WARNING BEFORE READING THIS CHAPTER...

It contains material that may be sensitive to some readers, so be aware that what happens is merely fiction, not based on any real event, and that most importantly...

I do not write the world out to be anything more then what it is Happy & Sad.

CHAPTER 8: Dangers of the Choking World

Kenpachi hated moments when he was needed to think things through very carefully, and sadly this was one of those times. His grooming session had ended up a complete mess, and though he'd managed to do his grooming in under thirty-minutes, a new record, the whole time his brain had been ticking away. It was not that Kenpachi was dumb, dense maybe, but not dumb. He understood a lot more then was credited to him, but one thing he did not understand was why the situation had changed?

He and Rin had always gotten along fine, in fact he'd even cried the day he was told by Ikkaku that her brother had been found dead and she had been assumed the same. Why did he cry? Because he had been mean to her before and had been too proud to be seen apologising to a woman. But that was understandable and now he had a chance to speak to her and say his peace, but something was wrong. He had noticed something about Rin that he had not really spotted before now –she was a fully-grown woman!

Before, she'd been growing up and still a kid and he'd always taken the position of her best friend –he'd enjoyed how much she used to respect him! But now she was back after sixty-years and her childish confidence, that "I'm not a Kid!" kind of attitude was gone. Her confidence now exuded with the force of a warrior and she'd actually tried to take out old man Yamamoto! Surely she was not a kid, plus she was a Captain and probably knew Bankai and everything! Plus, when she'd turned and looked at him, he had felt nervous like he was seeing into something… Well… He could not really tell what he'd been seeing. Then suddenly some words of thought slipped out of Kenpachi's mind and across his lips, making him shudder and check around him in case someone heard.

"Her eye is really blue!"

"Watch what you say, Lord Kuchiki. Despite what you beings of the Sereitei wish to believe, Captain Rin has been through a lot. If you were to even think a bad word against her, I would have no problem draining your spiritual energies! I had to drain from Rin once, a long time ago, and from that I was force-fed her memories and she and I have a certain level of sensory attachment. Where most soul reapers, Bounto, and Quincy can identify one another by spiritual pressure, I know exactly where Rin is, who she's with, and what's she's doing. The only way to turn off that knowledge is from her own mind. So, if her mood gets upset, I'll know who upset her and who to punish." Though Igor was the only one to speak, the entirety of squad seemed to throb with the same emotions and threat. Retsu Unohana however seemed to be melting in her Captain's cloak at the seriousness in Igor's stare.

"MUM! Mumma don't leave me! Let me go! Let me GO!"

Igor shuddered as he thought back to what he had heard as he'd broken into the hallway leading to the torture chamber. He grimaced as he looked at the Sereitei and forced himself to continue. He did not know how they would react to the thought of not only Rin's rape, but that the bastards had then grabbed little Sergei and kidnapped him. "When the kid was taken away and converted into a Hollow and then to an Arrancar, when that bastard Vladimir got involved with Aizen, things changed with Rin. We had to fight to get the information needed to breech the divide and enter the Hollow Realm. We call it Dunkelwelt, and amongst the endless desert of night, Rin thought Uri, ripped his ear off, and rescued both Sergei, and another child subjected to the same cruelty. She's been very aggressive and anxious since then. This explains her reaction in the meeting. Sometimes she can control her fear and the flashbacks –sometimes she just can't."

Retsu's face paled at the realisation of what Igor might have seen. Somehow she could see the agony in his eyes, the utter helplessness that even Captain Toshiro spotted and shook at. Byakuya was quiet again. He knew he should not have commented on how Rin's emotions had let her loose control, or how she, a Captain, had dared to lie to Yamamoto. But in general the captains were quiet and regretting making any comment about any foolish action. Luckily though, Yaroslavl stepped in to finish the explanations and let Igor settle back down on the windowsill, staring at Rin as she twitched in her sleep.

