so, this one is a doozy. the most I've written in a chapter so far. I also made some edits to the previous chapter I was supposed to do last week but I forgot to. so pardon any confusion about the time scale.

To say Soul Society was something else would be an understatement. It was as though Tatsuki walked through a time machine back into feudal Japan, granted there were also massive differences, among them being the massive cannon in the main courtyard. Other than the Kakaku Taiho however, the Seireitei was a place that had unnerved her. The main reason was in the name. You dig around the meaning long enough and you come across 'stagnant water' and while she may not be religious, the association with death is there. It was clear that the Seireitei, at least until recently, had been exactly that, stagnant.

Now, however, it was clearly abuzz with workers clearing out damage and working to rebuild damaged structures. Whatever happened here was… Tatsuki didn't want to think about it. Thankfully whoever caused the damage was focused primarily on the military districts, leaving the various noble and residential districts alone. That was clear enough based on the condition of the Shiba compound. It looked as though it had seen better days, but was otherwise in good condition. There were still workers and servants moving around the compound doing final renovations, moving furniture, repainting walls, and clearing out dust and debris from the more intensive renovations.

Most of the work was in the main courtyard for the upcoming gathering. The whole reason why she, Keigo, and Mizurio were here. Thankfully while it seemed everything around the compound seemed to impose a cold and uncaring feeling, the Shiba manor felt alive. The warm colors, the servants moving to and fro, she felt as though if she were to go to the Kuchiki or Yayahara manors she'd find the deathly stillness continued in the halls. Of course, part of that liveliness came from the inhabitants.

Tatsuki had woken up early in the morning, mainly a habit from her morning runs, but because of that, she finally witnessed how Isshin woke up Ichigo every morning as Isshin ran past her in a near-full sprint for the door at the end of the hallway.

"GOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOORNING-" when five strides away from the door Isshin jumped and turned sideways to drop-kick the door. The problem, however, was that in twenty years away from the manor, he had in part forgotten some of the floor plan. Like how the room he was charging into was Kaien's a long time ago, and Kaien had chosen that room for the exact same reason Ichigo had.

There was a large window perfectly in line with the door, and Ichigo had left it wide open.

"ICHIGOOOOOAAHHHHHHH!" Isshin's voice trailed off as he flew through. Afterwards, Ichigo walked out of the room through its now-destroyed panel door.

"Hey," Ichigo casually greeted her as though he didn't just have someone just fly through their room yelling their name.

"Is that normal?" Tatsuki had heard stories of his father's antics from Ichigo, but had thought he was exaggerating.

"Yup," Ichigo nodded as he said this."Karin would use that in place of an alarm." Yuzu ran on a different clock since she made breakfast, and as he and Karin didn't really have any morning chores they only needed enough time to shower, get dressed, and eat breakfast. So his dad would wake him up exactly at the right time to do all of that and still have time to walk to school.

Tatsuki shook her head at this. "You say this is normal for the clan?" Tatsuki found it hard to believe that this was one of the great houses of the afterlife, they were too… normal. Crazy yeah, but from what she saw of Kukaku, she was a down-to-earth, if short-tempered woman.

"Unfortunately," Ichigo simply hoped that Ganju wouldn't be up to his usual fuckery.

"I can see how you fit right in," as much as Ichigo wouldn't admit it, he could fall into the same ridiculous mannerisms, though usually only if someone drew his ire.

"Damnit not you too." Ichigo's exasperation could be heard throughout the wing.

Ichigo was at a training field in the thirteenth. With Zangetsu sealed, Rukia figured it was safe to have him train in the open. So he was in one of the larger training fields of the thirteenth that Rukia had cleared out at the end of the day. Most of the shinigami of the thirteenth were either off-duty or performing other responsibilities to the division.

After their first session beneath Sogyoku Hill, she had given him a bunch of reading on kido theory. She figured due to his grades in the living world he'd study them. She wasn't wrong. When he wasn't learning about what was expected of him now that he was a noble he was pouring over those books.

