Disclaimer: Bleach and all the characters in it are the property of Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. This fanfic is being written merely for the enjoyment of myself and whoever happens to like it.
Reviews would be most welcome, as would constructive criticism. In the case of the later, you can be brutally honest, but please don't be abusive. And flames will be ignored.
There have been more Favorite Story and Story Alert arrivals; welcome aboard DJay, Hunter 152, Aragaurn, GazerBlitz, cerokun, sometimesafox, trinitybeing, Love Psycho, Victor M. Sarks, Obiki Doragon, Keiren-Kun89, and manywheels.
I'd like to thank all the people who've read this story, as well as the people who have bothered to review. It's very gratifying to see that people like my work and want to see more.
That said, I want to apologize again for the tardy update; I've been a little busy the last while, and it was a little difficult to come up with this chapter. I think I've got my act together again, though, so the next chapter shouldn't take anywhere near as long, though I'll prove that when I submit it.
Considering that, I'll ask a crazy question: I wanted to ask everyone's opinion on me starting a second story. Not just whether you would like me to do it, but whether you consider the concept of working on two stories at the same time a good idea at all.
Anyway, here's the next chapter, and I hope you all like it. If you have any major criticisms about it, just let me know.
Shaolin was not in a good mood as she made through the streets of Karakura as quickly as she could. She looked around her and saw the people in the streets following her with their eyes, obviously wondering where she was going.
Some, of course, had ideas. She could see some people shaking their heads, and pointing the way as they gave the assassin greetings.
She responded with only half her attention, as she had more important concerns.
At least now that he was a shinigami, it was almost pathetically easy to follow Ichigo around; he was about as subtle as a certain radioactive undersea dinosaur – for once Shaolin gave thanks that his reiatsu was so blinding – and the Kuchiki girl was no survivalist expert.
Add to that the fact that both of them seemed confident they were alone and undetected, and that they had other things on their mind, and Shaolin was pretty confident they weren't going to be noticing her even if she chose to get a few meters away.
They were headed due west, had been headed in that direction for the last few minutes at a good run. It was the only thing the young man and his 'escort' could do in the absence of shunpo.
It just irked her that she had to keep herself at a slower pace so as not to create a total scene; she had to live in this town, after all.
And as a result, they were moving well ahead of her.
Which was why she wasn't in a terribly good mood.
"Why do you suppose she is running off to this location?"
Shaolin shook her head.
"I don't know Hana, but I don't like it. Do you sense anything other than our 'friends'?"
There was a long pause, even as Shaolin continued to follow Ichigo's presence.
"No, Shaolin...as far as I can tell, there are no Hollows in the area. And I do not sense Kuchiki-hime either, only Ichigo-san."
Shaolin shook her head in disgust.
"She's in her gigai then... What the hell is she up to?"
The ex-shinigami could 'feel' Hana shaking her head.
"The only thing I can think of is that she is taking Ichigo-san to a place where some Hollows will be appearing..."
Shaolin decided not to think on that; she decided to concentrate more on catching up to the two of them.
She made her way across one street, down another, through one alleyway and across another street, wondering how the hell they were managing without getting totally confused. Shaolin knew this two; Ichigo couldn't know it as well, and Rukia almost certainly didn't.
It said some scary things about Soul Society's intel on the area. Shaolin made her way into another alleyway-
And then stopped cold at the sight before her.
"Shaolin...? Shaolin, what is going on? Why have you stopped?"
There was a part of the ex-shinigami's mind that did actually hear her friend's voice, that wanted to respond.
The same part of her recognized where and when she was – some small alleyway in Karakura, a place where things people didn't want to think about would be out of sight and out of mind.
It also recognized that it was incredibly stupid for her to stop someplace while Ichigo was being led off into danger by his 'friend'.
But that part wasn't in control right now because of what Shaolin was seeing on the ground in front of her, next to a trash bin...
"Shaolin, what is going on?"
This time the words snapped the ex-shinigami into the present. She took a moment to collect herself further before speaking and then sighed in defeat.
"I found Ichigo's body."
