A/N: I apologize for how much the past few chapters have dragged. I got a little fight-scene happy and wasn't aware that you guys were just wanting it to be over (as to be honest, I sort of was). I have one last plot thread to wrap up, but instead of letting it bleed over into the next chapter, I decided to just finish it this chapter. So, here it is, the chapter that wraps up the Kyoka Suigetsu plot so we can get back to our regularly scheduled ByaYuzu entertainment.

Thanks for sticking with me this long, guys, and as always, please review and tell me if you don't like something. If you wait five chapters before telling me that something was dragging, well, obviously I wouldn't know that and would just continue writing thinking that everything was okay. (And if you tell me that you do like something, I may make a conscious effort to include more of it.)

drunkenlullabies90, the fights were actually happening over a very short period of time, so the majority of the Gotei 13 hadn't mobilized yet (they are aware that stuff is happening, though. They're working on it.) Which is my way of saying, I messed up and didn't think that one through. Fixed that for you~

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

Chapter 52: Duty and compassion

The first thing Rukia noticed as she arrived on the scene was an explosion of sound, so strong that it nearly knocked her off her feet. She stumbled back as she landed on the ground, Sode no Shirayuki clenched in one hand. A man was standing in the center of the abandoned stadium, a large sword clutched in one hand. The sound and wind was emanating from him, a high-pitched keening sound, almost too high to hear, but high enough that it set her teeth on edge. It vibrated through Sode no Shirayuki, scattering fragments of ice around the sword.

She grit her teeth, glancing to the side. Iwase was pinned to the wall by what looked like Hyapporankan, a child pinned to the wall directly beside her. Both of them were struggling to get free, but the kido spell held them fast. Masaryu was crouched on the ground a few feet away from her, one hand over his shoulder. Blood dripped from a gash there, mixing with a pool of liquid metal on the ground in front of him. She tightened her grip on her sword.

"Masaryu!" she said sharply.

"Ru—Rukia-dono." Masa grimaced, raising his head. "Be careful. He has—a bankai—."

The man the two of them had been fighting suddenly flash-stepped in front of her, swinging that sword. Rukia quickly raised Sode no Shirayuki to block it, the sword striking the white blade. As it hit, waves of sound rippled outwards from the metal, beating against her skin and sending her sliding back. Rukia ducked, sweeping her sword out at his ankle, but Kintaro simply jumped back, avoiding the blade as it moved towards him. A wave of cold followed in Sode no Shirayuki's wake, a circle of ice forming on the ground beneath Kintaro.

"Some no Mai," said Rukia. "Tsukishiro."

A pillar of ice rose up from the ground beneath Kintaro, surrounding him. Before the pillar could fully form, waves of sound emanated from Kintaro, shattering the ice into powdery dust. Rukia jumped back as he rushed towards her, leaping into the air. She pushed her sword into the ground beneath her feet four times, ice and cold following in its wake.

"Tsugi no Mai," she said. "Hakuren."

Kintaro swept his sword through the air as the wave of ice rushed towards him, the sound shattering the ice into crystals. Rukia grimaced as the sound struck her, and she quickly twisted out of the way, landing on the ground. Kintaro advanced quickly, moving towards her, and it was all she could do to block him, holding Sode no Shirayuki out in front of her. Rukia jumped back again, sliding back on the bare ground and pressing her free hand to her abdomen as she held her sword out in front of her.

Fighting a bankai with only a shikai was a dangerous proposition. If she could go into bankai, or even use her shikai's more dangerous capabilities…

No. She couldn't risk it. Not now.

Rukia jumped back as Kintaro advanced, his sword crashing to the ground in front of her. It split open the earth with the force of it, the tip of the blade grazing her forearm as she pulled out of the way. Blood flowed from the cut as she jumped back, a small trickle. She darted forward, thrusting her sword at Kintaro. He swept his blade upward, the heavy blade slicing clean through Sode no Shirayuki. The tip of the white sword shattered, scattering crystals of ice. Kintaro wasted no time in advancing, slashing at her.

