You know what's good about enforcing deadlines? It means you can't rewrite the same chapter five times because you're a little unhappy. I was almost tempted with this one…

Still, I hope you enjoy. (There's some story related notes at the end.)


Part I

Rukia shucked off her shoes by the door, the exhaustion of the day just starting to set in. She flipped the light switch beside her, a little surprised that her brother had yet to come home.

Normally he would have been back by now, sitting at the kitchen table and finishing up the last of his work, but that didn't seem to be the case today. She supposed that was fine for now. It at least gave her more room to do her schoolwork.

By the time she'd sat down with her textbook the clock read seven thirty, and a part of her really didn't believe that.

Was it really that early? Had she really only been going for about twelve hours? It felt more like twenty.

Then again, she thought, Was it that late, already? She felt like there was still so much to do, so much to consider. That day's events gave her plenty to think over, first and foremost being the fights she might be facing in the very near future.

It had occurred to her that Aizen was at fault for this recent influx of Hollows but hearing Hirako say as much made it all feel much more real. So quickly gone was the comfort of just taking each enemy as they came. Now they were up against a unified force, tougher and meaner than anything she'd seen before.

The timing couldn't have been better! There she was, up against a bunch of crazy monsters, Sode nowhere to be found.

Without a proper Zanpakuto, or the accompanying Spirit there to call her a coward when needed, Rukia wasn't much use to anyone. She needed Sode back and she needed her fast. Luckily, the solution seemed well within reach.

(None of that explained how uneasy Rukia was feeling, though. If she managed to figure that out, maybe she wouldn't be sitting at home alone staring blankly at the same first page of her textbook.)

Whatever.

Rukia roughly stood from the kitchen table and marched right over to the living room couch. She turned on the TV, flipped to some channel she didn't remember the name of, and went right back to her books.

Worrying and overthinking could happen later. Right now, she needed to get through these worksheets.

Part II

Leaning back in her chair, Rukia jotted down bits and pieces of the teacher's lecture. She glanced down at her notebook, glanced back up at the black board, and then at the back of a certain someone.

A few seats away Keigo shivered, looking over his shoulder to see Rukia and Renji sending him piercing looks. He choked back a whimper, and for once kept his head in his books.

Briiiiiiiiing!

The lunch bell rang, a sigh of relief going through the classroom. Keigo got up, bag in hand, ready to make a run for it. Renji had a hand wrapped around his arm before he managed it, steering him right where the two wanted him.

"Wait, wait!" he cried.

"Save it," Renji sneered.

Keigo paled a good three shades or so.

Renji ended up dragging Keigo all the way there, glaring off anyone that looked at them funny. (Not that too many thought this behavior strange, by now.) They went far away from the main lunch crowd all the way to the empty bleachers at the very end of the schoolyard. With a firm hand Renji sat Keigo down, he and Rukia standing on either side of him, boxing him in.

"W-what's the big idea?!" Keigo suddenly yelled. "You drag me all the way out here, and for…?" he trailed off, letting out a dramatic gasp. "You two are here to silence me, aren't you? I know to much about your Shinigami cult and now your boss is going to drag me away and do who knows what to me just like they did to Ichigo, and–"

"Woah, woah, what?" Renji cut off. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Rukia let out a sigh. "Just what did Paku tell you, anyway?"

"Uh… Forget I said anything!" Keigo panicked. "I mean, I don't even know what a Soul Society is–"

"Keigo!" Rukia yelled. His mouth shut quickly. "We're not silencing you! We just want to talk!"

"…So, I don't know too much?" he asked hesitatingly.

"No one's accusing me of that, trust me," she grumbled.

"We're here to keep you from getting killed, dumbass!" Renji yelled.

For a moment Keigo blinked questioningly. "By what?"

Rukia frowned. This might be harder than she first thought. "Listen Keigo," she started. "We talked to Paku. We both know what you've been doing, and while we think it's sweet that you've been helping her out while we were away, you need to stop."

"Wait, what?" For the first time since they'd started talking genuine confusion shone on Keigo's face. "That's what this is about?"

