A/N: I'm so sorry, everyone! I have no excuses, both for this and for 'Take Another Path', except for the exams, an original work I need to finish for school, and my innate laziness. I have to say I've been a little unmotivated to finish this too, for various reasons…However, I swear I'll never abandon a story! But anyway, the newest Bleach chapter kick-started my guilt for not doing this sooner… I almost hyperventilated myself to unconsciousness! (Well, not quite, but you get the picture, ne?) At this point, there's only one chapter and the epilogue to go, so I'm hoping to end this before long. Enjoy!

The Road to Home

Chapter Four

Traitor

"That's a good name, Tatsukei."

"You said you'd train me to fight shinigami," he shot back.

Uryuu came closer, so close that his much greater height made Kei claustrophobic. "I said I'd train you," he whispered. "Not that I'd train you to fight shinigami."

"I want revenge!" he shouted.

"Really?" He made a grab for the kid's hands, and Kei was not quick enough to stop him. Uryuu twisted his wrists so that the boy's palms were facing upwards. "Because I have yet to see a child's departed soul with hands calloused from holding a sword."

Kei knew it then, that the Quincy was onto him. His expression froze into a cold mask. "How did you find out?"

"A face is a face. Your exotic colouring throws the ones who see you off, and they focus on that instead of your face. You've also been pressing yourself to show intense emotions, while you're normally apathetic." His voice lowered even more, even lower than a whisper. "But you came to our school before, in the living world. You cannot fool me, Hitsugaya."

"What are you going to do? Kill me?"

"I just told you." Ishida released him and stepped back, but kept his voice lowered. "I'll train you. I'll teach you about the medallions and the Stern Ritter, I'll train you to exploit their weaknesses and use projectile weapons."

"Why would you?"

"The children," the Quincy breathed. "All those children…" He was looking straight ahead at nothing, somewhere above the boy's head – far above, Hitsugaya noted irritably. "I feel like an absolute monster. I promised myself I would give my all to the Vandenreich, but…"

"You can see it now, can't you? You win. The hollows are eradicated. Soul Society is in ruins. The balance is broken. Life and death merge, and the world is destroyed. All those innocent lives are lost."

Ishida looked down at him again, torment clear in his eyes. "Should I assume you knew it was me?"

"I had my doubts… but I could not think of any other Quincy to want to spare my life."

Hitsugaya knew he should not have expected anything else. It's one thing to hate the shinigami, but evidently, using children as a human shield in a war was not something a seventeen-year-old could do. Maybe there was hope for him yet. The signs were definitely there.

"We have to be very careful though. The emperor may suspect me already. He named me his successor, and I am closely watched. There is not much space for me to move."

"That's why I'm here." The corner of Hitsugaya's mouth twitched imperceptibly, the motion mirrored by the Quincy.

"Now then, let us get started," Ishida raised his voice again. "The first thing to know about shinigami, they will kill you without hesitation. Your only hope against them is to be as merciless as they are."

…

Jerome Guizbatt was an easy to please man. He loved what he did, killing shinigami left and right as their army had marched into the Seireitei. It was an eye-opener when he'd barely survived the battle, and only because someone else had taken on that beast Zaraki Kenpachi. But it took him no longer than two weeks to recover and be back in action- somewhat. Since the pain from his injuries rendered him immobile, he did the only thing he could, while eagerly waiting for another battle. At the moment, he was writing down the names of every dead brat the Vandenreich had recruited, as well as everything they knew about them and their performance thus far, consulting various reports scattered about the desk's surface.

The man was immersed in his work, so much so that he did not notice the miniscule reiatsu a few feet behind him and did not hear the spell the almost silent voice uttered until it was too late. With his injuries, he could not move out of the way in time, and vaguely cold reiatsu hit him square in the chest full force. Before any sound could leave his lips, his world went black.

With a smile, he placed a piece of paper on the figure, and the body disappeared in a soft light.

He almost failed to notice the stack of half-finished paperwork. Then, a smirk tugged at his lips, and he fought to keep it down. This could prove useful.