It was just laying on the ground with limbs splayed out, looking like some stray piece of litter its master didn't want. His expression was unreadable, his eyes staring blankly towards the brick building on the far end of the alleyway.
It was a scene reminded her of way too many in her existence here in the Living World, too many friends. The nightmare from the night before came back to her mind, sending a cold chill down her spine...
"Is it dead?"
Shaolin stood there for a moment longer, and then shook her head, now fully back in reality.
"No, I'm sure it's not...at least..."
The assassin knelt down to be nearer to the young man and hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder; a little bit of relief entered her at the feeling of warmth under the gray cloth.
She moved her hand to his neck to feel for a pulse...waited...
Yes...yes it was there...
The ex-shinigami breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's still alive, Hana."
"Good, now let us go after Ichigo-san and Kuchiki-hime."
Shaolin nodded and some part of her thanked Kannon, and Buddha and...whatever other gods she could think of as she gently closed the young man's eyes and then stood up again.
She had been pretty sure he wasn't dead, that the body was just in a coma-like state, but it was good to know for sure.
It meant she hadn't failed Masaki...
At least not yet.
But even so...
She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I never should have left, Hana. I could have kept this from happening..."
"You did leave, and for good reason. And you do not know whether you could have done anything. So let us leave that for when we find out what happened."
Shaolin nodded.
"I know, Hana. It's just... To think he's gotten to the point where he sees the body his mother gave him as an inconvenience..."
"She probably forced him into it."
"For an entire week? That's some guilt trip."
There was a pause, and then a breeze blew through the alley, carrying with it...
"I sense four Hollows nearby Shaolin."
The ex-shinigami nodded her head in understanding. She could feel it too, and 'smell' the rank odor of several of their kind nearby.
"Did they just gate in?"
She could almost sense Hana nodding.
"They...oh gods..."
Shaolin's heart sank and she cursed herself.
"Let me guess: while I was mooning over Ichigo, they had a light snack?"
"Yes...I am sorry..."
"Don't be; it's just something I'm going to have to get used to."
There was another pause, even as the ex-shinigami materialized Suzumebachi and readied the blade. She didn't have the reishi blade this time; she'd momentarily forgotten where she was now.
A war zone.
"There is another Plus headed here, they should be here in just a few seconds."
Shaolin nodded.
"Then I'll just have to make sure they stay extant."
She took one more look at Ichigo's body, and then started for the end of the alley. She didn't make it far when a female figure coming round the corner; it took a second, but Shaolin suddenly realized who she was dealing with.
And it turned her blood to ice.
"Yamada-san?"
The teenager's eyes went wide.
"Sensei?"
"Oh gods...that means the other Plus was..."
For a moment the teenaged spirit had a look of desperate joy on her face, but that turned to terror when they both heard the roar of a Hollow approaching. Yamada Rin turned her head to look down the street she had come from, screamed again, and then bolted down the alley towards Shaolin.
"Sensei, help me!"
Even as Rin raced towards the middle of the alley, Shaolin started forward again until she had managed to put herself between the girl and the entrance. A moment later, a hulking humanoid with a grinning bone mask made its appearance.
The creature stopped, sizing up the fact that it had another piece of prey to deal with, and Shaolin used the time to glance at Rin. the former high-school girl was scared out of her wits; she was shaking, tears streaming down her face as she tried to deny the reality of what was going on.
Shaolin hated seeing the girl like that, and she didn't like putting more pressure on the girl, but she needed confirmation.
"Yamada-san are you all right? Where's Ito-san?"
The two girls had almost never been apart that Shaolin could remember, and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach when Rin stared bawling.
"They-they ate her sensei! Those monsters ate her...!"
Even as she absorbed the confirmation of her fears, Shaolin shook her head and tried to keep the bile from rising in her throat. Then she turned her attention back to the monster in front of them.
The Hollow finished its 'deliberating' and then roared once again before charging; Rin screamed even as Shaolin readied herself.
She wasn't worried about this one, it looked pretty stupid. Her thoughts were borne out by the fact that the thing stopped in front of her and raised its arms to swipe at her.