The practical side of the homework had proven to be complicated however. The spinning whistle shattered on the first day, and Kukaku had told him to not try to create the ball of light on the estate grounds after he blew himself up for the third time.

"You're telling me that the simplest practical exercise, one specifically designed to not explode under any circumstances, not only did exactly that but did so spectacularly," Rukia was stunned at that news. She expected it was bad, but she wasn't expecting him to be worse than Renji!

"Yes," Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. He found this somewhat embarrassing.

"Wait, Ichigo blew himself up and I missed it!" Karin responded from the edge of the training ground. As Rukia was nominally in charge of the program Karin was a part of, she also wanted to assess Karin's progress herself.

"And how are you doing with your kido training?" Rukia turned to look at the younger of her two present charges. With that Karin held her hand out and tried to create a ball of light.

The exercise was to have someone make a ball of spiritual energy the size of a marble. If one didn't have the necessary control it was simply supposed to fizzle out or diffuse. Just like what happened to the one Karin made almost immediately after creating it, causing her to look at Rukia with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"My point exactly," Rukia then turned back to Ichigo. "Demonstrate to me what you were doing."

As Ichigo focussed on doing the exercise, Rukia prepared herself to possibly have to cast a barrier kido in case things did actually get explosive.

Ichigo took a slow breath. Focussing on his own reiatsu, then grabbed as small of a part of it as he could, less than even the recommended amount as he tried the previous times, and then tried to manifest it in his hand. Soon a blue haze surrounded his hand as the air around it became thick with his reiatsu. Then he as slowly and carefully as possible tried to compress it into shape.

That was when Rukia noticed what was wrong, and she immediately responded. Casting a barrier in front of her. It wasn't the best barrier she cast, and was likely overkill for the situation, but it's one of the ones she could cast on short notice as time was not a luxury she had at the moment.

Suddenly a loud thoomp filled the air as the ball Ichigo was trying to make broke out of its confinement and filled the air with dust. Fortunately no rocks were thrown up and Rukia's barrier was not necessary.

Rukia was again stunned. The smallest amount of reiatsu Ichigo could manifest was the amount she would use to cast a high level hado like Soren Sokatsui! No wonder it blew up in his face.

Karin meanwhile was stunned. Ichigo had exerted the minimum possible for him, and in doing so exerted more than she had ever felt. There was also something unsettling about her brother's spiritual pressure. A savage and discordant note to it. Was that?

"Ichigo, what's your Zanpakuto's type?" Karin's question surprised Rukia. It was rare for someone to be able to sense the zanpakuto within the wilder's reiatsu this early into their training.

"Combat," Ichigo said what was at best a half-truth. He wasn't trying to lie, it was just too complicated and too sensitive to fully explain.

"And Rukia, yours is ice?" Rukia nodded. The fact Karin could differentiate the zanpakuto from wielder at this stage in her development was… it was like when Ichigo manifested soul ribbons from pure instinct.

"Ichigo," Rukia tried to return to the matter at hand. "Was that the absolute minimum you could manifest?"

"Yeah, I don't know how to manifest any less," Ichigo's response confirmed her suspicions. He had outgrown his ability to control his reiatsu. Even at the level he was at when she first gave him his powers it was likely he wouldn't have been able to do much in the way of kido as was evidenced by Karin's own troubles. Karin though would be able to learn how to control her power at this stage. Ichigo though… the outlook was bleak. They would need to use seals akin to the ones used on Aizen to even think about sending him home, and that was a non-starter. They needed a breakthrough.

"Ichigo, we're done for now. I'll try to think of something. Karin, I want to see how well your zanjutsu has progressed," Karin picked up her boken at Rukia's request and took a ready stance.