"If you check her body out, you'll find all the clinical signs to prove this, Captain Unohana. However, we have been kind enough to tell you why she was so aggressive towards everyone – we reckon that the flashbacks we were all experiencing might have started showing things she certainly did not want to remember. Also, the fact that Uri was able to Shape-shift meant that it was more then likely she was seeing someone familiar that she trusted when the… attack… took place. But be aware that our own Soul Society is not as restrictive as yours and we have all come from mangled pasts. Plus, unlike here, we have the options if born in the Soul World to live in the human world."

"So… How did you all end up working together in the first place? All your accents are different and you all have some rather unique mannerisms." Captain Komamura whined gently, his ears twitched in interest every time he heard a sound of pain from the sleeping figure. He and the other male soul reapers had received a bit of a shock to be permitted into a room where a woman was lying naked under a thin white nightdress with only a light cover for protection.

The words seemed to vex Yaroslavl for a good few moments before that sly grin appeared. It made Toshiro shudder, if only because the gleaming, toothy expression was as alike to that of Captain Ichimaru's. But as the strange man bobbed his head from side-to-side in thought, Toshiro found himself relaxing. This guy might indeed be creepy, but he was clearly stuck in the memory as he found himself giggling gently. But before Yarol could say anything, Igor smacked him around the head as if sensing what he was thinking about.

Women confused Kenpachi greatly, even Yachiru asked questions he could not really explain, but this idea of Rin being back relaxed him. After-all, she'd always been 'one of the guys' and had known exactly how to deal with the little girl's questions without blanching or seeking out whatever caused such thoughts. It was Rin's absence that had made him beg for Unohana to start up the women's society, for Yachiru's sake and his own.

But Kenpachi had began to realise his own upset over Rin's death had been quite extreme in recent days. He had figured out that before Ichigo had come along, he'd been less thoughtful and interested in anything that did not run the risk of death. He'd found himself more inclined to seek death as well, but why? Had he wanted to be with Rin again? It had not been till that thoughtful period of near-death after his defeat by Ichigo that Kenpachi had spotted the big hole in his life. He'd been missing that figure who'd been unafraid to of hitting him over the head with a plate when he was too drunk to go to sleep or too eager to fight someone. He had missed the one person who had been around all the time. She had been around, just for him – even when she had been a child it had always been to his side she'd leapt.

In his confused state he could not help but shake his head so much that he almost deafened himself with the ringing of the bells. Only then did he remember he hadn't taken them out, and his hair was probably drooping by now! With a groan of annoyance, Kenpachi rolled in the bath and managed to bash his temple against the soap shelf. At this point he leapt upward with a loud swear word and put his head through the shampoo shelf. That was it! He was getting out of the bath now!

"What the hell is wrong with me? Is… Is this what it's like to be worried about other people's opinions? To… To actually care?" Kenpachi questioned, and as he felt it dawning on him that he was bothered by her opinion of him, slowly he sank back down into the soapy water with a few bubbles of regret.

"Well… It was thanks to Ivann that we all met up. He was my commanding officer and we were initially the data resources for the Siberian forests. We were sent to investigate the energy fluctuations and rips around Kamchatka, only to step through an old gateway and land in Japan. At that time, we arrived just in time to see two Soul Reapers being attacked. We had no way to save Rin's brother, but after killing the Hollow, Ivann insisted we had to help her. We broke protocol, but Ivann recognised something in Rin. It wasn't until we returned to the lab and identified her blood type as one of the lost children of Professor Ninel. It was only because of that blood relationship that we kept her around – the masters back then were not going to let her go home without extensive testing, and that was up to Ivann and me. But Rin was like a nervous child and Ivann just seemed to want to look after her. So, we ended up getting an agreement to keep her as a teammate, she certainly knew how to break down security walls on computer systems and identify what some of our enemies were up to." Igor growled gently as he thought back to "the old days", when the Soviet Soul Society had existed and blocked off every doorway to any other soul world, except for those they let their own Death Dealers go through.

"So… She was a member of your society before she was here? How did she get through in the first place when you say the doors were locked up?" Toshiro questioned as he rubbed his chin in thought. However, he noted the glint of interest and even eagerness from Igor to respond. Until he noted that Igor's dark eyes were locked upon those deceiving blue ones of Lady Unohana.