Even as it brought its hands down in a crushing swipe, Shaolin moved out of the way, and then grabbed hold of one to the thing's limbs. Using the monster's momentum against it, she pivoted and managed to throw the thing to the ground on its back.
Even as she materialized Suzumebachi in her hand, the ex-shinigami could hear Rin gasp in wonder. Before the Hollow could do anything, a strong swipe of the blade cut through the creature's neck. It made a strangling sound for a moment, and then dissolved before its component parts could separate.
She took a moment to look over the space the Hollow had been and then look over her blade before turning her attention towards Rin. The teenager was just standing there, trying to figure out whether to be relieved or simply continue to freak out.
Shaolin affected a reassuring tone, even as she kept her senses sharp; there were still Hollows in the area.
"Yamada-san, what happened?"
It took a moment for the girl to calm herself down enough to be able to start a conversation.
"W-we were just walking around, like we always do...we were talking about seeing the fireworks this year and..."
She started breaking down again.
"And then they came and we ran and they were chasing us and...and..."
"I'm sorry..."
Rin looked around randomly, likely trying to find security in the familiar solidness of the buildings around them.
And then she noticed the body sitting on the ground and her eyes went wide.
"Ichigo...?"
She approached the body and touched it, and Shaolin swore to herself as she saw the girl beginning to lose it again. Rin's eyes going wide and her jaw dropped as she looked to Shaolin for some kind of answer, and then she jumped again as they heard the roar of another Hollow, this time from higher up.
Shaolin sighed and tried to put an expression on her face that would be both reassuring and determined.
"Keep near me; I'll try to keep you safe."
Now there was a look of disbelief on Rin's face, and she was starting to back away.
"Sensei, what the hell is going on? I know you told us it was dangerous outside of Karakura, and I know other people have said stuff about those things but-"
The ex-shinigami sighed.
"I can't really explain right now, but I can try to help you out-"
The girl started to look angry, even as she continued to lose her composure.
"No...you knew how to fight these things, didn't you? Didn't you?"
"Yes..."
"Then why did you leave. Where were you when they...? Damn it, sensei, how could you?"
Shaolin didn't want to have this argument; she couldn't afford it right now.
"Yamada-san, please, let me help you-"
"No, you do what you want. I'm getting the hell out of here!"
She turned and started running further down the alleyway.
"Yamada-san, no!"
But the girl didn't listen; she continued to run down the hallway, and Shaolin was soon going after her.
"Rin, please!"
All she saw was the girl shaking her head violently as she ran, as she tried to just get away from the madness forming around her. Shaolin didn't blame her, but Rin didn't know the Hollows; the ex-shinigami started running after her, the walls flying past.
Only a few more meters-
"Shaolin, stop!"
Instinct caused the ex-shinigami to stop, even as Rin cleared the exit of the alleyway. The girl turned her head to the left, and then her whole body seemed to relax for a moment before something surged out and-
And Rin disappeared with a scream.
Shaolin froze; all she could do was watch as whatever it was pulled back across the front of the alley and vanished to where it came from. Above her, she could hear the cry of another Hollow and she noted the shadow made by a pair of winged...things flying overhead.
Yamada Rin and Ito Akane had been her students at the dojo before they'd been killed in a car accident. She still talked to them from time to time, still had bonds to them...
And now they were gone.
She'd failed them.
Just like she'd failed so many other people...
And Rukia and Ichigo were nowhere to be found.
For a moment more, she let the sorrow fill her, and then the assassin let it turn into rage. Rage at the Hollows who had done this; rage at herself for having let it happen.
And rage at Soul Society for allowing things to reach a state where such a thing could happen...
Shaolin let the rage wash away the sorrow and shame, and then tempered it. And then she ran out of the alleyway to see what had ended Rin's existence.
The girl was gone now, but she could be saved in a way; Shaolin spared a momentary glance at her zanpaktou. If she could just kill the Hollow that did that...
And then she'd nail the other Hollows here.
And then she'd go after -
She stopped short of the entrance, even as a massive something flashed out right in front of her. After a moment, she realized it was the neck and beaked head of a massive Hollow, which stayed where it was for a moment before retracting away.
