Chapter 19

Beginning of Third Year

It was a beautiful fall afternoon in Seiretei. The birds were singing, the sun shone bright and the streets were bustling with people. Two of those people were Buffy and Yumichika, spending some much needed sibling bonding time. Strolling arm and arm through the streets, browsing but not buying because they were still flat broke, they just enjoyed each other's company for the time being.

"I can't believe we're in third year already," Buffy said. "I mean, where has the time gone?"

"I'm surprised you lived long enough to make it to third year," Yumichika replied. "I mean, with the kidnapping, and the blowing yourself up, and the getting into fights with people bigger than you are. You're just lucky nothing's happened to that pretty face of yours."

"Yes, I know, you'd disown me and abandon me if I let anything happen to all this," Buffy retorted, pointing at her face.

"I wouldn't disown you or abandon you if you got ugly. I mean, I might not acknowledge your existence in public if that were to happen, but you'd still be my sister," Yumichika said.

"Has anyone reminded you lately of how incredibly shallow you are?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow. Anyone overhearing their conversation might think they had a strange relationship, and they did, really. But Buffy knew he didn't mean what he was saying. Most of the time, anyway.

"Not lately, but I always like to be reminded," Yumichika replied pompously. Buffy laughed, but the laughter was short lived when she heard a voice she hoped she would never hear again.

It was a voice that still haunted her nightmares, taunted her when she closed her eyes even though it had been over a year and a half since she had heard it or seen its owner. Mayuri Kurotsuchi was nearby, she could feel it. It was a cold, creepy sensation, and she looked around, trying to find him just so that she knew which direction to run.

The shock of blue hair was hard to miss, and neither were the blonde heads that were with him. She had heard Kisuke Urahara had been promoted to captain of the Twelfth Division, and evidently the lieutenant of that squad was still Hiyori Sarugaki, who had heard her testify against Kurotsuchi. And yet there all three of them were, walking towards them in the middle of the Seiretei streets. Kurotsuchi wasn't even in shackles or anything. Surely, he hadn't been released yet?

"Buffy-chan, what's the matter?" Yumichika asked, looking down at her in concern.

"Please tell me that this is just a nightmare and I'm going to wake up any second now," Buffy said quietly, pinching herself. She didn't wake up and the scene didn't dissipate, so she pinched herself again. And again. And again. If Yumichika hadn't grabbed her hand, she would have continued to pinch herself until her arm was stinging and swollen.

"It's a waking nightmare," Yumichika replied, drawing Buffy to his side. She wasn't going to get snatched, not this time, if he could help it.

It would have been fine if the three apparent members of the Twelfth Division had just passed them by, but that would have been too easy. Kisuke had spotted Buffy quickly and, with a wide grin, waved them over.

"Hi there!" he greeted, heading over to where Yumichika and Buffy were standing. Yumichika's arm tightened around her waist, and Buffy took a small amount of comfort from that gesture. She fought the urge to run like hell as Kurotsuchi got closer. "What's the matter, Buffy?"

"What's he doing out of jail?" Buffy asked, indicating to Kurotsuchi while simultaneously trying to hide behind Yumichika. She knew, subconsciously, that she was being ridiculous, because there was no way he would try to kidnap her with all of these people around. However, some of the other things he had done had come to light in the almost two years since he had been imprisoned, and she really had every right to be scared out of her wits around him.

"I needed someone to head up my new Research and Development division," Kisuke replied. "He has a scientific mind and while his methods were a little, er, unorthodox, the breakthroughs he made more than make up for it. Besides, he's promised to not use any of his old methods. Isn't that right, Kurotsuchi-san?"

"Yes, sir," Kurotsuchi replied, although Buffy didn't believe him for a second. There was something about the smile on his face that made her believe that as soon as he got rid of Kisuke, his old methods would be back in place lickety split.

"You do know why he was locked up in the first place, don't you?" Buffy asked. "I mean, being head of the Detention Unit and everything, you must have been aware of his crimes."

"I only knew that he was in jail because he was deemed a threat to himself and Seiretei," Kisuke replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "They don't give me any more details than that."

"You want to know why he got locked up in the first place?" Buffy asked. She extracted herself from Yumichika's grasp, but he didn't let her go far; his hand latched onto her wrist so that he could pull her back if she got out of hand, even though most of the time the sight of his tiny sister schooling men much larger than her was a very amusing sight. However, this particular man was a captain, there with his lieutenant and one of his seated division members. It was not a good time to let Rampaging Buffy loose on the world.

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway," Kisuke replied nervously.

"He kidnapped me," Buffy replied, poking Kisuke in the chest. "You wanna know why he kidnapped me? So that he could observe and experiment on me. He tied me up, injected me with something and watched as I fought my way out of my restraints with a bloodthirsty beast known as a vampire attacked me. I was damn lucky to get out alive, thanks to my friends."

She had been poking him in the chest, hard, during her little speech. She was about to do it once more when she was hit in the side of her head with a… shoe? She turned, rubbing her head, and saw Hiyori glaring at her, holding her shoe in her hand.