"Uh, yeah!" Renji answered flatly. "I don't know if you've noticed but Hollows are kind of a big fucking deal. They eat guys like you for breakfast."

Keigo stood up fully. "I know that, but why the heck would I stop?! Isn't fighting Hollows basically what you guys do every day? How is this any different?"

"We can protect ourselves!" Rukia reasoned.

"We actually have powers," Renji said exasperatedly.

"I get it, Keigo," Rukia tried. "You found a way to help, so of course you want to, but this stuff is dangerous. You're going to get hurt!"

Keigo stared at the ground, shoulders tensing. "No, you don't get it. Me and her, we make a great team! Maybe, if you saw us, you'd understand, but… but… I like helping her, okay! She asked me to, and…"

"But that's just the thing," Rukia continued, getting closer to him. "She asked you, and she shouldn't have. We've already talked to her told her it was wrong and everything, but Keigo…

"We had to explain it. You do realize she isn't human, right? You have to realize that she just doesn't think the same way we do, that sometimes she just doesn't get these things–"

"She gets a lot more than you think!" Keigo cut off angrily.

Rukia's breath caught in her throat. She blinked, mouth shut, unsure of what to even say. Beside her Renji looked equally lost, hand at his neck, eyes averted nervously.

"I'm sorry," Keigo immediately said, slumping slightly. "It's just… I like Paku. I mean, I really like her, and I like doing this with her. I can't help that."

"…Shit," Renji cursed. "You're serious, aren't you?"

Keigo nodded firmly, and suddenly a lot of things slid into place for Rukia, both things that she had suspected and things that she had feared.

There wouldn't be any convincing the two. She realized that now. Under normal circumstances she might have just trusted Paku to protect Keigo as best she could, but with Arrancar on the loose these were hardly normal circumstances. Still…

"Okay," she finally said. Renji turned to her sharply, but she continued before he could get a word in. "It's not like either of us can really stop you. Just…promise me something."

Hesitation clear in his eyes, Keigo eventually answered, "Yeah?"

Rukia took a deep breath. "If you come across a powerful Hollow, and you will know it when you see it, run. I don't care if you think you have a chance. You run."

He took a moment to process her request, and Rukia didn't dare interrupt that. Even Renji just stood to the side, arms crossed, waiting. It took a while, but soon enough Keigo nodded.

"Okay, I will."

With a single look Renji stood down one step, opening the way for Keigo. He sent the two wary looks before running off down the benches and back to the main building.

It wasn't the ending they were hoping for, but Rukia would take it for now.

"So, that's it?" Renji asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Rukia shrugged. "What else could we even do?"

Renji let out a bark of laughter. "Well ain't this a mess?"

"Also, yeah," Rukia said with a grimace. "We have to hope they'll be okay on their own."

Renji scoffed, "You sound like my mom."

"…Shut up."

The rest of the school day was comparatively uneventful. Save for the three Hollows they had to take care of in the latter half, nothing much happened. Classes went by quickly, and soon enough Rukia and Renji were parting ways at the school gate.

Part III

The sun was nearly set, Renji had noticed. He was stumbling back into his apartment, ignoring how one of his nosier neighbors was trying to peak at him through a crack in the door.

Yeah, he knew he looked like shit. That last Hollow packed a punch, and there really wasn't much he could do about it, was there Mrs. Asakura?!

He paused briefly in the doorway, leaning against it for a moment debating whether he should really take his shoes off like always. The entire walk home had been painful, enough so that he found himself counting the steps left, just so he'd know when he'd get it over with.

Biting the inside of his cheek he shut the door behind him, bending down to loosen the ties on his shoes as much as possible before kicking them off. Yeah, that still hurt.

He dropped his bag onto the short table and made a beeline straight for the fridge, reaching up immediately to rummage through it. Where was that damn icepack again?

Barely a minute into his search and a slender tattooed arm was reaching under his shoulder, going behind the chocolate ice cream, pulling out just what he was looking for. His mom handed him the icepack with a careful pat on the shoulder that still had him suppressing a flinch.

"Thanks," he said quietly. With a gulp and a frown, he shut the freezer and turned to his mom feeling awkward as hell.

