I apologize for the later-than-usual update on this. I've been a bit busier than I'd prefer, and only had enough time to work on this bit by bit. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed so far: I think I'm getting the hang of this.

Disclaimer: As I admitted previously, I don't own Bleach.

"Wake up, Ichigo, you've been asleep for too long. At this rate, there isn't going to be much of a day left." Soi Fong had been watching her object of affection for a good enough time, in her own opinion. She had nudged his sleeping form, but to no avail. This slightly annoyed her, and made her think. 'What would lady Yoruichi do? She would- but I can't do that! What if he- well, it's worth a shot.'

Suddenly, sleeping beauty himself slowly unveiled his eyes, feeling slightly funny this morning. Upon closer inspection, he found his lieutenant had stifled his nose with her hands, and his mouth with hers, tongue and all. Immediately, the Vizard's eyes shot open, and jumped back a bit.

"What the hell Soi Fong! Are you trying to kill me?" Although his tone sounded furious, he was confused, and slightly hurt, that he was being assassinated in his sleep.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo. I wanted to wake you up, but you're stubborn, in and out of bed. Besides that, I didn't want you to sleep in." Even though he couldn't read her thoughts, Ichigo knew from her words that she didn't want to kill him anymore, and that she was showing genuine humility, something that people, besides Yoruichi, never saw at all.

"Don't sweat it. What time is it? You said I overslept."

"It's seven in the morning already. I've been waiting by your side for the past few hours." The man let out a grunt, and plopped back on his bed. From what she told him, Soi Fong had been up since before dawn, as usual, but she wasn't sure of what to do. She had changed, but instead of a morning workout, she chose to watch her captain sleep. After he had slept for a reasonable amount of time, in her eyes, she attempted to wake him.

The captain in question was forgiving, particularly due to the fact that her idea of "adequate sleep" was seven hours maximum. He allowed himself to wake, and got prepared himself. "It's a bit early to go to Unohana's, what do say about a bit of breakfast?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm not hungry." Her body, due to the previous night, was in full rebellion. In an act of betrayal, the petite Shinigami's stomach let out a grumble that could have been heard throughout the barracks, if not for the Kido in place. It also blocked off the rest of the world to the laughter in response.

"Come on, let's get a bite to eat, we have plenty of time."

A silent wind blew through the Seireitei, as the day seemed uneventful at best. The area in front of the second division barracks was devoid of any occupants at the moment, save one Yoruichi Shihoin on an overlooking rooftop. She watched the empty space with interest, expecting something.

Suddenly, a large tear in the fabric of reality was woven into the environment. The wind howled as what appeared to be a road to hell, with no apparent good intentions, had been paved in the previously vacant space.

To make matters worse, or better depending on who is asked, a lone silhouette emerged from the portal. The figure was cloaked, making it undistinguishable, but Yoruichi was still able to identify the newcomer, and whoever it was, the newcomer was no threat.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice, I probably shouldn't be this overprotective, but Kenpachi Zaraki has changed since the Winter War. You've probably noticed it, because right now, he isn't wearing his eyepatch. I'm afraid that he will be so caught up with improving his division that he himself will not have improved. He's completely oblivious to what happened over the past few years that it could kill him."

Although no emotion could be felt from the figure, it could be determined that it understood every word that was spoken.

"I know that she will do everything that she can to keep him alive, but we need backup. That's where you come in. I'll be close by, and besides that, I'm sure that she would much rather talk to me than compete with you. In addition, she will probably want some alone time with him, so we'll wait until later."

The mystery visitor nodded, and accepted the plan. It stood still, anticipating more information.

"Try not to get carried away, or making her jealous, that's all I ask, now go." Yoruichi left the stranger with that request. The figure blazed off as well, but in a different direction.

"Good morning, Captain Unohana. I hope you don't mind if I brought a guest with me, do you?"

"Of course, Captain Kurosaki. If I may, who is it that came along?" The wise woman tilted her head to notice the visitor. When she saw who it was, her eyes had widened. "What an unexpected surprise, Lieutenant Soi Fong. Please, make yourself comfortable."

The pair had sat down. Ichigo got settled across from Unohana, while Soi Fong took a spot to the side, watching him serenely. Unohana took note of this, and chose to save it for later.

The demoted leader of the Onmitsukido, as everyone else that was given the honor of witnessing the act, was in awe as the Vizard commenced with his Kido session. The captain of the fourth division, too, noticed that he was happier on this particular morning. She believed it was this happiness that spurred him to finish the gap to finishing his Kido requirement in record time.