"That's my captain, you stupid cow," she said with a glare. "If anyone's going to beat on him, it's me."

"Come on Buffy, let's just go," Yumichika said, tugging gently on Buffy's arm. She blinked and turned her attention to him, averting her gaze from the practically poisonous glare from the tinier blonde woman.

"Yeah, yeah, that might be a good idea," Buffy replied, allowing herself to be led away from the threesome. She glanced over her shoulder as they walked away, focusing on Kurotsuchi as she did so. The expression on his face was intense, and she really didn't like it.

Yumichika did not, as she had expected, taken her back to her dormitory and left in the care of Rangiku, which was more often than not the plan of action. Instead, he took her to his dormitory, the one he still shared with Ikkaku, Iba and Gin.

They had found that the taller girl was very good at keeping Buffy calm, which kept the boys happy. Even though they had been around and friends with Buffy and Rangiku for over two years, they still panicked and flailed when the tears started. There was also the fact that Gin creeped Buffy out and refused to be left in a room alone with him, but they didn't like to talk about that.

"What the hell are you doing, barging in here with her?" Ikkaku asked, sitting up when the door banged open, admitting Yumichika and Buffy.

"Like you'd ever have a girl in here," Yumichika scoffed with a roll of his eyes. He didn't miss Ikkaku looking away, nor how Buffy's cheeks began to redden, but considering they had a much more pressing matter to attend to he decided to ignore it for the time being. "We have a problem."

"What, another guy stand you up?" Ikkaku asked with a snort.

"They only stand me up because of you," Buffy retorted.

"Guys, do me a huge favour and shut up," Yumichika said, rubbing his temples. Both Buffy and Ikkaku were shocked at Yumichika's less than polite demand that they remained quiet long enough for him to get through what he wanted to say. "Now, as I said, we have a problem. A big problem. Kurotsuchi has been let out of jail."

"Well, they're searching for him right?" Ikkaku asked. He was sitting up straighter now, ready to spring into action. "He's not going to be out for long, not with the Shinigami after him."

"He hasn't broken out, he was let out," Yumichika corrected. "By the new Twelfth Division captain."

"Who the hell would do a stupid thing like that?" Ikkaku growled, glancing over at Buffy. While the blonde woman annoyed the hell out of him most of the time, they'd been through everything together. He'd seen what that bastard had done to her, how wary and clingy she'd been for months after her attack, and it hadn't sat well with him at all. She was one of the strongest, most independent women he knew and seeing her reduced to a skittish waif of a girl, hiding behind her friends, had really thrown him. If he could prevent that from happening again, he would.

"Kisuke Urahara, apparently," Buffy replied, spitting the name as if it had been a disgusting swear word. The news of what had happened had been all over the squads and the academy; how could he not have known? Granted, most of the time she wasn't mentioned by name, but all of the captains knew exactly what had happened, and his best friend was a captain. Surely Yoruichi had told Kisuke what had happened?

"Said he needed a scientific mind to head up his new research and development division," Yumichika said with a scowl. "You'd think he'd do background checks on his potential candidates, but no."

"Well, we gotta do something," Ikkaku said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"No."

Both Yumichika and Ikkaku looked at Buffy in surprise. Out of all of them, they thought she would be the one who wanted retribution the most. After all, she had been the one who had been wronged. But no, she was sitting on Yumichika's bed with a determined expression, one that reminded them of the descriptions of Willow's "Resolve Face".

"No?" Yumichika asked. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I mean, no, you're not going to go and do anything to him," Buffy clarified. "Who has the biggest grudge against him? You do. Who would want to hurt him the most? You do. Who would be accused of any attack on him? You guys would. I'm sorry, but you're not risking your careers in the Gotei 13 for me. I can't let that happen. I… I… I need you guys. I can't do this alone."

"So you're admitting you need me?" Ikkaku asked with a sly grin.

"Now is not the time, Ikkaku," Yumichika said with a sigh. "We're not going to do anything now. Right, Ikkaku?"

"Right," Ikkaku said sullenly, but the two men shared a look. Buffy didn't like it.

"If you guys are going to plan something behind my back, I swear on everything that is good and holy that I will kick your asses so hard your grandchildren will feel it," Buffy said, her eyes narrowed.

"Come on, let's get you home," Yumichika said, reaching out a hand to help Buffy off of the bed. With a sigh, she accepted it and together they left, no more mention of Kurotsuchi during their silent walk back to her dormitory.

Too bad it wasn't the last time Kurotsuchi would affect her life.

XoXoXo

"You know, you did the smart thing, not seeking retribution against Captain Urahara or Kurotsuchi," Byakuya said one afternoon a couple of days later, during a break in their training. "Very mature of you."

"Are you implying that I'm immature?" Buffy retorted, laying on her back on a patch of grass. She stared up at the sky; blue, with a few wisps of white clouds. The sun was warm but the air was chill with a bite of autumn as they rested, snacking on some cakes brought out to them for their break.