The resulting bout could be less described as a spar and more like a systematic disassembly of everything Karin attempted to do to her. Rukia was the exact opposite of Hiyori in terms of swordsmanship. While Hiyori was aggressive and up-tempo with her style, Rukia was patient and deliberate. She waited for Karin to make a mistake as opposed to forcing the errors with brute force like her mentor. Once mistakes were made Rukia then punished them with cold efficiency and blinding swiftness. There were several times Rukia was able to get a hit on her wrists and make her drop her boken. One of these occurrences prompted Rukia to call the bout over. It was a quick bout, but it told the lieutenant everything she needed to know.

"You have a long way to go, but you are moving along well. However, you have much to learn before I'd say you are ready for patrols," Rukia then moved to put the boken away in the rack next to the exit to the training area. "Now how about we get something to eat?" Rukia's face almost immediately changed from that of the cold and analytical face of the acting captain of the thirteenth to that of the Rukia they had both gotten to know during her time in the living world.

Toshiro Hitsugaya was in a bind. He, in his capacity as captain of the tenth division of the Gotei 13, had been invited to the celebration of the Shibas being reinstated.

He was honestly happy for them. They didn't deserve getting disgraced for the actions of his former captain. The problem for him was that his former captain would also be there, and his lieutenant was also going.

Rangiku was normally a very relaxed and untroubled person, usually too much so in Hitsugaya's opinion, but he could see she was contemplating how she was going to get back at Isshin for leaving her with a double stack of paperwork until he could replace him.

Granted in Hitsugaya's personal opinion he deserved every bit of it, but he wanted to avoid an incident with the Shibas so soon after their reinstatement.

That was when Ichigo showed up in the window of his office.

"Hey, To- I mean Captain Hitsugaya, mind if I crash here for a little bit?" Ichigo looked panicked like he was running from something.

"Fine, just don't distract me, I still have some paperwork I need to finish," Toshiro had been glad that Ichigo was working on how he spoke to everyone. When he was on the outside it was okay to refer to them casually as he was new to the idea of Soul Society. Now though, if he was going to be a major player, he had to get used to the decorum.

"Thanks," Ichigo settled into one of the couches in the shared office of the division's two highest-ranking members. As Ichigo sat down he thought for a moment about how this was once his father's division.

"How was my dad, as a captain?" Toshiro sighed at the question. It was a hard one to answer.

"Difficult," That was the best he could come up with after mulling over it. "Your father was in many respects worse about paperwork than Lieutenant Matsumoto, who yes, was also your father's lieutenant," Ichigo nodded, it checked out for him. His father really hated the managerial and administrative sides of running the clinic. "He was a poor leader, blowing off responsibilities similar to what the Head Captain used to do when he was captain of the eighth," Ichigo nodded again, his father's shenanigans were probably not a new thing, so he kind of expected that. "But he was also the closest thing I had to a father," Which surprised Ichigo. He knew he shouldn't be, and it made a lot of sense, but having it outright stated by someone who couldn't be more opposite, was surprising.

"Did he wake you up by trying to attack you in the morning?"

"Yes."

"Attack you when you were late to anything while he was there?"

"Yes."

"Overdramatic when he so much as caught you talking to a girl?"

"Yes."

"And yet you don't find yourself hating him in spite of all of that?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Hitsugaya sighed as he finished the last of his paperwork.

"Well shit, guess he does have a tendency to adopt people in all but name" His father had basically adopted him in all but name. It also seems Toshiro prototyped his dad's parenting strategy.

"It seems so, but may I ask what brings you here?" Toshiro was wondering about that, and now that he had finished his paperwork, saw an opportunity to ask.

"Yeah, about that…"

Moments earlier

Ichigo was walking to the eleventh from the thirteenth after finishing the day's training. Apparently Ikkaku had sent a hell butterfly to Kukaku about wanting to talk to him about something. So Ichigo found himself walking into the barracks of the Gotei Thirteen's 'big stick.' There he found the now Lieutenant Madarame, apparently Yachiru went MIA during the war. It was just another scar left by the Wandenreich on the Seireitei.

