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Chapter 8

=DA=

Part 1

=DA=

Fourth Division Barracks

Soul Society

When Yoruichi refused to answer, Ukitake merely raised an eyebrow, a gesture which somehow radiated contempt. He sensed Soi-Fon approach and felt a pang of grim amusement when he figured out that she declined to enter and merely remained outside the door, prepared to eavesdrop on their conversation. Yoruichi on the other hand was bound to such an extent that it would be a miracle if she would be able to perceive the Reiatsu of a Bankai being unsealed nearby. Jushiro was quite sure that his fellow captain wanted answers as well, even if not to precisely the same questions.

"Do enlighten, me Lady Shihoin. You're a bright girl, I know that for a fact. What exactly was your plan? What about the goal of this disaster you helped bring to fruition? You couldn't have expected that these children would rescue Rukia, how could you? Even if Ichigo Kurosaki does have higher Spiritual Power than the average Captain, he lacks the training and experience, not to mention the control to properly utilize it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been wounded again and again facing Lieutenants like Renji Abarai and Seated Officers Ikkaku Madarame, even if he won. It was a pure miracle that he ran into Zaraki Kenpachi and managed to force a draw, because any other Captain wouldn't have held back nor messed around for fun. Every single one of us with the exception of that fighting obsessed maniac would have put Kurosaki down hard if not killed him outright. The same goes for his friends. If it wasn't for Shunsui running into that large boy, Chad, the lad would have been taken apart. The less said about the Quincy, the better – Aizen had to pull him and Ms Inoue from Kurotsuchi's clutches, then I had to extract him from the Fifth's Detention Center just as a contingent from the Twelfth was about to take custody of the boy. We both know what they would have done to him there – he would have welcomed a vivisection once it finally came because it would have likely meant a release from the experiments."

Ukitake had to take a moment to center himself. He hadn't intended to carry out such a rant, however the events happening lately had him both on edge and at the end of his patience, especially Urahara's stunts. He felt just a tiny tingle of satisfaction when Yoruichi refused to meet his gaze and instead stared at the far side of the bed she was bound to while recovering.

"Do I get to you, Lady Shihoin? Or should I proceed to explain in excruciating detail how much trouble those children are because of you? Given your history, you should know that better than most."

"I hear you loud and clear, Ukitake." Yoruichi whispered quietly. "I told you, it wasn't supposed to happen like this."

"Do extrapolate, please. Right now, I'm incapable of taking such vague statements at face value, especially coming from you."

Yoruichi grimaced at that, still struggling with trusting her former comrade with the truth. She would have preferred to consult with Urahara first, because his appearance and some of the things that came out during the interrogation, not to mention what happened later, did catch her off guard. Speaking without comparing notes, preferably somewhere safe in the world of the living, could be used against them, easily. Both Gotei 13 and the government would want people to blame and with Aizen safely away…

"Let me make something clear, from where I stand, and I'm not the only one, most of what happened last night is on you and Urahara. Aizen, even after the Exile's actions and Yamamoto's order forced him to flee, still looks much better and more trustworthy than you two."

Yoruichi couldn't help it, she blanched at that very idea.

"So, come on, and try to explain to me, how this disaster wasn't your fault, or worse, your intention from the start! For yours and Urahara's sake, before Byakuya is released from the Fourth and goes on the warpath, because after what your friend did to his sister, I can assure you, right not he cares not what Aizen did. In fact he has a reason to be thanking Sosuke. Please, do set the record straight while you still can."

"What happened to Rukia?" Yoruichi croaked.