"Rukia-dono!" Masa shouted in alarm.

Rukia's eyes narrowed, and she side-stepped the blow, drawing up next to him and pointing the remnant of her broken blade at Kintaro's head.

"San no Mai," she said. "Shirafune."

Kintaro's eyes widened as ice formed at the broken edge of her sword, the blade quickly regrowing towards his head. He jumped back, but only managed to shift the blade's target, Sode no Shirayuki reforming so that his chest was impaled on it, the blade sticking out from just below his collarbone. Kintaro grimaced in pain, but twisted towards her, still hefting his sword in his hand.

"What do you think you've accomplished?" he asked, raising his sword arm. Rukia's eyes widened, and she quickly pulled her sword back as he slashed, the blade cutting through the air and the sound waves shattering the regrown portion of her sword. Blood flowed freely from the wound on Kintaro's shoulder, crystallizing into red ice at the edges, but Kintaro gripped his sword with both hands, the look in his eye murderous as he stepped towards her. Masa struggled to get to his feet with more urgency.

"Kuchiki-dono!" he said.

Rukia prepared to raise her broken sword in her defense, her eyes wide as Kintaro rushed towards her.

He was stopped by a blue arrow shooting through the air, piercing the back of his sword hand. Rukia's eyes widened, and she turned towards the wall as Kintaro dropped his sword to the ground, clutching his hand close to himself.

Ishida Uryu stood balanced on the lip of the wall, his bow in his hand. The wind blew through his white Quincy uniform as he glanced down at them. There was a flash, and then he was standing next to Rukia, his bow raised towards Kintaro as the man moved to pick up his sword again.

"Ishida!" said Rukia. "What happened to the Arrancar and Hamano?"

"The Second Division arrived," said Ishida, without looking at her. "Apparently, the Gotei 13 have been alerted. They took Hamano into custody. Orihime and the others are on their way. And as for this one…"

Ishida pulled back his hand, a cluster of arrows forming at his fingertips. He pointed them at Kintaro as the other man shifted his sword through his off-hand, a wave of sound passing through the air. The sound rippled through Ishida's bow, but didn't disperse it, the arrows wavering but remaining where they were. Ishida's eyes were cold as he pulled the bow back all the way, preparing to fire.

He was interrupted by the sudden sound of screaming.

A wave of reiatsu burst forth from the corner of the stadium, and Rukia's eyes widened as she turned towards it. Yasui Hisoka was on the ground screaming, the blast of reiatsu around her having shattered the binding kido that held her and Iwase in place. Her bonds were gone too, but the reiatsu continued to pulse around her as her face contorted in pain, a maelstrom rising up around the child.

Rukia stared, realizing that she recognized that reiatsu. It wasn't Hisoka's own.

It was Aizen's reiatsu. Kyoka Suigetsu's reiatsu.

A laugh rose up above the screams, coming from Kintaro. He was holding something in his hand, Rukia realized, something that glowed and shimmered in brilliant iridescent colors. The same colors that were starting to settle around Hisoka.

"You're too late," he said. "It's too late."

Toshiro landed on his feet as the light faded around them, depositing both him and Karin onto the bare earth of the Urahara Shop's training ground. Beside him, Karin stumbled, her hand still outstretched as she fell forward onto the ground. She clenched her hands into fists as the bracelets around their wrists opened, still hissing steam as they clattered to the ground.

"Damn it," she swore, slamming her fist against the bare earth. "Damn it. Shit!"

Toshiro caught her wrist before she could punch the ground again, holding it in place as she struggled. She pulled her hand back against herself, turning wide gray eyes towards him. Her breath shook as she came to a stop, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. He relaxed his grip as all the tension left her at once, her hand going limp. As he released her, it fell to the ground, her fingers digging furrows into the packed earth as she knelt on the ground. Toshiro clenched his fist, feeling useless in his own frustration. They had been so close—so close.