"Hey Ichigo," Ikkaku was waiting for him in the front courtyard of the division. He had just finished pt for the day if the groaning of the other shinigami was anything to go by.

"Sup Ikkaku," he had tried to call him by rank the last time they spoke as he was trying to get into the habit of, but Ikkaku had hit him with a boken when he did that and said that just Ikkaku was fine, so he kept the informality.

"Just smoking the new recruits, the assholes actually think we're all fighting all the time, pft." Ikkaku was a harsh teacher from what he remembered from his time in Soul Society after rescuing Rukia.

"I can see, you wanted to talk to me about something?" Ichigo kind of felt sorry for the new shinigami, it was clear to him that they were going to need a proper ice bath or they would be sore the whole week.

"Yeah Ichigo, would you be interested in joining the shini-" it was then a massive shadow covered both Ichigo and Ikkaku, and before Ikkaku could finish, a slow menacing chuckle rumbled from behind him.

"So, Ichigo," the low growl of the captain of the eleventh was distinctive to both Ichigo and Ikkaku. "Wanna fight?"

"Excuse me Ikkaku, we'll have to talk about this later," before Ikkaku could protest, Ichigo had all but vanished, flash stepping away at a ridiculous speed Ikkaku couldn't track.

"GET BACK HERE ICHIGO!" And Captain Kenpachi Zaraki sprinted after him before flash-stepping himself.

Ikkaku sighed. He hoped Tetsuzaimon or Renji would have better luck.

In the present

"You mean to tell me that you are hiding from Captain Zaraki, in my office?" Toshiro was not pleased.

"Well, when you put it like that it makes it seem like he's going to bust through a wall at any moment," Ichigo scratched the back of his head nervously. "He has a crappy sense of direction if I remember correctly."

Toshiro sighed. He was right. The likelihood Zaraki would figure out how to get to him before someone stopped him was high. Though he had arrived on time to the monthly captain's meetings on-time more often than not.

"Then would you mind explaining why he is currently on his way here?" Toshiro looked at Ichigo with a raised eyebrow.

"... Shit." Suddenly Ichigo disappeared again. His shunpo too fast for Toshiro to track.

Toshiro chuckled lightly, he had lied to Ichigo, knowing that he wasn't going to take the chance to sense for the monstrous captain.

"Ah, peace and quiet," that was true until Rangiku burst in drunk, and then fell face first on the floor.

"MATSUMOTO!"

—

Bambietta Basterbine and Meninas McAllon were at the Kurosaki Clinic looking after Yuzu. While Bambi hated the idea of babysitting, Uryu had a point. With her father gone, hollows may think she would be a prime meal, combine that with the fact he was the one who got Orihime to reject her death at the hands of that bitch Giselle, and she really didn't have the room to refuse.

So, here she was, babysitting one of Ichigo's little sisters.

"Bambi, Meni, food's ready," At least she was a damn good cook. Shit, she'd have to save some for Lil.

"Alright, I'm on my way," Bambi turned off the TV and went into the kitchen. She had to admit that the Kurosaki house was a pretty good setup, even if it shared its floor space with the attached clinic.

As she was walking her phone started ringing, Bambi groaned. "Hold on," Bambi checked her phone to see who it was.

Fuck, it was Uryu. Didn't she tell him not to call her unless it was urgent. She flipped her phone open before accepting the call.

"What is it this time," Uryu was making a habit of calling her when a problem could vaguely benefit from things blowing up. It was starting to get on her nerves.

"There's a situation at my place. I would like it if you came post haste," Bambi sighed. If this was another of his damned sewing supply runs she was going to throw him out the fucking window.

"What is it?" She all but growled into the phone.

"It's about the Jagdarmees in Hueco Mundo," Oh fuck. Those assholes. If they started shit they might just provoke the Gotei into finishing the job.