She was standing there, leaning against the counter, lips pursed as she looked him up and down. It was around then that Renji's self-consciousness kicked in. The scratch on his cheek, the scrape on his right arm, the dried blood on his shirt, even his poorly disguised limp, he was painfully aware of it all.

Was escaping to his room still an option, or…?

"So," she started. His mom cleared her throat.

Apparently not.

"I've been thinking about something lately," she continued.

"Really?" He feigned innocence, fiddling with his icepack, not bothering to press it to himself as if that would give him away more than he already was. She sent him a stern frown.

"Really," she said flatly. "You–" she cut herself off chewing her lip, and a wave of guilt washed over Renji without warning. She shook her head, and seeming to regain her nerves continued, "You come back home bruised almost every day, and I don't even know why. Renji, you've gotta give me something, here."

He let out a sigh. "I'm not doing anything bad, mom. I'm not in any gangs. I'm not getting into fights–" not with people, anyway. "So, would you please just leave it alone?"

"I can't," she said firmly. "You know I can't. Not when you're…" She gestured to him, the state he was in, and letting out a frustrated noise she brought her hands to her face, rubbing her temples and hiding her eyes from view. "Just tell me what's going on… please."

The words held Renji to that spot better than any sword, arrow, or spell ever could.

Okay, he had to think rationally here. He was pretty sure that if he told her the truth, she straight up wouldn't believe him, but if she did believe him, knowing all this would only make her worried, which was definitely the worse outcome of the two. Even worse there was the possibility that just knowing could put her in danger.

("…please," she had said.)

Renji had only heard his mom sound so sad, so pathetic, one other time. He was six. Their apartment had just been broken into, and his mom had no idea what to do. Back then, he'd known once was enough. The fact that the second time was his fault made him feel like absolute scum.

So, Renji took a deep breath, steadied his shaking hands (he hadn't noticed they were shaking before, damn) and started at the beginning.

"…Remember that monster you said attacked you, the one from way back when?"

She nodded, saying nothing. He took that as his cue and launched into his very long explanation.

At first, she looked like she wanted to deck him for trying to feed her such a made-up story, but that quickly melted away into doubt, and then finally realization. Rukia and Ishida's names were dropped. Events that she just barely remembered were brought up, and it all ended with her collapsing back onto the couch, legs weak as she stared up at him, hands limp at her sides.

Around the time he began explaining what the Soul Society was she cut him off, hands waving wildly in front of her.

"Wait, wait, wait! What are you even talking about?"

"…The afterlife?"

"Th– God! I'm still hung up over how apparently our apartment was wrecked in a goddamn demon fight!"

"They're actually… Hollows," Renji supplied nervously. She glared at him, Renji shrinking back in defense. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"Of course, I believe you!" she cried. "You've always been a terrible liar. Besides, in a weird way a lot of things make sense, now."

"That's… good!" he tried. "That's good!"

His mom let out a sigh, leaning back against the couch, arms crossed. "You're not going to erase my memory again, are you?"

"No, I'm not," he said honestly. There was no way he was telling anyone he'd spilled the beans to his mom.

"And…you're not going to stop fighting, are you?" She sounded heartbreakingly hopeful.

"…No," he admitted.

Her eyes darted away again expression unreadable. Then, in a sudden motion she stood up, marched over to him, and after a single stern look dragged him down into a hug.

He could feel the heat coming from her body, could smell the perfume that she'd worn since he was seven. Here he was, a head taller than her, and she still managed to make him feel like a child. He melted into the embrace.

"Then you gotta promise me something," she said quietly. "Whatever happens you will come back to me safe, understand?"

He nodded into her shoulder.

"Good." She squeezed him tighter before tearing away, a soft smile on her face. "Now sit down. You can tell me more about this 'Spirit Society' while I'm looking for the first aid kit."

"Uh… 'Soul Society,' mom."

"Same thing," she said with a wave.

Sitting down Renji quirked a smile.

Part IV

It was a few hours before sundown, and Rukia found herself pushing open the wide doors of the Visored hideout, mentally running through what she was going to say to Rose.

