it's worth," she said, "I'm glad you're here." She ran forward, driving her Zanpakuto deeper into the landscape. Tatsuki could do nothing more than stare forward as something warm filled her heart.

"They've been at this for the last two days," Yoruichi said from the side, "and I gotta say It's pretty amazing seeing them go at it."

"What even is this?" Tatsuki asked quietly.

With an easy grin Yoruichi answered, "Think of it like a Bankai crash course, one run by your Zanpakuto. As you could imagine, it's not easy."

"I can do it," Tatsuki said immediately, gazing at the Zanpakuto on her hip. "I'm sure I could, by tomorrow, even."

"If you're that confident I'm sure we could accommodate you." Yoruichi's grin was as wide as the Cheshire Cat's.

It didn't take long for Yourichi to prepare what Tatsuki would need for this. Mere minutes later Tatsuki was being led to the other side of the training grounds, Yoruichi darting away the moment she explained what Tatsuki would need to do with the odd-looking training dummy placed before her.

She stabbed it with her sealed blade, and in a burst of heat, Yakeruni was towering above her.

When he didn't look like an oversized Komodo Dragon, Yakeruni took on the form that Tatsuki saw now, a tall musclebound man with dark skin, a shaved head, and a traditionally inked tattoo that spanned across nearly his entire body, the image of a dragon made of starlight. Parts of it were covered by his loosely worn red kimono.

Most would find him intimidating at first glance, but she knew better.

"Tatsukiiiiiii," he whined out in his deep voice. It grated against her ears but wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as him draping all one hundred and five kilograms of himself on her dramatically. "You spend all this time ignoring me and suddenly you want a 'crash course'? I had this whole wonderful plan for how I was going to get you to unlock Bankai! Now what am I going to do with it?"

"Give me the short version," she said dryly, shoving him off her.

"How could you be so mean!" he cried, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. Tatsuki groaned.

Most would find Yakeruni intimidating, but she knew for a fact that he was an overdramatic, picky, dumb as a brick crybaby.

"Get over it," she said. "Desperate times, desperate measures." She was, if anything, desperate.

"Oh, I know," he said with a smirk. "You've finally come to your senses and are trying to rescue Ichigo just like I knew you always wanted to, and you need the help of the little ol' me!"

Tatsuki rubbed her temples. She could already feel the headache coming on. "You can gloat about being right later. Can we just get to it already?"

Yakeruni hummed, hands on his hips as he looked at Tatsuki, amused. It was the same look he'd given her when they first met. It annoyed her then, too. "Getting Bankai was going to take you about two weeks once we got started," he finally said. "Now, we'll have about twenty-four hours, probably less."

"I know that," Tatsuki said with a heavy gulp.

"I'll have to push you to your limit. There'll be no sleeping, no eating, your muscles will probably feel like they want to burst! Are you okay with that?"

Tatsuki scoffed. "You already know my answer."

With a wide grin that sent a shiver down her spine he said, "That's a good girl."

Part II

Rukia was flat on her back, staring up at an artificial sky and frostbitten in places she didn't know could get frostbitten. The day was nearly over, even if it didn't look like it. The ache that had set deep in her bones told her.

After a few minutes of this, just staring and breathing, dust was kicked up next to her, Rukia having to squint against it. Barely a meter away Tatsuki had collapsed similarly, head between her knees as she tried to shake the soot from her hair. The Shinigami looked as bad as Rukia felt, covered in various burns with hair singed just a little shorter than Rukia remembered it being.

It was weird having your former enemy just sit next to you like that, vulnerable. Things could change so quickly, couldn't they?

"We don't have much time," Tatsuki said, punctuating her statement with a single cough.

"No." The execution was tomorrow, and a part of Rukia still couldn't believe it.

Tatsuki nodded, dragging her head up and brining her legs into a crisscross position. "I…" she started. She took a deep breath. "Shit, I'm not really good at this.

"I wanted to thank you," Tatsuki muttered. "I'm pretty sure getting the shit kicked out of me twice helped me think a little, you know. I may not act like it but me and Ichigo were close once. We practically grew up together and…and I really helped them hunt him down. I…" she let out a bitter laugh. "How did it even get this bad?"

Rukia bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her eyes off Tatsuki, just to afford her this one dignity as the Shinigami's shoulders shook in the corner of her eye. For a while, she didn't utter a word. It took her a few minutes, but eventually Rukia gathered the nerve to say something, sitting up next to Tatsuki.

