Title: Till death us do part

Rating: G

Pairing / Characters: Kuchiki Byakuya, Kuchiki Rukia, Shihouin Yoruichi, Kurosaki Ichigo

Word Count: 592 words

Warnings: No spoilers.

Summary: Rukia and Yoruichi are betrayed and then saved

A/N: Just for you, Ted. I think you know why!!

I knew my actions would have consequences; in fact, I expected them.

Yoruichi and I stood on the roof of the first division's meeting hall, watching as Yamamoto's body was discovered. The resulting bedlam made me smile, but I couldn't stifle a niggling tendril of doubt.

Could Aizen be a turncoat? He had certainly smuggled us into Sereitei, and had provided me with the means of carrying out the next stage of my plan, but there was something in Yoruichi's manner that made me worry. Aside from the fact that she had avoided me since my return, her face was tight with displeasure as she stood beside me.

'Are you going to tell me what the matter is?' I asked eventually.

Some of the tension left her at my question. 'I saw Kuukaku earlier,' she revealed slowly.

I frowned. 'What did she want?'

'She told me Aizen had been to see her. She knows you're here, Rukia.'

I swore under my breath. 'Damn it. What did you tell her?'

Yoruichi's eyes hardened. 'I did as I said I would, Rukia. I wasn't captain of the second for nothing. They'll find her body soon, as well as Ganju. It's a pity really, I didn't want to kill him – he's an idiot, but a sweet one.'

I relaxed, but only marginally. 'Aizen betrayed us, Yoruichi.'

'I should have seen this coming,' Yoruichi growled. 'We need to get you out of Soul Society. If we move fast enough-'

'It's too late for that. Kuchiki Byakuya will already be looking for me. By sunset, I will probably be in custody.'

'Sunset? You do not give me enough credit, Rukia.'

I froze. I was too late. This was something I had not prepared myself for. He would kill me. I was relatively certain that he would not make me suffer, but I couldn't afford to die, not yet. There was still so much that lay at stake, so much Yoruichi and I needed to do.

'Aizen.' I kept my tone as expressionless as possible, but it wasn't easy in the face of Byakuya's reiatsu. I had to force myself to remain standing when all I wanted was to collapse.

'You should not have come here, Rukia,' Byakuya continued remorselessly. 'You could have lived out your life in peace, but you have chosen instead to die.'

I took a deep breath. 'Then if that is to be my fate, I will accept it.'

'Do you have nothing else to say? Nothing about your involvement with Aizen, or Yoruichi?'

I shook my head, feeling my mouth go dry. Even speaking was difficult.

Byakuya turned his attention to Yoruichi and I felt myself sag with relief.

'A report came in less than an hour ago, Shihouin Yoruichi. It would seem that the bodies of Shiba Kuukaku and Shiba Ganju were found earlier. I myself examined them – and they both bear your particular mark. What have you to say?'

Yoruichi met his eye, and I envied her air of calm. 'Nothing. They were in my way.'

Byakuya reached for his zanpakutou. 'In that case, you will both be executed for your crimes against Soul Society.'

I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

Byakuya lifted his zanpakutou above his head, his eyes cold. I felt Yoruichi tense, caught in his increasing reiatsu.

As I closed my eyes, unwilling to see the stroke that would end my life, I heard a whisper-soft noise in front of me, and a voice I had never expected to hear again.

'I don't think so.'

Ichigo.

It couldn't be.