"She's right here in the Fourth, while the available healers are subjecting her to all kinds of tests. As for what happened to her, don't play coy. Urahara hid his invention, that Hogyoku in her soul so it could drain Rukia from her powers and be destroyed in the process. My current theory is that Urahara is a prime suspect for arranging Rukia's sentencing and execution. After all, he wanted that thing destroyed apparently at all cost and what better way than to use the Sokyoku. It would have wiped out Rukia's soul out of existence today at noon, and with, certainly anything hidden within it and as a beneficial coincidence, any and all evidence something had been done to her soul in the first place! Fortunately, Aizen had a way to safely extract that thing and did so. Rukia should be making a full recovery. Obviously, while more trustworthy than either you especially Urahara, I'm not taking him at his word in this, thus the medical tests."

The blood drained from Yoruichi's face as she became deadly pale. "I'll speak." She let out another croak.

This was beyond disastrous. Until now, she had held hope that Aizen hadn't been able to retrieve the Hogyoku, that he needed Rukia to be executed by nothing less than the Sokyoku in order to take it from the ashes of her soul. The obvious problem was that what Ukitake just implied was a frightening possibility, because really, if there was one thing able to destroy the Hogyoku it would be that specific weapon. Surely, Urahara wouldn't have lied to her? He wouldn't have deceived her and used everything that happened as a smoke screen both in order to expose Aizen and ensure the Hogyoku was destroyed beyond a shadow of a doubt!

"I'm all ears, Lady Shihoin. Talk."

"You're right, Captain Ukitake." Yoruichi gathered herself and spoke formally, recalling the days when she had to give proper reports. "Enlisting the human children was meant as a distraction. They were never meant to actually rescue Rukia. While both the Quincy and Ichigo did show a frightening amount of promise and potential, there was no way to train them in the available time enough that they could stand at an equal footing with Captains. Ichigo had to rely on his overwhelming Reiatsu in his fights and even then, he got injured again and again. His fight with Kenpachi was a very close call as you surmise. Against another Captain? As much as I like the kid, he is far from ready to face such a challenge." Yoruichi grimaced. "He wasn't supposed to, however our plans went south from the moment we approached The Court of Pure Souls. We ran into Ichimaru and he derailed our plan to easily gain access, forcing us to seek Kukaku Shiba's aid."

"We'll be taking about entangling what little is left of Kaien's family into this. About Ichigo's parentage and Isshin Shiba as well, but only after you finish your tale." Ukitake interrupted her.

That was one conversation Yoruichi really wasn't looking up to. She knew that Ukitake had seen Kaien and the man's wife as his own younger brother and sister, not just friends and subordinates.

"Once we gained access, the children were meant to be nothing more than a distraction, so I could investigate under the cover of the chaos they would inevitably cause." Yoruichi explained. She didn't said aloud that she was meeting the few agents and confidants Urahara still had in Gotei 13. "I was hoping to find solid evidence about Aizen's crimes. After I was done seeking evidence, I was suppose to watch over the kids and wait either for Urahara to make his move or for Aizen to reveal his true colors. We weren't going to let Rukia die! I wasn't going to let her die because of what we did to her!"

"Interesting. So you confirm that Urahara offered Rukia Kuchiki a sabotaged gigai containing the Hogyoku? Which in turn would have infected her soul, drained he Shinigami powers, making it seem that Ichigo Kurosaki took them all and thus making Rukia's crime of giving her power to a human, graver? In the same vein, the fact that instead of Rukia's powers returning relatively fast, she would have fast relapsed, weakening her until she was a regular plus soul?" Ukitake asked pointed questions.

"Yes, however it wasn't our intention to make Rukia's case worse, much less to guilt trip Ichigo into coming to Soul Society to rescue Rukia!" Yoruichi exclaimed and winced in pain as her loud voice and sudden jolt aggravated her wounds.

"From where I'm standing, that's precisely what it looks like. Intentionally or not, you manipulated those children to do your dirty work. What changed that you decided to risk Ichigo's future by offering to train him in unlocking his Bankai that way? I'm familiar with the theory and I know why no one dared risk do it in that way before. The risks were great that if unsuccessful, Ichigo would have either lost the potential to unlock his Bankai for good or it would have made it much harder and time consuming than otherwise. Tell me, Lady Shihoin, what changed? What possessed you to train Ichigo that way? Were you really going to throw him against Captains after three days of straight training without proper rest and with a Bankai he would not know how to use?"