"I owe Ichigo a lot. It sounds like you do, too, and…if you need a third beating, I'm always here." She ended it with a cheeky smile. Tatsuki shoved Rukia in the shoulder with a smirk.

"The night's not over, yet," Sode's smooth voice called out. Rukia let out a heavy sigh.

"Great, I better go before she plans another sneak attack," the substitute groaned. Tatsuki simply waved her off, dragging herself up on shaky feet. With that Rukia ran into the snow.

Honestly, Rukia would be surprised if Sode hadn't already planned a sneak attack. It just wasn't in the Spirit's nature to fight fair. So, Rukia approached warily and formed an Ice Blade in preparation. (She still remembered the shocked look on Sode's face when she first managed that trick.)

How would Sode attack Rukia this time, she wondered. Rukia had been ambushed just about every way possible at this point, though she wondered if it was too soon to consider herself safe.

A few dozen steps into the ice and Rukia found her right foot rooted to the ground. A single alarmed glance down and she saw that it was encased in ice that was slowly creeping up to her ankle.

"You're so easy to trick, it's embarrassing," Sode giggled. She charged at Rukia from the front.

Rukia brought her sword up to block, instantly cringing at just how little leverage this awkward position gave her. With a cry she shoved Sode back.

"Next Dance! White Ripple!"

Sode was forced back by the attack a surprised look on her face as she dodged it. Those few seconds were all Rukia needed to bring the blade down onto the ice trapping her foot, breaking it as well as the blade of her temporary sword. She was throwing away the remains and gathering the energy for a new one just as Sode begun to lay into her again, swiping at her head.

"Doesn't this feel familiar?" Sode said after a failed stab.

"Unfortunately," Rukia muttered, ducking under a swipe. With a grimace Rukia realized that Sode wasn't planning on letting up any time soon as attack after attack came to her, with every harsh dodge breaking away the Reishi that Rukia had managed to gather in her hand. It looked like her choices were either find an opening or just get faster at making the blades, and Sode certainly wasn't giving her an opening.

Rukia kept on dodging, moving off instinct as she focused all her concentration and power into her right hand. She crafted the blade in layers and chunks, could feel the cold surface of the hilt settling in her hand, and the second she needed it, she brought it in front of her to block another heavy strike.

She didn't see the blade, just pieces of it as it shattered instantly on impact.

"Really, Rukia? You try and come at me with that malformed thing? I think the very first blade you ever made was better than that!" She dove at Rukia again striking, knocking the warped hilt right out of her hand. Another strike had Rukia ducking down just to avoid being decapitated.

Rukia didn't allow herself any time to dwell on this. She just tried again, quickly forming another blade in her hands as she swung up into Sode's stomach. It landed with a heavy impact, her Zanpakuto taking a staggering step back before grabbing the blade with her bare hand. The Spirit crushed it in her first.

"Now that was just sad." Sode struck back with a vicious slice, one that Rukia barely managed to avoid. She had to do better.

The next blade, Rukia spent a bit more time on, if only a second more. She focused on the familiar feeling of the real Sode in her hands, the weight, the leather grips, the exact temperature. The second she felt it, she swung it out in front of her, meeting Sode's with a mighty swing.

Sode's blade was smashed to pieces. The Spirit looked on in shock as the hilt crumbled to nothing in her hands. Rukia kept her guard up, sword still raised beside her.

"You couldn't do that yesterday," Sode said, staring down at her hand. A subtle smile was on her face, one that Rukia may have missed if she weren't so close. Her Zanpakuto looked at her carefully.

"We will meet once more tomorrow," Sode said. "After that…we'll see." Sode didn't spare a glance over her shoulder, just walked off to wherever she seemed to go when she didn't want to be found. Only when she disappeared did Rukia lower her sword, letting it fall to the ground.

Rukia felt a shock of her own as she stepped away and to the edge of the training grounds. She hadn't thought that would happen. All she was looking to do was successfully block and somehow, she'd pulled off something that had managed to stun Sode for a second there. She supposed this meant she was doing better, progressing, but really, she hadn't the foggiest idea.

Whatever. Sode had said she was done until tomorrow morning. That meant she could sleep finally. She wondered if she would be able to, considering what else was waiting for her the next morning?

Part III

"I need more time," Sode no Shirayuki said, voice steady.

Yoruichi let out a deep sigh, running a hand through her hair as she wondered what she ever did to get herself placed in this position.

"We don't have more time," Yoruichi explained. "The execution is in a just a few hours."

With pursed lips, Sode said, "I just need to be sure. She will be where she is needed when the time comes, isn't that right, Rukia?"

