A/N: Any tropers in the audience? I've been kind of toying with the idea of making a TVTropes page for this, Trials and Phases, but I don't want to be the only one to edit it. Message me if you think it might be a good idea!

Check out The Trials of Kurosaki Karin, a Karin-centric add-on to this AU. It can be found in my profile!

Skittles Addict, thank you so much for the review! In all honesty, this fic was actually intended to be Yuzu-centric, because of the fact that the plot revolves around the pairing, but I see your point, and realize that I've kind of given Karin the short end of the stick. My intention was always to paint them as equals and nothing more, and the fact that Karin is only a fourth seat does nothing to change that when you take into account where she's a fourth seat. She'd be vice-captain-class or better anywhere else, but Ikkaku's the next seat higher than her and he's easily captain-class, and there's also the fact that Karin doesn't really want to be in charge of a division. I want to point out that the way I've set them up, Karin will beat Yuzu every time in a fight, because her zanpakuto cancels out every technique that Yuzu relies on.

However, I do realize that I've been unfair to Karin, and I haven't meant to be, so I'm definitely going to try to give her more screen time. I've also started up a side story to this, which you should check out, called The Trials of Kurosaki Karin, which focuses on Karin's time in the Eleventh during the time skip between Phases and Chasing. I've also had a couple of requests for an Ichigo/rebuilding Fifth Division-centered story, and I'm highly considering those…as a graduate student, I don't want to bite off too much more than I can chew, but it's a distinct possibility! You will also be seeing a lot more Ongetsu in the second half of this story.

Regarding bankai, I'll see what I can do. I haven't decided exactly when Karin is going to achieve bankai, only that it happens at some point in this fic, but it isn't tied to the plot in the same way that Yuzu's will be. (Also, Ichigo achieved his bankai through unconventional means…and knowing what we know about Ongetsu's attitudes towards 'cheating', well…it wouldn't end well). Ongetsu isn't just a pain the way Karin paints him, he touches on the creepy side a bit as well (his relationship with Karin can vaguely be summed up by the trope Scheherezade Gambit…check out TVTropes at your own risk). It's entirely possible that she could already have it and just be pulling an Ikkaku—I haven't quite decided yet. Anyway, if I say more, I'll be spoiling the plot for you, so just read on and enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. At all.

Chapter 22: Enemy revealed

"What the hell do you mean 'I can't go'?!"

Karin stood in the middle of Toshiro's office, facing him with her hands balled into fists at her side. The captain of the Tenth stood by the door, closing it behind him. He wasn't looking at her.

"What I said," he said, his voice stern. "The mission is already underway. The soutaicho expressly said that under no circumstances are you to leave Seireitei."

"Hell with that!" said Karin, stepping forward. "Toshiro, Yuzu's out there. I can't just stay put. I—."

"Karin!"

Karin froze at the change in Toshiro's tone, stopping mid-stride. She stared at him, her eyes wide. He still wasn't looking at her, but he stood between her and the door, presenting him with his side. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be," he said. "Please."

The way he said 'please' did it. Karin wanted to do any number of things. She wanted to scream at him, to rage, to throw something. She wanted to break the window and run. She wanted to do anything to hide how scared she actually was. But Toshiro rarely asked her for anything, and when he did, he didn't ask her in that way. She stared at him, noticing for the first time that his hands were clenched at his side, his eyes shadowed by his hair. He still refused to look at her. She was making him choose between her and duty, she realized. She had joined the Eleventh Division to avoid making him do just that.

She exhaled, her hands unclenching, and all the tension left her like air out of a balloon. Karin closed her eyes as the world spun, running a hand over her face. She hadn't realized how much she'd been running on panic until that moment. Ever since she heard the news last night—God, had she even slept last night? She couldn't remember.

Karin took a step back towards the couch, practically collapsing into a seat. She rested her elbows on her knees, holding her face in her hands and taking a shuddering breath. It was happening again. It was just like that day, sixteen years ago, when she was running to the clinic and she couldn't get there in time.

Dammit, it was happening again.

Karin inhaled sharply, her fingertips pressing into her skin. She was dimly aware of Toshiro moving around the couch towards her, and thought that if he touched her, she would scream. She didn't need to be babied right now. She didn't want to be. If he tried to comfort her, she would just fall apart, and she would hate that more than anything.

But Toshiro knew that. He always knew what she needed.

He didn't reach out for her. He didn't even take the seat next to her. He just stood there, beside her, making his presence known. Making it known that he was there, with her, if she ever wanted to reach out to him.

Sometimes, she was just so grateful for Toshiro.

