Love Conquers All

Chapter 6: Call For Desperate Measures

"Damnit, Renji," Ichigo shouted as he fended off yet another blow, "now is definitely not the time for this!"

"Just tell me what I want to know and I'll lay off, Ichigo," his friend replied, voice sincere. "What's holding you back? I just want the truth."

I was too weak.

I never saw it coming.

I couldn't protect her.

"It was my fault," he said, his voice low, as he sheathed Zangetsu.

"What are you talking about?"

Ichigo looked Renji square in the face, his eyes smoldering with anger.

"I was right there, Renji! Right there, and I still couldn't sense a goddamn thing when that demon scumbag came and took her away!"

"Woah, slow down," Abarai said, a bit worried at the look in his friend's eyes. "Did you say a demon took Rukia away, and that you were there when it happened?"

"Yeah, it was a demon," Ichigo confirmed bitterly, "but I was asleep."

He sat down on the grass and cleared his throat, telling Renji the whole story and leaving out nothing. When he had finished, Renji sighed and looked over at Ichigo with an expression that Kurosaki couldn't quite decipher. Spending another couple of moments in deep thought, he eventually got up, looked at Ichigo and… smiled?

"What're you sitting there moping for, you pansy?" he scolded. "We have a damsel in distress to rescue, don't we?"

It took Ichigo a second to mull over the words that Renji had just said, but then a huge grin split his face and he rose.

"Yeah, I guess we do," he said, glad to know that he wasn't alone in this. But then another thought stopped him cold, and he looked over at his comrade.

"What about Byakuya?"

Renji paused, trying to think up a suitable excuse before just deciding to go with the truth.

"I'll just tell him that you told me what you were going to do, and that I'm going to tag along to make sure you don't get Rukia killed like an idiot. I'm sure he'll love that."

Ichigo was irked at being made to look like an incompetent fool, but it was worth it if it meant he could go after Rukia with no one holding him back, and an ally watching his back to boot.

"Do whatever you have to, Renji," he said seriously. "Just don't take too long, or I'm leaving without ya."

The lieutenant smirked, concentrating for a moment and forming a Hell Butterfly to be his messenger. It fluttered away, caught in the glare of the sun, and vanished.

"Let's go."

When the flash of white subsided, Rukia looked at Grimmjow's halted blade and gasped, wondering what had saved her.

You did, Rukia, the voice of her zanpakuto insisted. Look down.

Rukia complied, her eyes widening in surprise as she saw a thick layer of ice covering her chest. It was this barrier that Grimmjow's sword had collided with, and now he had backed off for the moment, waiting to see what would happen. Kuchiki blinked and the ice shattered, but where there had been a deadly wound just a few moments ago was now perfectly healed flesh.

Saika raised an eyebrow at this new development.

"Regeneration? Nice, Kuchiki; very nice. Let's see where this goes."

"How…?" Rukia forced herself to stay focused; if there was one thing she'd learned fighting Grimmjow, it was that if you had time to think, you were doing something wrong. She raised her sword to block another rabid blow from Grimmjow, only to notice that her sword was… glowing?

Took you long enough to wake me up, Rukia. Now, shall we show this brute what we can do?

Kuchiki felt like the name of her bankai was right on the tip of her tongue, but it was like someone had tied her tongue up in knots and she couldn't utter it to save her life. Nonetheless, she'd still tapped into some kind of inner strength, and she wasn't about to let that pass by. Sidestepping with consummate grace, she delivered a smooth, calculated slash to Grimmjow's cheek. As a trickle of blood ran down his face and he regarded her in surprise, Kuchiki couldn't help but smile in her triumph. A round of applause distracted her and she looked over to see a familiar pair of orange eyes and the wolfish grin she'd come to know so well.

"Very well done, Rukia," he said, and she couldn't help but flush slightly with pride. "I'll give you high marks on your precision, but you of all people should know that delicacy has no place in your strikes."

She hung her head slightly, abashed, but looked back up when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't look so embarrassed," Saika said, his brow furrowed not unkindly. "You still did remarkably well, but try not to get so cocky in the future. Remember, just because you can land a showy blow like that doesn't mean you have to."

Rukia nodded, seeing the wisdom in his words.

"Of course, Aron-sensei."