"Huh?" the girl sounded, a look of discomfort on her face. She sent Yoruichi an apologetic look when she finally answered, "…yes?" Her Zanpakuto looked to Yoruichi as if that should have been enough.

Biting her lip, Yoruichi thought that she really didn't have time for this now. Tatsuki was already waiting for her at the entrance. The others were waiting for her in the First Division. She had to go and negotiating with someone else's Zanpakuto wasn't something she'd waste her time on even if she wasn't in a hurry.

"You know your position, right?" Yoruichi eventually asked with a frown.

Rukia nodded. "Near the execution stand and out of sight."

"See, she's got it," Sode no Shirayuki said offhandedly. "We will be there with Bankai."

Yoruichi looked between the two staring expectantly at her. Letting out an exasperated sigh she moved to leave.

"You'd better," she said over her shoulder. She could hear the telltale sounds of training before her foot even crossed the edge of the ice.

Reaching the sitting room Yoruichi saw Tatsuki, waiting patiently and leaning casually against the wall. She looked scuffed up, bruised, maybe even a bit worn down, but she didn't seem tired. She was buzzing with a quiet energy, ready to go as she came off the wall on light feet the second she noticed Yoruichi. Now, Yoruichi wasn't a betting woman, but she'd wager that this girl was just itching to try her new Bankai.

"Let's go," Yoruichi said, cracking a smile. "I assume you can keep up."

"Yes, Cap–!" The girl cut herself off with a fake cough as her face tinged pink. "I mean…yes Miss Shihōin."

Yoruichi found the slip up downright adorable. She was almost jealous of Tōshiro for managing to land Tatsuki as a Lieutenant.

"You can call me Yoruichi, you know," she said, walking towards the cliff edge. Tatsuki paused for a moment, shocked before nodding silently. With one last glance over her shoulder, Yoruichi jumped off.

She ran quickly through the trees, looking over her shoulder every once in a while, to confirm that yes Tatsuki could keep up. Yoruichi filed that little detail in the back of her mind with a satisfied smile. It'd been a while since she'd had a genuine pupil, and the young Lieutenant might be a good candidate. Who knew? Maybe she'd end up stealing her from Tōshiro after all?

Yoruichi would leave that for another day, though. For now, she had to focus on the plan.

Their little ragtag group would be divided in three for this mission. There was Group A those wandering the First Division, Group B which consisted of Tatsuki and Rukia, and Group C Yoruichi and their Contact.

Group A was there to stop Ichigo from ever reaching the top of the hill, ambushing whoever was with him and taking him back to the training grounds until they could safely get out of the Soul Society entirely.

Group B was there as a diversion. Those two needed to cause as much a fuss as possible on the hilltop and keep as many eyes on them while Group A did their job. They were also there just in case Group A failed entirely.

Group C was mostly there on standby, making sure everything went smoothly and possibly to fight anyone that looked like they would be too much for the kids to handle. Hopefully they wouldn't need to get involved at all, but considering the execution's audience, they just might need to.

The plan was simple, it had at least a few layers of insurance, and would at the very least achieve their main goal: keeping Ichigo alive.

"Understood?" Yoruichi asked the quietly listening group before her.

They nodded back.

"Good," she said with a smirk. "Orihime, you'll be the one to lead them there."

"Yes, ma'am!" She even saluted, how cute.

They all looked at her so confidently, so solemnly, it had Yoruichi feeling the same, even if she knew there were factors at work here that they didn't know about, things that just may ruin everything. She hoped that those wouldn't come in to play, for their sakes.

Yoruichi left them at that with a nod and a salute of her own. She'd done her duty here, and now all she had to do was wait.

Part IV

While dodging and parrying attack after attack from Sode, Rukia found herself quite distracted, not that anyone would blame her. They had two, maybe three hours to get into position, and Rukia felt herself grow more and more nervous with every passing second.

"Had enough, yet?" Sode asked after releasing a White Ripple that sent a hill behind Rukia crumbling.

"In your dreams." Rukia charged Sode in another attack. She was staying here until they were finished.

"You'd stay, even if I let your time run out and kept you here until it was all over?" Sode asked with a smirk, dodging.

"Show off," Rukia growled, slicing at the woman again. "I get it, you can read my mind. You can't surprise me with that trick anymore." Just as Rukia finished that sentence Sode came in close, the hilt of her sword at Rukia's stomach and a foot behind hers to send her to the ground with a heavy thud.