Karin fought through the haze of panic, forcing herself to think like a shinigami. When she felt halfway calm again, she moved her hands down off of her face, raising her head. She didn't turn to face him, though. She didn't think she could handle that right now. "So," she said, keeping her eyes on the far wall. "What's the situation?"

"The reconnaissance team from the Sixth Division left two days ago, in response to a strange reiatsu signature in Rukongai. Kuchiki-taicho, Yuzu, and four other officers went on the mission." Toshiro's tone was all business, another thing she was grateful for. She could deal with business right now. "We lost contact with them the other day."

"Trace their reiatsus, maybe?"

Toshiro shook his head. "That was the first thing that was tried," he said. "We can't find any trace of their reiatsus coming from that district. We can't sense any reiatsus at all."

"So, get someone on the ground."

"Done," said Toshiro. "Your brother left this morning, along with Kuchiki-fukutaicho. Ankoujin Masaryu and Iwase Kohaku accompanied them. They weren't supposed to."

Karin snorted. "Yeah, but good luck stopping them." There was a faint trace of bitterness in her voice. If she'd had her way, she would be right there with them. If she hadn't been stopped at the Senkaimon, it might have worked that way after all.

"Soifon-taicho has some of her Onmitsukido waiting just outside the district. The rest of the Divisions are on standby," said Toshiro. "Depending on what happens, the soutaicho may declare a state of emergency."

"Fantastic." Karin leaned against the backrest, tilting her head so that she was staring up at the ceiling, her ponytail hanging off the back of the couch. She forced herself to think things through, shoving that part of herself that still wanted to go crazy down into a corner. If it had been anyone but Toshiro—but it wasn't.

"So," she said. "Why does Gramps have it out for me?"

"Does he?" asked Toshiro, glancing at her.

Karin turned her eyes to him for the first time that evening, turning her head slightly to the side. "You said specifically ordered you to keep me in Seireitei. Why?"

Toshiro frowned, looking away. "It's not…you exactly," he said. "It's more by process of elimination."

Karin closed her eyes. "You're not making any sense, Toshiro," she said.

"Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Yuzu," said Toshiro. "They're both already involved. The soutaicho probably doesn't want to put all three of you at risk. Not when you still haven't been exposed…"

"Exposed?" Karin opened her eyes, narrowing them at Toshiro as she sat up. "Exposed to what?"

Toshiro was moving, walking back towards his desk. As Karin watched, he lifted a folder from the top of it, a simple file folder, with the character for '10' written on it in flowing calligraphy. He set it down, opening it to the first page. He studied it for a moment, his expression troubled. When he spoke, he didn't look at her.

"What do you remember," he asked, "about the Winter War?"

Ankoujin Masaryu stood in the center of Inuzuri's market district, feeling as though every eye in the surrounding area was fixed on him. He did his best to ignore it, watching as Iwase Kohaku spoke to a group of young men and women lounging outside what looked like a liquor store. She appeared to have changed her whole manner to speak with them, adopting a rougher and presumably more approachable tone. Masa watched her, making sure to keep his distance so that he did not interfere.

It was probably best that he kept his distance. The few times he had tried to speak to someone, they had clammed up at the sight of him, turning frightened at best or hostile at worst.

If he was being honest, it bothered him that they reacted to him in that way. Unlike Kuchiki Byakuya, he didn't walk around wearing any visible trappings of nobility. His uniform was the standard shinigami shihakusho. He wore no kenseikan, no gloves, no heirloom scarf worth ten mansions. The only thing he kept on his person that would reveal his status to anyone was hidden, a steel medallion with his family's emblem on it that he wore under his robes.

It wasn't because he wasn't proud of his family—he was—but his outward simplicity had become something of a source of pride with him. He considered himself approachable and down-to-earth, thought that keeping his own status in the background made people more willing to see him as one of them.

Coming here showed him how naïve his impression had been. He had no concept of what it was like to live in these districts, none at all, and certainly not in the same way Iwase did. To these people, who he was ostensibly supposed to have authority over, he only looked like a pretender. The thought bothered him, more than he thought it would, and he placed his hand on Setsuyoku's hilt for comfort, banishing it for the meantime.

Iwase turned back towards him, his conversation finished, and he faced her, lowering his hand from his zanpakuto's hilt.

"Well?" he asked.

She lifted her eyes to his, a smile on her face. "We're in luck," she said. "It looks like a shinigami that matched Yuzu's description came by the food market earlier this morning. Another group of shinigami stopped by last night."

"Any idea where they are now?" asked Masaryu, frowning.

"No, but they can't be too far, can they?" asked Iwase. "And if they're around here somewhere, someone has to have seen them. We're getting close, Masa. Don't worry about it."

I wasn't worried…

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but when he noticed her expression, he held them back. He was worried—there was no point in lying to her—and more importantly than that, she was worried as well.