"Oh, come on, don't call me that," he griped childishly. "It makes me feel like an old man. Anyway," he finished, his tone shifting back to serious, "let's see if you can do that again. This time, Grimmjow will be fighting you at 50-strength."

Rukia's eyes widened in fear as she realized that Jaegerjaques hadn't even been fighting her at half strength.

"What was he fighting with just now?"

"About one-quarter of his normal ability, I'd guess," Saika said breezily, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As Rukia felt Grimmjow's reiatsu double, she prayed that she would be able to pull another rabbit out of her hat.

A few hours later, Rukia was bent over at her waist, heaving for breath and sweating like a pig, exhausted beyond all belief. But, somehow, she had won. She had drawn blood on Grimmjow for the second time, and what's more, she hadn't used some kind of last-ditch power spike to do it; she had simply fought and fought and fought until she felt like her arm was starting to merge with her zanpakuto. Rukia noticed that she was able to become in tune with her blade much easier now than she had been able to before, and she could feel Sode no Shirayuki's energy pulsing through her, blending with her own reiatsu more and more uniformly as the bond between them grew.

"I see you have begun to feel the beginnings of bankai, young Kuchiki," Saika said as the four warriors sat in his office, eating lunch and giving Rukia a chance to catch her breath before continuing training. Seeing the questioning look on her face, Aron elaborated.

"Bankai can only be achieved when the Soul Reaper obtains complete control over the will of their zanpakuto and learns to call upon it through trust and willpower, instead of leaning upon the power of the zanpakuto. Right now, you feel the power of your zanpakuto coursing through your veins, but you do not control it. You might pull off a surge of power if your life is in danger, but that is not your will, that is not mutual trust between you and your blade. That is base instinct, and something so crude will never allow you to reach the height of bankai. Do you understand, Rukia?"

She nodded solemnly, and munched reflectively on some sushi, while Grimmjow smiled.

"Man, I love it when he gets all philosophical n' shit," he said mockingly. "Like talking is anywhere near as effective as fighting someone."

"Shut up, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said tiredly.

"Speaking of fighting," Saika interjected, brushing off the former 6th Espada's remark, "Ulquiorra, are you ready to go?"

The former fourth Espada nodded curtly.

"Of course, Aron-sama."

"Good," Saika said, but he stopped when he saw the look in Rukia's eyes.

"What's wrong, kid?"

"I'm going to be fighting Ulquiorra now? Is that… safe?"

"Probably not," Aron answered, his orange eyes flashing mischievously, "but that's neither here nor there. We need to force you into bankai sooner rather than later, and to do that we need to put you up against stronger and stronger opponents."

"Just be thankful you aren't fighting Aron-sama, woman," Ulquiorra said, and Grimmjow smirked viciously.

"Not yet, anyway," Jaegerjaques said, relishing the look of horror on Rukia's face as they walked back out to the training grounds under the light of the noonday sun.

Are these people trying to kill me? She thought morbidly, but shook her head and focused on the obstacle in front of her, namely Ulquiorra. As he attacked, the young Kuchiki knew in her gut that it was going to be a long day.

Aizen sat back in his chair and sighed, taking a moment to enjoy the careful unfolding of his plan. He had used kido on the Seeing Pools to make them pinpoint Rukia Kuchiki, which he knew would incite Saika into trying to break out of Hell. If he was lucky, Kurosaki and his friends would show up, too, and he could kill them all at the same time he executed Aron, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow as traitors. He even had the covert backing of six barons of Hell when the time came to subdue Mortos' armies: all that was left to do now was take care of the old man himself. He would wait until after the wedding, when security would dip back down, before making his move. Soon, he told himself, soon, he would have his revenge on the world above.

"So… is this the mountain, Ichigo?"

The two Soul Reapers looked at the gigantic mass of rock in front of them and blanched; Urahara wasn't lying when he said its peak was in the clouds.

"Looks like it, man."

"And I assume we have to, you know… climb this monster?"

"Seems like it. Race you to the top!" Ichigo shouted, his fatigue replaced by a competitive, manic grin as he began flash-stepping up the mountain.

"Ichigo, we should probably save our… oh, screw it."