She wanted to be respectful, make a good impression. If she managed that, maybe her newest teacher wouldn't find a reason to immediately put her through the wringer.

(Was teacher the right word for this? For some reason it didn't seem so to her. The Visoreds treated this more like a weird club than any kind of training camp, so… Maybe calling Rose an 'Upperclassman' might be appropriate. Then again, it probably didn't matter.)

She walked through the dim space, heading straight for the warehouse's "living room." It was much emptier than she'd ever remembered it being, only two Visoreds sitting at the couches. In the distance she could hear the sounds of Mask fueled fighting, though, so the others couldn't have been far.

On one end of the couch nearest to the shelf was Yadōmaru, upside-down (and luckily wearing shorts underneath her skirt), reading some flowery Shōjo title. On the other end was Rose, a pair of overly large headphones over his ears. His wavy blonde hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and in his hands was a notebook. Rukia couldn't tell if he was writing in it, or just tapping out the beat of the music. Either way, he was invested, not even looking up when she came close.

For a moment Rukia just shifted nervously, unsure if she should interrupt him, but knowing that she'd have to eventually. She timidly raised a hand, perhaps to tap him on the shoulder, she wasn't really sure. She never got the chance, because when Yadōmaru finally noticed her the woman reached over with her sock clad foot to shove Rose on the side of his head, partially dislodging his headphones.

Rose tore off his headphones the rest of the way, glaring harshly at the woman next to him. (Rukia could hear heavy metal blaring through them, even from here. What exactly were this man's tastes?)

"What?!" he asked harshly.

"Newbie's here," she said, bored.

It was then that his eyes landed on Rukia, genuinely caught off guard, perhaps even sheepish. He closed his notebook, set it aside, and stood up before her. He was a lot taller than she expected, being maybe the same height as Captain Shiba, thought she couldn't be sure. It was almost intimidating.

"Sorry about that," he said, hand scratching the back of his neck. "I must have lost track of time."

"It's fine," Rukia said stiffly. "I just…" Remember the script! "Hirako said I should talk to you about how to deal with my Hollow."

Rose nodded, letting out a quiet hum, eyes scanning her up and down. She'd been to the hideout twice before, but this was probably the first time he'd bothered looking at her for more than half a second.

"According to Shinji," he said in a flat tone, "our Hollows are quite similar. This would make me the natural choice to help you, but I'm afraid I'm not that great of a teacher."

"I'd be happy with anything you could offer!" Rukia assured enthusiastically. There was no way she was leaving here without getting at least one bit of advice!

Rose frowned, eyebrow twitching. Yadōmaru was hiding her chuckles behind her book.

"Well, in that case…" He trailed off, eyes darting towards the pile of boxes next to the couch. They settled on one shoved off to the other side against the wall. He crouched down next to it, willowy arms shuffling through.

Curious, Rukia decided to peek around his side, noting the contents on the inside with little surprise. There were all sorts of portable music players, some in better states than others. She spotted a few Walkmans, a Discman or two, a portable transistor radio, heck, even that American MP3 player that wouldn't be out for a good few months.

His fingers hovered over a few of them before settling on a Discman that seemed in pretty decent condition. He handed it to her along with the headphones he'd just been using.

"Meditation," he said simply.

Rukia looked down at the devices in her hand and then back up at Rose, utterly confused. "What?"

"You're going to talk to the Hollow," he said casually.

"What?!"

"Come on. Did you really think you could get away with just overpowering the thing?"

She clutched the music player to her chest. "Y-yeah! I kind of did!"

Rose let out a sigh. "That may work for Visoreds like Shinji or Kensei, but it didn't work for me, and I seriously doubt it will work with you."

"Oh," Yadōmaru sounded suddenly, gazing over her book. "You've got that problem."

"What problem?" Rukia asked, just a little defensive.

"Your Hollow gains power when you do," she answered. The woman scoffed, "Yeah, good luck fighting that. They've got a nasty habit of figuring out how to use those powers a lot faster than you do, not having to deal with things like sleeping, eating, or work and all."