"I'll be right there," As much as she really didn't like his late majesty declaring Uryu his heir, she was starting to get what he saw in him. He was an impeccable organizer and knew his limitations. His little corner of the shattered Wandenreich was run more by committee than from a strict top-down hierarchy. It fit her more to have lateral freedom. Not being a zombie was a plus, and as a result of her dying before all of the other sternritter got auswalened she currently was the only other former sternritter able to use her volstandig, she'd have to thank Orihime for doing that.

"Meni, stay here, Uryu needs me for something," Meni nodded.

"Oh, we're low on butter, could you get some on the way back?" Bambi almost groaned, but if it meant more good food she'll make the run back.

"Fine," she walked out the door after grabbing a snack and putting some extra in a handbag Uryu made for her.

After she left she made for the Ishida residence in a burst of hirenkyaku.

Uryu was in a bit of a bind. He only had five other former sternritter, and only one other still capable of using volstandig among his number. His splinter of the Wandenreich was by far the smallest. There were simply too many people out for blood against Soul Society to really make peace look reasonable.

However, the fact that he had two volstandigs on his side, his and that of the resurrected Bambietta, meant that he was in command of what was probably also one of the stronger splinter factions. Many, like the Jagdarmmees roaming Hueco Mundo were almost all soldats and support personnel led by the occasional former sternritter or high-ranking officer.

The fact that Hallibel was petitioning him for aid though meant that there was something up.

"So, you want my help? Even though I am a quincy, and am leading quincies, and have had little to no reason to help you in the past?" Uryu stared at the messenger. She was a small woman with half of her face covered by her mask fragment, with the other half showing a blank expression and well-groomed straight black hair that went down to chin level.

"Yes, Lady Hallibel has already petitioned the shinigami for aid, but was rebuffed as their priorities are focussed on internal matters," Roka Peramia had little to worry about from the quincies present. Based on the information she was able to gather from the memories of the world surrounding her, even if he said no, Uryu's honor would allow her to leave.

Uryu knew what these 'internal matters' were, but he doesn't dare say what they are, though he couldn't help but curse at the shinigami being useless yet again.

"What is the situation?" Uryu wanted to know what was happening so that he could plan a response. Most of his forces were spoken for, especially the day of the raid in Naraki.

"Lady Hallibel is facing pressure from both the Jagdarmees that once were under command of Quige Olpie, and a coalition of her rivals. We have the forces to deal with one or the other, but not both. Roka spoke calmly, her expression remaining largely unchanged.

"You're hoping that I can reign in the Jagdarmees and have them not attack you," Uryu raised an eyebrow. The forces sent to Hueco Mundo were considered by Yhwach too fanatical to be useful to him. Which either said something about how fanatical they were given Lille Barro, or said something about Lille Barro's own power, most likely the latter.

"Yes, though failing that, we hope you can neutralize them as a threat to Lady Hallibel," Roka knew that if the Jagdarmees caused too much death that the shinigami may be forced to exterminate the surviving quincy. Based on the memories she was gathering from the surrounding room, it seemed to be a concern all but the most fanatical of quincy splinter factions were concerned about.

"Let me make a call."

—

When Bami knocked on the door of the Ishida residence she was greeted by Uryu's father Ryuken.

"I see, my son called for one of his misfits," Ryuken didn't like her, and to be fair, she didn't like him. But they kept it cordial for Uryu's sake.

"Any idea why?" Bambi ignored the misfit argument. It was largely accurate anyway. She and the other bambis became a clique for a reason, they just didn't get along with the other sternritter much, and had a stronger loyalty to each other than to Yhwach, so they became the sternritter's little misfit brigade.

"He is speaking with an arrancar in the library," Ryuken didn't elaborate. He had left the library once it was clear that they weren't under attack. Though Uryu kept Lampard around just in case.

"Anyone else with him?" Bambi knew Lil hung out around her sometimes and may have been called in as a security measure.

"Only Miss Lampard. She seems to be complaining about being hungry," Ryuken didn't want to think about how a woman that small could have an appetite that large.