The two of them darted up the mountainside with astonishing speed, driven by their desire to get their first and the looming weight of Rukia's abduction hanging over their shoulders. When they finally reached the top of the mountain, they were surprised to find that the air wasn't thin at all. Not only that, but there was a massive dojo sitting on a clearing that had been created by kido. Not sure what else to do, the pair walked towards the building and stood at the front door for a moment before knocking. A few awkward seconds of silence ensued before a voice sounded out from within the building.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper, and Renji Abarai, Lieutenant of the Sixth Division, enter and be acknowledged."

The two friends glanced at each other apprehensively, before they decided to just throw caution to the wind and go through the door. What they saw in front of them when they did, or more precisely whom they saw, made them both freeze in place.

"Dad?"

"K—Kuchiki Taicho?"

It seemed impossible to both of them, but sure enough, seated cross-legged in front of them were none other than Byakuya Kuchiki and Isshin Kurosaki. They rose upon hearing their names and drew swords from their respective sashes, settling into battle stances as Ichigo and Renji became more and more uneasy. Suddenly, with cries that split the air in half and sounded completely unnatural, the two men charged forward and brought their blades down in deadly arcs. The two younger warriors block on reflex, still freaked out and clueless as to what was going on. Something stirred deep within Ichigo, and time froze around him.

'Ichigo,' the familiar voice spoke out. Ichigo spun around and found himself staring at Zangetsu, in his spirit form.

"Old man," Kurosaki said, "what the hell is going on?"

Zangetsu looked at him seriously, as if admonishing Ichigo for not being able to figure it out on his own.

'This is a test of your resolve, Ichigo; your resolve to rescue Rukia from Hell.'

"How is fighting an image of my dad a test of my resolve!? I can't possibly strike him down, anyway," he appended, "he's my dad."

'Ichigo, Ichigo; you are smarter than this. What does it say about the strength of your resolve if there is even one thing, big or small, that will stop you in your tracks?'

Kurosaki was beginning to understand, a hard light gleaming in his eyes.

'You must harden your heart to every illusion, every trick, and every enemy. Trust your soul to know what is true, and do not stop until you have cut through everything else standing between you and your goal. That is how strong your resolve must be, if you are to stand a chance in the wilds of Hell.'

Time started up again, and a quick glance over at Renji confirmed Ichigo's suspicion that Zabimaru had given the lieutenant quite a firm tongue-lashing as well. With renewed vigor the pair of warriors cut down the illusions in front of them, breathing sighs of relief. Unfortunately for the two of them, though, the test wasn't quite over. Now standing before them was a single figure, dressed in what looked like a combination of Ichigo and Renji's bankai outfits: a black-shrouded man with a fur collar around his neck, and holding a black-hilted katana that had a blade made out of bone. As reiatsu began to crackle around this new menace, the two friends took their own stances and powered up, hoping that this wasn't going to be their last battle.

Sode no Shirayuki's power was thrumming through Rukia now; she could hear it more clearly than her own heartbeat, but it was still not controlled, still not her true ally.

"This is getting boring," Ulquiorra deadpanned as he slashed a line across Rukia's front with his hand. "Either finish this soon, or I'm going to finish you."

Truth be told, the former 4th Espada was holding back on Saika's orders, and was only going to force her into a life-or-death situation if she couldn't do this my sundown, but her lethargic pace had him mighty tempted. To her credit, Rukia wasn't holding back, but there was still something unseen preventing the true union between her and Sode no Shirayuki.

"What's holding you back, woman?" Ulquiorra asked. "You defeated the 9th Espada in a duel, if I remember correctly. What happened to that strength? Do I have to wear the face of Kaien Shiba to get you to fight?"

"Damn, that was low, even to me," Grimmjow said, while Saika just watched wordlessly, doing his best Urahara impression.

Rukia hadn't been expecting something like that in the slightest, and when she heard Kaien's name said with such… carelessness, something inside her snapped. Reiatsu surged through her as she moved to strike down the former Espada, her resolve to kill singing in her blade and in her blood. With a shout born from the depths of her heart, Kuchiki swung her sword down and let loose all of her knotted up rage that had nestled in her stomach over the past few grueling hours. When the smoke cleared, Rukia's zanpakuto was buried in Ulquiorra's wrist, and the Espada had a look on his face that she couldn't make sense of, an odd mix of surprise, relief and… pride?