…

Weeks passed, and the training continued. More and more children entered the Quincy army, although none of them were sure about their intentions. The kids' wing was slowly filling with weapons, and there truly was a wide variety of the deadly tools. There were many who secretly practised during the night, so it was no surprise if someone heard blades slashing the air, followed by smashing noises and quiet apologies in the darkness.

Ishida taught Kei many things, particularly in the fields of marksmanship and reiatsu. It was a marvel to learn the ways reiryoku strings were knit together; about the complicated way it reacted to several different stimuli and how to sense reiatsu in a way even deeper and more exact than before. The technique behind Hirenkyaku was also something they delved into, as well as the theory behind the medallions they used to steal bankai. The lessons, to Kei's surprise, satisfied his mind and heart in a way their hunger for knowledge hadn't been sated in a long time.

Ishida and he were going through the grounds when they heard the voice coming from their destination.

"Alright, brats, all of you out!" Bazz-B shouted at the trainees. Scared, they made their way out of the building in less than ten seconds, running pell-mell over the hallways back to their chambers. Kenji hung back for a moment, but a furious glance from Bazz-B had him scurrying after the others. He would have stayed had the Stern Ritter not been able to sense reiatsu and, sadly, he was one of the few who had it.

The training grounds slowly filled with the remaining Stern Ritter, most in various states of discomfort. Ishida came last. Some threw him distasteful glances, some offered him respectful gazes and some ignored him. All of them, however, stared at the kid by his side.

"So that is the kid you're so interested in, huh?"

Kei carefully assessed every Stern Ritter surrounding him, hiding his scrutiny behind a mask of awe and impatience.

"He performed admirably during the evaluation I conducted initially."

"Yeah, hog the best one, why won't you?" one of them said accusingly.

"Why is he here?" another asked. By then, the young spirit had wisely changed his expression to being overwhelmed at the terrible power surrounding him.

"I thought he was due a reward for the exemplary behaviour, obedience and progress he has exhibited. Of course," he looked down at his 'student' sternly, "should he fail to meet my standards, punishment will be just as swift. I believe he already knows that."

Kei nodded frantically, and Bazz-B chuckled darkly.

"Make sure to drill obedience into him. There's a reason the Vandenreich are so good." The successor ignored him.

"You did not specify the reason this meeting is necessary," Bambietta grumbled, somehow still sounding sweet, but Kei could see mercilessness lurking deep in her eyes. She'd ignored him until then, but now he saw her looking at him with appraising eyes. "You know," she said with a smile, looking at Ishida, "he's kinda cute. If you ever get tired of him, send him my way."

Kei, knowing exactly what she did to those 'sent her way', forcibly suppressed a shudder. Ishida did not say anything, but his countenance expressed all he wanted to say. Kei would not be going anywhere near her anytime soon.

"Okay, enough with the chatter. There is a very serious matter we need to discuss." Everyone looked at Haschwalth, but he did not continue. With a nod, Ishida dismissed his trainee. Kei hastily left with a bow, but he still heard the words uttered after he had closed the door.

"There is a traitor in our midst."

…

He waited anxiously to see how the meeting had gone. He was perched on the edge of a tall tower of the headquarters, gazing at the entrance of the training hall opposite to him. If he adjusted the reiatsu output of the limiter to zero, there would be nothing to betray his presence, but they had chosen the meeting place well. The building had thick, sturdy walls and no other entrance except the door, and the air vents were too small for even him to crawl through. That was fine though, because one way or another, he would learn what had happened.

His sole ally either walked through that door, or he didn't.

People started leaving. Mask De Masculine, Bazz-B, Shaz Domino, and then the girls together like he'd often noticed them do at the Academy. He smirked wryly when he realised all the girls had names and surnames beginning with the same letter. Except the one Zaraki had killed. Maybe it was karma for being the only one breaking the uniformity the others had.

Sometimes, he scared himself. Had he really turned so cold, to catch the irony in a living person's death instead of recognising the failure of his purpose? They had to protect the living, that was one of the things drilled into him and every shinigami during their years at the Academy, and it felt wrong to think of killing them. But this was war, and during war everyone's morals failed them, their purpose became twisted and you could end up killing your own friends, your own family, all in the name of battle.