"It's looks like I still can," the Spirit said with a smile, the tip of her blade right at Rukia's throat.

Rukia didn't let it scare her. If anything, this was familiar territory. This was where Rukia would have to find some way out of the hold, go for a gutsy counter attack, and in the end Sode would give her a knowing smile as if this were her intention all along. Sode chose this one time to flip the script.

The blade at Rukia's throat dissolved away, sprinkling down on the ground like snowflakes. In its place was Sode's outstretched hand. Blinking dumbly for a moment Rukia reached up and took it, bringing herself up and dusting the snow off her backside as Sode studied her, not saying a word.

"I wasn't sure yesterday," Sode suddenly began. "To be honest, I wasn't sure this morning, either, but now, I know." The words may have been frustratingly cryptic, but for once Rukia thought she knew what Sode was getting at. Her breath caught in her throat. "When I go back to my usual form, you will be able to use our Bankai. All you must do is call for it."

It took Rukia a moment to even catch her breath after hearing such a thing. "Bankai," she breathed. "So, we really have it?"

It was amazing, exhilarating, awe inspiring. Rukia felt her excitement all the way down to her toes. She didn't feel any different otherwise, though, didn't feel any more powerful. Was she supposed to?

Sode nodded, chuckling quietly. To what exactly, Rukia wasn't sure, but before she could ask, Sode's expression had turned to something solemn.

"I assume you remember the consequences."

"I remember," Rukia said, chewing her lip. "Whatever happens, we'll handle it together, right?"

Sode's expression softened at this as she whispered something to herself under her breath. She dissolved in front of her like the blade into tiny snowflakes that disappeared into the ground. When Rukia's hand went to her hip she found her blade with her once again.

Rukia wasn't able to catch all of what Sode said, just bits and pieces, syllables that she couldn't quite put together. The only words that she heard clear as day were the last ones that Sode said before dissolving entirely.

"my wielder…"

It was the first time Sode had called her that, maybe even the first time she'd acknowledged Rukia at all, and now, secure at her side, Rukia could feel every bit of the Spirit's faith, of the will that mingled with her own. In a way it was heavy, like she was more than she was just a second ago. There was something comforting about it, though.

Yeah, they could do this.

Rukia left the training grounds quickly. She knew she didn't have much time to get there and that she'd need to hustle if she didn't want to accidentally ruin everything with her tardiness. She hurriedly moved the bookshelf back in front of the hidden entrance behind her, closed the heavy wooden door, and used Hohō to reach her destination as quickly as possible. Pleasantly, she found herself going even faster than she was before. She sent a silent thank you to Sode for pushing her to use it in almost every match they had.

The sun was reaching its apex when she got to her position. She didn't see Tatsuki immediately but was sure that the other girl was close. Rukia was right where they had discussed, under the furthest edge of the highest cliff. Right above her, was the execution stand. For a moment she wondered if she'd be able to see it if she moved back a bit and craned her neck just so, but she banished the thought immediately. She didn't think she could stomach looking at it right now.

It was more important that she find Tatsuki, anyway. So, trudging ahead, she kept an eye out for the Lieutenant, searching for any trace of black in the trees.

Within seconds Rukia found someone, but it was hardly who she wanted to see. Her hand reached for her Zanpakuto. She had Bankai now, so she finally stood a chance, didn't she? She had to. There was no way she could be stopped here.

Captain Shiba was standing before Rukia, leaning against a tree, a hand on his Zanpakuto. He looked down at her in a way that just about made her heart stop.

Her eyes were dragged away by movement, right out of Captain Shiba's line of sight. Rukia chanced a glance up, and for a single moment met eyes with Tatsuki, crouched on a branch. The girl brought a finger up to her lips, a silent "don't say a word" as she unsheathed her own Zanpakuto. Rukia gulped. So, that was the plan.

"I don't want to fight you," she told Captain Shiba, eyes steady on him, "but if I have to, I will." It sounded a little lame, even to Rukia's ears. She hoped he wouldn't think anything of it.

"I don't want to either," he said with a humorless smile. "We could just do this the easy way, if you want."

Rukia unsheathed Sode no Shirayuki.

"Or not." His smile dropped.

Getting into position for her first attack Rukia saw many things. She saw the Captain begin to unsheathe his own Zanpakuto. She saw the smirk growing on his face. She saw Tatsuki move to spring down from her perch. She saw the hesitation in her partner's eyes. She saw a spark of determination in there too. In one second the battle had begun, but for once she wasn't alone.

"Dance! Sode no Shirayuki!"


"…it's high noon…"