"Well, I can't really say that you didn't do it," Saika said from her left, snapping Rukia out of her afterglow, "but you still relied on an outside catalyst. You have to get to the point where you can consciously control your power, Rukia, and not be left at the mercy of your enemies while you wait for the right combination of things to happen. C'mon," he said, putting his hand gently on Rukia's shoulder, "let's take a break for now, the sun will set soon."

The pair of them walked away, but Grimmjow and Ulquiorra stayed back for a moment.

"Yo, Ulquiorra, what's with that look on your face?"

"She… she beat me. That woman… she beat me."

Grimmjow couldn't hold back a derisive snort, earning him a glare from his brother.

"What? It's not like you were fighting her at full strength or anything. Besides, if you'd been that much of an asshole to me, I would've snapped, too. Oi, bastard, are you even listening to me?"

Ulquiorra closed his eyes tightly and grimaced, as if trying to forget something, before opening them again and starting to walk back to Aron-sama's office.

What the fuck…? Jaegerjaques had never seen Ulquiorra this flustered, ever. Something was going on, and he was find out what it was.

"Rukia, pouting isn't going to solve anything. Besides, what'd that rice ever do to you?"

The young Kuchiki was currently mashing her rice without mercy, venting her simmering rage on the hapless starch.

"I'm so close," she seethed. "I'm so close I can taste it, but I can't make the final push. It's pathetic. I'm…"

"Oh, just shut up!"

When Saika saw that he had her attention, he continued.

"Pouting might be unproductive, but self-pity is the single worst activity to be indulging in right now and you know it. You're better than that, Rukia.

"Ichigo would know what to do," she said despite herself.

A light bulb flashed on in Saika's head. That was it; that was the answer. Why hadn't he seen it before?

"You know," he said, his voice softening and taking on a bit of a mischievous edge, "Ichigo is actually on his way here, with that other friend of yours."

Rukia choked on her rice and sputtered, tears showing up in her eyes from all the coughing. When she finally spoke, her voice was small, but full of something that had been sorely lacking up until now: hope.

"What? Ichigo and Renji are…"

"Yep. Well, technically they still have to defeat the final guardian and open up the gate, but yeah, they're on their way. The thing I wonder about, though, is how they can be so ready to lay everything down, absolutely everything, for even just the chance to rescue someone who doesn't even have the resolve to save herself."

Rukia's eyes widened in shame as she absorbed what Aron had said, but he was right. She couldn't give into self-pity, and she sure as hell wasn't about to just play the helpless, screeching damsel in distress when she knew she could rise above that. This newfound determination, coupled from the rush that she got knowing Ichigo was coming to help save her, put a determined look in her eyes that Saika had been waiting to see all day.

"Let's go," she said, a fiery look in her eyes, and Aron had to fight hard to keep the grin off of his face and out of his voice.

"Wherever to, Rukia?"

She smiled like a lioness on the prowl, and Saika was suddenly very nervous.

"You know exactly where."

At those words, Aron returned the predatory grin and the two warriors flashed out of the room, their swords crying out for battle.

Following Aizen's defeat, the truth behind Urahara's creation of the Houkyogu came to light, as well as Aizen's role in creating the Vizards. The former captain's exile had been repealed, leaving him free to come and go as he pleased between Soul Society and the Human World. He still lingered in the Human World most of the time, but for tonight he was sitting on one of Seireitei's many rooftops, admiring the stars shining in the sky. A familiar reiatsu appeared behind him and Kisuke smiled, but his look changed when he saw the look on his friend's face.

"Something bothering you, Yoruichi-san?"

"The anniversary is in three days, Kisuke. I can't sleep."

Urahara sighed sadly; this happened every year, and he'd never been able to get his friend to give up the ghost entirely.

"He's gone, Yoruichi," he said gently. The golden-eyed princess took a deep breath and shook her head, scolding herself for being so weak.

"You're right, as always," she sighed. "It's just… he was..."

"I know."

Yoruichi looked up at the stars and remembered the many happy nights she had done something like this with her former lieutenant, but the memory that came to her most vividly in that moment was the day they had first met.

'Trust me, he's much more than a brawler.'