The ex-shinigami followed the appendage to see a thing that resembled a turtle, armored shell supported by four thick legs. The neck continued to retract even as Shaolin watched, until it was sitting almost inside the front of the shell. A thrill went up her back as she saw the blood on its beak, and she got the idea that it too was smiling at her.
Up above, she could see the two bird creatures circling, waiting for their moment to attack.
"Good gods, is it just me, or these guys making up for lost time?"
"Are you sure they are not after you?"
That caused the ex-shinigami to pause for just a second.
"I hadn't thought about that... If they are, well...they're going to wish they hadn't met me."
There was a rumbling coming from the Hollow in front of her, and it took a moment for Shaolin to realize that the thing was laughing. It just made her blood boil even more.
"Couldn't save your little friend, could you?"
The assassin started, and then gave a strained smile.
"You can talk?"
"'Course I can; that's why the boss put me in charge of this."
The smile disappeared from Shaolin's lips.
"I was just kidding about them being after you..."
Shaolin doubted that, but she could imagine who these things might be with.
"You work for Grand Fisher, don't you?"
The Hollow waited for a moment.
"Maybe...but I'm not gonna bother saying in specific, since you're not going to be around long enough to...what are you doing?"
Shaolin finished removing the jacket she was wearing and laid it on the ground beside her. It was a little on the expensive side, and she could always get another t-shirt.
But that only barely registered in the assassin's mind.
Too much was happening too quickly.
Ichigo; Hollows; shinigami; hiding; death...
The death of friends in her home, at the hands of these idiots.
And she needed to get to Ichigo before he got killed by more of these idiots.
She had no time for anything other than quick vengeance, had no time or patience to try and pierce that thing's hide with Suzumebachi.
So she'd have to use something more drastic...
Even as Shaolin tempered her anger at these monsters, she gathered the power within her and silently thanked Kisuke for his ability to make specialty gigai. Many of them would have been torn up by what she was about to do, but this one wasn't so fragile.
"Are you going to do what I think you are going to do?"
Shaolin nodded, even as she could feel the Hollow grow uneasy. One of the flying ones was more twitchy, and dived down on her.
Even as the thing approached her from the air, Shaolin channeled the power through her free arm and let it take the form of white fire. The flames tore through the clothing on her arm, and then spread to her back and other arm; she only retained enough control over it to keep it from damaging her gigai seriously.
It was her will made manifest, and that will only wanted to destroy right now.
She turned her attention to the attacking Hollow, which had realized by now that it was in trouble and was trying to pull up.
"Too late."
She jumped up and pivoted in the air, dodging and then landing a blow with her foot on the thing's beak. The flame, concentrated raw spiritual energy, tore up the creature's head and along the length of its body.
Before it could even hit the ground, the Hollow was utterly consumed in the white 'fire'; the last dissolving bits falling like ash in front of a now terrified turtle-Hollow.
"Hey...the boss didn't say you could do that!"
"You know, I'm not not sure what makes me angrier..."
The Hollow looked at her.
"What?"
The ex-shinigami looked at the creature with a gaze she was sure had the same cold fire as was circling around her body.
"I'm trying to decide whether I'm more angry about Yamada-san and Ito-san getting done in by you, or the fact that you think for one instant that a group of idiots could take me on."
The Hollow just stood there, its mouth open in disbelief; she could feel that the other remaining monster wasn't sure what to do.
She decided to solve the one Hollow's problem; she raised her hand and pointed a finger at it.
"Hado #4: Byakurai!"
A bolt of lightning flashed from the outstretched finger, tearing through the heart of the flying Hollow, who then proceeded to fall to the ground with a thud.
"Uhm...uhhh..."
The turtle-Hollow started backing up, looking for all the world like the one she'd fought the day before. Like someone wanting to find an exit.
Shaolin just shook her head.
"You're not getting away from me."
Then she started running towards the Hollow. Its head shot out of its body like a serpent, hoping to catch her in its beak.
She dodged, and then rushed to its carapace. Even as it tried to move out of the way, the assassin jumped onto the shell and then ran up to the top, charging her power as she did. The thing craned its neck, turning its head towards her again, and Shaolin had to leap again as it tried to hurl its head at her again.
