"Argghh!"

"Hold still," the Squad Four nurse chided Uryu as she applied a substance similar to iodine to a wound on his shoulder.

"I swear, when I get my hands on those ryoka, I'll make them pay," Uryu said with a dramatic flare.

"I'm sure you're very brave," the nurse said in a tone that implies she thought he was foolish.

"You know what really gets me?" Uryu asked rhetorically. "For the life of me I can't figure out what these ryoka are after! There's no logic to their movements!"

"It seems they were after the death row prisoner," the nurse observed.

"The Kuchiki girl?" Uryu asked. "How could you possibly know that?"

"A big group of them was captured by the repentance cell. One of the ryoka was brought here to be healed."

"There's a ryoka here?" Uryu asked in shock, faking a hint of fear.

"Yeah. A big fella, too. In much worse condition than you're in."

Uryu sighed. "Looks like I won't get the chance to pay the ryoka back for what they did to me."

"There's at least one ryoka still out there," the nurse said. "Though I'd recommend staying away from him. He defeated the Eleventh Squad captain."

"He defeated Kenpachi?" Uryu said in what was only slightly faked shock. "I thought he was supposed to be unkillable."

"The ryoka didn't kill him. He just defeated him. Captain Zaraki is currently being treated here."

"A captain and a ryoka being treated in the same place…" Uryu said in contemplation. "Are any other captains being treated here?"

"No. Unless you count captain Aizen's body. But we can't treat dead people."

Uryu attempted to turn his sigh of relief into an expression of anger.

He had gambled a great deal in seeking out the Squad Four hospital to treat the wounds he sustained in his battle with Captain Kurotsuchi. Had the Twelfth Squad Captain sought treatment in the same place his odds of being recognized and captured would have risen significantly. Uryu had believed that Kurotsuchi would not approach Squad Four to avoid the humiliation that his defeat by a lowly ryoka would create if it was widely known, and he was right.

The now-former Quincy also had no choice but to seek medical treatment. Even with his powers intact, he would have been useless with the wounds he had received.

Passing himself off as one of the many Shinigami injured by the ryoka had been even easier than he expected. It also provided him with an opportunity to gather information on both his comrades and their foes.

He knew now that most of their team had been captured and that Chad was badly hurt and was being treated close by. He also knew that Toshiro was still out there, and not only did he survive against Kenpachi Zaraki, but had also defeated the monstrous captain and was still free.

"Was it a ryoka who killed Captain Aizen?" he asked.

"That's the prevailing theory," the nurse answered. "But no one really knows. He was killed with his own zanpakuto, and there wasn't much sign of a fight."

'Strange,' Uryu thought. 'It definitely wasn't any us who killed that captain, but it had to be someone immensely powerful. Why would this happen now? Did someone just have a grudge against this captain and used us as cover, or is there something more behind this?'

He looked at the door to the room he was being treated in. 'Either way, I won't learn anything about that here when even the Shinigami don't know what's going on. I need to find Chad and get him out of here somehow. I won't be able to help anyone else without his strength.'

Yoruichi paced back and forth across her hideout.

She had wanted to supervise Toshiro's training with Hyorinmaru, but the sword's powers precluded her from doing so. It was simply too dangerous, not to mention too damn cold, for anyone else to be in the cave while Toshiro trained to achieve his Bankai.

Yoruichi finally understood why the boy had seemed so scared of his sword's power when they had first arrived in Soul Society. She herself had only seen one other zanpakuto with such a propensity for collateral damage as Hyorinmaru.

Toshiro collapsed to his hands and knees.

The dragon stared as the boy as he struggled to push himself up, only to have his arms give out.

Toshiro's eyes were closed as he took slow, pained, labored breaths.

He clearly had a resistance to cold. Otherwise he'd be dead. But he was still covered in bruises from being thrown around all day. His body was pushed far past its limits, and he was mentally pushed even farther than that.

He opened his eyes slightly. Each deep breath he took caused a puff of water vapor to appear into front of his face in the cold. He squinted in concentration.

One puff held in place instead of disappearing into the air. It was joined by another breath, and then another.

Toshiro gritted his teeth as the combined water vapor of many breaths converged on a single spot. The small cloud shrunk and grew denser not losing a single tiny droplet.