"Perish the thought," Byakuya replied with a roll of his eyes, snagging a cake. "What do you want to work on next?"

"Kido, I guess," Buffy replied with a shrug. She knew that working on Kido might not have been the best course of action, considering how distracted she was, but it really was the only thing that she still needed a large amount of work on.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Byakuya said warily, glancing over at her. "You've been distracted the last couple of days. I don't want you blowing yourself up."

"Oh please, I haven't blown myself up in over six months," Buffy replied with a snort, rolling over onto her stomach.

"You're still distracted, though," Byakuya said. "I've noticed, especially the last couple of days."

"Like you could tell if I were distracted," Buffy replied.

"Yes, actually, I can," Byakuya said. "After you got kidnapped, I spent a lot of time observing you, making mental notes of your habits so I would know if something was wrong. If I could help it, I would suss out anything that was bothering you before it became an actual problem."

"And that didn't make you sound like a major stalker," Buffy said. "You didn't spy on me while hiding in the shadows, did you? Because that's just too Angel-like for me to be comfortable with."

"I'm not even going to pretend to know what you're talking about," Byakuya said with a shake of his head. "And no, I haven't been hiding in the shadows, spying on you. We do spend an inordinate amount of time together. You're supposed to be my tutor, remember?"

"And you're supposed to be mine," Buffy retorted. "I'm not seeing a whole lot of improvement in my Kido."

"The were-cat, I mean, Yoruichi, said that not everyone can perform Kido, and that's okay," Byakuya said. "Besides, you're very advanced in flash steps. I bet the sixth years couldn't catch you."

"That's only because I had the Goddess of Flashing teaching me," Buffy replied, before wrinkling her nose. "I didn't say that right, did I?"

"No, no you didn't," Byakuya replied with a snort which could have been interpreted as a giggle. "But seriously, what's wrong? I might not be able to help, but you already know I'm a good listener."

"Well, you know that Kurotsuchi getting out has been hanging over my head," Buffy began. Byakuya nodded and indicated with a hand motion for her to continue. "Well, I was with Yumichika when I ran into him. He told Ikkaku, and you know how overprotective they get when it comes to me."

"Don't remind me," Byakuya grumbled. Buffy looked at him, curious. "No details, but they kind of sort of maybe threatened me when we first became friends."

"Bastards," Buffy muttered. "Yet another reason for me to kick their asses."

"You need a reason?" Byakuya asked.

"It makes me feel less violent if I have a reason to commit violence," Buffy replied with a shrug.

"So, your brother and that idiot meathead of yours," Byakuya said, bringing the subject back to where it had began. "What did they do now?"

"Nothing, yet," Buffy replied. "Which worries me. They kind of gave each other a look that made me very, very nervous. I told them not to do anything, but when was the last time they listened to me, honestly? Maybe I should have tied them up and kept them in a closet or something."

"And this conversation is heading into rather disturbing territory," Byakuya said with a shiver. "I mean, come on Buffy. I'm an impressionable teenage boy here. You can't be saying things like that around me."

"Like I'm the worst influence on you," Buffy said with a snort. "If your grandfather knew the kinds of things Yoruichi was teaching you he wouldn't let her anywhere near you."

"Shh, he might hear you," Byakuya replied, looking around furtively. "Hey, at least Rangiku and Iba weren't there. You know, you have way too many overprotective people in your life."

"Don't remind me," Buffy replied with a roll of her eyes. She was worried, though. The boys had been acting strangely for the last couple of days, whispering furtively and shutting up whenever she came near. On top of that, they had disappeared earlier in the day and she hadn't seen them since classes had let out.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Byakuya said, getting up. He held a hand out to help Buffy to her feet. "Come on, let's take your mind off of this. Some hand to hand combat should fit the bill just fine."

Buffy allowed Byakuya to help her to her feet and they got into position for a quick spar. However, before either of them could land a blow, Yoruichi flash stepped in between them. Gone was the amused sparkle in her eye and the half smile that graced her face whenever she was around them. In its place was an expression befitting of the captain she was. All business.

"Buffy, you have to come with me," she said quickly. "Your brother and Ikkaku have been arrested for attacking a seated squad member."

Buffy's stomach dropped to her feet. No. No, they couldn't have. They wouldn't have. Oh, those selfish bastards were going to get the full ass kicking treatment when she got to them.

"I swear to God, I'm going to kill them," Buffy snarled.

XoXoXo

Okay, so here's chapter 19. Yes, I know it's short in the sense that it's only two scenes, but I thought this would be the best place to stop. Next chapter should be up relatively quickly, need to update About the Blood first.

I can definitely see the end of the tunnel here, and I'm sorry to say but this part of the story is coming quickly to and end. I'll let you all know when that end is here. Worry not, sequel is in the works, although I need to tinker with it a bit before I post it.

Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it. As always, reviews are appreciated, constructive criticism is sought after and flames will be used to toast marshmallows.