Yoruichi stood in the middle of the bedlam that was the 70th Rukon District, weaving between people's feet as she moved towards the nearest tavern. She was in her cat form, preferring to be as incognito as possible while observing her potential bodyguard/lieutenant. The two were one in the same to her, really; hierarchy had never been that big of a deal for the Shihoin princess, regardless of her noble origins. She settled into a corner and stretched out, her eyes carefully scanning the bar for anyone drunk enough to start a fight. After all, if this 'Saika' was drawn to brawls, there was no better place to look for him than the local watering hole.

She wasn't disappointed. A hugely-muscled man carrying a yari on his back walked up to a young man sitting at the bar and clapped his hand on his shoulder.

"Is there a problem, buddy?" The seated man said, not even glancing over his shoulder.

"I want to know what you think you're doing in my bar, Saika."

Bingo.

"Is it your bar? Really?" Saika answered with thinly veiled contempt. "If that's the case, why don't you fulfill one of your duties as the proprietor and get me a drink?"

"You bastard!"

The man cocked his fist back and threw a huge fist right at Saika's head, but he caught it in his hand effortlessly and pushed back, sending the goliath tumbling out the door on his heels. This guy, whoever he was, had gotten Yoruichi's attention, and she walked towards the door to see the rest of the fight. As she made her way over, though, a pair of hands picked her up and hoisted her into the air. Too shocked by the sudden grab to move, she found herself staring into a pair of arresting orange eyes, which were currently squinting at her quite curiously. After a moment, his eyes returned to normal and he smirked.

"A rat's-nest like this is no place for a princess, Lady Shihoin," he said, putting her down.

Yoruichi was too stunned to move. What the hell had just happened? No one, absolutely no one, had ever been able to identify her in her other form, except for Urahara, but he didn't count. Looking up at the retreating figure, she noticed that he was wearing a sword at his waist slightly longer than a katana that was humming with reiatsu. A zanpakuto.

Was this guy a Soul Reaper? No, he couldn't be; as captain of the 2nd Division, Yoruichi prided herself on knowing every single face in the 13 Squads, and she'd never seen this guy before in her life. Shaking herself and blinking twice, Yoruichi regained enough poise to pad outside and watch the brewing storm.

"Who the hell do you think you are, rat?"

Saika said nothing, making the thug even angrier.

"Say something, asshole!"

"Something, asshole," the young man with orange eyes answered, a wolfish grin appearing on his face. Yoruichi had no idea why this fairly ordinary-looking guy was baiting such a massive opponent, but if Byakuya of all people had recommended him, he clearly had something going for him. Maybe he was just insane, she thought with a smile. That would be an interesting challenge.

The thug, meanwhile, had become beet red with rage. Readying his lance, he bellowed like a bull and charged, aiming to gore Saika with a single thrust. Saika's hand moved to his zanpakuto's hilt, but that was as far as he got before he vanished, reappearing behind the brute. Yoruichi had to give it to him, he was fast, but just raw speed wasn't enough to impress her. He needed to be able to attack as well as move.

Just as she was about to strike out her most promising prospect so far, the brute's left arm fell off.

Yoruichi's eyes went wide. How… but… she hadn't even seen him draw the sword, much less strike and then sheathe it. As the giant went down in a screaming heap, Saika shook his head disdainfully. Yourichi's sharp ears allowed her to pick up the single word he spoke.

"Coward."

She liked this guy already; he was gutsy, strong, probably as fast as she was, and had no tolerance for bullshit. Sure, he seemed like a bit of a smart-mouth, but she could fix that in time. The crowd dispersed eventually, the body hauled off by one of the thug's friends to receive medical attention. Yoruichi stayed right where she was, though; she wanted to see where this was going. Saika cleaned his sword on a piece of cloth and re-sheathed it, looking down at the black cat again. He gave an odd smile, an expression that reminded Yoruichi of Ichimaru's grin, but not creepy in the least.

"You're still here," he said, not quite a question, but not quite a statement, either.

"How did you know who I was?" she asked, curiosity burning all the way to her fingertips. Saika paused for a moment, then spoke.

"Hold that thought," he said, vanishing.

Shihoin was taken aback at being treated so casually, but she decided to let it slide, just this once. A few minutes later he re-appeared, holding a bundle of clothes, which he tossed to the cat in front of him.

