DISCLAIMER: I really hate repeating this again and again. This is absolutely torture! I told you I will never own Bleach!

Three. Deception

Upon stepping on the gateway, Akane sighed heavily, silently wishing to the Spirit King that the time lag the kidou spell provided doesn't come to its worst. She watched her surroundings gradually change from the deserts of hell to the skies of Karakura Town and after a minute she found herself landing on a rooftop of a building near the Urahara shop.

Her feet touched the ground gracefully and she inhaled the fresh air of the real world and snorted when she smelled the rusty smell of blood that stained her clothes and skin. She frowned at her barbaric appearance thinking how the heck would she be able to face her childhood friends for the first time after a century with how she looked right now. She sighed as she tried somehow to make herself presentable.

Akane closed her eyes and cherished the sunlight touching her face. She really did adore the sun very much, after all her zanpakutou was Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun. She loved being under the sunlight because the heat emitted by it strengthens her whenever she releases her zanpakutou. She never felt so united with Amaterasu except in broad daylight.

Looking down at the Urahara Shop, she sensed five reiatsus in the establishment and recognized three of them. The thought of meeting those people after more than a hundred years frightened her. She was nervous, because she didn't know how to face them or what to say after she left Soul Society without a word and without a trace.

But she knew that she had to face them one day and the time has come for her to do that. She just hoped that somehow it would be a peaceful reunion, and not a deadly one.

It was a start of another boring and customerless day at the Urahara shop. Well what can you really expect from a run down candy slash soul society item store? Jinta thought lazily as he continued his hobby of bullying Ururu while she swept the floor outside the entrance of the shop.

"Jinta-kun, Tessai-san will get mad if he founds out you're not sweeping." Ururu gently said to him as she paused from work.

"Shut-up Ururu! As if I'm afraid of Tessai!" Jinta angrily retorted, pointing his broom towards her.

"But you are cleaning because you're scared of Tessai-san right?" She questioned the hot-tempered boy in front of her.

Jinta suddenly snapped and denied her accusation angrily as he swept his broom on Ururu's head. "I'm not scared! You're annoying as ever Ururu! You're below me!"

Ururu covered her head and gently reasoned out, "That's not right! I'm three years older than you, ow!"

"Way of Binding Number One, Restrain."

Both of them were surprised when they heard someone cast a bakudo spell especially Jinta who found his hands locked behind his back. A woman appeared in front of them, with her hazel eyes and copper red hair shining under the sunlight that perfectly contrasted her pale white skin. She was wearing a sleeveless shinigami robe with a white obi around her waist, black arm covers on both of her hands and a dark red scarf wrapped around her neck.

The woman wore a blank expression, but when her eyes met Jinta's, he didn't know why he suddenly had the urge to be afraid. He thought of it as crazy and he suddenly remembered what the woman did to him.

"What the hell old hag? Why did you do that to me you stupid lady? Take this spell off me ugly woman!" Jinta exploded as he struggled to let himself free.

The woman felt three of her nerves pop when she heard the boy's consecutive insults towards her. She really was no good in handling kids so she decided that it was better to just ignore the boy before things get worse.

She walked towards the girl in front of her and patted her head. "You shouldn't let this stupid boy bully you ojou-san, or else he might get used to it." Ururu looked at her and she noticed the woman's soft expression towards her.

"May I speak with the people inside?" The woman asked, glancing at the entrance of the shop. Ururu wondered which of them she meant but then nodded and led her inside while the two of them left the shouting angry Jinta behind.

"What the heck? Ururu! Don't you dare let that old hag go inside! She's evil I tell you! Can't you see what she did to me?" Jinta called behind her while attempting to break himself free but the two of them simply ignored him. Ururu slid the door open and revealed Tessai who was carrying a load of boxes.

"Ururu, it's too early for opening hours." Tessai said, carrying the boxes which are blocking his view. When he sensed an unfamiliar yet familiar reiatsu other than Jinta and Ururu's, he cocked his head on the side to glance at them. What he saw caused him to drop the boxes he was carrying in shock.