He wished it was like before. When their enemies were simply hollows, and not traitors or living.

What a childish thing to wish for. He could not afford to be childish. He's paid for his childishness dearly. Through long hours of unconsciousness, too weak to do anything else but dwell on his mistakes and then again all those terrible, agonising hours full of intolerable pain of every kind.

He'd never make the same mistakes again.

Down below, he saw a flash as light reflected off a pair of familiar glasses.

…

The whispers had already started before he returned to the place shared by the children. How they had found out Kei could not and would not attempt to understand. They were kids. They had ways of going about. That was enough for him.

"Where were you, Kei?" Yuuichi asked. The three of them – Yoko, Kenji and he – were sitting together, Yoko huddled in Kenji's side.

"Ishida Uryuu told me to wait for him, and we trained again after the meeting," he made sure to make his exhaustion show.

"Did he tell you what happened?" Kenji queried excitedly. Kei shook his head. "They said there is a traitor, and he might even be a Stern Ritter! Soldat have been disappearing left and right, and they say the same happened to a Stern Ritter. That's why they think it may be a Stern Ritter, because no one else would have that kind of power!"

"So, what's going to happen now?"

"They have to find him before the final confrontation. They are afraid that Ywatch will kill all of them if they don't. I'm pretty sure he could defeat the shinigami on his own if he wanted to… After all, they say he is the one who killed the shinigami's soutaichou, some really old guy who was missing a hand!"

"You didn't tell me that!" Yuuichi protested.

"It, uh, slipped my mind?" tried Kenji.

"Yeah right!" There was silence for a moment, and Kei breathed a sigh of relief. Their chatter had been distracting.

"Why do you support shinigami so much, Yuuichi?" Kenji suddenly asked. Kei and Yoko turned to him as well, curious. Yuuichi looked down at his lap, then back up at them.

"I was responsible for a mass murderer's death, and he turned into a hollow. He'd killed my mom and promised that he'd bring her back if I evaded him while in the body of a parakeet. He killed everyone who tried to help me, until I was found by a very strong person. He had a friend who was a substitute shinigami. The hollow was chasing us, but his friend had to help his little sister, so a real shinigami who had almost lost her powers fought with Mister. She almost got killed, just to help us, then the substitute showed up and he took care of the hollow. Though I had stayed in the parakeet's body for too long, so all they could do was send me to Soul Society. But I can't forget how she tried to help us with everything she had."

Kenji was torn. He did not expect this kind of story, and Kei knew they'd hear many more stories like that if they talked to the souls refusing to join the Vandenreich. He hoped that would pull Kenji away from his desire for revenge a little, though he was aware most was futile hope. They had to win this war, not only for the world's survival, but for all those children who were being groomed to become an unfeeling sacrifice.

"And you never saw them again?" Yoko asked, wide-eyed. Yuuichi smiled.

"I found a family in Soul Society. It was not the same one I had when I was alive, but that's how it is. They are kind people, and I love them very much. Then, one day, Mister and the substitute shinigami came to the Soul Society, and they saw me. The kind Mister was concerned for me, but I was happy there. And then… then came those people and took us away, and I lost my family again." His eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

"That's what the shinigami did too! They took my family away!"

He wanted to strangle Kurotsuchi so bad! He was the head of the Research department; surely there must have been some way different than what he did!

"It's the balance," said a dreamy voice behind them. They turned, and were faced with a boy about their age. He had black hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to pierce through you, and was dressed in an expensive-looking, multi-layered kimono; a noble, then. "The people here make hollows disappear completely, upsetting the balance of the world and if something was not done, the world would plunge into chaos. Of course, they should have found a better way…" he moved on as if he had not noticed they were here, but Kei did not miss the intelligent spark lurking deep in the boy's gaze.

Looks like his task was not as hopeless as it seemed.

…

A/N: I'd love to get feedback, even though I probably don't much deserve it…