Chapter 9: Working Out the Kinks

"C'mon, guys. I'd thought you'd been training all this time to defeat Aizen, and this is the best you can show for it?" taunted Yuuto, his sword in a laid-back guard as he faced his opponents.

Renji was panting heavily, using his sword more as a crutch than a weapon at this point. Toshirou wasn't faring much better, the ice stars overhead all but gone, his Bankai barely holding together. Soifon was not as winded, but still sucking air. Rukia was nearly dead from exhaustion, adopting a posture similar to Renji's as she supported herself with her sword.

Off to the side, Ichigo shook his head. "Yuuto-san, don't be so hard on them. If this keeps up, they'll pass out."

Yuuto snorted, sheathing his sword. "Fine. No blade. Kido only, and I'll even stick to the Lesser Kido."

Rukia merely flopped to the ground, her legs finally giving out on her. "That's it. No...no more. I'm done."

Yuuto shrugged, and looked about the group. Renji shortly followed Rukia, his knees too wobbly to support his frame.

That left the two captains, and Toshirou looked on his last legs, also. Soifon seemed to be doing the best out of all of them, but not by much. Her Stealth Forces training had proven invaluable thus far, as it was her incredible speed that allowed her to keep up with him to a point.

"Well, two down, and two to go. Rukia, Renji. Consider yourselves dead. Aizen would dispose of you two with little to no effort."

Growling, Renji glared at the man. "So what? You lost to him too, remember?"

The air became rather still, and all eyes were on Renji. Some couldn't believe he'd be so insensitive as to bring up a topic still fresh in everyone's mind. Others couldn't believe he didn't remember that he'd protected the lot of them from a Level 80 Hado while he was getting fried by said spell.

Soifon had the urge to stab him, but stamped it down. "Abarai-fukataichou, if you're so discontent with the way Yuuto-san is handling this, what do you suggest we do?"

Suddenly put on the spot, Renji scratched his head. When no response was forthcoming, Soifon snorted. "As I suspected. If you haven't a better idea on how to gauge our strengths, I suggest you shut up and follow Yuuto-san's lead."

Soifon had taken to referring to Yuuto by his first name, a change that had not gone entirely unnoticed.

"Just because you li-"

"SHUT IT, ABARAI!"

Yuuto clapped his hands, getting their attention. "Oi, oi, that's enough out of you two. Renji, I'm not doing this for kicks and giggles. I don't claim this out of arrogance, but if it were just Aizen and me, in his current state, I could eventually defeat him. I will admit that the presence of spectators...hindered me in a way I had not anticipated. However, the important thing is that no lives were lost, and I consider that a win in my book."

Renji nodded solemnly, and Soifon puffed her chest out slightly.

"Damn straight. That's how my man-wait...MY man? Since when-"

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a rustling in the bushes.

They had specifically come to this remote location far away from the bustling crowds of Seireitei so they could train in peace and quiet. More importantly, if something blew up, it would most likely be a tree or a rock, and there would be no unnecessary collateral damage.

Making her way through the bushes, Momo poked her head out from behind a tree.

"Ano...Yuuto-taichou?"

Said man turned to her. "Yes, Momo?"

She blushed as he used her name with no suffix, but continued. "I was wondering...if you wouldn't mind letting me join?"

Yuuto quirked his eyebrow. "Really? But I train with you almost on a daily basis in the barracks."

Several eyes widened at this revelation, and Renji's brain was the first down the gutter.

"Train? What do you mean, 'train'? I thought that those types of relationships were forbid-"

A rock to his forehead had Renji seeing stars, and Yuuto huffed. "What the hell, Abarai? I said training, not 'a romp in the sheets'. For the love of God..."

Both Momo and Soifon blushed heavily at the mental imagery that assaulted them, and Soifon covered her nose to stop the bleeding that began.

Ichigo saw this and snickered. Yuuto rounded on him. "What is so funny? I find nothing in this situation even SLIGHTLY amusing!"

Ichigo shook his head, his grin still plastered on his face. "Nothing! It's nothing. I just thought of a joke Keigo told me the other day." Rukia knew this was not the case, but wasn't about to throw Ichigo under the bus...at least, not yet.

Shaking his head, Yuuto heaved a sigh. "Well, if you want to, I'm not about to tell you otherwise."

Clapping her hands in glee, Momo hopped over to stand between Toshirou and Soifon.

"Isn't this great? Personal training with Yuuto-kun! You guys are so lucky!"

Toshirou rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Lucky me."

Soifon merely kept her mouth shut and nodded, afraid her voice would betray her inner thoughts.

Popping his shoulders, Yuuto kept his arms at his sides. "Alright, let's resume. Remember, I will only utilize Lesser Kido, but I may switch it up with Greater Bakudo from time to time. Stay on your toes, guys."