Tessai's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost, and his mouth hanged open, making him completely speechless. Ururu and Jinta were alarmed at Tessai's reaction then suddenly, he dropped into his knees and lowered his head, forming a bow to the woman in front of him.

"A- Akane-sama, you have finally returned." Tessai found it difficult to speak, unable to compose himself for he was too overwhelmed.

Akane gave an apologetic smile to Tessai, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she looked at the familiar man she had seen one hundred years ago.

"Stupid Tessai, say -sama again and I'll kill you." Akane said jokingly as she embraced the huge man kneeling on the floor.

Jinta, who didn't know what the hell was happening, was too shocked that he even forgot about his restrained hands behind him. He saw the mighty Tessai cry dramatically, a river of tears falling from his eyes and it confused him even more. Who the heck is this Akane-sama? He frustratingly asked himself.

"Akane-sama, please wait a moment. I shall wake up the owner right away." Tessai said, wiping his overly dramatic tears under his glasses as he led Akane inside the tea room. She instinctively smacked Tessai's head upon hearing the honorific he used.

"Tessai, I told you, just call me Akane please? And I don't really deserve being called sama especially by you." She argued as she took a seat.

"Hai, Akane-sama." She was about to smack Tessai again when suddenly the door slid open exposing a yawning Urahara.

"G'd mornin' Tessai, Jinta, Ururu! What's the commotion all about in this early morning?" Urahara Kisuke mumbled, wiping his hazy eyes. As soon as his vision cleared up, he noticed a red-haired lady staring at him and sitting in his tea room.

Urahara thought that she looked somehow familiar, awfully too familiar actually, and as soon as he realized why she looked very very much familiar, he shut the sliding door in front of him. He opened it again, expecting that he was only daydreaming but he only found the very same awfully familiar face once again. He shut the door, and opened it again. She was still there. He shut the door, opened it again, and she was still there, now glaring at him, and looking very very pissed.

"My, my, I need to go back to sleep. I think I'm hallucinating, I'm starting to see ghosts." Urahara muttered scratching his chin as he wondered why he was seeing things. Suddenly, Akane felt her eye twitch at his comment preceded by the popping of her veins at his performance a while ago. She was pissed. She was very very pissed.

She stood up while on the verge of exploding. "U-RA-HA-RA... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING GHOST YOU DUMBASS?" Akane growled, charging at the man by the door and delivering a clean kick on his face. Urahara fell on the floor and he started to see stars.

"Ghost? You thought I was a ghost, you dumbass? Kisuke, did you really thought I was dead?" Akane demanded, with anger manifested in her words and sadness visible in her eyes as she looked down at him who was lying on the floor. Urahara watched his childhood friend's expression change from anger to hurt, and he immediately regretted making her sad. He stood up and gave her genuine smile which only showed how relieved he was that she was here right now.

"Akane, It's really you. I'm really glad that you're safe." He said as he hugged her tight, finally believing that she really was the childhood friend he last saw in the past. Akane sniffed as she tried very hard not to cry.

"But you can't really blame me for calling you a ghost. Whose fault do you think it is for someone who disappeared for over a century?" Urahara playfully accused her, happily using the guilty card on her. Akane suddenly felt alarmed, not prepared for the subject yet so she decided to change the topic.

"Where's Yoruichi?" She hesitantly asked, everyone hearing the nervousness in her voice. Urahara sensed it too, and he started to feel sorry for Akane. He then turned to Tessai, asking him to wake up Yoruichi as he left the room carrying Ururu and Jinta with him.

"You better prepare yourself Akane, if you only knew how furious she was when she found out that you disappeared and ran away without a word." He warned her and there was no trace of humor in his eyes. She only managed to gulp, knowing very well what was coming.

