Dior Crystal - Thanks for your comments, Dior-san! I lived reading them! :D It's all going to be explained.... in some chapters that are, at the moment, very far away... ^^; Thanks!

Soraya the All Speaker - LOL... 'Tears of Blood,' creepy indeed. XD

BleachedRed - Thanks! Ummm... sure! I removed all the 'cryptically' words in this chapter... is that alright?

And - to Aiko HanaKai: Thanks! I don't know what I'd have had done without you! :D

Ahahahha - I'm finally off hiatus! :D I wanna celebrate! (or.... wait... maybe i should wait until my naruto chapter comes out so I'm offically off hiatus? :/ Hmmmmm....)

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach - never did, never will.


xTeam Tatsukix

"Tears of Blood?" Inoue asked. Her purple-tinted gray eyes slowly gazed up at Tatsuki.

"Well," Tatsuki sighed, scratching the back of her head. "It's... not that famous, but it has been known by many. There was a Shinigami that had abilities similar to the Shun Shun Rikka. He destroyed a District of Rukongai with the abilities alone," she elaborated. "The attacks are extremely dangerous, and it takes a lot of control..."

"I think I can manage.... So what do I do?"

"Hmm... well..." Tatsuki glanced at the paper, before looking up at Orihime. "You have to try reiatsu-bending, actually."

"Reiatsu-bending?" Orihime repeated. "What is that?"

"As we speak, Ichigo is teaching reiatsu-bending to his team. He's much better than me at reiatsu-bending," Tatsuki called. "He has been practicing for hundreds of years to get it perfect."

"Eh… Wasn't he the worst reiatsu-bender a long time ago?" Inoue asked.

"Yeah, but that's why he started to practice on his reiatsu-bending..." the Vice-Captain replied.

"Huh… But you can do that too, right?"

"Actually, I can't," Tatsuki admitted, barely audible. "Reiatsu-bending is necessary for Kido, but it's difficult to use Kido while reiatsu-bending… for most Shinigamis, of course," she elaborated.

"So… Kurosaki-kun can do that too, right?"

"Yeah, well, only a few Captains, like Ichigo, can do the technique perfectly. Well, Hinamori can also perform the technique perfectly, but that's because she's a Kido prodigy."

"So what do you want me to do?" Inoue demanded, ready to train for the new technique.

"You'll start training tomorrow, but I'm going to switch you to Ichigo's team," Tatsuki said. "He'll teach you how to bend reiatsu. Is that okay with you, Inoue-san?"

"Huh…?" Inoue softly murmured. "Oh – right. That's… perfectly fine… Tatsuki-san."

"Alright, then," Tatsuki called, smiling. "Even though I can't teach you the reiatsu-bending technique, I'll teach you to change colors."

"Changing colors?" Inoue unconsciously looked up, mockingly. "How would changing colors be involved in an attack?"

"You see, they normally aren't associated with an attack," Tatsuki said. "But the technique, "Tears of Blood", is named like that for a reason."

"Which is?" Inoue demanded.

"The person attacked with the technique can feel pain and misery. It extracts painful memories, which is displayed like a scene of fallen blood. That's why the technique is named as "Tears of Blood"."

"B… but that's horrible!" Inoue exclaimed. "Is it really necessary to extract painful memories, even if it's an enemy, to win battles?" she questioned.

"Sense of honor?" Tatsuki asked.

"It's more like my code of ethics," Inoue corrected.

Tatsuki shrugged. "In a battle, your code of ethics won't be much helpful, no offense."

"None taken," Inoue replied quickly.

"You should take what's given to you, and make good progress of it."

"I guess you can be right…" Orihime admitted. "So about the changing colors technique?"

"Alright, let's get you to training!"

oxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxxoxoxoxxxooxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxooxoxoxo

xTeam Ichigox

"Hey, Kuchiki…" Kurosaki called. "Will you quit trying to slash me with that sword? If it kills me, my entire Division will be thrown into chaos, and not only that, how do ya think Hina's gonna react to that?" he questioned, sharply.

"I'm not trying to kill you intentionally," Rukia replied, curtly, as she balanced her sword to her side. "And who's Hina, anyways?"

"Er... a close friend of mine."

"A friend?"

"What? Am I not allowed to have friends?" Ichigo remarked, coolly. He noticed a glint appearing in Rukia's eyes, but chose not to question her.

"You never talk about them," Rukia stated.

"I don't have to," Ichigo replied. "And you? Do you have any friends?"