One week later...

Yuuto, looking no worse for wear, was leaning against a tree as Renji, Rukia, Momo, Toushirou, and Soifon managed to get air into their lungs, the day's training over. Secretly, all were hoping that Yuuto had been going tough on them, but a sneaking suspicion told them that he'd done the exact opposite, and that unnerved the lot of them.

"S-so...what...do you think...of our progress...so far, taichou?" heaved Momo, managing to get herself into a sitting position.

"Y-yeah. Surely we're stronger by now." growled Renji, his whole body sore and giving him an attitude to boot.

Yuuto opened his eyes and cracked a smile. "Yes, you five HAVE gotten stronger. There can be no doubt of that."

Beaming smiles went all around the group, but before they could celebrate, he cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"However..." he began, and Renji groaned, flopping on the ground.

"Don't say it...for the love of Kami, don't say it."

"You still have a ways to go."

Roaring to his feet, Renji stormed over and grabbed Yuuto by his robes, hoisting him to his feet and slamming him against the tree. Rukia and Toushiro blanched, while Momo cried out for Renji to stop. Soifon merely tried to keep her eyes in her head at the fukataichou's brazen and foolish attempt at what she could only assume was a tough-guy act.

"Now you listen here, you pompous ass! I've been training my ASS off for the past week, doing EVERYTHING you've said, and you have the GALL to say I'm still weaker than that fucknut Aizen?! And what about YOU?! What about YOUR weaknesses?! Maybe if YOU were stronger, you would have killed the bastard before he got awa-"

*SLAP*

Releasing his hold on Yuuto's haori, he stumbled back before gracelessly falling on his ass. Rubbing his cheek, he lifted his head to protest, but his retort died on his lips as he saw an incredibly upset Momo, her hand just now coming down to her side.

"Mo-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, RENJI!" she yelled, and he cringed as he saw tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes. "What the hell is WRONG with you? Why do you hate Yuuto-taichou so much? What has he done to piss you off?! WHY are you so MAD at him?!" Fists at her sides, her petite arms trembling in restrained anger, she shook her head to will the tears back, and only just succeeded.

"He's been nothing but kind to us -to ALL of us- since he got here. He's helped me get over Aizen, he's helped Rukia and Ichigo get back together, he gave Kurosaki his FUCKING POWERS BACK, and he's gone out of his way to try and make us stronger so that we can face whatever twisted shit Aizen has planned for us."

Renji opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand to silence him. "Shut it."

If the group's eyes hadn't already bugged out of their skulls at Momo's quite colorful use of profanity, they were definitely now, as she looked ready to strangle the red-headed pineapple.

"In case you don't remember, he took an attack that could have wiped most of us out. He used HIMSELF as a shield, and to disregard that as WEAKNESS..."

Shaking her head, she looked him dead in the eye. "We are no longer friends, and I don't want to see you again, Abarai-san."

He paled at that. Momo was using his name formally, and she never did that. He moved to stand, and felt an arm hoisting him to his feet; to his ever-continuing surprise, it was Yuuto's.

"Renji, I'll talk to her. Just...go back to your barracks. You might want to take a few days off."

Nodding dumbly, he thanked him before wandering aimlessly back to his quarters, seemingly in a daze.

Sighing, Yuuto rubbed the back of his head. While he knew Renji was angry, he probably had a good idea why. While happy-go-lucky and slightly clueless on the outside, Renji harbored unrequited feelings for Rukia on the inside. With Ichigo and Rukia's now formal attachment to one another, his feelings had been hurt severely, and he took out his pain the only way he knew how to: By redirecting it at someone else.

Turning, he regarded the faces of the remaining trainees. They'd all managed to get to their feet by this point, the outburst from Momo helping them to easily forget their previous fatigue in place of pure shock value. Rukia's expression was similar to Soifon's: Disbelief that such an event actually took place just minutes ago. Toushiro's expression was more guarded than it was before, but he could easily see the concern he had for Momo's feelings in his eyes.

He'd talked to Toushiro on more than one occasion, and found that the supposed boy captain was actually a rather startling intellectual, making up for his lack of stature with the ability to think 5 moves ahead of his peers. He also knew that the white-haired captain cared deeply for Momo, as one would care about a sister or brother. He considered her family, as he had no family of his own, save his grandmother who'd passed away some time ago.

Seeing Yuuto's knowing look, Hitsugaya gave a barely perceptible nod, indicating that he understood what he was conveying with his eyes. The older man had promised he'd look after Momo when he couldn't, so he knew that his promise to talk with her was genuine.