"Oh yes!" Igor grinned gently, and suddenly everyone lurched backward at the sight of two fangs that were suddenly visible in his smile. But he placed his hand over them and quickly apologised. "Many apologies, I am a Bounto, or so we called ourselves. But I don't feed on Reishi, Rin and I have a bond, as I said so before. But anyway… Rin and her brother were being experimented on in a lab by their father, Doctor Ninel. You mustn't tell her of course, but his foolish testing with spiritual pressure being used in a machine as a weapon, ended up creating a loop-hole in the 'Between', and she and her brother got through. Of course, this was after Rin killed her father to save them both."

"She did what?" Byakuya spat in disgust, but it was not anger at what Rin had done but more what had been done to her. Whispers of confusion began amongst the others, it was obviously a large shock and they were quite upset. But instead, they were all made quiet when Mayuri gave out a little sound of pity. Byakuya eyed the strange clown for a second, but Igor continued regardless of the outburst.

"So yes, Rin was indeed part of our world so easy to keep amongst the residents. We developed a series of devices to conceal the excess energy that her journey into our world caused, and also to hide the fact she was female. Not many women were permitted in the labs at that time, and all women were usually forced to find a husband and settle down. But the disguise protected her from that. Yet, it was that factor, and what must be said as a strange motherly nature within Miss Rin that caused the band to form up. We all respected our captain, Ivann, but we all followed Rin."

"I must admit I did not like Ivann at all on our first meeting. Then again, as I recall, it was you, dear Igor, who threw me to the ground and that same captain that chained me to a board in order to get news from me. After-all, I was a renegade Death-Dealer." Yaroslavl giggled in delight at the thought of the past and how many he had killed on order, and killed for fun! "Yes, but I forget you do not have them. We are merely the 'Grim Reapers' of human mythology in the west –sent to kill people either to save a land from an epidemic of disease or at the risk of our own lands. I just used to kill without thought. But my dear Rinny-Rin was always kind and when I tried to use her as a hostage, thinking her a boy, I ended up getting a kick to my groin and an elbow to my head. Then she grabbed my ear and began to drag me around and beat me like a naughty child! It changed me!"

"If you can only imagine him as being a blood-thirsty criminal, then you can imagine how dangerous Rin was. Yep, she was a psycho to say the very least and always helping Ivann out whenever she could. Even though he was Captain, Rin was his guard dog and did everything asked of her. She once ended up in a fight, whilst rescuing some stupid woman, with Mr Jeckel! A notorious Incubus, well… they're a type of Hybrid from Death-Dealers and Bounto (total loons with insatiable sex drives!) and her and him ended up in a stalemate. Apparently Jeckel was surprised to have been beaten by a female. But he's been a friend since then." Zander began, almost bouncing up and down as he tried to recall the actions of swords swinging and wrists being used to hold blows. Igor just rolled his head, but Titan gently picked up his friend and then set him back down.

"Calm yourself, Zander. You say Jeckel had a bad sex-drive, well when you joined you were just as bad. If I remember, Captain Ivann had to take you on as a parole arrangement with Captain Stanislaw because you bedded his employer on a mission and a got paid more then anyone else!" Titan began with a gentle smile. The Soul Reapers were suddenly uncomfortable; this was not an area they were very well rehearsed in. Sex was just an outside thing that no one talked about, yet Zander did not seem so restrained.

"HEY! Don't get like that with me Titan, you Burgundian muscle-head! I couldn't help it. Spending most of my life amongst scary East-German women, to suddenly having some Ukrainian bombshells around me? Hell, I couldn't help myself –unless they wanted me to hump corpses!" There was a sudden look of terror on the face of Byakuya and Toshiro, and Zander gulped gently in realisation. "Not literally. But hey, my sexual attraction was what told me Rin was a woman!"

"Yeah, but your fear of her being a man worked wonders to keep your libido in. She was nice to me, unlike you guys!" Titan chuckled softly. "She took me out of the fighting ring and gave me a purpose. In fact, thanks to her I found Claude again, though he was a Bounto change, and I managed to leave the past behind. I mean, if Rin had not made Ivann hang around after the match and patched up my wounds –I'd have probably died in a ditch with no one caring for me!"

