Don't own Bleach

Utsumi propped himself up against a boulder in the center of the training grounds under Sokyoku Hill staring at his Zanpakuto. He's been brooding for the last few hours about what to do. He's come up with nothing, not one idea that could lead them to changing the minds about the decision. He needs Aizen to confess. He is the only one who is here who knows what happened. Utsumi's eyes widened. He had been blinded. He was too focused on Aizen. Yes, he was the puppet master but he needed puppets. Utsumi had an idea, he could try to play them off against each other. The likelihood of it working was slim but if he could force a confrontation, he could get them to slip up, maybe not Aizen but perhaps one of them.

Back in human form, Yoruichi was stretching her human legs by walking around the grounds Yoruichi was glad to be able to walk around on her regular two legs again. She knew what she had to do to be here and that is stay in cat form to avoid any attention but it gets tiresome. She had been keeping an eye on Utsumi for the last hour or two and he hadn't moved since he sat down. It's become quite worrying for Yoruichi. He'd been quiet the entire journey here. She'd understood if he was exhausted from the battle but he seemed to be fine in that sense, he just seemed defeated. He had fought well and won. At the time she didn't understand but now she knew. She knew not knowing what to do was bothering him. It was simple when they were back in the world of the living, come here and overturn the decision. Now, being here, he understands that it's more complicated than that. He needs to prove it. He's right everyone knows he's right he just can't prove it.

Utsumi closed his eyes and tried to communicate with his Zanpakuto. He needed to speak to her. He just hoped that she'd listen. She hasn't always been the most open to listening but recently, in the last few months, she's been open to listening to him. He'd been thankful for that. He couldn't have done this without her.

He thankfully found himself on the beach again. He'd grown to love this beach. It'd be a place of beauty when he needed and now he needed it. The turmoil he's feeling about what is happening. He walked up to the sand and found that the Ocean was rough and choppy again. He knew that she wasn't going to be happy. He plopped himself down in the sand and looked out into the trouble sea. When she sat down next to him, he knew she wasn't happy with him.

She looked over at him, her dark green eyes penetrating him as the gaze burns Utsumi to the core. "What's happening Kaito? My ocean is acting up again. I don't know what is going on with you but I want my ocean back. Figure out what it is you need to do and do it." she said plainly.

Utsumi looked at the sand, "I don't know how, that's the problem." he said to her.

She didn't give him a chance to add to that statement, "You do know. You're going to rest up and talk to the Cat Lady. She can help. Now go and fix my ocean." she ordered before disappearing.

Utsumi woke up staring into big golden eyes. "I've got a plan Yoruichi." he said getting her attention, "I need to find Tousen or Ichimaru. We know Aizen won't confess but maybe, I can get them to turn on Aizen. I need to find one of them, it doesn't matter which one at this point. If the first one doesn't say anything I'll incapacitate him and move on to the next one." he said.

She hated how desperate things had become. When he started this, he hadn't taken into consideration, Aizen's intelligence. It made everything that much harder. Yoruichi listened to him, he sounded confident enough, but the plan doesn't sound right to her, "Okay, let's say you face one of them and you defeat them then what? They could tell you anything to save their own lives. I believe in you, you know I do, there must be a better way than that." She said passionately

Understanding the problems his partner pointed out with his plan, Utsumi paced around, "If you think of anything let me know. That's the best plan I have. We have nothing on Aizen apart from a couple of exiles' saying they saw Aizen experimenting on the Shinigami. This is the only way I can see anything happening apart from us wandering around the Soul Society hoping to find something to pin this to Aizen. Or we drag the test subjects back here to speak their piece." his frustration pouring out with every word.

She could understand his frustrations, she was in the same boat as him but that didn't give him the right to talk to her like that. Yoruichi stared him down, "First, you need to calm down. You won't be able to fight like this. Tousen has a similar attitude to justice as you so maybe we can reason with him. So let's take a moment to calm down then we'll get going to Squad 9." she said.

He thought back to what he said and how it sounded and how it could come across to Yoruichi his guilt was clear on his face as apologies were swimming around in his deep blue irises. Utsumi nodded, "You're right. I'm sorry. I don't know what I'd do without you." He said before turning to walk away before Yoruichi grabbed his wrist stopping him.

She knew this was the moment. This was the moment to say something. Damn it Kisuke, this will be your fault if it doesn't work out she thought. She grabbed his wrist to pull him back. He looked at her confused, before he could ask her anything she acted. She kissed him. She parted her lips and kissed him. For a second he hesitated before reciprocating. The Soul Society disappeared and it was just them. It was just them alone nothing could ruin this moment. It was theirs.

As they parted, they stared at each other drinking in the moment for all it's worth. Utsumi broke the silence, "I think we should put this on hold until after we finish this." he said. Having no intention of letting this moment go, he grabbed her hands and said, "I promise you that we will talk about this later but I want you to know that I definitely want that to happen again." he said.

A weight had left her shoulders and she felt lighter than she had in days. Yoruichi grinned at him, "Me too." she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before speaking, "Let's get rested up and we'll find Tousen later."

Utsumi went sat back down against his rock as Yoruichi curled into his side resting her head on his chest wrapping an arm around his waist. Utsumi smiled and closed his eyes. He couldn't but smile in his sleep. Last time he was in the Soul Society he was alone. Now, he has friends in the World of the Living and he has a living Goddess curled up beside him. He doesn't know what he did to deserve this but whatever it was, no matter how difficult he'd do it again in a heartbeat. Yoruichi had become irreplaceable in his life. He couldn't do this without her, he'd still be in the human world alone if not for her. He remembered the look in her eyes when he brought up the idea of her coming back to live in the Soul Society, she tried to hide it but he saw it, Hope.