Turning, Yuuto wasn't prepared for the sudden embrace of his lieutenant, nor the onslaught of heart-wrenching sobs that shook her frame. Surprise was quickly replaced by sadness, and he wrapped his arms around her, whispering soft words in the hopes of getting her to calm down. Her blubbering continued, however, and he turned to the three spectators as he continued to rub her back in a soothing manner.

"I don't think I need to say this, but training's over for today. We won't be regrouping for a few days, so take the time to do what you need or want to do."

Rukia nodded, and quickly left to find Ichigo, whom she suspected was doing some training of his own. Toushiro gave a curt nod then, with one last look over his shoulder, went to find Matsumoto. He could only hope that his lieutenant could have a talk with Momo, and hopefully bring her spirits up. It's not that he didn't trust Yuuto, it's just that even he knew that some things were off-limits when it came to talking to girls, and he suspected that the reverse was also true.

'Girl talk.' he thought with a shiver.

Soifon remained firmly planted where she was, watching Yuuto do his best, albeit awkwardly, to calm his fukataichou down. Holding her in a firm embrace, rubbing her back, whispering softly into her ear and making little jokes to try and get her to laugh instead of cry.

Soifon felt like a heel for thinking this, but couldn't help but feel jealous of the crying girl. She wished that he would hold her like that, whisper things into her ear, rub her back, make her laugh.

As if on autopilot, her legs began to move, and with great mortification, she realized they were carrying her towards the pair.

'Damn you, body. You traitor! Halt, I say!'

When they continued to disobey, she tried again. 'Cease and desist!' Again, she got nowhere.

'STOP FUCKING WALKING!' Finally, her legs stopped, and she heaved an internal sigh. 'I'm so glad I stopped in ti-'

"Soifon?"

'Fuck me.' she cursed, before the dark part of her brain took that phrase and shot it straight to the gutter. Blushing heatedly, she shook those thoughts from her head and addressed Yuuto, who was patiently waiting for her response to his question.

"Y-yes, Yuuto-san?"

"Can I help you somehow?"

Mentally smacking herself, she completely forgot that SHE walked over to HIM! Cursing her legs yet again, she scrambled for something to say.

"Er...I...would you like me to, uh...help you?"

Cocking his head to the side, and ignoring the rosy hue her cheeks had taken, Yuuto seemed a little confused. "How so?"

'Baka! Quit prancing around the bush and offer your services!' a part of her screamed.

'I know what services I'D offer him.' chuckled the mind-gutter.

Flushing scarlet, Soifon once again pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. "I-I was h-hoping I c-could assist you in g-getting Momo to calm d-down."

Now Yuuto was REALLY confused. He had no idea why Soifon was blushing, and she never seemed to stutter when she was talking to other people. For all his lauded battle expertise, when it came to romantic matters, Yuuto was SERIOUSLY lacking experience. He'd been a young boy of 8 when he'd died and came to Soul Society, so he wasn't exactly knowledgeable about romance. Hell, he'd still thought girls had cooties back then.

Still, he recognized a genuine offer of assistance when he saw one, and he wasn't about to turn it down.

"Sure, Soifon. I'd be glad to have you help." Grinning, he patted the captain's shoulder. "Let's go back to the barracks. I think Momo needs some time to relax."

"Y-yeah, sounds good."

Nodding, he bent and scooped up the still crying Momo and began to Shunpo back. Snapping out of her reverie Soifon sped after him, although her mind quickly focused itself on other things.

'HE TOUCHED ME! HE TOUCHED ME! BY KAMI, HE TOUCHED ME!'

'Down, girl. He patted you on the shoulder. It's not like he-'

'DON'T you finish that sentence.'

'*snicker* What?'

'You know what. Now stop thinking like a hentai before we flash-step ourselves into a tree.'

'Hmm...point taken. Still, to think you'd react this strongly to him.'

'Shut it.'

'Oho, someone's getting tes~ty.'

"Soifon?"

Snapping once again out of her inner thoughts, she flashed Yuuto a smile before speeding ahead. Yuuto, now confused once more, merely shrugged and sped to catch up.

Rukia didn't have too much trouble finding Ichigo. The small collection of pockmarks and craters in the ground told a tale of destruction and...frustration? Either way, the lack of discernible foliage and boulders made the clearing easy to find.

Looking around, she spotted Ichigo clad in his Bankai, the chain draped lazily against his right arm. Striding over to him, she slapped his back. "HEY! Training's done for the day, so I thought you and I could-"

"Not now, Rukia."

Blinking, she peered around Ichigo's frame, and widened her eyes slightly when she saw his face. A serious scowl was present, and she didn't like it.

"What's the matter?"

