"Well, that was unusual. Kurosaki, aren't you the one Kuchiki-san usually drags out of class?"

The rest of the class had watched in silence as their newest transfer student was dragged out by a girl half his size, and now it was lunch time. Mizuiro was walking next to who he thought was Ichigo as the group headed upstairs, prodding him for answers.

"I mean," he continued, "Rukia does seem to always disappear with you during class. Did something happen between you?"

Kon, in Ichigo's body, was listening to this and grinding his teeth in anger. How dare that heathen, Ichigo, take advantage of my beautiful Nee-San during class! That horn-dog just can't keep it in his pants... I'll teach him! he thought, unintentionally pulling off a perfect "Ichigo scowl" as he raged.

He didn't react as Keigo charged into him and embraced him, much to the surprise of the friends behind him. Ishida leaned forward and whispered, "Mod-soul! Kurosaki never lets Keigo get away with touching him. Hit him in the head or something!"

Keigo overheard and whined, "Mod-soul? You mean... Is Ichigo off fighting those monster things again?"

Light glinted off of his glasses as Ishida whispered in Kon's ear again, "Really, hit him."

The group laughed as Kon kicked the poor guy into the nearest row of lockers and continued up to the roof. Kon was still fuming about his precious goddess being violated every day, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Just like Ichigo...

When they reached the roof, Chad looked around and disappeared for a moment, showing up again a minute later with the bodies of Rukia and Renji over his shoulders.

Ishida raised an eyebrow. "They really should have used their gigonkan, someone could have found those bodies easily. Tsch... I suppose expecting shinigami to use their heads is asking too much?"

They all sat down for lunch, and as usual Orihime offered up the contents of her lunch, and as usual there were no takers. Ishida finished first and stood up to stretch out as he examined their little group, the only humans in the world that knew about the world of souls.

Chad was being stoic as always. If Keigo and Mizuiro were freaked out by the bodies, they showed no signs of it. Inoue, however, seemed very distracted. Ishida noticed and nodded at her.

"Orihime-chan, is something wrong?" he asked, kneeling down in front of her. She looked up and he could see the worry in her eyes.

"Don't you feel it? They're fighting right now, but..." she started then trailed off.

Ishida placed a hand over hers, ignoring the heat that rose in his cheeks as he asked, "Orihime-chan, what's wrong? I can't sense anything at all. Do they need help?"

She didn't get a chance to answer, because at that precise moment they all felt the spirit pressure of a Bankai.


"If it touches you, it will be worse than death."

Renji was ducking and weaving through the massive forest of tentacles that were shooting out of the hollow's mouth when he realized he couldn't win in just Shikai. He looked to Rukia, who was still unable to move, and shouted, "Rukia! I'm gonna use my Bankai! It'll destroy this building, so get out of here!"

Rukia, meanwhile, was frozen, lost in her thoughts. She had come to terms with Kaien's death during her fight with the Ninth Espada, Aaroniero, but seeing what could only be the same hollow- Hmph. You call yourself a shinigami?

The sudden voice in her head was followed by a strange feeling, like the world was slowing down and stopping. Rukia couldn't understand what was happening, and panicked.

A voice in my head? Is it this hollow? she thought, and was answered with laughter.

Hah! A hollow? Really, Kuchiki Rukia, I'm insulted.

Rukia thought for a moment before realizing, "Sode no Shirayuki?"

She could suddenly feel a part of her soul smiling. The warmth of it spread throughout her and brought movement to her limbs, allowing her to jump to safety just as Renji released his Bankai. The building collapsed in on itself behind her, throwing up a huge cloud of dirt and dust. She could see living people running in fear away from the mysteriously crumbling structure, unaware of the battle that raged around them.

Zabimaru's massive bony segments were the first shapes to appear through the haze, a red glow emanating from between them as Renji charged up and fired a Baboon Bone Cannon at the hollow. Rukia was still basking in the ever-increasing warmth that Sode no Shirayuki was bringing to her. Ironic, she thought., since she is the queen of ice...

Suddenly she felt a falling sensation, and blacked out momentarily. She awoke in a strange place, somewhere she didn't recognize, though somehow it struck her as familiar. Rukia bent down and touched the snowy ground. Sure enough, the cold was really there in this strange wonderland of ice she was in. She looked around in awe, then jumped as she heard a light cough behind her.

"Ahem..."

Rukia's eyes grew wider than she'd ever thought possible as she saw who it was.

"Are you...?" she began. Beautiful! She's... She's gorgeous! It was said that she was the most beautiful Zanpakuto in all of Soul Society, but never did I expect that to apply to both the sword and its spirit...

Before her stood Sode no Shirayuki, clad in a long white gown with crystal blue accents. Her arctic white hair contrasted with her sea-blue eyes, and perhaps most striking about her appearance was her height. She was closer to Ichigo than Rukia, and yet she still managed to maintain a slender, delicate frame. It was hard for Rukia not to just be a little jealous of her.

"Rukia, why are you afraid of this hollow?" asked the spirit with a concerned frown.

Rukia turned away and stared at a spot on the ground a few yards off before she replied. "I... It looks just like the hollow that killed Kaien-dono. I'm worried about Renji, I don't want to lose him like I lost Kaien-dono," she explained sadly.

A cool hand landed softly on her shoulder and she looked back to see Sode no Shirayuki smirking. "Silly girl, can you not see the differences? What was the first thing that happened when that man Kaien struck the hollow with his blade?"