He felt his fingers digging into his palms at the memory of those last moments, of the scant inches that had passed between Karin's hand and Kuchiki-taicho's. After all of that, it hadn't been enough.

"Karin…"

Karin squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, hugging her arms close to herself. Her fingers dug into her arms beneath her shihakusho. Toshiro hesitated, then placed a hand on her shoulder, crouching down in front of her. He gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze, and her breath caught in her throat.

"There's still a chance…" she muttered, opening her eyes. "On says there might be a chance."

Her other hand gripped her sword's sheath tightly, and Toshiro didn't miss the note of desperation in her voice. He exhaled and reached out, with the intention of pulling her towards him.

"Toshiro! Karin!"

The two of them froze, turning in the direction of the voice. Kurosaki Ichigo came running, cresting the hill nearest them and sliding down the slope. His eyes were wide and frantic as he hurried towards them, panicked enough that he didn't seem to notice their proximity. He came to a stop in front of them, looking around.

"Yuzu and Byakuya," he said. "Where are Yuzu and Byakuya?"

The two of them exchanged glances in answer, Karin biting her lip and lowering her eyes to the ground. Her hand still held fast to the sword at her side, gripping it like a lifeline.

A chance.

Toshiro recalled her last words. He hoped, for all of their sakes, that that was true.

Byakuya lay back on the grass and wondered how they were still alive. Those last moments after Kyoka Suigetsu's death were a blur. He remembered reaching for Kurosaki Karin's hand, missing her, just barely. He remembered the two of them falling, remembered light rising up to meet them—warm, white light—and then darkness.

He supposed it didn't matter now.

He had woken up in this place, lying by the edge of a pond under the branches of a white tree. The pond reminded him of his first sight of the Shattered World, but the trees by this pond were alive despite their leaflessness, white trunks and thin white branches reaching for the sky. The grass beneath him was alive as well, rippling in the slight breeze that moved across the ground. Above the circle of trees, the moon was large and full, its light giving everything a silvery cast. If it hadn't been for the pond itself, he would have thought they were somewhere in the real world, but although the air held the warmth of a late spring night, the pond's surface was opaque and cracked, almost as if it had frozen over. Beneath the surface, he could just barely see the outline of a woman in white, her eyes closed and her hands folded over her chest as she drifted there. She hadn't stirred in the several minutes since Byakuya had woken up.

And neither had Yuzu.

His vice-captain lay on her side, her head resting on his arm. She was dressed once again in her shihakusho, her chest rising and falling with the rhythm of peaceful sleep. He felt dishonest, lying here next to her, but at the same time, he was loath to move away. All of the events of the past day and a half—of the past few weeks—none of that seemed to matter anymore. In this space, alone, he could admit the truth of things to himself. He could admit that this was what he wanted—that given a choice, this was where he would have stayed.

But when her eyes started to open, he knew that he had overstayed his welcome. Byakuya slowly slid his arm out from underneath her, bracing his hands on the ground and sitting up so that he was leaning against the trunk of the tree. He took a breath to school his expression, but he could not quite keep himself from watching her as she stirred, blinking at him as she pushed herself up off the ground. Her eyes slid away from him, taking in the area around them. A flash of recognition passed across them as she looked out over the pond.

"Taicho…" she said. "This is…"

"Your inner world?" Byakuya asked. He hadn't known for sure, but it wasn't difficult to guess.

"Yes." Yuzu settled back, drawing her knees up close to her chest. He realized, glancing at her, that she had unconsciously settled herself so that she was sitting very close to him, the loose fabric of their shihakushos touching each other. He realized also that he was comfortable with this, with this proximity. The words of her letter came back to him. If he had only waited…

Then again, he supposed his life was a long string of 'if-only's.

He looked away before she could notice his glance, his eyes sweeping over the pond as she spoke again. "But I don't understand," she said. "How did we end up here?"