"Yeah! But even you fell in love with her instantly back then!" At that moment Kenpachi walked in, only to slam the door behind him. He had no idea why he had felt it necessary to do so, but it got the recognition he wanted. Igor even gave him a slightly knowing grin before clipping Zander around the back of the head again. Zander quickly apologised and then chuckled. "Of course, that scared you too because you had a very friendly, deep-voiced, and muscular man patching your wounds with such a gentle touch! Ah… Rin's got the softest hands no matter how much she makes them bleed when training with her sword."

There was a hum of agreement from his fellows, and Kenpachi visibly gulped (though thankfully no one noticed). Somehow his mind started questioning what those hands might feel like tracing his muscles and scars. He then suddenly imagined a long tongue caressing his chest and then moving south – only to stop and wince, his legs clamping together as if he suddenly needed the toilet.

"The toilets are the second door to the left, Captain Zaraki. Feel free to use them." Unohana turned and beamed at him in delight. Kenpachi gave a sound like a drone, nodded, and then disappeared while trying to keep his captain's jacket tightly around his waist. He was not sure what was going on with his body, but boy he would need to find an outlet sooner or later, like some bored floozy just hoping for a bit of fun –no questions asked.

"So Rin got you all together? It's so strange to think that she was the one to bind a whole team together. Especially when Captain Yamamoto's reported stated that your group had a 99% success rate as well as a reputation for good service. Is it your friendship that's made you so well, do you think?" Toshiro questioned gently.

"Yes, as well as kept us together after Ivann's death. It was very difficult then because she'd basically gone insane over the whole situation, and we got into real trouble when we went to fetch the kids back from him. But it was because we were a family and Rin was like the mum we all bandied together." Yaroslavl explained quickly and they all nodded their heads in agreement. But they were weary; things were not going to go the right way if they decided to probe about his death.

"What happened to Ivann? What made Rin so upset?" Of course they went there! Igor was suddenly afraid of answering the question. There were two complications, if he said the smallest details then they would not be satisfied. If he went too far into it, then Rin would slaughter him, and just giving them the basic knowledge might make them sympathetic or estranged to Rin –and then she would know and kill them in turn.

Kenpachi returned again, and felt afraid by the sudden tension in the air. Igor gulped visibly; he did not want to speak especially with him around. Rin had always stated how much of a friend Kenpachi was and how often he had ended up there to save her at the last minute of more then one occasion. He had also saved her from a situation that could have gone along similar lines, and just the fact that one of the events that took place was incredibly violent, Igor did not want to be the messenger that got shot.

"Well… Things happened that if we spoke of, Rin would kill us all." Zander spoke first. He knew what was going on in Igor's mind and was quick to hide behind Titan. Titan also felt afraid and grabbed Yaroslavl to stand in front of him. Igor quickly slid behind Yarol and gulped nervously. It was not often that he looked nervous; the Shinigami must have guessed this and started whispering to themselves. But it was Unohana who cut the ice.

"I take it… The rape was involved in his death? Only I did a basic check over of her body and noted the basic signs of a situation –as well as major damage. I assume it was during a torture session and would be the result of the missing 2% in your efficiency." Her words were a little wavering, but it was the silence and horror upon the faces of the others and the fact that Titan and Zander had now shoved their fingers in their ear that made Igor upset.

RAPE! Kenpachi turned about, he had missed something important. He looked to Unohana, his eyes wide and panicked. Luckily he was not alone and though Igor nodded his head slowly, it was Captain Hitsugaya who wanted to press the question further.

"Please, you've said she was attacked and tortured, and you've stated how a valuable child was taken. But what are the finer details? We need to know why the attack took place and if it will have any bearings here." Toshiro masked his real concern with the concern of the Sereitei. He had guessed already that the shape-shifter Uri had been the one to hurt her, but the details had not included the fact that she was raped, and if they knew why –then they could prevent more flashbacks for poor Rin.

