The Rain Stopped
By:: Melissa

Italics- Flashback

Disclaimer:: I do not own anything from this story. Everything belongs to Tite Kubo, creator of Bleach. Constructive criticism is welcome. No flames please.

Chapter 5

Several Years Later….

Yoruichi ran quickly down the streets, cursing to herself. How could he let this happen? He was throwing everything away for this? How could he? She held back the tears as she kept running towards the looming building. She had to keep a clear head. She couldn't let herself break down like this. It was like her to do that. She had to stay strong.

She had heard, only a few short hours ago that Kisuke had been taken under arrest. And she knew exactly why. He had told her himself. Yoruichi's mind wandered to the day that Kisuke told her about his newest invention….

"Yoru-chan, look at this," Kisuke said, passing the paper to her. She looked at it and saw a drawing of a human body on it and it looked exactly like Kisuke's.

"What is this?" Yoruichi asked, looking at the paper in confusion.

"It's my newest invention," he said, pointing to the body on the page. "It's a gigai. But it's a little different. You see, this is a reiatsu diminishing gigai. What happens is, when a shinigami comes into this body as an emergency, it's reiatsu is slowly eaten away so that the shinigami can never get back its powers. It's phenomenal."

"What good is it though? I mean, don't shinigami want to keep their powers? What good would a reiatsu diminishing gigai be?"

"It would do a lot of good! What if a shinigami didn't want to be a shinigami anymore? And what if they wanted to settle down as a normal human with no powers? This gigai would be good for them.

"But also," Kisuke said, putting his hand up to his chin, thinking. "if someone was being pursued by other shinigami and didn't want to be found out, they would want this gigai, right? Because then, their reiatsu would be gone and they would just look like a normal human being and the pursuers would be gone. It can help protect those that are being chased after for unjust reasons." Kisuke looked at Yoruichi, a confused look on his own face.

"Well, I think it sounds fishy, Kisuke. You better not get into trouble with this," Yoruichi said, looking at the piece of paper with disdain.

"Oh, I won't. Don't worry, it'll be alright," he said, smiling at her. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked out of the room, leaving her standing there in confusion.

She bit her lip and kept racing, as if she was against the clock. But she knew that she was. It would only be hours before they convicted Kisuke and executed him. And she couldn't let that happen to him. She just couldn't. She had to save him. She battled against time as the sun set slowly, the sky turning a dark red color.

She knew that what she was doing was wrong. That what she was doing would strip her of her nobility and of her title as Commander of the Covert Ops and Executive Militia. However, she just couldn't stand by and let her best friend die. She remembered the old saying she always heard. What society thinks is right and what everyone else says is right, doesn't always make it right. She knew that executing Kisuke was wrong. So she had to go against everyone else to do what she thought was the right thing.

She finally made it in front of the holding cells, not even out of breath. She walked stealthily to the front doors, making sure that the guards didn't see her. In an instant, she took them out, using her flash step. She opened the fronts doors and walked inside.

Kisuke turned his head around when he heard a commotion. He was sitting against the wall, staring out of the window. He watched the sun go down, the last of its light reflecting in his eyes. He stood up slowly, taking hold of his sword quickly. He heard quick footsteps running down the hallways, as if looking for someone. He looked warily outside of his cell, unsure as to who it was.

"Kisuke!" Yoruichi yelled, coming to a stop in front of his cell. He looked at her with a surprised look on his face. He didn't know what to say. She scowled at him and took out the keys from her pocket. "Come on, let's go."

"Yoru-chan, what are you doing here?" Kisuke asked, still dumbfounded.

"What do you think I'm doing here for? I'm here to rescue you!" She opened the cell door and held it open for Kisuke.

"But don't you realize! You'll lose everything! Your nobility, your ranking, everything!" He exclaimed, unable to bear the guilt of ruining everything for her. She rolled her eyes.

"I know that and I don't care. I can't see you being killed, now come on before more guards show up." She grabbed his arm and ran down the hallway with him. He looked at her, stunned. He couldn't believe that she would give up everything for him. He couldn't comprehend it. He didn't allow himself to.

"Yoruichi, why are you doing this?" he asked, trying to keep up with her.

"Because….I can't watch you get executed. And I don't know what I would do without you. Remember that promise we made?" She said, looking at him. He remembered it as if it was yesterday….

It was right after they had finished training for the day. They were both tired but they both knew that they were getting better. Yoruichi was lying down in the grass, her head on Kisuke's lap, looking at the fireflies dancing around her. Kisuke put his hand on her head and played with her hair.

"Hey, Kisuke?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Mmmhmm?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"That we'll always be there for each other? No matter what?"

"Of course, Yoru-chan. You promise me the same thing?"

"Yes, I promise." She closed her eyes, at peace with the moment. Kisuke stroked her hair and stared at her tenderly.

Yoruichi could hear the whistles of the guards, alerting that there was an escaped prisoner. She quickly picked up Kisuke and flashed stepped away. They had finally made it to the gates. Beyond this point, none of the captains or vice captains could catch them. Yoruichi put Kisuke down and they ran by themselves to the gates. Kisuke still had his doubts about letting Yoruichi follow him.

"Yoru-chan, you know you don't have to come with me," he said, stopping her.

"Kisuke, of course I'm coming with her. If I don't, I'll be convicted for helping you escape. We're in this together. Now let's go," she said, running toward the gate. He followed her and soon, they were out of the inner city. They were now able to walk more slowly to their actual exit of Soul Society but Kisuke could already feel the pain of leaving his home.

They had finally made it to their exit an hour or so later. Yoruichi looked mournfully at Soul Society, knowing that she could never come back and be who she was again. Kisuke looked back as well, the place he called home tugging at his heart. He knew that he couldn't go back and he knew that he would be executed if he did. Yoruichi walked through the exit, leaving Kisuke with his thoughts. He looked at the sky and sighed heavily. He would miss this place. Turning around, he started walking toward the exit. He looked back one last time, savoring the last memories he would have of Soul Society. He walked through the exit, knowing that that was the last time he would ever be there again.

Kind of a short chapter i know. but the next one should be either a bit longer or a bit shorter, i don't know yet. But yes, i had to put in Kisuke's banishment. I think i might have gotten a few facts wrong about how Yoruichi saved him but I don't know so if i did, please let me know so that i can revise it and change it! The story will end with the next chapter and the epilogue. so please review! Thanks! 3