There was no point in pointing out what they both understood was true.

"Anyway," said Iwase, pointing down the street. "We'll probably learn more if we go a little further. Kuchiki-taicho sticks out worse than you do in a place like this. Finding him can't be that hard."

He nodded, letting her lead the way. As they walked, Masa found himself turning over the situation, thinking about what she had just said. It was what he did, sometimes, when he didn't know what else to do. Pick apart the situation, examine it from all angles. Think, rather than react.

Think…

"Iwase," he said, as a thought occurred to him, making her look up.

"Hmm?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Kuchiki-taicho," said Masa. "You said he stands out."

"Well, of course he does," said Iwase, frowning. She rested her hands on her hips, clearly not sure what he was driving at. "Have you taken a good look at him lately?"

"That's not my point," said Masa, glancing at her. "You said he stands out, which is why many people claim to have seen him."

"Yes…?" Iwase spoke slowly, as though what he was saying made no sense.

"Didn't the rumors say that the team from Sixth fought an Arrancar?"

Iwase stared at him, coming to a sudden stop. Masa stopped as well, watching as realization suddenly dawned on her face. "The Arrancar," she said, her eyes wide. "Catalina. If anyone sticks out in a place like this, she would."

"And yet, besides the initial sighting, no one claims to have seen her."

"…Like she disappeared," said Iwase. Her eyes widened in horror, and she looked up at him. "Oh, shit, Masa. Where did she go?"

"What could hide an Arrancar in Rukongai?" The minute the question left his mouth, Masaryu knew that he had asked the wrong one. He took a breath, looking down at Kohaku. "…Who could hide an Arrancar in Rukongai?"

As if in answer to his question, a scream rent the air, and both his and Kohaku's hands went to their zanpakutos. The scream was loud, grating. Inhuman. It was a voice they had all heard before, at some point or another.

A Hollow's voice.

The scream was followed by a wave of reiatsu, crashing into their senses and momentarily stunning them. After feeling nothing for so long, the feel of six or seven powerful auras, all intertwined with each other, was almost overwhelming. The two of them recovered quickly, exchanging glances with each other. He was somewhat relieved to see that Iwase looked scared. He was sure that the same expression mirrored itself on his face, but they both turned their eyes in the direction of the attack.

"North," said Iwase, her grip tightening on the hilt of her sword.

He nodded, glancing back behind him. "Ichigo-san and Rukia-dono are farther away than we are," he said.

Iwase nodded as well, as though she had just come to the same conclusion. "Then, there's no point in waiting for them, is there? We have to go?"

"It would appear so, Iwase."

Iwase nodded again, absorbing that information. She took a slow breath, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again. Her grip on her sword relaxed, going from a death-grip to something more manageable. "Alright," she said. "On the count of three."

Masa nodded, turning his attention northward. "One," he said.

"Two," said Iwase, getting into a crouch.

"Three!"

The two of them spoke at the same time, disappearing from sight.

Yuzu followed Byakuya through the streets, her hand on Jungetsu's sheath. Her heart pounded in her chest, a steady beat that seemed louder with each road they walked down. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something felt very wrong in this part of the city. The air was difficult to breathe. It felt oppressive, as if it was weighing down on her, pushing on her skin.

She'd felt like this before, once, in the moments outside the clinic before the Hollow killed her, back before she could see them.

She felt watched. Hunted. And without the ability to sense reiatsu, she felt blind as well. It surprised her how much she had come to rely on that ability in the past sixteen years.

She hated the feeling. It felt like they were walking right into a trap.

When she couldn't bear it any longer, she stepped forward, closing the gap between her and Byakuya. "Taicho," she said, keeping her voice low. It echoed in the confining alley, entirely too loud for her taste.

Byakuya looked back at her, and she saw from the coldness in his expression that he had noticed it as well. "What is it, Kurosaki?" he asked.

"Something's wrong—," said Yuzu, trying to sort through her thoughts. She knew that Byakuya preferred straight explanations, but she couldn't think of a simple explanation for what she was feeling. "Something—."

A shadow moved out of the corner of their vision.

Yuzu and Byakuya turned towards it, eyes narrowed. The figure darted down an alleyway, disappearing from sight before they could focus on it. Byakuya glanced at her, his expression grim, and nodded. Yuzu nodded as well, keeping her hand on Jungetsu's hilt as the two of them gave chase. The figure turned, keeping just out of sight of them the entire time, and disappeared into a building. They didn't hesitate, crossing the distance in one flash step. Byakuya entered the building first, Yuzu at his heels. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the dim light.