Now that Rukia thought about it… "I think my Zanpakuto said something about that."

"Listen," Rose said flatly, "a Visored's Hollow can come in three different styles. There's those that have their power fixed from the start, Kensei and Shinji were lucky enough for ones like that, those that grow at their own pace, Hachigen, Love, and Mashiro had to deal with those, and finally there's, you, me, Lisa, and Hiyori, who have Hollows that seem to always be just a half step ahead of us."

Sarugaki had the same problem, huh? Rukia wondered how close she was to getting sent to her instead of Rose.

"And, as the old saying goes," Rose continued, "'If you can't beat them, join them.'"

Rukia gulped. This was hardly what she'd had in mind.

"So," she started hesitantly, "I really just have to talk to it? We just have to try and get along?"

Rose winced. "I don't know about that," he said honestly. "I still think mine's an ungrateful prick and he'll call me a prissy coward just about every chance he gets… but you should at least be able to manage a deal."

"Mutually assured destruction is a great motivator," Yadōmaru suggested.

"Okay," Rukia said with a steady nod. "I think I get it now." Even if I don't like it. "That still doesn't explain what the CD player is for, though."

"You're meditating," Rose said, plopping back down onto the couch. "Meditation is always better with music."

Rukia blinked up at him for a moment. "Huh…"

He gave her an offhanded gesture, something that said, "go for it."

Determination crawled into Rukia's chest before doubt had quite managed to, and she took that opportunity to sit down on the comfiest looking spot on the carpet, right next to the pile of boxes. She got into position, legs cross, put on the headphones, and booted up the player. She closed her eyes.

Soft piano music came in through the speakers, lilting, sad, and honestly just a little boring. Violins came in playing the song's leitmotif, and it was around then that Rukia felt her mind clearing to the tune of C.

When she opened her eyes, she was back on the frozen lake. The first thing she heard was a heartbreaking series of pained moans.

"M-make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Please gods–"

Rukia's eyes immediately snapped down to her reflection and what she saw wasn't pretty.

Sode no Shirayuki was hunched over, spine twisted in a way that looked painful. Her hands were clutching at her face, fingers dug in like claws. She made sounds that had Rukia's heart dropping into her stomach.

"Sode…" she said quietly. She pressed her hand against the ice, as if that would bring her any closer to touching the Spirit.

Sdoe showed no indication of hearing Rukia. She just kept shaking her head, her fingers digging deeper.

"Sode!" Rukia yelled.

The Spirit tensed, startled before slowly and jerkily moving her hands away, just enough for Rukia to catch a glimpse of her face. She saw the half formed Hollow mask that her Zanpakuto Spirit's broken fingernails were trying to tear off, cracks that Sode had made smoothing over the instant she let go. Both her eyes were covered, her mouth and left cheek the only things left visible. On that cheek Rukia could see frozen tear tracks.

Rukia…felt like throwing up. She'd left her Zanpakuto like this for so long. She couldn't even begin to think of how she'd make up for this, if the Spirit would ever forgive her. This made her feel no better over what she had to say.

"B-breath, Sode," she said shakily. "Just… I need you to hear me."

"Rukia?" she rushed out. Her reddened hands touched the ice, a fresh tear rolling down and freezing before it could drop. "You n-need to go. I can't hold on for much longer!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Rukia yelled. "I said we were going to fix this together, remember?"

Sode shook her head desperately. "It's too strong. We can't… we… don't…" Her voice broke off into whimpers again as she gritted her teeth, fingers digging harshly into the mask once again. She hunched over further.

Rukia hit the ice. "We can!" she yelled. "You just have to trust me, okay?"

The whimpers paused. After a long moment Sode nodded, and Rukia took a deep breath.

"I need you to let go."

"Wh-what?!" Sode was breathing heavily again. She seemed to be on the verge of panicking completely.

"It's the only way I can fix this!" Rukia cried. "I know it hurts, but this is the only way, I promise."

"…Y-you're sure?"

No, she wasn't. She had a million doubts locked up in her head starting with the possibility that this was the wrong approach entirely and ending with how she was probably just doomed from the start.

