Tango Dancer: Thanks! :D I liked that last bit too! XD

Soraya the All Speaker: Actually, it's more like Inoue realizes that she's been reincarnated - she doesn't know about the others. It's because she remembers everything and she sees it as a logical conclusion. The others are all kind of going with her idea.

Hisanachan: Thanks!

BrazeRancor: LOL. Hopefully, this chapter'll alleviate some of that depressive tone, then? XD

Veggiemite: Thanks! :D Your review really cheered me up on this lonely gloomy little day when things really wasn't going my way - so thanks! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach... Meep. XD [Meep ish Aiko HanaKai's word! xD] Indeed...


We finished up too late. Tatsuki stumbled over a rock cropping – squinting in the darkness that had fallen moments beforehand. It was difficult to discern if the hulking shadow in front of her was a huge post sign or a gigantic rock... They were both on the map, weren't they?

"Ah… Tatsuki-san!" Inoue's triumphant voice rang out on the path. "I found the trail! It's six feet to your left, by that pinecone tree!"

"Hah? What pinecone tree?" Tatsuki blinked in the darkness – seeing nothing but a giant figure hovering over her.

"The pinecone tree is right in front of you, Tatsuki-san. It looks like a giant boulder, see?"

"That's a pinecone tree?" She glanced up at the towering tree. "Funny. I was beginning to think that it was Godzilla carved in stone."

The other laughed quietly. "Oh, I… I can see the fire… that Kurosaki-san's group set up from there, Tatsuki-san. It looks like some orange blur…" Inoue paused, tilting her head for a better view. She then pointed to the direction of the fire. "There! See?"

"Err… not really…" Tatsuki murmured, her eyes squinting for a sharper focus. "Where –?"

"Ano… Tatsuki-san? You're looking in the wrong direction," Sado cut in; quiet as ever, his voice a mere shadow that the wind quickly dispersed of.

Tatsuki swiveled around, catching sight of some orange spark behind the foliage of a tree. "Oh... yeah. I see it, Inoue-san!"

"I can go ahead, if you don't mind…" Inoue was starting to lower her voice now as well, her tone uncertain. "So I can tell Kurosaki-kun's team of your arrival."

"Sure." The word slipped out of her mouth easily. Tatsuki was surprised at how easily she was letting her guide go, but still…"Sado-san, can you be my guide for now? I need the visual aid."

"Hai," Sado called, addressing her, for once.

"I'll be taking my leave, then…" Inoue's voice faltered slightly, lingering, before she quickly set off – the faint sound of her footsteps signifying her leave to Tatsuki.

"Should we continue, Tatsuki-san?" Sado's deep, respectful voice called.

"I'm really too old for this sort of stuff…" Tatsuki grit her teeth as she readied herself for what she was sure would be a perilous journey. "Come on, Sado-san. Let's go."

~-~-~

"Inoue-san…?" Ichigo called, noticing a girl pull away from the various forestry that surrounded the clearing. "What's up?" Hazel eyes narrowed in confusion – taking notice of the surroundings around Inoue. "Where's Tatsuki, Inoue-san?"

"She's coming. Tatsuki-san gave me permission to go on ahead to inform you," Inoue replied, craning her head to her left and right. "Ano... Where's Kuchiki-san and Ishida-san?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Kuchiki's lying on the ground somewhere, watching the stars. Same with Ishida. Don't worry about them – they're idiots that don't merit your concern," the orange-haired captain murmured. "So... Where's Sado-san?"

"He's accompanying Tatsuki-san." Inoue blinked up at him. "You know, Kurosaki-san, I-I don't think that Tatsuki-san can see very well in the dark."

"No shit," Ichigo laughed, if not only sheepishly. "One second I turn off the light in the office, Tatsuki somehow crashes onto the table or something." He sighed. "I tried to get her to get some prescribed night glasses, but she almost landed me in the hospital when I offered her 'em." At Inoue's baffled look, he elaborated. "She has a killer right hook..."

"Oh…" Inoue felt faintly surprised at how the information seemed to fit in so perfectly with their clashing personalities. "Do you think Tatsuki-san will be fine? I-I can go back..." she insisted.

"Nah…" Ichigo waved a hand dismissively. "She wouldn't like that too much. Heck, if it was me, she'd punch me in the face," he warned. "Might as well let her find her way back. Sado-san's with her, isn't he?"