"I suppose she saved us," said Byakuya, inclining his head slightly towards the figure in the pond. Jungetsu. Yuzu's zanpakuto. He couldn't remember clearly, but the white light and the warmth would fit, as would the voice he heard in the last moments before unconsciousness took him, calling out his name.

Yuzu lowered her eyes to the ground at the sight of the scarred and scratched surface of the pond, biting her lip. "I see…" she said, her fingers tightening around the fabric of her hakama. "Jungetsu-chan…"

Byakuya glanced at her side, noticing that she wore no sword.

"She will recover," he found himself saying. "A zanpakuto will recover from almost any injury, as long as they are not broken entire. It may take some time, but with luck you will not need to fight as hard in the near future as you have today."

Yuzu nodded, reluctantly lifting her head. Her eyes were still wide as they landed on the pond, filled with regret and worry, but she said nothing more. The two of them slipped into silence, Byakuya studying the way the moonlight reflected against the pond's uneven surface. For them, the silence seemed easier than speech. There was still so much left to say, and so much that couldn't be said.

If he had his way, he might never have spoken, but there were some things that couldn't be ignored.

"I cannot return your feelings…" he said, his voice soft as his eyes took in the scenery on the other side of the pond. He heard Yuzu draw in a shaky breath, saw her arms tighten around her knees out of the corner of his eye. It was like a knife twisting in his heart.

"I know," she said, her voice just as soft as his.

"I cannot dishonor Azami," he said. "…Or you." Not you. Especially not you.

"I…" Her breath hitched, and he heard the hesitance in her voice. The knife twisted further. "I know."

"It would be…better, perhaps, if you forgot about me." He felt his own breath catch as he spoke, and wondered if she heard it as well. At this point, he didn't dare look at her.

The note in her voice this time was one of regret. "I…know…" she said.

"That said…" Byakuya reached into the inside pocket of his shihakusho, drawing something out. It was a flat leather badge, engraved on one side with the kanji for '6' and the Sixth Division camellia. The straps were tied neatly around it. Yuzu glanced at it, her eyes widening as he held it out to her. "If you still wish to accept this, then don't leave it behind again." Her hands closed around the badge, and he turned away from her, getting to his feet.

There was a door that had opened up on the other side of the pond, a traditional wooden sliding door, one that looked almost like a Senkaimon. Like a Senkaimon, it opened into light. Byakuya started walking towards it, not looking back at her as he spoke.

"…There is no one else I would rather have at my side."

He felt all the meanings of that sentence hang in the air between them, and knew that she understood them when he heard her breath catch a second time. He didn't look back at her at first, afraid as he was of what he would see there. Afraid that what he saw there would be enough to break through whatever fragile resolve he had managed to acquire. When he did finally look back at her, she was already standing, the badge tied around her left arm as though it had never left.

As though it always belonged there.

His eyes met hers, and he knew that she understood. For once, there were no secrets between them, nothing to hide. For once, it seemed like everything in the shadows had been brought to light, their hearts laid bare in the span of a breath. It was too late now for that to change things, but it was enough.

He looked away again, walking towards the door. "Let's go home, Kurosaki."

He heard her footsteps as she moved, catching up with him. "Hai, taicho."

Byakuya paused as he reached the door, stopping in front of the square of light to look back over the pond. A masked figure in armor knelt by the surface of the water, between two trees. The figure's eyes were fixed solemnly on the water, the trees on either side of him in flower. The wind blew through their branches, cherry blossom petals dotting the earth around the samurai. Yuzu turned towards him, her eyes widening as she noticed the presence there.

"Senbonzakura," Byakuya said. "Let's return."

The samurai did not raise his head, his attention fixed on the woman that floated beneath the surface of the water. He kept his hands curled into fists on his thighs, his sword resting by his side. "A moment more, Master," he murmured. "Please."

Byakuya found that he couldn't deny him. He looked away. "As you wish," he said, leaving the spirit to his vigil.