Soon, the cloud had condensed into a single small drop of water which hung in the air right in front of his face. The drop expanded slightly as it turned into a snowflake.

Toshrio exhaled as he allowed the snowflake to drift to the ground.

He tilted his head slightly so that he could see Hyorinmaru. The dragon lowered its head in acknowledgement of his efforts.

And then it disappeared, leaving nothing but the tenshintai in its place.

"That's enough for today, I think," he heard Yoruichi say.

He could just make out her footsteps as she drew closer.

Yoruichi scowled as she saw the state Toshiro was in. The boy had not attempted to move or acknowledge her presence.

"Doesn't look like you could take anymore of this anyway."

Toshiro said nothing as Yoruichi set him down next to a hot spring at the end of the cave.

"Normally I'd have you go in the water, but I don't think going from the extreme cold to something so hot is a good idea," she said.

Yoruichi took a towel and dipped it in the hot spring. After it was entirely immersed she lifted it upand began squeezing the excess water out.

She then leaned over Toshiro and began to dab his forehead with the towel. "Here."

Toshiro almost winced in anticipation of her rubbing his injuries, but a bruise on his forehead faded away al most instantly upon contact with the damp towel.

He looked up at Yoruichi in surprise, and she smiled back. "The water of this spring has special healing properties."

Toshrio grimaced and grunted as he painfully lifted his arm to signal for her to stop. She gave him a quizzical look, but nodded and stepped back.

Toshiro leaned his head back, his brow furrowed in concentration. The water of the spring, which had been completely still expect for the steam rising from it, began to move in small, almost imperceptible waves in his direction. Then the steam itself began to move laterally.

As the moisture from the hot spring moved towards Toshiro it cooled, forming a thin cloud of fog around him. He breathed some of it in as the cloud enveloped him, its healing touch spreading everywhere.

"Amazing," Yoruichi whispered to herself as the last of Toshiro's visible injuries disappeared.

Toshiro took a deep sigh of relief and contentment. "That's better."

Yoruichi sighed herself out of bemusement and sat down next to him.

"This was always going to be a dangerous path, but it seems to be paying off," she said.

"I can sense all water now," Toshiro said, "even the moisture in the air."

Yoruichi looked down at him. He sounded exhausted even after being healed.

"I never thought I'd have to learn so much about weather patterns while training with a giant ice dragon."

"Everyone's Bankai training is different," Yoruichi explained.

"And these moves Hyorinmaru wants to teach me: they require so much emotional control."

"That's been known to be the key to some zanpakutos' powers," she said while rubbing her chin in thought.

Toshiro yawned before responding. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you."

"What is it?"

"You know a lot about shinigami and zanpakutos. So does Urahara. Byakuya recognized you, and another Shinigami I fought freaked out when I mentioned Urahara's name.

"Who are you? I know you both come from here, and Byakuya called you a commander."

Yoruichi nodded. "I was the commander of the stealth force. Urahara … was the captain of Squad Twelve."

"So he was a Shinigami captain."

"And the founder of the research and development division," she added.

"All right. But tell me this. What do the former stealth force commander and a former Shinigami captain care about saving Rukia?"

Yoruichi paused, considering how best to answer. "A hundred years ago, we made a decision similar to the one you made when you came here."

"W-what happened a hun…"

Toshiro's head slumped against Yoruichi's arm as he fell asleep.

She looked down at him with a mixture of amusement and pity.

'So much riding on such small shoulders,' she thought.

Uryu walked as casually as he could past the room where Chad was being treated.

'Two guards,' noted to himself. 'I could have taken them easily if I still had my powers, but right now I can't take on anyone here.'

Being anonymous had its benefits, but he could not hope to pretend to be a doctor, and the staff treating Chad were sure to be among the higher-level medical staff.

His only option would be to find a way to distract the guards, get into the room, free Chad, and hope that his classmate was healed enough to fight their way out.

He turned the corner and stopped.

'Oh, no.'

Two Shnigami stood in front of him. One was bald, and the other had long, black hair.

"Well look who it is," the Ikkaku Madarame said.

"Yes. Fancy meeting you here," Yumichika Ayasegawa replied. "What should we do with him?" he asked Ikkaku.

"We take him to the captain," Ikkaku answered.

Kenpachi Zaraki stared at Uryu.