"Alright. Good thing I brought some of Yuzu's cooking," Bambi sighed. Lil's appetite was one of the reasons she had ended up joining the bambis, it caused her to ask for food at the weirdest times. Combine that with her blunt nature and she quickly found herself outside of the usual social circles within Silbern.

Bambietta walked down the large hallway leading to the library. When she opened the door she saw Uryu sitting at a table in the center with an arrancar she didn't recognise across from him.

"Hey, Bambi, you have something to eat?" Lil kept her voice down, but otherwise spoke with the same time and cadence she usually did.

"Yeah, here, got some extra from Yuzu," Bambi handed over the extra food wrapped up in tin foil. Lil grabbed it and quickly unwrapped it before scarfing down some of the food. Bambi didn't stick around to check to see if she liked it, Lil could and would eat anything that could be eaten, as that was her power.

"So boss, you called?" Bambi walked down the staircase to the library towards Uryu and Roka.

"Ah, Miss Basterbine, a pleasure to meet you," Bambi was off put by how the arrancar knew her name. Uryu was always tight-lipped about who exactly was on his side. Causally telling everyone you had four-fifths of the bambis and Mr. Unkillable was not a good idea.

"How do you know my name?" Bambie stared into the one eye she could see as she closed the distance, her face mere inches from the arrancar's.

"Ah, my mistake, your name is remembered by the world around you. I am able to access those memories," Roka didn't back away from Bambi in spite of her apology.

"Whatever, why are you here?" Bambi sat down and started eating at the table.

Uryu glared at her for eating in his father's library, but this kind of behavior is what he signed up for when he let the bambis join him.

"Hallibel is facing a two-front war with both the remaining jagdarmees and opportunistic rivals that came out of the woodwork after Ichigo defeated Olpie," Uryu pushed up his glasses as he spoke. This was a troubling situation. Hallibel, Nelliel, and Grimjow would be able to handle either on their own with ease, but both at the same time poses a strategic issue. She simply doesn't have enough firepower to split her forces like that.

"And what do we get from playing nice with hollows?" Bambi really didn't like hollows. Granted that was true of all quincies, but she had always found them to be abominations worthy of the name her homeland gave them, demoni.

"If the jagdarmees kill too many hollows, the head captain may be forced to act in a manner that is not to your benefit," Roka spoke before Uryu could explain the situation. While some would interpret it as a threat, it was a statement of fact. Even a year after the blood war the balance between the Living World, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo was precarious, it had been what forced squad zero to let Hallibel and her forces return to Hueco Mundo freely.

"Shit," Bambi really didn't like that the hollow was right, but she hit the nail on the head. The jagdarmees were an aggressive force, in hostile territory, consisting of the most fanatical quincy the Wandenreich had. They would see the disruption of the balance of souls as part of their divine duty, uncaring as to how this would affect the rest of the surviving quincy.

"Bambietta, you and Candice are to go to Hueco Mundo after we have concluded our other operations," Uryu wasn't going to refer to the Naraki mission openly, though he guessed Roka already knew of it. "I cannot spare forces Immediately, but I can provide aid. Inform Hallibel to be ready to receive the aid of at least two former sternritter."

"I will," Roka nodded. Bambietta's aid would be especially welcome if the memories she has extracted were accurate. Her ability to deal damage to large swaths of the battlefield along with her being the only other sternritter with access to her volstandig are valuable to their current situation. "I look forward to further cooperation." Roka curtsied as she left. The distinctive sound of a garganta opening signaled the departure of Hallibel's emissary.

14 chapters in, and 11 since Ichigo came to Soul Society, and I didn't make a Kenny joke. well, that's off my checklist now. and yeah, I do see the relationship between Toshiro and Isshin to be that of a complicated father-son relationship.

as for Bambi and why she still has her volstandig? I'm sure you have your guesses but I'm going to keep that close to my chest as it isn't important yet. though it does tie into why Gigi isn't around.