"I suppose… a few…" the Kuchiki muttered, but audible enough for Ichigo to hear it.

"Like who…?" Ichigo prodded.

"Just some people in my class…" Rukia murmured, softly. "I don't have many friends."

"Hah? What about Inoue and Sado?" Ichigo demanded. "I'd understand if that bastard Ishida wasn't your friend – I wouldn't want to be his friend either – but…"

"Yes, they're all good friends – even Ishida." Rukia smiled, before turning back to her sword. "Now, how do I hold the sword properly again…?"

Ichigo sighed. "You're holding it the proper way already, Kuchiki. The only thing that's affecting your training is your horrible ability to strike."

"But I still don't get what I'm doing wrong…" Rukia complained. "I'm holding the sword right, I'm putting enough strength in, and I'm also putting enough balance into my strikes... But it won't work."

Ichigo took a glance at the confused Kuchiki. "There's no drift in your clothing to mar your balance... Maybe it could be your posture…"

"My posture?" Rukia blinked, examining herself from head to toe. "What about it?"

"Never mind… Your posture seems alright." Ichigo recalled Rukia's strikes so far. Realization finally dawned on him. "Ah, before you strike, you should aim your sword above your head first."

"So you mean I can't strike my sword from my side?"

"Well, you shouldn't practice katana striking by throwing the weight of the sword from the side. You'll learn that later." Ichigo pointed at the tree Rukia tried to slash. "Now try pointing your sword to the sky and strike down at the tree."

Rukia properly gripped her sword again, uncertain of this method.

"… Are you sure…?" she asked.

"Absolutely."

Rukia lingered, still uncertain. "Positive?"

"I'm absolutely positively sure."

Rukia sharply inhaled before aiming her sword to the sky, and shut her eyes, slashing the tree.

She refused to open her eyes, expecting the 5th Division Captain to be disappointed. The Kuchiki was holding her breath – certain of her failure.

"Congratulations, Rukia." The words of the captain were low, but thoughtful. But the question was… Were those thoughtful words a decoy to betray her hope?

Rukia hesitated to open her eyes, but slowly opened them only to see a scar slashed across the healthy vigorous green of the tree – a taunt 3 feet long and an inch deep.

Rukia's jaw was open, unable to process all the excited thoughts that were swarming in her head. "W… wow…" she stuttered. Comparing her former feeble scratches on the wood to this marring scar... It was relieving. She looked at Ichigo, uncertain of his reaction.

"That was amazing, Rukia," Ichigo murmured.

"I know." Her words seemed to give off a sense of arrogance, but how could she help it? Warmth bubbled in her chest as she spoke – a small warmth, but still existing, hazy and warm.

"Ah, now I'm starting to regret making that bet with you…" Ichigo's words flickered with uncertainty, betraying his normal aloofness.

"Hah? Don't tell me you're planning to chicken out!"

"Not a chance, Kuchiki." His smirk returned, the usual self-confidence reflected in his eyes again. "Try practicing again, Rukia. I'm going to see well Ishida's progressing…"

Rukia nodded, confident to reach to the orange-haired captain's expectations. Distracted by the strong power flowing in her veins, she raised her sword a second time.

oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxo

xTeam Tatsukix

The world was swarming in a color of red– droplets of red liquid rained down.

A memory slowly surfaced as the scenes started to reveal themselves – A teenage girl emerged, her hair soaked with an unidentified liquid. She was dressed in a simple bottle-blue yukata – clearly well-worn, if the frayed ends of the clothing were anything to go by...

The teenager lifted her arm, almost daintily, with a vacant look crossing her eyes as she looked around…

Her hand reached up to brush her soaking wet bangs out of the way, absently swatting away some stray strands of hair. The unidentified liquid slowly dripped down her fingers, unveiling itself – an inky red substance, darkly frightening in its own way. The liquid wasn't water, nor was it anything similar to water. But it couldn't have had been blood... She was only 16, but the substance streamingdown and unmarred skin was strikingly similar to the life-giving substance...

Tatsuki quickly regained her breath – feeling the world of red drip away, only to see Inoue in front of her – panting and tired, but was successful in managing through the technique.

"You've actually managed… to extract a memory… this time… Inoue-san…" Tatsuki managed between pants. "That was just… amazing…"

"Really…?" Inoue blinked. "But I didn't see anything when I closed my eyes."

"Yes, but closing your eyes is essential to the technique. Once the user closes her eyes... the victim... is being recalled to those memories. But... there's a catch."