A minute of silence had passed and it finally broke when the atmosphere around them suddenly changed. Akane felt a deadly and intense reiatsu surround the whole place and she shivered as she sensed it slowly increasing. She closed her eyes, held both of hands tight and slowly breathed in and out, preparing her mind, soul and heart for what is about to come.

Her eyes snapped open when the door of the room broke into pieces, revealing a raging Shihouin Yoruichi.

"Oh my. I hope Tessai knows how to fix that." Urahara murmered as he frowned upon watching his beautiful door break apart. Akane didn't really hear him, for as soon as she saw Yoruichi, her breathing stopped. Yes, Yoruichi was mad, definitely and absolutely mad.

The intense reiatsu Yoruichi had was enough to immobilize a normal shinigami, and her golden eyes which now looked like raging fire only meant an excruciatingly painful death. And there was nothing Akane could do but sob in her mind for she knew she deserved it. She truly did.

"Yoruichi..." Akane said, looking at her with her eyes filled with apology and regret. But before she said one more word Yoruichi charged towards her, roughly grabbing her robe as she dragged her down to the basement training grounds.

Upon arriving at the basement, she didn't even have the chance to be astonished by the fact that there was a freakingly huge basement in this rundown store which was a replica to the one's they had in soul society. She didn't even had the chance to say anything because as soon as Yoruichi released her, the former captain started to attack her mercilessly while Akane just stood there, taking every punch, every kick, and every pain with no regret. She deserved it. She knew she did, and she knew that nothing can compensate that time she had left soul society, and the time she left her home and her friends just for the sake of satisfying her reckless decision.

"What the heck are you doing Akane? Fight with me! Hit me back! Isn't that why you ran away? It's to become stronger isn't it? Then prove to me what you acquired in exchange of leaving us! Prove to me that leaving us behind was worth it all!"

Yoruichi yelled at her, hitting her repeatedly and Akane heard the hurt and pain in Yoruichi's voice. She realized that each time Yoruichi hit her, it hurt her friend more and more as she looked at the unshed tears from her golden eyes. She also realized that each time her friend hits her, it was her body that trembles and not her own.

"Why did you think that you had to leave us just to be strong?" Yoruichi said to her, stopping all of her attacks and she pulled back wearing an expression that showed nothing but hurt and sorrow. What Akane saw was what pained her the most. She realized that she was the one who had hurt Yoruichi the most.

"I'm sorry Yoruichi, forgive me." Akane whispered as she embraced her. She felt tears run down her cheeks, for she now realized how selfish she was for only thinking of herself, and for seeing how much she hurt her friend, and the people who cared for her.

"Owner, who the heck was that lady just now?" Jinta couldn't suppress his curiosity any longer after everything he had witnessed. He was currently massaging his now untied wrists courtesy of Tessai as he fall into deep thought. There were only a few things that he knew about that woman based on his super amazing top-notch observation skills, and those are:

One, she is a close friend of Tessai, Yoruichi-san and the Owner. In addition, she might have black mailed Tessai for him to respect her too much.

Two, she disappeared from Soul Society for a hundred years thus resulting to the crazy reactions of the equally crazy people to the sudden reappearance of a more crazy woman.

And Three, she's a brutal, hot-tempered, wild, tenacious, crazy, over-emotional, and ugly old hag.

Other than that, he knew nothing more and his curiosity really is killing him.

He, the Owner, Tessai, and Ururu were all gathered in the tea room. The Owner was sitting lazily with his fan on his hand, Ururu was busy preparing tea while Tessai was busy fixing the door that was murdered by Yoruichi. Speaking of the demon cat, she and the old hag were in the basement and were busy playing or whatever it is they were doing.

"Oi owner, would you just tell me who that old hag was?" Jinta asked once again before he goes mad from thinking to much. The owner looked at him as a mischievous idea passed through his mind.

"Very well then, if you want to know who she was that badly then I'll tell you for your curiosity's sake." Urahara covered his face with his fan, hiding a devious smirk plastered on his face. His eyes suddenly turned serious which caused Jinta to tremble. "But upon telling you, I expect that you will speak with no one about it and treat it with confidentiality. It is a secret that nobody must know because if you let it out, it may lead you and the people around you to death. And because I trust you enough, I am willing to share this secret with you. Understood?"