The shorter woman was speechless, while the other, still maintaining her smile, was impressed. "That was incredible, Captain Kurosaki. You have mastered the necessary Kido for your position. Your training sessions are complete."

"Thanks," he gave a glace to the woman sitting on the side, and looked back to his tutor. Unohana believed that now was appropriate to confirm her theory.

"Is it safe to say that you took my advice and sorted things out, Captain Kurosaki? Lieutenant Soi Fong seems appreciative to be here, and you seem to radiate happiness."

"You're right, we had a talk last night, and not only are we on good terms," however, he caught himself before he spilled the beans, but the perceptive woman in front of him knew everything: it fitted all the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Don't worry, Captain Kurosaki, Lieutenant Soi Fong. I won't tell anyone, and congratulations, the two of you."

"Thank you, Captain Unohana, for everything. If there's anything I can do for you, please ask."

"Don't worry about it, Captain Kurosaki, it was a pleasure." Both captain and lieutenant gave a nod and walked out. It had only been a few seconds, and Unohana missed the young captain already. She made a note to herself to stay in touch with him, if possible.

After exiting the barracks, but before leaving the grounds, Ichigo moved to leave, but Soi Fong tugged on his arm.

"Wait Ichigo, there's something I wanted to do, just the two of us."

'Is she asking me… on a date?' Ichigo was puzzled: this was something he needed to get used to. "What did you have in mind?"

"Follow me; I want us to be alone." They had left quickly, and failed to notice the snickering captain in pursuit.

"Are you sure, Head-Captain? I know that the event is rare, and the combatants are two of the most powerful captains in the Seireitei, bordering on challenging you, but this is absurd!"

Yamamoto appeared to be in deep thought, leaning on his staff. He knew that his amendment would stir controversy, and was tolerant of his lieutenant's outburst.

"Yes, Lieutenant, this will come into effect. I will run it through Central 46, and press them to decide before the contest actually starts."

"But what if they refuse? I wouldn't hold it past them to reject anything like this."

A long pause graced itself as the elderly captain thought some more. "Once they are reminded just who they are dealing with, I am almost certain that they would let it slide. Although I exemplify Soul Society law to the letter, I think not that they would want a Shinigami/Hollow hybrid against them, never mind an entire army of them. Throw in the rest of his friends, Captain Zaraki, and even Lieutenant Soi Fong, and not even I, and what's left of the Gotei 13, could protect them."

"Very well, Head-Captain, I will inform the Central 46 chambers at once. I pray that this privilege isn't abused." Chojiro Sasakibe departed, which gave his captain some much-needed relaxation time.

'I expect you to make everyone proud, Captain Kurosaki. I'd hate to be needed to kill you, and truth be told, I think I lost that chance years ago. You're the fastest growing Shinigami I've ever seen in over 2000 years of my experience. Don't blow it, Captain Kurosaki.'

"Isn't it beautiful, Ichigo?"

He had to agree with her: the spot she chose was a magnificent one at that. The dense forested area had a good distance from the Seireitei, but it was close enough to return quickly. Simply looking up, he saw tall trees that sprawled towards the sky. He couldn't keep himself from containing his opinion.

"Yeah, it is pretty amazing, Soi Fong. How do you know this place?"

"This is where I go for my morning workout every day. I need to stay in shape, you know." She notably looked downcast as she continued. "This was also where lady Yoruichi took me when I was still her student. I brought you here because I wanted us to be alone."

"Alone for what?" Indeed, 'alone for what?' His first idea was that this was her idea of a date, but she didn't seem like the type for that.

"Well, between your duties as a captain, and your duty of instructing the division, we haven't had enough 'us' time."

It was true, in hindsight; Ichigo never really spent much time with his lieutenant. He did admit up until last night, he had a perfectly good cop out to avoid her, but now, their relationship had really gone to hell. The two of them really had to bond more, even if their relationship was secret.

The Vizard was too busy thinking of how much time he should be spending with his new "girlfriend" to see the blow to his forehead. As a result, he was knocked back, crashing through several trees, and connecting with a rock, which cushioned the blow.

"What the hell? What was that for? I thought we were supposed to be bonding!"

"We are bonding, Ichigo. You've been getting lazy and arrogant over the last couple of years, and I need to bring you down to Soul Society. You're Hakuda needs to be improved to the point where you aren't stronger unconscious than in your present state." Right there, standing atop a tree stump created by the recent collision, Soi Fong was already in her Onmitsukido uniform, ready to go.