"Well… Ivann had been working in secret on a device. None of us even knew he was dealing with it except the government. It was a last attempt by Communist Supporters to have the most allies and rescources so that they would win the war on capitalism through cutting supply routes. It was a Transdimensional transporter, a small crystal that could open up holes in the space/time continuium and allow the weilder to step into any universe and possibly any state in time. Ivann had not solved the time issue yet, but it was still a prize idea. He'd been testing it in secret, and apparently he was curious about how Rin's over-exerted spiritual pressure might affect it and be the key to breaking the time problem." Igor gulped nervously. He did not want to continue, but his words alone were panicking the soul reapers as they considered the possibility of what might occur if Aizen had that kind of capability.

"Then, he asked Rin and Sergei to join him for the testing. It's about the extent we know of what was the reason we were asked not to enter. Instead we were sent to guard the outskirts and report any problems we saw. We didn't see anything and that was the problem. You see, there are Poltergeist in our lands that are invisible with their unique spiritual pressure, but cause damage to machinery. They cause trouble on purpose and used as both spies and saboteours in battles. One of them got through and passed the information on to Vlad and Uri. In the meantime, Sergei was quite happy just playing with his Gameboy while Rin was focusing spiritual pressure around the device." Zander was anxious too, he did not want to continue talking but he had needed to keep them from blaming the gang for not reacting quickly enough.

"Next thing we know, the alarms went off at base camp and we ran to the sight of an explosion! Just as we tried to clean up the place and get the others like Lex and the other kids out, we heard another sound. It was a bomb and everyone of us ended up trapped in a bunker under snow. It took a while to get out and when we did, we could see the fires coming from the Testing Area. Not only that, but when we got up, there was a whole army of troublemakers waiting for us. We had a scrap and most of them ran for it, but the lab was so damaged on the outside it took us ages to even get to it." Titan grunted, understanding why Zander had begun the explanation of their whereabouts and why it had taken them so long.

"The lab was buried under the snow, and Vladimir and his forces had taken them captive. They needed information and time. So Vlad, being a computer genius, hacked into the system with Sergei being used as a bargaining chip. Ivann refused to answer any questions about the device's location. He'd managed to slip it into a special pocket in his chest he developed. It's like a cavity of extra flesh that he mimiked on both sides so they just seemed normal on him. But his refusal to talk, even when he was getting hurt meant that they needed different tactics. Sadly, Uri was with them and he had a good guess at what he could do to get answers." Igor began to wring his hands against each other. He did not want to continue, he did not want the sorrow to return that was filling them all. He did not want to speak the memories that Rin had passed to him either. Luckily though, Yaroslavl pressed his shoulder calmly, and cleared his throat to speak.

"Uri is known as a master torturer –he can use strong memories on the surface of an unconscious being to transform into a familiar figure and either damage or reassure the victim. He is a shape-shifter of sorts and uses those abilities to get information. We don't know how he can do the memory retrieval, but he certainly knew things about Rin's life that we didn't know. We were still usy trying to break down the defences though at that time - so we couldn't get to her." Yarol suddenly began to shake, turning back to Igor, but instead Titan took it up. None of them wanted to go further into the situation, too afraid of what could happen.

"We know he changed into Shoji, but Rin did not know of the location of the device and so could not be easily convinced. He turned into Lord Uso, whom we gathered was Rin's adopted father, and into many figures including us and the children. But surprisingly none of them were really the kind of characters that Rin would be afraid or weak around - so he changed tactics. He ended up... beating her and then when no amount of physical torture, in the generic sense, worked. So then he turned to surgery and decided to remove something to make her talk. He chose her appendix, and even we thought that we could hear the screams from where we were fighting." Titan began to cry, something scary from such a giant man who looked like a Gaul Warrior. Yaroslavl took in a heavy gulp and then explained the last bit they could before becoming even more afraid.

"The removal of the appendix was unnecessary, but at the same time a non-fatal yet painful procedure under half the dose of pain-killers and anaesthesia to be affective. She was kept fully awake and in terrible pain, but they kept her from going unconcious so she had no relief until it was over. They cleaned up well so she wouldn't die of an infection, but because she said nothing - they left her a bit as they tried once more with Ivann. But it didn't work, so Uri went back to Rin alone, without even Vlad's permission to go and continue her torture!"