Shaking his head, he deactivated his Bankai, his Shikai taking its' place as he mentally wound the bandages around his blade, securing it onto his back as he began to walk away. "I...I'm not sure, Rukia...I think I need to talk to Yuuto-san."

With one Flash Step, he was gone.

Rukia's frown mirrored her inner thoughts. 'Something's wrong, and he doesn't want to talk to me about it. Whatever it is, it's got him on edge. He's tense, and his reiatsu is screaming agitation. I hope Yuuto-san can help him.'

Yuuto had just finished putting Momo to bed, the exertions of the day enough to completely wipe the fukataichou. He was conversing with Soifon when Ichigo Flash-Stepped into appearance. The two captains blinked, before Yuuto smiled.

"Ichigo! What can I do for you?"

His shihakusho suddenly fisted, he stared directly into the Substitute's eyes, which bore no room for argument.

"My powers. They haven't fully come back."

Eyes widening, the two captains shared a brief look, before Yuuto was jerked back to face Ichigo.

"Answer me! Why haven't they come back fully?"

"What do you me-"

"DON'T you screw with me, Yuuto. When I fought Aizen, I was much, MUCH stronger than I currently am. I am about as powerful as I was when I completed Jinzen. After that, I trained in the Dangai for at least 500 normal hours, bringing me equal with Aizen and then some."

Peering into the other man's eyes, Ichigo bit back some of his rage. "Why. Am. I. Weaker. Now?"

Yuuto frowned, before gripping Ichigo's hand, and gently but forcefully removing it from his robes.

"I have two things to say to you, Ichigo. One you may not like, and the other you DEFINITELY won't like. However, if you interrupt me while I'm telling you these two things..."

The air became oppressive immediately, and Soifon's knees nearly buckled. Ichigo's eyes widened slightly, but he remained standing. What shocked him was the hardness in the normally-kindhearted captain's eyes.

"I will hurt you. Badly. Do I make myself clear?"

Stoically, Ichigo nodded, and the atmosphere changed immediately, Soifon's breathing returning to normal in a heartbeat. She stared wide-eyed at the man before her.

'He's normally so kind, so gentle with everyone. But...just a moment ago...I didn't recognize him. His reiatsu...it's so brutal.'

"I talked with Urahara-san, and learned that you used a technique called the Final Getsuga Tenshou, correct?" When he received a nod, Yuuto continued. "From what I've been told, this put the entirety of your reiatsu into one, massive attack, and then buried whatever remained deep inside your soul. I also gathered that you were told, either by Urahara-san or someone he spoke to, about the repercussions of using such a powerful technique."

Again, Ichigo nodded. "When you collapsed the first time, all the training you'd done in the Dangai reversed itself, and gradually was released from your body, causing a massive drop in power." Ichigo's eyes widened, but Yuuto continued. "I was able to restore your powers, but I could not restore the training you'd lost from using the Final Getsuga Tenshou. That training is irrevocably gone. It will never come back."

Ichigo paled, but Yuuto was quick to add to it. "However, that isn't to say that you'll never get that strong again." Some color returned to Ichigo's cheeks. "Suffice it to say, you gained an INCREDIBLE power boost from training in the Dangai. When you used the Final Getsuga Tenshou, you sacrificed that power boost, as well as your surface reiatsu, to defeat Aizen. You CAN gain that power back, but you're going to have to start from scratch. I'm basically saying I could only restore you to Jinzen level, nothing more, and the training you did after Jinzen is entirely up to you."

Ichigo nodded.

Yuuto took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Secondly, we've received reports that there's some suspicious activity brewing in Karakura Town. We're not entirely sure what's going on, but Soul Society is keeping a close eye on it. It could be Aizen, or it could be an entirely different 3rd party. We're not sure. I tell you this not to panic you, but to inform you to keep on your toes. With Aizen free to roam Hueco Mundo, nothing is certain at this point."

Ichigo sighed. "I figured as much. I guessed that as soon as my powers came back trouble would start brewing again. I'm not too surprised; to be honest, I'd be more surprised if there WASN'T trouble back home."

Yuuto chuckled, and slapped Ichigo on the back. "That's m'boy. Come on, Soifon and I were getting ready to head out and get something to eat. You should join us." The blush on the 2nd Division captain's cheeks went mostly unnoticed. Ichigo couldn't help but grin, but not for the reasons Yuuto was thinking of.

"Sure, I'd love to."

Chapter 9 took a bit longer than I anticipated, due to the recent manga updates as well as Kubo throwing more crap into the wind. Kubo, I love ya, but seriously, pulling stuff out of left field like that is not cool, man. Anywho, you know the drill: Comment, Rate, Review, all that good stuff. Make sure to get your recommended daily dose of fiber, as well. Your colon thanks you!

-Sgt. Assassin