"Hai."

"See? She'll be fine. I don't know much about your group, but Sado-san doesn't seem like the type to ditch and run."

"Hmm… He isn't, actually…" Orihime murmured.

"There you go." Ichigo replied. He glanced at Orihime's worried eyes. "They'll be fine."

Feeling faintly subducted and flustered, Inoue quelled her arguments, and quietly nodded, instead.

~-~-~

"S-Sado-san? I... I think I see... the light. Like... The light at the end of the tunnel. The end of this dark tunnel. The end of life. Yadayada.... Y'know what I mean, right?"

"... I believe you're looking at the campfire, Tatsuki-san," Sado pointed out, rather courteously.

"Shit, seriously? I thought we arrived there already." The fukataichou let out a low groan. "We're gonna be walking forever, aren't we? What did I ever do to deserve this fate?"

"It's not that far away, Tatsuki-san..."

"It better be," Tatsuki hesitated. "How much further have we got to go, anyways?"

"Just beyond the bush, actually. Then, we can cease walking." The gentle demur came, faintly cajoling.

"And thank heavens for it," Tatsuki muttered, glancing at the implied bush in front of her. "Hmm… Ne, Sado-san... How did you get such good eyesight, anyways?"

"I used to go bird-watching," the gentle giant replied.

"Really?" Tatsuki blinked, stepping right of the aforementioned bush. "There's a history to that. What else?"

A hesitant pause was lingering over the two. "There's nothing else, actually," Sado quietly detested, closing into that immovable barrier again, the gentle – yet so emotionless – giant. "We're here," he called, subtly changing tactic as he stepped out from the branch to the clearing.

"Tatsuki! Sado-san!" A warm, irrelevantly familiar, voice greeted them.

Tatsuki looked up, facing Ichigo, who sat sprawled over the bench of a table, head tipped back towards the star – a nostalgic pose. It nearly brought her back to the memories... but those were locked, not to be intruded or impeded on... He had promised, didn't he?

"Ichigo…" Tatsuki tipped her head respectively towards him. "You sure are early today…"

Ichigo snorted. "… Or you're just really late. Come on, Tatsuki... What held you up?"

"… Lost track of time," Tatsuki shrugged, feeling it best to keep reality away from him – if only for his sake. "Hey, it happens to the best of people, you know!"

"Sure, sure," Ichigo noted. "Should we call everyone together, then?"

"Go ahead."

"You or me?"

Tatsuki rolled her eyes, sighing. "I did it last time, you know… The piranha incident and that jelly and piranha meat breakfast one. You owe me, Ichigo."

"Oh, fine," Ichigo sighed before addressing the rest with a new clarity. "Oi! Shitheads! Get your asses over here and pay attention, or I'll shove you in the piranha river!" He glanced at the figure ahead, which seemed to be staring him. "Yeah! That means you, Ishida! Get off the ground and pay attention!"

The others, formerly assembled in an odd disjointed group, quickly came to attention. They grouped up more properly, rather more awkwardly due to the threatening command.

Tatsuki groaned, resisting the urge to smack her taichou's forehead. "...Remind me that I should never ask you to get the attention of the others ever again."

"B-But it worked, didn't it? Everyone quit fiddling around and started paying attention!"

"… At the cost of their sanity?" Tatsuki quipped, eyebrow raised in a dour expression.

"That, Tatsuki, is something you call an exaggeration. I wouldn't have had taken away their sanity from a bit of a wake-up call..."

"Oh, forget you…" Tatsuki sighed. "Let's just get on with it, alright?"

"Whatever you want, Tats," Ichigo smiled briefly. "Do you wanna go first?"

"Hn, nah…" Tatsuki waved a dismissive hand. "I wanna hear your awe-inspiring compliments to your group."

"What awe-inspiring compliments? I don't wanna give them awe-inspiring compli –"

"Ichigo..."

"Oh... fine." Ichigo shrugged, noncommittally, before turning to the assembled group. "Ishida-san... You're doing.... well, really. I mean... Just kind of. Just barely, I mean, but still... You get my point," the captain murmured. An awkward pause lingered in the atmosphere. "Kuchiki-san... You're progressing equally well. Just... Just quit trying to behead me with your sword and..." A quick cough. "… You'll do well. But, overall... You two suck. End of dialogue."