She did have a point: while he did hold his own against two other captains, and two vastly-progressing ones, they also happened to be the two most inexperienced, after himself. The captain quickly got up, although still a bit surprised, and looked back. 'She didn't pass off as a romantic type anyway. I'll need insurance if I plan on proposing.'

"That's what I'm for, king."

'The non-satirical brand, please.'

"You're no fun, you're an old hag."

'And you're a,' but the king wasn't able to finish, because the petite Shinigami in front of him had gotten impatient, and activated Flash Cry, before restarting their "date." After the first initial pummels, he adjusted and started matching her, blow for blow.

"Hado #88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!" A gigantic beam of blue light engulfed part of the forest, leveling a number of trees. The blast left wanton destruction, startling everything in the area. This included the goddess of flash, and the mysterious visitor, who were moving at blazing speed.

The two of them were at first startled by the Kido that was just fired and even more surprised when continuous blasts of said spell formed, especially when they happened to be moving in their direction.

"This is bad," Yoruichi commented on the recent surprise that accompanied them. "I didn't think anyone else would be here. I can't think of anyone who could use that spell this much, and this recklessly, but if he's here, who's,"

With a dynamic entry, a blue beam shot over her head. Moving quickly, both she and the concealed stranger hastened their pace, not wanting to become Shinigami on a stick.

The newcomer didn't show any emotion, due to the concealment of the cloak, but it appeared to agree with the provisional captain of the second division. Suddenly, another blast erupted and split the two of them apart.

"I'll meet up with you later, go find Ichigo." After another blue beam went off, neither one could be seen.

"Okay, Ichigo, I think we've done enough for today." "Enough" in Soi Fong's eyes was a thorough beating, with multiple bruises on both of them. It was noticeable that the lieutenant had less of a beating than her captain, but the gap wasn't too large. Interestingly enough, besides the initial blows, Ichigo's head and neck were nearly untouched.

"Yeah, I don't want to get blasted by one of those Hados." In truth, the captain of the third division had an excellent workout. He planned on spending the next day with his division, as he felt the need to bond with his subordinates.

His lieutenant highly opposed this, as she didn't want him to feel the pain of loss that she did when her goddess departed from the second division and her over a hundred years prior. Despite this, he was able to compromise so that he only spent most of the day with the division, and the rest with just her.

"We should get back before it's late." What Ichigo didn't know, when the petite Shinigami said that, was that she would have rather stayed out later, than deal with Kiyomi, Although she would never admit it, she knew that the only real way to better prepare for a fight with a big brute was training with a big guy, but since one wasn't available, she dismissed the thought quickly.

"Okay, just let me grab Zangetsu and we can go." Retrieving his Zanpakuto should have been a mundane task. One could imagine the look on his face when the Vizard was ambushed by what appeared to be a blur the moment his hand wrapped around the hilt. Even though he managed to block it with his arms, Soi Fong was shocked that anyone could land such a blow.

Upon closer inspection, the blur came into view. It was a figure, covered head-to-toe in a black cloak, which made its face undistinguishable. It appeared to have no weapon, but it towered over the orange-haired man. Who or whatever it was appeared to be strong.

Not only that, it was fast too.

In just a blink of an eye, the stranger was gone, and reappeared right behind Ichigo. He scrambled to defend himself, but was knocked back. After he recovered from the second blow, the young captain asked the newcomer a question. "Who or what are you? What brings you here?"

Instead of answering the question, the cloaked figure connected another blow, this time knocking the Vizard back a fair distance. He moved in pursuit, and Soi Fong was about to follow, when she was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Good afternoon, my bee. What brings you out here at this time of day?"

Immediately her eyes turned to the tree above her, where Yoruichi was sitting, with a grin stretching from ear-to-ear. The short Shinigami blushed upon the sight of her former mentor. "Lady Yoruichi, what brings you out here?"

"Oh, I was taking a stroll after making sure the Onmitsukido was doing their job, but I think the real question here is: what are you doing out here?"

After a good deal of distance was put between them and where they encountered each other, the mysterious figure let Ichigo stop tumbling through the wilderness. Said man was face-down on the ground, and stood up, finger pointed.

"You still didn't answer my question! Who are you?"

This time, the newcomer moved its hand to the hood of the cloak and pulled it over.

Ichigo was in complete shock. The figure was most definitely a man. He had brown, baggy hair, with bangs that stretched to cover one of his eyes. The man also had a solemn expression, which showed through his dark skin. Below his face was a choker, with what appeared to be a coin. His brown eyes bore into the captain in front of him, who didn't expect to see him.