"For you," he clarified when the cat didn't move, looking up at him with skeptical eyes.

"Why can't we just talk like this?"

"Well… because… it's kinda weird."

Yoruichi chuckled; men were so predictable. She picked up the clothes and sauntered inside, while Saika sat down on a rock and waited for her. A few moments passed before Saika felt a pulse of reiatsu and heard a voice, much more feminine this time.

"So, you still haven't answered my question. How'd you know it was me?"

Saika looked up and was about to answer, until he saw the figure standing in front of him and forgot how to speak.

Standing in front of him was, far and away, the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her eyes had a glow to them that spoke of deep complexity, her reiatsu was veiled but intense, definitely of Captain class, and her body was completely muscle, carved to perfection. He was awed into silence until Yoruichi's face suddenly appeared right next to his, a smirk on her face.

"Boo!"

Saika yelped and fell backwards off of his rock, scrambling to his feet while Yoruichi just laughed. Even in peasant clothing, she looked like royalty. Regaining his composure, the orange-eyed young man smiled.

"Sorry 'bout that, my Lady," he said, using the honorific but refusing to bow. "Anyway, to answer your question, I could tell it was you because identifying and tracking reiatsu is my zanpakuto's specialty. Say hello to the Captain, Akumora."

His zanpakuto murmured something shyly through a wave of reiatsu, and Yoruichi smiled. If his zanpakuto was truly sentient, and had manifested part of itself even in the sealed blade, this guy was powerful indeed.

"What's your name, kid?"

"You just said it, my Lady," Saika replied with a smirk.

Yoruichi sighed.

"Byakuya said you'd say that, but I'd kinda hoped you wouldn't be that childish."

Saika's demeanor changed completely at the mention of Kuchiki's name.

"You know Byakuya?" he asked, all of his previous shyness gone. "How's he doing?"

"He's fine, I guess," she said with a scowl. "Still a pompous jerk, if you ask me. Even more so now that he's head of the clan. But enough about little Byakuya," she said, pinning Saika with a gaze that was at once scary and enthralling. "Tell me about yourself. And don't be such a smartass this time, got it?"

"Yes, mother," he intoned dryly, sitting back on his rock. "My name is Saika. Saika Aron."

Yoruichi's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Saika cut her off.

"Yes, damn it, that Saika Aron. And why are you even here, Yoruichi Shihoin?" he asked hotly, his temper getting the better of him. "If Byakuya wanted a message delivered, he could have just come himself."

Yoruichi snorted, offended.

"I'm no one's messenger, boy," she said, fairly spitting out the last word.

"Then why are you here? What do you want from me?"

Saika had taken steps forward as he had spoken, and was now only a few feet away from Yoruichi, his reiatsu rolling off of him in anger. For her part, Yoruichi was stunned by the amount of raw power emanating from this guy; she had heard about how powerful the child of two Soul Reapers might become, but she had never seen it first-hand.

"I… I need your help, Saika."

The young man could see that the woman in front of him was cringing under the weight of his reiatsu, so he pulled it back in. When she had relaxed, she continued to speak.

"My lieutenant, who was also my acting bodyguard, was killed by a Hollow. I need the spot filled, but no one in Seireitei is good enough. Byakuya pointed me to you, and to be honest I like what I see."

Saika was flattered that a Captain Soul Reaper held him in her esteem, but a dark, twisted knot at the pit of his stomach reared its ugly head yet again.

"No," he said sharply, "I can't. I can't serve in the 13 Squads."

Yoruichi detected the undercurrents of bitterness in his voice and was surprised.

"But that's what both of your parents did. You'd make them so proud, your mother and your…"

"Don't." Saika's voice took on a decidedly deadly edge, the orange in his eyes flashing like fire while his zanpakuto's reiatsu spiked threateningly.

"Don't finish that sentence. My father was a scumbag, and I hope he rots in a gutter."

This shocked the 2nd Division Captain; she had known Ryu Aron, a long time ago, and she had been young (she was only a few years older than Saika), but he seemed like the nicest man. So why would his own son call him a scumbag?

"He might have been nice on the outside," Saika said, as if he was reading her mind, "but behind closed doors, he was a drunk, an abuser and a gambler. I can't do anything that would honor his memory in the slightest, even if it would make my mother's spirit weep with joy."