It didn't matter, though; the thing was dead as far as she was concerned.
She felt she was high enough now, and focusing her energy again, she drove her palm onto the thing's shell. The ex-shinigami released the energy, and felt a satisfied rush of power as the flame tore through the shell and made its way into the beast within.
The Hollow shook and made a choking sound; she was sure that the technique she used was disintegrating the thing's insides, and she made a point to look it in the eyes as the light began to die in its eyes.
But it still had enough strength to swing its head and neck around like a flail at her. She jumped out of the way and then onto the back of its neck, taking her zanpaktou and driving it through the back of the thing's head.
She used the sword as a means of holding on as the thing's head smashed into the building and then started to dissolve. As the thing went through its death throes, she pulled her blade free and then went back to the ground.
Then she watched as the massive beast collapsed in a heap on the ground.
"I hope you find peace, Hollow, wherever you end up."
The creature let out a death-cry even as its body began breaking up in a nimbus of white fire. It seemed to hold together for a moment through sheer force of will, and then it exploded in a spray of shards of vaporizing matter.
A moment later, and there was nothing left of it.
Shaolin closed her eyes for a moment.
"I hope you find peace as well, Yamada-san; I hope you liked the fireworks I made for you."
"Shaolin, I hate to interrupt but...there is still one more Hollow left."
The assassin turned towards the wounded flying Hollow, who was even now beginning to form a rift back to its own plane.
She thought about it for a moment as she powered down, thought about letting it go back and tell others of its kind to stay away from Karakura...
And then she saw the bits of pink on its beak
Her emotions rising again, she walked over to the thing that had obviously been Akane's executioner. As soon as she was standing over it, she held Suzumebachi blade-down over the thing.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The crippled thing managed to quiver a little before Shaolin drove the bled through its skull, and a moment later it had joined its companions as spiritual ash.
She closed her eyes in prayer.
"Find peace, Ito-san."
She stood there a moment more and opened her eyes and looked around.
No...no little girl in white...
Gods...she had enough problems to worry about...
"Well, that was fun."
The assassin sighed and dematerialized her zanpaktou as she went to get her jacket. She picked it up and put it on over her ruined shirt and began turning her attention to the problem of Ichi-
A loud cracking sound came from the building the turtle-Hollow had crashed into, and as she watched the structure began to sag into the gap between it and the next building...
Right where Ichigo's body was.
She swore as she ran back into the alley.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Ignoring the sound and the plaster and mortar dust falling on her, she quickly made her way to the body. She hauled it up and threw one arm over her shoulders, and then started for the exit, grunting as she tried to drag the much larger body out of the way.
"C'mon...c'mon..."
She couldn't screw this up.
She couldn't fail Ichigo like she'd failed Rin and Akane just now.
A terrible sound came from behind her as the side of the building finally began to give way, bricks and wood falling down in a cascade of rubble onto the street.
Shaolin could feel the pressure of the debris behind her, knew she had to hurry.
Summoning what reserves of strength she had, she braced herself and then jumped the last few feet, even as the alleyway became buried.
The assassin lay there for a moment, trying to make sure she'd actually been successful at getting Ichigo...or at least his body...out of danger.
As far as she could tell, she had been.
"Shaolin, what happened? Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine...I just-"
Then she realized that she was on the ground, essentially being embraced by Ichigo's body.
She yelped as she felt her face flush, and then moved Ichigo off of her before sitting up.
She looked around, noticed that there was hardly anybody here, and breathed yet another prayer of thanks. She looked over to the body of the young man beside her, one that seemed all right, and started figuring out where to put him.
The episode did make her feel bad about teasing Ichigo and the others earlier, though; she'd have to apologize to them.
And she'd have to make sure Tatsuki in particular was all right.
Thank you gods...Buddha...whoever, I don't care...
Thank you...
Thank you...
Tatsuki couldn't help but almost chant the words in her mind as she braced herself on the sink counter top in the girls' bathroom. Her head was down, and she could see and feel the tears falling on the smooth surface, and she could also feel her knees trying to buckle. Her heart was racing, she was breathing like the atmosphere had almost been sucked out of the room, and...