"A catch?"

"The user… can't see the memories… unless they stab through them…" Tatsuki paused, taking the time to regain her breath. "It takes a lot of reiatsu and effort… but it's actually worthwhile sometimes," Tatsuki grinned at the student.

"Um… Tatsuki-san, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"It looks like I mastered the technique… but what's the reiatsu-bending for?"

Tatsuki sighed, thinking about her question. "Well, if you don't master reiatsu-bending, you can't switch the memories of the victim."

Orihime cocked her head, confused.

"For example, you used the technique you just mastered, and all they can see is a painful, but weak memory. If you don't reiatsu-bend, you can't switch their memories to a stronger one." Once Orihime understood, the fukataichou got back to her point. "Generally, the stronger memories are found after bending reiatsu to different memories…" Tatsuki pushed her bangs out of the way. "You're progressing excellently, Inoue-san… Can you continue practicing? I'm going to take a break… I'm so exhausted."

"Ah… Sure, Tatsuki-chan." A glimpse of uncertainty appeared in her purple-tinted gray eyes.

Tatsuki's smile faltered. "I'll be back. Sado-san's gotten his frontal attack already and he's working on his second, and you should be working on your attacks too. I don't want to abandon either of you... And that technique you used is really difficult, even if you're still only developing it now. Now, I'm just gonna go take a break…"

"I don't mind, Tatsuki-chan." The uncertainty disappeared within sight. "How long…?"

"I guess… as long as it takes for me to cool down... Besides, it's almost time to end training." Tatsuki smiled before leaving – her footsteps uncertain and heavy, opposed to her usual brash and confident steps.

After curving a path across the meadow –certain that no one was in sight – Tatsuki groaned, leaning against a willow tree by the nearby piranha stream.

Her eyes were vacant – blank – like the eyes of an empty house. It was frightening. Like the eyes of someone who had lost all but one...

...The teenager sighed before standing up, slowly and uncertain. She pushed against the wall to regain her balance – resting her head against the wall – feeling the cold, inky blood streak on the wall...

She sharply sighed as she sat on the ground, her back leaning on the trunk of the willow tree. Her head was buried in her hands, her fingers intertwined with her unruly, purple-black strands of hair.

The blank eyes of a listless child turned their head to her, and as the moonlight lit the frame of the child, blood streaks were shown on her features. Her hair was dripping with bloodand a blank smile – frightening in its own sense and understanding – spread slowly across her face…

The Fukataichou stood up, dusting off her Shinigami clothes, gazing at the setting sun in mild speculation.

A thought surfaced to her mind. "The sun was setting... Oughtn't she to leave?"

Tatsuki stood still – her feet refusing to move, feeling her shoulders tense, and her back stiffen – with memories flooding her head.

She stood there, unwavering, until dusk has finally fallen.

oxoxoxoxoxoxxoxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxooxxoxxooxxoxoxoxoxxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxo

xTeam Ichigox

"Oi!" A clear, thought undeniably sharp, voice rang out, cutting through the air like a scythe. "Let's end the training for today!"

"Already?!" Rukia exclaimed, looking up at the Captain in disbelief. "B-but… it's only–"

"One hour till midnight," Ichigo crisply replied. "We should leave… Besides, I wanna check on Tatsuki's team."

"To serve as compensation for the fact that you can't even cooperate easily with a team…?" Ishida remarked sarcastically, as he appeared from his previous location.

An ominous silence hovered over them, as they glared at each other. "I… hate… you…" Ichigo finally murmured. His hazel eyes narrowed, daring the other to challenge his statement. "I really… do. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to kill you, so I'll just settle with making your training unbearably horrible."

Surprise spread across the Quincy's frame. "And… what happened to ignoring me and that idiotic 20 Questions game you were trying to play…?" the irritated Ishida asked.

"Oh… that?" Ichigo managed a half-hearted grin, recalling those moments. "I was bored… What else can I do?"

"Tch… Clearly," Ishida scoffed.

"Such amazing mental capabilities you have, Ku-ro-sa-ki-sama..." Rukia sarcastically added.

"…" A vein popped in Ichigo's forehead. "I… hate… the both of you…" he growled.


Well - this came out better than expected. ^^;

Expect the next chapter to come out..... whenever I feel like it. :D

Ah... Before I forget... I found a new beta: Aiko HanaKai! Her profile ~ .net/u/1531506/Aiko_HanaKai Her writing's really amazing... You should really take the time off to read them!

And please review!