Yoruichi realized then that, under his tough exterior and massive reiatsu, Saika was incredibly emotionally fragile. He needed some kind of guidance in his life, some kind of companionship, or he was going to go insane and squander all of his potential at the same time. Moving to within arms-length of him, Yoruichi gently placed her hands on his shoulders. They were the same height, and golden orbs stared deeply into smoldering orange pools.

"I'm not here to force you into doing anything you don't want to do, Saika," she said softly, "but both you and I know that this isn't where your place is. Not with all of the power you have right here," she said, putting one of her hands on his heart. Aron fought back a shiver, but it was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

"If you don't want to associate with the rest of the 13 Squads, that's fine. If you don't want to bother with the Lieutenant meetings, I can deal with that for you."

"Really?" Saika said, sounding like he was a kid hearing about Santa for the first time. "You could do that?"

Yoruichi smiled at that; she'd gotten through the armor at last.

"Of course; who do you think I am? Being nobility does have its advantages, after all. Besides, the 2nd Squad is practically its own organization anyway. So, how about it?"

Saika's eyes were indecipherable, but suddenly the storm of emotions cleared and his eyes blazed with renewed energy. Wrapping his arms around the angel who had seen it fit to save him from himself, he felt a small tear trickle down his cheek.

"Thank you," he breathed out. Yoruichi smiled gently, returning the gesture while a sliver in the back of her mind enjoyed the purely physical part of the moment.

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

Rukia noticed that her sensei had become distracted and struck, frustrated when her blow was deflected at the last moment.

"What were you thinking about just then?" she asked, wondering what had made her teacher zone out so thoroughly. He gave her a sad smile.

"Just the first time I met someone very important to me," he said, and Rukia could swear she saw a small tear forming at the corner of one of his eyes. The moment was shattered, though, when a royal messenger appeared right nearby them. Saika turned and acknowledged him, waiting for whatever news he had brought.

"Crown Prince Callos desires to inspect his betrothed."

Rukia's eyes went wide while Saika's whole body stiffened.

"Right now?"

"Yes, Sir."

Rukia's mind was racing: she hadn't achieved bankai yet. She was agonizingly close, but she hadn't gotten all the way there yet. How could she face Callos now? She couldn't. She needed to think of a way out, and fast. Suddenly she hit upon the oldest trick in the book, and a small smile graced her face for a moment before she began her performance. She forced herself to start sweating and swayed back and forth, hacking and coughing like she was about to lose her lung. She managed to vomit in the process, which disgusted the messenger. Saika was smarter than him, though, and knew exactly what Rukia was doing. He decided to play along.

"Rukia! Rukia, what's wrong?" he said, trying his best to sound concerned. She looked up at him and said, in a perfectly hesitant tone,

"I'm… not sure. It hurts; am I… am I going to die?"

Saika had to fight hard to look worried instead of laughing his ass off at the cheesy performance, and he nodded gravely while pretending to take her temperature with the back of his hand.

"Tell my Lord Callos that Rukia has fallen unexpectedly ill, and will most likely not recover for three days."

"Then I will wait three days for her," an oily voice answered, "and not a second longer."

Saika and Rukia looked over to see the man Aron recognized as Callos leaning against a tree, a disdainful look in his eyes.

"Women," he scoffed. "They are such weak creatures. Get well, strumpet," he hissed at Rukia, who somehow kept an even face.

"Your life depends upon it."

The prince and his lackey vanished with a whisper and the two warriors were alone again. They moved apart and Rukia looked up at her teacher, the newfound strength in her eyes strangling her fear.

"If we only have three days," she said, drawing her zanpakuto, "we had better use them."

Saika nodded his approval and drew his katana, hoping that they could make it in three days.

If not, they were all screwed.

Author's Note: Man, that was fun. Sorry I crammed this one to the gills, but I wanted to come through on the promises I made content-wise at the end of last chapter. So Yoruichi and Saika's first meeting was revealed (but where did it go from there?), and Rukia did meet Callos for the first time, but definitely not the last. Thanks for reading, and again, please review if you would be so kind, it helps me keep this pace up. I might not be able to keep it this fast once classes start up, but I'll keep it as fast as I can. Hope you enjoyed it, and see you next time!