He stepped into the light.

"You're too late. It's too late."

Kintaro's words hung in the air as Rukia stood there, her hand on her sword and her eyes passing between Kintaro and the screaming girl. Kyoka Suigetsu's reiatsu hovered around her, growing in strength and drowning out her own. Rukia started towards her, but was startled to find that she couldn't move, held in place by a wave of sound as Kintaro held up his sword with his other hand. Her fingers twitched as she tried to raise Sode no Shirayuki, but the sound held fast, holding her in place. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ishida clench his teeth together, trying to loose his bow, but his fingers wouldn't move either, the wave of sound trapping them both. Across from her, Masa struggled to stand before falling to the ground as Kintaro's eyes moved over him, a wave of sound slamming him against the earth.

Hisoka continued to scream.

He's using her…Rukia realized, her eyes moving towards the child. To give Kyoka Suigetsu a body?

She wouldn't have thought it was possible, but there were so many things about Kyoka Suigetsu that were still unexplained. And the way Hisoka was screaming…

Kintaro was only a few feet away from her. If she could only move, she could do something about this. If only she could move—

She fought to raise her sword as Hisoka's screams grew louder, her hand trembling with the effort. She only needed a few inches, then she could at least use Shirafune. Only a few inches—

Move, she thought to herself, beads of sweat breaking out across her skin with the struggle. Move!

Nothing happened. Her hands shook, but stayed in place, as though all of her effort meant nothing. Rukia sucked in a breath, her heart pounding as she considered using her bankai again. If it meant stopping Kyoka Suigetsu from coming through—but no. The risk to her child notwithstanding, using Hakka no Togame in a place like this would kill Ishida too.

But she had to do something. They were running out of time.

They were running out of time…

Kintaro raised the glowing orb, a grin appearing on his face.

That was when a coil of wires erupted from his chest, wet with blood.

For an instant, the smile remained frozen on his face. Then, it slowly slid away, his eyes widening with realization. Before he could fully comprehend what had happened, the wires slid out, his knees buckling as he collapsed to the ground. The orb in his hands fell to the earth, rolling over the stones with a smooth tinkling sound. The waves of reiatsu stopped pulsing around Hisoka, and she staggered, falling to the ground.

On the other side of Kintaro, Iwase Kohaku grimaced from where she was lying on the ground, her hand outstretched towards Kintaro. The bloodied wires shot back towards her, reforming into her sword. Kintaro's zanpakuto shattered, and then they could move again.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Ranmei Kaigarasu (乱鳴回烏, chaos sound, spinning crow) is Iwase Kintaro's bankai. It emits a high-pitched wave of sound strong enough to shatter most solid objects when concentrated on a certain area, as well as hold opponents in place when spread widely. The bankai also changes Kaigarasu into a much larger sword.

Yay no more fighting (of the physical kind anyway)! Two chapters to go!

Omake

Flashback: Paperwork Season

January, for most of the high-ranking members of the Gotei 13, meant paperwork, a time when reports that had been left unfiled for most of the year were due. For some Divisions, that meant more work than in others. It meant working late into the night, sorting through the piles of injury reports, requisitions, incident reports, expenses, and other menial tasks of bureaucracy.

And of course, each Division handled the stress in different ways, as can be seen…

Tenth Division

Hitsugaya Toshiro sat at his desk with the lights shining brightly in his office, dark circles under his eyes as he filled out another form. His vice-captain, Matsumoto Rangiku, lay sprawled out on the couch, a cup of sake in one hand and a pitcher in the other.

"Matsumoto…" Toshiro muttered as he worked. "If you ever feel like actually doing work around here…"

"I'll let you know," said Matsumoto, with a smile.

"That's what I thought," said Toshiro, tiredly reaching for the next sheet of paper.