Thinking for a moment, Rukia answered, "His weapon disappeared, the hollow had some ability that destroyed the blade on contact."

"Correct. And yet your friend Renji has repeatedly struck the creature without losing his blade."

Realization dawned on Rukia, and she turned to her Zanpakuto spirit with a frown. "Sode no Shirayuki, forgive me my foolishness, I should have noticed that!"

"Do not worry, no harm has come of your mistake. We will speak again, Rukia, and for now I will aid you in your fight, and teach you your final dance..." said the beautiful spirit as the winter wonderland dissolved around Rukia. White faded to grey as the buildings of Karakura came in to view, and a new power hummed through the hilt of Shirayuki, causing it to glow brilliant white.

Words formed like ancient memories in the back of her mind as Rukia tightened her grip on her sword. Her lips parted slightly to whisper the name of her final shikai attack...


"Shit!" Renji swore loudly as yet another tentacle erupted from the ground. He was running out of reiatsu, and the strain of his Bankai was beginning to show. A small bead of sweat trickled down his cheek as he turned to bock the latest attack.

"Dammit! Where the hell's Ichigo when you need him?"

He gritted his teeth as he brought Zabimaru crashing down again, firing a barrage of Baboon Cannon shots as he did. He didn't see the tentacle behind him until it was too late.

Flashes of his long existence flashed before his eyes as Renji realized Zabimaru couldn't move fast enough to defend. The words Rukia spoke earlier resounded in his head, "Worse than death,"...

"Saishuu no Mai : Ochizuki!" a blinding flash of white surrounded Renji along with a blast of cold like nothing he'd ever felt as Rukia's voice echoed through the shattered building. He looked and saw the tentacle frozen mere inches from his head, wrapped in a case of ice. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned back to the hollow just in time to see what looked like a massive sphere of ice crash into it. On impact, the orb exploded into a thousand massive icicles, each penetrating the hollow and the ground around it. Immediately after the last icicle slammed into the ground, a glowing white energy connected them all in a web of freezing power, and the hollow became a solid ice sculpture which shattered into a million crystals that drifted in the wind.

Mouth agape, Renji turned to Rukia. "H-how the hell? Rukia! What was that?" he asked incredulously.

The raven-haired girl he'd come to love had just annihilated a hollow with a single attack, without even entering a bankai! The shinigami in question dropped down from her perch on the fourth story and ran over to Renji with a grin.

"Are you alright, Renji?" she asked, still smiling.

The red-haired man just nodded meekly.

Rukia grinned wider. "Did you like that attack? Shirayuki told me the name of my final dance: Falling Moon!" she said excitedly, "It creates a massive orb of ice that crushes the enemy, then shatters and impales it before freezing it!"

All Renji could do was stare.

Rukia's smile shrank a little as she noticed his blank expression. *WHACK* "Baka! At least pretend you're excited for me!" she shouted. "It's not often I get to learn a new technique!"

"A new technique, Kuchiki-san? Do tell..."

Renji and Rukia both turned to look up as Uryuu, Chad, Orihime, and Kon appeared on the remains of the first floor above them.

"Ishida! Sado! Orihime! Why are you here?" Rukia asked in surprise, then let out a muffled yell as she was bowled over by Kon in Ichigo's body. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her into a bear hug that somehow left his face right on her chest. Orihime was trying not to look at the sight, since it still looked like Ichigo was all over Rukia...

"Nee-san! Are you alright? Did you get hurt? My beautiful goddess of the valley, you mustn't place yourself in harms w-OOF!" he cried as her foot crushed into his face and knocked him back. She stood there fuming for a moment before she turned back to Ishida.

"Why are you all here?" she asked with a trace of a blush.

Before Ishida could reply, Orihime started explaining in her usual wacky way. "Well, we were in class, then you and Abarai-kun left, and I guess you went to go fight a hollow because you didn't come back like you normally do, and oh there's a rumour that you two are engaged now that Asano-san started," she began. Renji's eyebrow went up at the mention of the rumour, and Orihime was still going, "So then we were at lunch and Sado-kun found your bodies and we hid them so don't worry about that but anyways I was eating my peanut-peach brittle when I felt you two fighting. My first thought was that maybe you were being abducted by aliens that came to research our planet like in that movie I saw the other day but-" she was cut off by Ishida's hand being placed firmly over her mouth, much to the relief of everyone else. Even Chad was looking a little relieved, which said a lot.

"What she's trying to say," Ishida started, his hand still covering Orihime's mouth (she was mumbling through it, somehow oblivious to it), "is that we felt Abarai-san use his bankai and decided that it would be best to come assist you. However, it appears we didn't need to waste our time after all. Still, I would like to know what you meant by a 'new technique', Kuchiki-san."

Rukia nodded and jumped up with Renji to begin the walk home as she explained all about her latest technique to the others. When she got to the part about the icicles impaling the hollow, Ishida commented on how similar that was to Byakuya-taichou's own attacks which cover wide areas. Rukia blushed at what she considered a compliment, saying she wasn't even close to her Nii-sama, and they all laughed at her modesty.

They had already missed the rest of school, so they parted ways and the two Shinigami returned to their bodies on the rooftop, weary after their fight. Rukia realized that as effective as her final dance was, it drained a lot of reiatsu, and should only be used for emergencies.

"Renji?" she asked as they left the school grounds.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever tried ice-cream?"


A/N: [ Saishuu no Mai : Ochizuki ] — 最終の舞・落月

(Final Dance: Falling Moon)