Urahara closed his fan, his face grave and serious and Jinta only managed to nod, preparing himself for the shocking secret he was about hear. The owner waved him to get closer then began to whisper something to his ear.

"That woman just now, was none other than. . . ." Jinta gulped at the owner's dramatic pause, his whole body shivering in anticipation. "She's none other than. . .

.

.

.

.

. . . . Aizen's Lover."

.

.

.

.

.

Jinta gasped, his eyes widening and his mouth hanging open as he try to comprehend what he just heard.

"No way, no fucking way! Absolutely no fucking way!" He backed away, covering his ears as he tried to desperately forget what he just heard. Urahara placed his index finger on his lip, reminding him that it was a secret but actually he was just trying to stop himself from laughing hysterically.

It all makes sense now! I finally understand everything! That's why she was just as evil as Aizen! And maybe that's why the world has gone mad! Oh no, don't tell me she has come to get revenge on the owner for killing her lover! By the time realization hit him, the door slid open revealing Yoruichi who was supporting a wounded Akane.

I can't believe that she's Aizen's Lover! He shouted in his mind, suddenly freezing in fear and when the old hag looked at him, he felt his heart stop from beating.

"Jinta, would you please get the first aid kit?" The owner said, glancing at him with a knowing look that told him to keep it shut. And without answering, he sprinted out of the room in fear.

"WhAhAhAhAhAhAhAh!" Urahara collapsed on the floor, with his hands on his stomach as he began to laugh hysterically. "WhAhAhAhAh I can't believe he actually fell for that! WhAhAhAhAh!"

Everyone in the room stared at the cynical man, wondering how the hell was his sickness triggered and hoping that he would return to normality soon enough.

"Kisuke, tell me, have you gone mad?" Yoruichi asked him while Akane let out a chuckle. When his laughter finally subdued, he sat up and wiped the tears in his eyes. Jinta suddenly entered again, giving him the first aid kit with a very serious and worried look and quickly exiting the room causing Urahara to snort into fits of laughter once again.

"No, not yet, unfortunately." He breathed, finally starting to be composed. "So how's everything between the two of you?" He smiled upon seeing the two of them grinning at each other. Even without words he knew that all was well.

"So, what are you planning to do now Akane?" Kisuke asked as he sipped his tea. He noticed her expression change from a carefree smile to an anxious look. She winced as Tessai treated her wounds but he knew that the real cause was the pain in her heart.

"You see, Yoruichi had already told me all about the war with Aizen and how he had been sentenced just a week ago. Upon hearing what happened, I have a feeling that exactly during that same moment during the war, something bad had happened to my grandfather. I don't know how but it seemed as though I was feeling the same pain he was suffering from where I was. That was why I came rushing here hoping that you could tell me what exactly happened, and hoping that you would assure me that my grandfather is alright." Akane found it hard to speak and she knew she sounded desperate, wanting to hear only what she wanted and only what she hoped to hear.

Somehow she noticed from Yoruichi while she was telling her about the war that she had purposely evaded her questions about her grandfather, and that somehow she didn't say anything about him. The thought frightened her, and she prayed that everything she felt was just a mistake, and that Yamamoto Genryuusai was safe and alive.

Yoruichi and Urahara looked at each other, silently communicating and deciding how to tell her what happened. In the end, it was Yoruichi who spoke.

"The Captain Commander had actually planned from the start on killing Aizen even if it means taking his own life as well and during the war, your Grandfather used a sacrificial spell, the forbidden Hadou Number 96, Single Blade Cremation which required the use his very own body as a catalyst." Yoruichi silently said, looking at the expressionless face of Akane. She saw Akane's hand shiver, and she brought both her hands to cover her face as she continued to listen.