"Byakuya happened. Zaraki too. Kenpachi made a deal with Ichigo, that if they fought and Zaraki lost, he would help Ichigo rescue Rukia and any one of his friends who were captured. After Ichigo's encounter with Byakuya at the Palace of Penitence, I was sure that if they fought again, Ichigo might get through the thick skull of that boy so Kuchiki would stand by his sister. We both know that if he threw all the power of his Clan behind Rukia, there was no way the execution would have been carried out. It was meant as another distraction as well, and a trap in order to force Aizen to reveal his true colors today. As you know very well, we didn't get that far. Aizen, Hinamori and my little bee crashed in during Ichigo's training and the rest is history."

"What about the Hollowfied Captains and Lieutenants? Were they a part of Urahara's plan to deal with Aizen? Were they waiting to sweep in and attack him if he revealed his true colours?"

"I know that Urahara was supposed to come today, perhaps Tessai too. As far as I know, the Hollowfied exiles weren't part of the plan."

"Just as Urahara's appearance last night wasn't part of the plan?"

Yoruichi shrugged as much as her bindings allowed her.

=DA=

Part 2

=DA=

Yamamoto's office

First Division Barracks

Soul Society

He was getting too old to deal with this, Yamamoto concluded. The Captain-General just finished with the reports outlining all the physical damage caused by the Ryoka invasion and Aizen's flight, which rounded up into a nice plump sum that would wipe out about a third of the remaining budged for the year. He would have to crack open one of the emergency accounts to ensure Gotei 13 remained solvent. The alternative was asking for a loan from the Noble Clans, something that was an absolute last resort options – such things came with so many strings attached it wasn't even funny. Yamamoto made a note to keep Kenpachi on a particularly short leash, otherwise there would be even more collateral to pay for, and went to the next reports.

The newborn budget issues were bad enough, the personnel losses, both injured and dead, were worse. The only bright spot over there was that there were only eleven confirmed dead, however over forty Shinigami were currently missing, not counting those who left with Aizen. On top of that, two hundred and five were hospitalized, both because of the Ryoka invasion and during Aizen's dramatic exit. Without Captain Unohana's expertise, healing the injured took more time and often was less perfect, meaning more of his people would suffer crippling injuries in the long run.

Yamamoto made another note, to check what the Twelfth could do to help the recovery of cripples Shinigami. He already left Ichimaru in their clutches, serves the brat right, now they might as well prove useful to the recovery of the rest of Gotei 13.

Those were the relatively simple and straightforward problems to fix.

Isshin Shiba was anything but. Yamamoto keenly remembered Shunsui's report on the matter – that other brat had gone AWOL, met a girl, married and managed to father three children. As if that wasn't enough of a political entanglement to untangle, his son was the Ryoka infant who thought he was leading the invasion to rescue Rukia Kuchiki. That particular point at least was clean – the human children were deceived by the Exile Urahara and Yoruichi Shihoin, who a century ago decided to run away with him. While that revelation didn't pull the humans off the hook for all the damage they caused, it certainly helped explain their motivations and mitigate the punishment, which in turn was another headache to deal with. With Ichigo Kurosaki being in fact Ichigo Shiba, dealing with him and by an extent those who he led, became even more political. Yamamoto would have to handle that once the more immediate issues were resolved and he had Isshin Shiba in front of him, explaining himself. Only after that particular problem was solved, he could deal with the children appropriately. In that regard, it was a good thing his students got them away from unfriendly attention, like Kurotsuchi's.