"Chad, is that you?" The young captain couldn't believe his eyes.

"Yes," was his reply. It answered one question and opened up a thousand more.

Yasutora Sado, or Chad as he's commonly known, was a classmate of Ichigo, and one of his closest friends. He was known for his towering size, humble personality, and incredible strength, which helped the orange-haired Vizard on his wild adventures.

After the dust had settled and the Central 46 had been reinstated, the Chambers issued an edict that Ichigo and his friends were ordered to wear special equipment that would hide their Reiatsu and prevent the exposure to them from affecting anymore humans.

At first, Yamamoto was successful in persuading them to allowing Ichigo to retain his then-Substitute status, but the young Vizard was stubborn on the premise that his friends should be given the option of using their powers to protect their town.

Eventually, after a rare collaboration between the current and former heads of the Shinigami Research & Development Institute, a solution was crafted. Special articles of gear was developed that would allow his friends to fight Hollows in a way that was sanctioned by the Seireitei. Ishida, however, refused to accept it, as he wanted nothing to do with Shinigami. Orihime had been dubbed a special case, as she seemed to be able to control her Reiatsu and didn't use her abilities too often, and was exempt from the edict.

Chad was given a piece of gear in the form of a wristband that functioned much like Ichigo's old Substitute Shinigami badge. It was invisible to the common human, but it had special bonuses to it. First, the wristband allowed him to purify Hollows that he killed, so he could help defend Karakura Town while Ichigo was away. Second, it had a special function that let him absorb spirit particles, which made him slightly more powerful with every Hollow killed. The wristband also helped prevent his Reiatsu from leaking out before he could control it better.

"I can't believe it Chad, what are you doing here in Soul Society? And why did you hit me?"

"I came to congratulate you for your promotion and," his right arm suddenly was covered by a liquid, which manifested into a shield-like fist that reached to above his shoulder. The black and dark magenta shield had what appeared to be Hollow-like teeth in the middle. "I came to help save your life."

Chad's powers were unique. He was a living human, but his strength was too brutish for Quincy standards, and not refined enough to qualify for a Shinigami. He himself likened it to that of a Hollow, which was the direction where he looked for improvement. Strangely enough, he received aid from an Arrancar, the antithesis of a Vizard, named Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

Grimmjow had made a deal with Ichigo: in exchange for him reluctantly teaching Chad Sonido, the Hollow equivalent of Flash Steps, the Vizard would agree to schedule a rematch with him every six months, no matter where he was. This was a problem, as whenever Grimmjow tore open a Garganta, a small army of Hollows would follow, causing Chad, and the others, to drop what they were doing and contain them.

"At least this lets me practice against brute force," Ichigo remarked. Zangetsu wasn't too far off: he thought it could come in handy should his opponent unknowingly be killing him. As he retrieved the blade, he almost dropped a load at the sight of a gigantic fallen tree trunk being lifted into the air. "Gah! Are you really going to use that thing, Chad?"

"Unless you would rather not use Zangetsu, I think my Zanpakutree can greatly improve your Zanjutsu."

Thankfully for the Vizard, he almost completely mastered Hakuda, thanks for Soi Fong's help. He left Zangetsu, and charged at Chad with his fists. It really paid off, because he was not only matching him, blow-for-blow, Ichigo was also equal in raw power with his old friend.

Not long after their spar had begun, the orange-haired captain noted the sun's location in the sky. 'As great as it is to see Chad again, I'll need to finish this before it gets too dark out.'

"So, my bee, how are you and Ichigo doing? Have you been getting busy?"

"Lady Yoruichi!" To conceal her blush, Soi Fong shifted her head away from the goddess of flash.

"So, have you broken him in yet?"

All of the sudden, the petite Shinigami did something she didn't normally do. She started twiddling her fingers, and appeared slightly nervous. "We-we have agreed to see each other as of last night."

Yoruichi smirked, feeling satisfaction for this turn of events for the second time. "I'm happy for you, my little bee. You've made me proud." There was a subtle disheartening in her words. 'Should I tell her? No, if I do, our relationship will be shattered. I'll tell her about that. I'm sure she's going to need some knowledge in that field.'

"Lady Yoruichi, are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, my bee. There's something I want to talk to you about, and I suspect that you'll be doing it a lot with Ichigo."

"It's getting dark, Ichigo. I think you should turn in for the evening." Chad's monotone voice was quite a reprieve from the arduous cries of the third division every day. The sun was starting to set, and all non-posted Shinigami would be required to return to the Seireitei by dusk.