"Yet, Rin just didn't know. At first when we went over the procedure with Rin, she just stopped there and skipped out an hour of the timeline. Only through my own link did I manage to get the rest. Uri transformed into someone very important, and in that form he raped her. She fought back and did major damage, but the fact that the figure he turned into was incredibly strong made her resistance useless - as well as someone she respects so well." Igor gulped heavily. He did not want to continue with this conversation. Immediately the eyes seemed to be upon him, he didn't want to answer the unspoken question – but the beautiful sorrow in Unohana's eye compelled him to answer. "Uri took the form of Rin's 'hero'–Captain Zaraki."

Kenpachi almost collapsed. What kind of madness was this? How could that have happened? He even began to wonder if he himself had done it and blamed himself, but the situation was not his fault. He looked to where Rin lay still on the bed, tied down and twitching while the machines maintained her heart-rate as the sedative finally began to wear off. He could not see anything like that happening to Little Rin, the kid that had always snuck out of the house to visit him. But more so he contemplated his own method to have dealt with it. He'd saved her before, and damn it if he could have been there to stop it, he would have saved her again.

"What the hell are you on about Maki?" Everyone in twelfth squad had heard the clamour as a member of the eleventh division, who'd just been shamed again by his new captain, had burst into the residential part of the barracks and pulled one of their members out of her room. Akon had been the first to run from twelfth to eleventh and tell Kenpachi what was going on, and because he had thought it his fault, Kenpachi had begun to follow them. But Rin was not having a good time of it as she pulled by the wrist out of the barracks and straight down the long roads toward the nearest gate.

"He's too dangerous and while he remains here there is no way we will .He will bring nothing but destrcution, even Captain Tousen agrees and we should leave. I cannot support the soul society if they let such a monster in. I can't believe this!" Maki Ichinosae was pulling Rin firmly, her confusion giving him the edge so that he could keep her moving whilst she thought over it. But he knew she would protest, she had tried to convince him of Zaraki's good side, but he had not seen it and refused to believe that it existed.

"Who are you talking about?" Rin half chuckled in confusion as she was jerked forward into the open now. Everyone watched in surprise but were too afraid to say anything or even do anything. Akon had continued to walk beside Kenpachi whilst Ikkaku and Yumichika had been needed to entertain Yachiru so she did not ask any more questions. It had been bad enough that Kenpachi had been badgered by her about the whole Ichinosae thing because either Kenny did not like girls coming into the squad, or because he wanted to be Rin's special friend instead. This was just easier to explain away...

"Your supposed friend –the Murderer Kenpachi! He will bring nothing but disaster to the serenity of the Sereitei. While he's here we're not welcome and neither is justice. I cannot beleive that even after failing the captain's test he was still permitted to take over. He killed my captain you know, he didn't just wound him as would be normal practice! He HAD to kill him apparently!" Maki was more talking to himself then talking to Rin, and though she tried hard to pull herself out of his strong grip, he seemed to hold a different ind of strength. Already his spiritual pressure was rising and Rin could not comprehend what might have been making it so vivid, save rage.

"Are you mad? There's always a place for us here. Unlike you, I never really had a place I felt so comfortable. With Kenpachi here I feel even more happier then normal. Everything is going well for me! Is there some jealousy within that means I can't be happy unless you're happy too? Things don't work like that Maki!" She humoured him. Even before Kenpachi had turned up she'd been considering the idea of dumping Maki - he had been acting a little too controling and now she was regretting even being around him!

"Look... You and I will be together forver, you know that. You told me you would have it no other way! If we stay here I'll always be unhappy and you'll never be happy either. A wife and her husband should be one connected being - not rivals! If we stay, we'll never be one!" Maki's words were strange, but to Rin the smelt of the pig-ignorance that her adopted father had tried to push onto her. There was no equality within that sort of marriage.

"But I've never contemplated marriage before... I don't even believe in it because it's been used as an excuse by the parents of making names for themselves! I'm not even sure I want to be with you forever. We are both changing and its in opposite directions to what it used to be. Maybe we have to be apart!" Rin tried to speak rationally, if he believed in justice so much then calm words should assist. But Maki just seemed to get more irritated and blank her.