The building they were in was a small house with a low ceiling. It was larger than the house that the two of them had taken as their headquarters, but just as empty. The floor beneath their feet was packed earth, and all the furniture appeared to have been cleared out years ago, if any had been here in the first place.

A figure stood alone in the center of the house. Yuzu stared at her, taking in her appearance. A woman, tall and stately, with her long brown hair drawn up in a bun. She was dressed in living world clothes, a business-like blazer and suit. Her eyes were a light hazel, behind a pair of thin glasses.

The leader of the New Dawn, Kiyomizu Hanako.

Her appearance seemed to shift and shimmer before Yuzu's eyes, as if she was looking at her through water. Yuzu blinked, wondering if her eyes hadn't adjusted to the light. She placed her hand on Jungetsu's hilt, getting ready to draw the sword from its sheath. The sword slid out an inch, her foot moving forward as she prepared to draw.

Byakuya stopped her, stretching an arm out. He didn't take his eyes off Kiyomizu. She stood in the center of the room, watching them the way a cat watched its prey. Yuzu froze, looking up at Byakuya in confusion.

"…Taicho?" she asked.

Kiyomizu's smirk grew wider. "I see you figured it out," she said.

"Stay back, Kurosaki," said Byakuya, stepping forward.

Kiyomizu did not move to meet him. "Planning to fight me alone?" she asked, sounding more amused than disturbed. "That's very brave."

Yuzu stared between the two of them, confusion on her face. "Taicho, what's going on?" she asked. "Who is this?"

Byakuya's answer was to draw his sword, holding Senbonzakura in his right hand. Kiyomizu's eyes flicked to the blade, before moving back to Byakuya's.

"Yes, taicho," she said, her voice mocking. "Who am I?"

The air around her shifted, and it was like pulling back a curtain. At once, the reiatsu-sense that had been missing from them all this time returned, a wave of awareness washing over them all at once. Yuzu's eyes widened as she felt the tangle of reiatsus in the air, many of them engaged in combat. Her throat constricted from the sudden force of them, and she had to remind herself to breathe.

Shiyougi, Koyanagi, Yamagishi and Okada. Masa and Kohaku. Rukia-nee.

Ichi-nii.

Her eyes widened, and she glanced back at the door. In front of her, Byakuya tensed, his eyes narrowing as he felt it too. He raised his sword, pointing it at Kiyomizu's face.

"Let's stop these games," he said. "Kyoka Suigetsu."

Kyoka…

…Suigetsu.

Yuzu froze, her attention moving back to Kiyomizu. She watched, wide-eyed, as Kiyomizu smirked, holding out her hand. A blade formed in it, coming together as if it was made of water, a sword with a green and gold hilt. Her fingers closed around it, and she smiled, looking up at Byakuya from behind her glasses.

"See, Byakuya," she said. "I knew you had it in you."

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: So there you have it. The observant among you might have picked out something about Kiyomizu Hanako's name (清水 花子, clear water, flower child) and noticed that two of the characters are the same as that of her real name, Kyoka Suigetsu (鏡花 水月, mirror flower, water moon). And yes, I did get the idea from a certain filler arc. ^^

Omake

Yuzu stared down at the strategy drawing in front of her, a frown on her face. She tilted her head in an attempt to get a better look, but that didn't help. The vice-captain sighed, closing her eyes.

No matter which way you look at it, she thought, a droplet of sweat forming on the back of her head. It's a terrible drawing.

"What is it, Kurosaki?" asked Byakuya, noticing her expression. "Do you have a problem with this strategy?"

"It's not…it's not the strategy exactly, taicho," she said, not looking up.

"Then, what is it?" asked Byakuya, his frown deepening.

Yuzu shook her head, not looking at him. "It's nothing, taicho," she said. "Everything's fine."

Byakuya did not appear convinced. He stared at her for a few moments more, that same expression on his face. After a while, he looked back at the drawing.

"I see," he said, making Yuzu look up.

"You—you see?" she asked.

"Yes," said Byakuya, nodding. "Kurosaki, if you were upset about our representation as a single entity on this chart, you should have said something. Since there are two of us, it is only proper that we are represented equally."

More sweatdrops formed on the back of her head.

That's…kind of missing the point…

She kept silent, though, watching as Byakuya picked up the stick again. Yuzu watched as he drew a circle next to the Seaweed Ambassador, giving the object arms, legs, and a face. She frowned, her hands curling around the fabric of her robes as she tried to interpret it. "It's—ah—is it a sun, taicho?" she asked.

"It's a yuzu fruit, Kurosaki," said Byakuya, looking over at her. "Because…"

Yuzu closed her eyes, more sweatdrops forming. The corner of her mouth twitched with the effort of keeping up her smile.

"Hai, taicho. I know why."