With that, Yamamoto went full circle and concentrated again on the more immediate problems, like the people actually responsible for the first invasion and by extent, at least in part for the second. Yoruichi was finally talking and he already read the preliminary report of her testimony. Using children, infants really, as a smoke screen. It shouldn't have worked, even with someone like Yoruichi running interference. Either Gotei 13 has grown incredible lax, something Yamamoto would be checking himself soon, or she had a lot of help. Likely from Urahara himself or at the very least the Hollowfied Captains and Lieutenants – their involvement was plausible, especially with that Hollow signature Captain Soi-Fon reported during the destruction of Central 46's compound.

At any rate, until the investigation was complete, perhaps even afterwards, it might be for the better to hang as much as possible on Urahara and thus sweep the problem away, officially. A great deal depended on what Aizen was up to now. Best case scenario in that regard, he would turn out not to be hostile, at least in the short to medium run, and Captain Unohana would return with a report on the man's intentions.

Ideally, Yamamoto would have loved to present the government with a resolved situation and a way for them to save face. That might have been the only thing that could resolve the current mess before it blew up in everyone's faces, however prudently Aizen wasn't ready to await their judgment. The way the Captain-General saw the situation, there were three plausible options as far as his rogue Captain was concerned.

First, he was what he presented himself as – a loyal Shinigami who only followed Central 46's orders. In theory, that might allow Aizen to eventually return to the fold. In practice, merely having orders didn't excuse what he did to his fellow Captains and Lieutenants. Many in Gotei 13 would find it unacceptable and would want to see Aizen pay for his crimes, out of self preservation if for no other reason. In that case, Sosuke would be expected to fall upon his sword for the good of Gotei 13, Soul Society and the government. It was too bad that understandably, he had issues with that course of action. Still, if that was the case, in the long run something might be worked out to keep the man more or less neutral, eventually friendly. Perhaps a deal with Gotei 13's counterparts in the West to transfer Aizen and those with him over there? Anyway, Gotei 13 would be among the largest obstacles in resolving the issue clearly.

The second and simplest option was that Aizen was precisely the kind of monster Urahara accused him of and he had managed to somehow do the impossible and like under Kido fueled by the bulk of Gotei 13's Captains – an outright terrifying proposition. In that case, the course of action would be clear. Sweep Urahara's involvement under the rug, bring him and his allies into the fold to help counter Aizen's schemes. While there would be little justice in such a thing, it would resolve many issues in a fast and clean manner… or it would have if there weren't a lot of Captains who were liable to outright mutiny if Urahara wasn't punished severely for his stunt.

The third and most complicate case was the one in which Aizen used to be what Urahara accused him of, yet he was now a changed man due to his reincarnation. It was a plausible development, and one that was going to be extremely messy to deal with. Yamamoto was certain that in that case Aizen won't be going down willingly for crimes committed by what for most intents and purposes was his previous incarnation. If this hypothesis was true, the Aizen existing now was a complete unknown. Judging from the result of the interrogation, he might prefer to be an ally, however after Yamamoto ordered his arrest, that option might be gone now. In fact, that option might never have been viable, depending on what the new government would do. There might be evidence left that could damn Aizen further, and given his claims, Central 46 would be out for blood and hard to placate at the best of times. They were unlikely to accept that Aizen was a new person and not necessary responsible for what he did in the past. Yamamoto himself wasn't comfortable with entertaining the thought of giving the man a free pass for possibly going rouge and weakening Gotei 13 in such a manner. Worst of all, such an Aizen would be utterly unpredictable. They didn't know who he was in that case, thus couldn't predict what he would do, while he would know them very well thanks to the memories he inherited.

No matter what was the case, some things were going to remain the same – Yamamoto had to take Gotei 13 in hand and ensure it was in the best possible shape for what might come. He needed to know exactly what Urahara did, how he did it and perhaps more importantly, why he did it. Yoruichi Shihoin would shed some additional light upon the man's motives, and once he awoke, he was in for rigorous questioning. Only then, Yamamoto would be comfortable with pronouncing judgment. Meanwhile, he had to ensure that as many of his remaining Captain as possible either remained loyal or were in no position to cause trouble in the future.