"I'm not going to listen to that you're coming with me!" He growled his annoyance at her words. He looked almost as if her were about to slap her, but thank goodness he was controlled enough for it. Rin was not used to any of this, her whole body froze in a kind of fear - had she made him this bad? Was it her fault he was angry? Before Rin had a chance to speak anymore, Maki took a ribbon from the hilt of his Zanpaktou - a friendship one that Rin had given him when they had trained together. Rin eyed it, but then it was tied around her wrist, tightly, and he began to pull without words. Rin dug her heels in, she wouldn't move, but Maki fought against the strain.

"AH! Stop it! You're hurting me!" Rin began, trying to walk backward. She was too stubborn to give in, shock or no shock! Her spunky independence was starting to kick into her mind. She wasn't going to stand for this kind of treatment from any man! She pulled back hard, knocking Maki off balance. But he tried again the yank her back. Rin grabbed hold of one of the pillars in the courtyard, people looked on but offered no help as she refused to let go though Maki tried to rip her off it without stepping backward himself!

SNAP!

Rin let out an almighty scream of pain and yet Ichinosae pulled more, the pain making her release the pillar and hurry on behind him. She continued to scream at the pain of her broken wrist as each attempt to stop was echoed by a vicious tug. Tears began to stream from her eyes, yet still no one in the Sereitei seemed smart enough to stop the situation. Rin eyed them all desperately - she did not want to be a prisoner and yet the eyes of the other soul reapers seemed to convict her.

But as he tried to pull her out of the Sereitei doors, the gatekeeper was compelled to open the door but look scared. He did not know what was going on, for that Rin did not blame the seemingly idiotic guard. But she blamed him as he refused to sound the alarm, stop her being dragged, or even ask a question about where they were going. Once more Rin tried to strain, but as she pulled back and Maki pulled back in turn, there was another snap!

There was a sound like the wind beside Rin's ear, and then she was released. A sword had severed the chord with a crack that hurt her chest. It seemed almost a symbol of her friendship and love for the once brave and just man - broken so suddenly. Maki fell backward, wobbling and knocking his head hard on the ground. But he got up from it, shaking his head gently before growling toward the interruption. Rin fell backward, going to land on her bum but something warm and loving caught her.

She was grabbed and steadied at the shoulder, and then hooked beneath the knees into the craddling form of a rescuer. Her head was brought to a handsomely strong chest where she placed her cheek and ear to hear the steady thum of a strong heart. Rin had a saviour in this world and immediatley she thought she was in love - until she looked up. Rin's face turned bright pink as she realised it was Kenpachi's form around her. She looked into his hard grey-brown eyes that revealled nothing but his casual uninterest. Yet his jaw was set firmly and his facial features were hardened with an unspoken threat to the being that had hurt one of his close friends.

"She's mine! You can't take her away from me!" Maki screamed, but Kenpachi just straightened and turned away. He ignored Maki as the foolish soul reaper tried to stand himself up, aware now that he had actually sent Rin into the arms of his enemy.

"Enough Ichinosae! I can't take something that was never yours." With that said, and the threat of a fight present in the air, Ichinosae left. He was just as bruised from bashing his head, but the gate was shut and everyone was silent. For that alone, Rin felt less embarrassed but just as shocked.

"Hang on, Rin, I'll take you to Unohana and get that fixed up." Kenpachi stated calmly as he'd hoisted her higher against his chest so his chin was barely and inch from the top of her head. He carried her at a gentle pace so as not to jog her painful wrist and seemed unaware of the shock on his friend's face. He looked like the hero saving the princess at the end of a movie, but it was simply a friend helping another friend to Kenpachi.

Or could it have been more then that...

Next Time –Part Nine: Mysteries of Girls, Guys, & Love

Rintakara and Rangiku were once a pair of mischievous girls in the academy that watched out for one another and even watched out for Gin. Now the pair of "Bosom Buddies" are back together and revelling in the past mischief and joking of their experiences. From intimate relationships with other Shinigami to the secrets behind blackmail, the two recall all their havoc. But what is left for their friendship now? Does Rin really want to know how Rangiku has been missing her and Shoji for so long? And will Rangiku get Rin to admit the one truth about her affections that everyone else has failed at?

Coming Soon…