"I'm sure," she said.

"…Okay," Sode breathed. "I… I trust you."

Sode released her grip on the mask, biting her lip so hard that Rukia was surprised she didn't draw blood. It took less than a second for the mask over to overtake her.

Rukia didn't have any more time to wonder if she'd made the right choice. It was done.

For a moment Sode was limp on the other side. Her hands were relaxed. She was swaying dangerously, as if she were about to fall over, and then, on suddenly steady limbs she stood up.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it."

The voice was instantly recognizable. It was Sode's, but there was something…off about it. It came out distorted, tinny, and rough. Rukia couldn't help the rage that went through her in that moment.

"Well, I did," she started confidently, "and I want to talk."

"Talk?" the Hollow scoffed. "You're not here to talk. You're here to beg."

"Beg?!" Rukia stood up angrily. "I'm not–!"

Take a deep breath, she thought. There was no need to get this worked up. (She couldn't even see the Hollow's face and she could tell it was smirking for some reason.)

She tried again, calmer, "I'm here to make a deal."

The Hollow crossed its arms letting out a chortle. "Then make it. I don't have all day. I doubt there's anything you could offer me, though."

Rukia tried very hard to not rise to the bait again. "How about us not fighting each other at every turn?" she asked. "We can work this out, maybe even get more powerful in the process. That's something you want, right?"

"'Power?'" the Hollow sneered. "Tch, goddamn presumptive meatbag…"

Rukia barely held back a growl. "Well, you wouldn't be doing all this if you didn't want something. So, why don't you just cut the bullshit and tell me?"

The Hollow turned to her sharply, a dangerous look in its eye. "I don't owe you anything, human." It practically growled the words, its voice low and dangerous. Rukia refused to be intimidated.

"Don't owe me anything?! This is my power your stealing! I'm the one that–!"

Rukia didn't get the time to finish. In a moment the Hollow turned to her, lashing out a hand, a force hitting Rukia square in the chest. She was knocked flat on her back.

The next thing she saw was the ceiling of the warehouse.

"Are you okay?" Yadōmaru asked from the couch.

Rukia let out a sigh, lying her head against the floor in defeat.

"Sorry," Rose said sheepishly, "I probably should have mentioned it might take a few tries."

With a grimace Rukia levered herself back on her feet. "It's alright," she said. "I figured it might." Besides, she thought, that could have gone a lot worse. It certainly helped that the Hollow inadvertently gave her a few things to think about.

"You're a lot more optimistic than I was," he commented. The man settled back in his seat, letting out a sigh. "You probably won't be able to go back in for a while. You can stay if you'd like. We have manga, music… I'm pretty sure Kensei and Hiyori are training out back, so that's an option."

"Or you could just go home," Yadōmaru idly suggested.

Rukia stared into the distance, a frown on her face. "I think… I think I'll just head home." Her eyes went down to the ground. "I have a lot of homework, you know?"

Rose shrugged, accepting. "We'll just continue this tomorrow, then."

"…Yeah," she said absently.

Picking up her bag Rukia shuffled out.

The homework wasn't a lie, actually. She had math, a bit of world history, a few biology notes to look over, but all of it fulfilled exactly one purpose: filling up time until she could draft up a plan for this Hollow negotiation business.

She was pretty sure if she tried thinking about it right this moment, she would just end up going in circles. Her mind would end up cycling back to Sode's face, crying, desperate, and in pain as Rukia could do nothing but watch.


I feel pretty comfortable saying that SPOILERS: Rukia is just a Visored. There's no Quincy/Fullbringer/Hollow shenanigans here. I believe someone last arc had theorized that she might be a Quincy (sorry I don't remember who!) but now I'm comfortable saying no she isn't. Making Ichigo everything imaginable is one of my least favorite things in Bleach. I hated it so much that I'm just writing it out of here with zero guilt and zero consequences.

Have anything to say about all of this? Like my interpretation on Visoreds? Hate it? Hit me up in the comments. They give me life! (I'm so lonely…)

(Psst… The next Interlude is a flashback, and it's one of my favorites.)