He was surprised to see the Eleventh Squad Captain in the Fourth Division hospital, given the disdain the rank and file of the Eleventh Division showed for the Fourth. Zaraki seemed unhappy, but not about being in the headquarters of Squad Four.

"Why did you bring this weakling here?" he demanded of Ikkaku and Yumichika.

"This is the ally of the one you fought," Ikkaku answered.

"I do think he was there when you you fought Toshi, Kenny," Yachiru said.

"And why would someone as strong as him be friends with someone as weak as you?" Kenpachi asked Uryu.

"If that's your question, then I have to wonder why you're allied with him," Uryu said, pointing at Yumichika. "I defeated that man in combat just a few days ago."

Zaraki looked at Yumichika in disappointment. "Is that so?"

Yumichika glared at Uryu and bite his nails nervously.

"I also defeated Kurotsuchi," Uryu declared.

"Hmmm." Zaraki stared at him.

His lips parted in a smile. "Maybe you're not just a waste of space after all. Toshiro will come for you."

"He will," Uryu agreed, "after he's rescued Rukia Kuchiki."

"Well, then he doesn't have much time," Yachiru said. "The execution has been moved up to noon tomorrow."

Uryu spun around to face her. "Noon tomorrow?!"

She nodded. "Uh huh. They sent word to all the lieutenants. It's the final change."

'I can't sit here,' Uryu thought anxiously. 'I've got to act now.'

He turned back to Zaraki. "You seem to be interested in strong people."

"Of course," Zaraki said. "Why anyone would be interested in weaklings is beyond me."

"Well, I've got a friend here, in this building, who stood up to your reiatsu and defeated dozens of your men with a single punch."

Zaraki's grin widened. "Not bad. Are the others in your group so strong?"

"In their own ways," Uryu answed. He hardened his expression and looked Zaraki directly in the eye.

"And I know where Toshiro will be tomorrow at noon."

"Wake up."

Toshiro blinked multiple times as he opened his eyes. Yoruichi was standing over him with a stern expression.

"Day two of Bankai training begins now," she said.

Toshiro rubbed his right eye as he rose.

"Where's my sword?"

Yoruichi watched as he manifested Hyorinmaru again.

'I was amazed by what he did yesterday,' she thought. 'But can any child, even one like him, really achieve Bankai?'

'I just can't shake this uneasy feeling. I'm sensing something out there, something ominous approaching this place.'

Just then, the cave was shaken by what sounded like an avalanche.

"I've found you," a voice familiar to Toshiro said.

Renji Abarai dropped down into the cave from a new hole in the ceiling. His sword was drawn and in its released form.

Toshiro took a battle stance, but Renji just looked at the manifested Hyorinmaru.

"Is that the true form of your zanpakuto? That's badass. No wonder you beat me."

"So you're hiding out here and secretly training for Bankai," he observed. "Looks like fun to me. Got room for one more?"

Toshiro relaxed his stance. "You're not here to fight?"

"No. The truth is that we're out of time, and I needed a place where I could train in peace, like you."

"Out of time?" Toshiro asked.

Renji walked up to him. "They changed the time of Rukia's execution. They announced it's going to be at noon tomorrow."

Toshiro and Yoruichi both froze in fright.

"And though I hate to admit it," Renji continued, "I'm not strong enough to save Rukia at my current level. That's why I came here, to train."

He turned away from Toshiro and Yoruichi. "I'm pretty close to the Bankai release myself. I've already mastered manifesting it."

He held out his sword, and a white baboon the size of a man with a snake for a tail appeared in front of him.

"So if you don't mind, I'm just going to do my own thing."

Yoruichi did not react to Renji's manifested sword. She remained focused on what he had said about the time of Rukia's execution.

"Noon tomorrow?" she said to herself. "There's no way. There's just no way anyone could achieve Bankai that quickly.

"If that's so then I'll just do it without Bankai," Toshiro declared. "I didn't come all this way to give up now."

Renji grinned. "That's the spirit."

"Toshiro, no!" Yoruichi yelled.

Toshiro looked at the dragon with an icy glare.

"Hyorinmaru isn't like other zanpakuto," he said. "He wants this more than anything. And if that means training twice as hard as yesterday, well then that's just what we're gonna do."