"Yeah, I can't take much more of this." That wasn't a lie: Ichigo was nearing his limit. He was already halfway there after his "date," and this unexpected surprise closed the gap.

Surprisingly, the young captain was relieved to have gotten to see Chad. It wasn't every day that he could apply what he learned from Soi Fong to a moving target, and rarer still to use them against Hollow powers specialized in that field.

Upon their return to the women, the both of them were laughing, and apparently having a good time. Upon his arrival, the petite Shinigami rushed up to give the orange-haired one a hug, much like a child would give to their parent. Yoruichi gave the gentle giant a signal, which he seemed to understand.

"I think it's time to retire for the evening. Oh, before I forget to say it, congratulations Ichigo." The goddess of flash gave him a teasing wink. 'He's definitely managed to accomplish the impossible, although this isn't the first time. He is the youngest captain in the history of Soul Society, and not even dead yet.'

After the couple had retreated to their barracks, she turned to Chad. "Thanks again for coming. I'm not sure how much good it will do, but I'm not sure if my bee could handle it by herself."

"Is it true, Yoruichi? Has Kenpachi become as strong as you say?"

"It's true all right, I was there when the process started, and I never saw the point of it, especially during a period of peace. My guess is that Kisuke wanted to prepare for another defection, should one arise."

As he pulled his cloak over his head, the visitor tapped into his vast wisdom. "I should be getting back to Karakura Town now. I wish I could stay and see how far Ichigo has come, but by any indication of mine, he should be fine."

"I hope so, Chad, but you don't realize just what exactly he's dealing with…"

After they had returned to their barracks, Ichigo and Soi Fong, mainly the former, were too tired to deal with the division, and nearly fell asleep on top of each other. There were two days until survival of the fittest would judge the third division, and the consensus was that everyone needed as much rest as they could get.

The next morning, the good captain was in high spirits, and gave the entire division a day off: they would be making a mass-exodus to the beach. Upon receiving word of this sudden vacation, Yamamoto was furious, but eventually calmed down, thanks to Captain Ukitake. Kenpachi laughed it off, and his division was too intoxicated to care.

Upon arrival, the division seemed to not know what exactly to do. This was remedied when their good captain explained to them what "the beach" was, as well as the concept of a "beach party." Catching on quickly, the members rushed off into the sand, splashing each other with water, building sand barracks, and relaxing.

This "field trip" worked wonders for Ichigo, due to the fact that he got to know his division fairly well. He learned that his men were at first timid, and until his promotion, one of the weakest of the Gotei 13. It was also news that Kiyomi was a rather new addition to the Squad, and that she spent quite a bit of time in the barracks.

Eventually, the day ended once again, and that it was time for them to retire. Many of them had prepared their wills for the following day; others drank to their hearts content, blissfully ignoring any potential hangover that could plague them the next day. Some had simply gone to sleep, having full confidence that they could survive if they prepared.

For the captain and lieutenant, they were in a much better mood than their entire division. After simply enjoying each other's company for a while, the former decided it was time to go to sleep.

"I'm beat Soi." Soi: that was her new pet name, after much debate between the two; they finally decided that Yoruichi retained the honor of calling her "her bee," so Ichigo had to think up a name for her.

Soi, however, wasn't as exhausted as her boyfriend, and as he lay down, she plopped right into his lap. "Come on, Ichigo," no pet name for him, as he was already her property. "There's something I want to know."

"Yeah, what would that be?" The Vizard sat up to get a better view at her magnificent form, just sitting there, right in front of him.

"Do you love me?" A look of worry cascaded across her face, which made her man guilty.

"Hold on, Soi, remember what I said earlier. I care about you, a lot, and I don't want to tell you that I love you, and discover that I don't a few days later. That's why I didn't want to go this fast in our relationship."

'Damn, he still doesn't love me? How do I make him feel the same way? What would lady Yoruichi do?' At that moment, the petite Shinigami recalled her conversation with the goddess of flash earlier that day. 'As she would put it, I'll have to coax him.'

Soi Fong moved her hand to touch his face. It was warm: not too hot, or mildly uncomfortable, but just right. She caressed his cheek, and shortened the gap between their faces. "Well, let me show just how much I love you."

A/N: I hope that this chapter was enjoyable. This chapter marks the end of the beginning, and the beginning of the end. I really can't extend this story without turning it completely stale, so I'm going to try and wrap it up neatly. I'm not sure when I'll be able to put up the next chapter, but I'll do my best to get it in around the Ides of March.

Please review!