"I suggest you go to Seireitei Akane. I'm afraid he's not in good shape and I believe you are needed by his side more than anything right now." Urahara gently patted Akane's back, definitely not desiring to see her so sad. He looked at Yoruichi and gave her a guilty look but she only sighed. Moments of silence have passed as they wait the response of Akane.

"Kisuke, will you please prepare the Senkai Gate?" They heard Akane say, her hands still covering her face.

Urahara smiled at her decision. "Of course."

"Would you like me to come with you?" Yoruichi asked Akane, slightly worried about her. All of them were waiting at the underground training field as Tessai and Urahara prepared the portal.

"Don't worry, I think I can handle it." I hope.. Akane smiled at Yoruichi, at the same time trying also to convince herself that she will be able to survive it.

"Yosh! The Senkai Gate is now open. You may now go Akane, and good luck." Urahara exclaimed along with his carefree attitude.

Akane looked through the gate and realized that beyond that side is the place that she left a hundred years ago. The place that held memories of pain, suffering and hurt and somehow she asked herself if she was truly prepared to return once again.

She looked at Yoruichi and Kisuke, and smiled that same smile she always had in the past. She gave them both a crushing hug, each arm wrapped around the two of them causing them to wince in pain.

"I'm sorry for everything, Yoruichi, Kisuke, and thank you." She whispered to both of them who both hugged her back.

"Don't mention it you stupid girl. Just don't go running off again next time." Yoruichi said playfully, smacking Akane's head at the process.

"Come back next time to play Akane, we'll be waiting. And I appreciate if you'll help out in the store when you return." Urahara mentioned humorously and Akane just laughed at him.

"Sure, sure."

She then came running next to Tessai, jumping in front of him in order to give him a hug. "I'm sorry too Tessai, and thanks for treating my wounds." She grinned at the tall man who bursted into tears while returning her crushing hug back.

Akane then turned to Ururu as she patted her head. "Ururu, I don't want to see Jinta bullying you again understood?" Ururu looked up to her and nodded, smiling at what she said. The woman looked around her seeing no sign of the hot-tempered boy who seemed to be afraid of her. "Oh, and please tell Jinta that I'll come visit him next time."

And with that, Yamamoto Akane bid everyone farewell as she stepped inside the Senkai Gate, returning to the place she once left and forgotten.

"Yoruichi-san, I kind of feel bad for deceiving Akane. I think we exaggerated what happened to Yamamoto-soutaichou too much." Urahara Kisuke sulked as he watched his friend disappear from the Senkai Gate.

"Tsk, don't worry about it Kisuke. She deserved it, and if we didn't twisted the story a little bit I bet she'll go back to where she was and disappear again for who knows how long. We did the right thing and what's best for her." Yoruichi reasoned out, crossing her arms and completely satisfied with what happened.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Jinta came rushing with a huge bat on his hand prepared for battle. "Where the heck is that old hag! I'll beat her up! I won't let her get revenge for her Aizen!"

The rest of them looked skeptically at the angry Jinta who was desperately looking for Akane.

"Oi Kisuke, what exactly did you do to Jinta?" Yoruichi asked Urahara with an accusatory tone, who was trying hard not to burst into hysterical laughter once again.

Urahara snorted, trying his best to speak. "On second thought, I think I feel a lot worse for deceiving Jinta-kun."

A/N:

Whew! That was a long chap and again, if you reached up to here, THANK YOU SO MUCH once again! I don't really get tired from thanking you guys again and again because I really do appreciate your time and effort in following my fanfic. Thank you and I hope I see you next chap! :D and also, if it's not to much of a bother please leave a review!

~lost_feather! yaaay! AHAHAHA I can't believe we have the same mind! I'm absolutely in love with byakuya and actually I can't wait to write the chapter with akane and byakuya in it! anyway, thank you for your reviews, a million thanks because they really motivate me to writing more of this fic. AND I LOVE YOU FOR IT! and also, I liked your idea about the zanpaktou and I will surely keep that in mind! thank you again lost_feather! :D