"...Was there a compliment somewhere in those snarky words?" Rukia called, dryly. "I'm shocked. I never knew that you had it in you."

"I'm equally stunned," Ishida called. "I mean, to know that the great Kurosaki Ichigo has a human heart somewhere in that mass of ego and ice..." He pushed his glasses up. "Do you have a teddy bear that you cuddle at night? I could've sworn I heard a confession in there..."

"... I already said my dialogue ended," Ichigo snapped. "Tatsuki... Your turn."

"I'm on it," Tatsuki replied. "Inoue-san... You've been doing astoundingly, really. You've managed to grasp the basics with ease.... Oh, and.... Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"Send Kuchiki-san to my team tomorrow. I'm sending Inoue-san to yours."

"Sure, sure, but do I get to know why?" Ichigo questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

"Let me think about it... No, actually. Not really."

"Tatsuki-san?" Rukia had stood up. "Why do I have to leave Kurosaki-san's team?"

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. "You like being on his team or something?"

"He's... a good teacher." How to explain that jubilance... that nameless happiness... being with him? "Ano... Did I... do something?"

"No. It's Inoue-san, really," Tatsuki sighed. "She needs to learn how to bend her reiatsu, and Ichigo's really the only one here who actually mastered it. It's only temporary, Kuchiki-san. Just as long as Ichigo here teaches Inoue-san in time."

"So I'm just a resource now," Ichigo stated wryly. "That's nice. I'll be sure to remember that when I'm paying you your salary."

"Oh, shut your trap," Tatsuki retorted. "I'm going to just continue with my team, alright?"

"Go ahead."

"... Let's see.... Sado-san... Your attacks and formations are trickier since they seem to be newer to you and unlocked for the first time…" Tatsuki paused thoughtfully. "I'm sure that with due time, though, they'll be more familiar, and thus, more easier to control," she reassured him. "For now... you're doing well. Extremely well, actually. I'm glad to have you both on my team." Tatsuki turned back to Ichigo. "I'm done now."

"Okay?" Ichigo brushed it off. "Meet us tomorrow - same time, same place."

"Ano..." It was Inoue this time. "The day after tomorrow... We all have school.... Will we still have the meetings or will we stop on weekdays?"

"...That's a good question, actually…" Tatsuki murmured. "We'll have to quit meetings on weekdays unless there's an emergency. Is that alright?"

"H-Hai."

"Alright," Ichigo called. "Meeting's over. You're all dismissed."

~-~-~

The midnight sky was dark – clouds a moderate gray, and the moon, itself, was obscured by a heavy fog.

But perhaps the moon was gray... The entire sky seemed to be a combination of that color... and always black. The signature mark of night.

Rukia sighed - feeling the first tendrils of melancholy dawn on her. Violet eyes moved down, catching the various creaks in the verandah.

"We'll have to quit meetings." The words echoed in her mind, achieving an effect similar to a guillotine on her.

"Send Kuchiki-san to my team tomorrow. I'm sending Inoue-san to yours." "Sure, sure..." The echoing words had twisted her ideas to a certain level.

Her attendance on Kurosaki-san's team wasn't permanent. She'd leave - in the same manner that he'd probably leave soon... And then... Their paths would diverge. Even if he taught her all the languages in the world... Perhaps his teachings wouldn't leave a permanent mark if he was to leave... fade away... so quickly.

...Or was she being selfish? He was one of the elite of his kind, from what she could gather. Was it selfish of her to assume that he'd stay forever - that he'd be authorized to stay with their group... forever?

Still, there was always that faint hope that they meant more to him than just passing acquaintances. They'd labored together, hadn't they? Fought and worked together... Did that count?

"You'll do well." That waning compliment...

The clouds obscuring the moon faded away, revealing the moon to be... what? The colors of silken waters in moonlight - a simple, but pure white.

~*~*~

Is my heart falling for the depths of reality or the wonders of an illusion?

~*~*~


So... This is it for this chapter! :D A bit lengthy, but the next chapter'll explore Tatsuki's past a bit more.

Again, my thanks to Aiko HanaKai for beta-ing the chapter. :D

And I'm going to end this rather shortly - so... bye?

Drop off a review before you leave! :D