Thirteenth Division

"Rukia-san, are you sure you don't want to go home?" asked Ukitake, lying in bed in the captain's quarters with a pile of reports clutched in his hand. He lowered the reports, giving Rukia a smile as she passed another stack of papers to him. "I'm sure Ichigo will be waiting for you."

Rukia smiled back from where she was sitting in seiza next to the futon, a pile of papers in her lap. "No, taicho, don't worry about it," she said, picking up her pen. "I'm sure he's working late as well."

Fifth Division

The only sound in the office was the scratching of pen against paper, both Ichigo and Hinamori busy at work at their desks. The pile of papers around them seemed to grow steadily larger and steadily more disorganized, until at last, Ichigo exhaled in frustration, leaning his head back against his chair and staring up at the ceiling.

"Why do we have so many goddamn damage reports?!" he yelled.

Hinamori opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, Yachiru burst in through the wall, tackling Ichigo off his chair and to the ground.

"Icchi!"

Eighth Division

"Nanao-chan…" whined Kyoraku, struggling against the cords that bound him to his office chair. Exaggerated tears ran down his face. "Don't be cruel, Nanao-chan!"

"If you just did paperwork every once in a while, this wouldn't happen," said Nanao, light shining over her glasses as she glared down at him. She dropped a stack of papers onto his desk, the weight of it making the whole desk rattle. "Now, sign."

"Nanao-chaaaannnn!"

Third Division

Renji leaned back from where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, letting out a sigh of defeat at the stacks of paperwork situated around him. "I can't take this anymore," he said. "Why do we have so much paperwork?"

Kira frowned, looking up from the smaller stack of papers that he was looking over. "If you're tired, we could just stop for the night and start again tomorrow," he said.

"No." Renji sat up, gripping his pen tighter as he looked over the papers with new determination. "That's for quitters. I'm not gonna let this paperwork get the best of me! Come on, Kira!"

With a loud cry, he grabbed the nearest stack of papers, working his way through them with an intensity usually reserved for battle. Kira sighed as papers started flying every which way, with signatures and stamps haphazardly plastered to them.

"…I was actually hoping to take a break…" he murmured.

Sixth Division

Yuzu paused, rubbing at her eyes as she listened to the sounds coming from the street. Was it just her imagination, or was someone…shouting? Like a battle cry? She shook her head, blinking bleary eyes back down at the form she was working on. Maybe she was just tired.

Across the office from her, Byakuya worked quietly, working his way through each stack of paper she handed him. If there was any disturbance, he didn't seem to notice. A tray stood on the stand in the middle of the room, a teapot and a pair of cups sitting on it. They'd worked their way through a steady supply of tea since the sun started going down.

She inhaled slowly, breathing in the scents of ink and paper as she got to her feet, bracing another stack of papers against her side. As she walked towards Byakuya's desk, she thought she heard someone shouting again. In fact, it sounded almost like her brother, and…Yachiru?

She shook her head. She probably really was tired.

"Here are more things for you to sign, taicho," she said, setting the papers down on the edge of his desk. "I'm going to get some more tea."

"Thank you, Kurosaki," said Byakuya, hardly glancing at her as he reached for the next sheet of paper. There were dark circles under his eyes as well. Yuzu turned away from him, picking up the empty tea pot and walking towards the kitchen.

She completely missed the sight of Ichigo chasing Yachiru across the rooftop from the window she walked past, the pink-haired vice-captain clutching several record books marked with the Fifth Division lily of the valley.

Paperwork season was difficult, she decided, but at least she and her captain were working together. She had a feeling that things were easier that way, when a captain and vice-captain were both very committed to getting things done. After all, managing the Division was just part of what it meant to lead one.

The captain and vice-captain…

Eleventh Division

"Why the hell are we always stuck doing this?!" Karin yelled at the ceiling, looking up in frustration from the stacks of injury and damage reports that surrounded her.

In front of her, Yumichika let out a frustrated sigh, collapsing dramatically onto the stacks of paper in front of him as the party continued on outside the room.