And all she could think was that she was glad nobody had noticed the signs of the crippling fear that had overtaken her only a couple of minutes ago.
Thank you...
She'd just been trying to continue her lunch with Orihime on the rooftop, and trying to live down the humiliation of what had just happened in the hallway. Only two months in and she was going to branded for the rest of her time here, her and Orihime...
Damn it, why did sensei have to say something like that!
Of course, if she hadn't said it, someone else would have.
The anger helped drive a little of the fear away, helped give her a purchase on the yawning chasm that she felt she was about to fall into.
For that she was grateful.
But still it kept coming, kept pushing into her.
Tatsuki couldn't remember what exactly had set it off, what word or turn of phrase had caused her to melt down like this.
Or maybe it was a feeling, like someone she'd known had just died. She didn't know, didn't care...
She just remembered feeling this unyielding feeling of helplessness and horror surge through her, tearing through every last barrier of her soul like a tsunami, and leaving just a hollow shell of a woman behind.
Orihime had known something was wrong; they had that kind of bond. And she'd helped Tatsuki make her way to someplace private where...
...where she could have a proper breakdown, was what she was having.
That would just be perfect for this day wouldn't it?
Gods, c'mon, please...
She wanted to scream. She wanted to bawl and carry on like the ditz everyone kept calling Orihime.
But she was supposed to be tough; Arisawa Tatsuki never did stuff like that.
And yet she was sitting here, trying to keep from utterly going to pieces, her best friend standing guard outside the doorway.
Orihime was such a good friend; Tatsuki didn't deserve someone like that. At least, not the Tatsuki sitting here, crying and feeling vulnerable and...
What the hell was wrong with her?
It wasn't just her emotions getting out of hand. She could remember...
Nothing.
But something had happened.
She didn't know why, but it was making her cringe and she doubled up into another spasm of crying and gripping the sink for dear life.
There was so much of her that just wanted to run home, back to her room and her bed, or try to find her mother and be held tight in the woman's arms.
She was so scared.
If only she could pull herself together...
And then she felt something shift in her...and she began to feel herself stabilize a little. She could feel the crushing weight on her soul ease a little.
It wasn't much...but it was enough.
It was enough for her rational mind to begin to take control of her body again; her breathing began to become more regular, and she could feel her muscles loosen.
Even her hair began to lay back down; some part of her laughed at that idea.
In fact, as the fear finally began to subside like some evil tide, she was beginning to internally laugh a little at the idea that she had been that scared after all.
She waited another minute or so, and began using some of the meditation exercises she'd learned from Feng-sensei to continue calming herself down; she was pleased when she found they were working now. She'd been so scared before...
The memory of an emotion was still there, though; the memory of being at the mercy of...someone. And the feeling...
The feeling that Ichigo and Rukia had had something to do with it.
It was crazy...and it wasn't even something she could articulate in words...but...
She shook her head to get back into the present time. She'd worry about those two and Orihime later; she had a life, more particularly the second half of the school day, to get through. And there was helping Orihime move.
As soon as she had relaxed enough to know she didn't need something else's support, Tatsuki threw some water on her face to take off some of the sweat she knew was on it. Then she looked at herself in the mirror.
She had to give herself a wry smile; she looked like hell. Not physically, of course; she pulled at her clothes a little to straighten them and patted her hair a little and that part was taken care of.
It was the look in her eyes.
She looked tired, like she'd just had the battle of her life. And they looked...a little older...a little more worn...
She sighed and shook her head. She was going to have to figure out what had happened the night before, something she found annoying as hell. But there was no way around it; either do that or go nuts the next time she had an attack like that.
And for some reason she could feel that she would have another panic attack like that.
Tatsuki did not like that idea.
She gathered what she could of her wits and started out the door; she figured Orihime would be seriously worried about her by now.
And Tatsuki was proven right when she came out into the hall and her friend snapped to from her 'post' beside the door.
Orihime plastered a smile on her face, the same happy-go-lucky one she usually had, but her eyes still betrayed concern, if not outright fear.
"How are you, Tatsuki?"
The brunette took a moment to think about it.
"I don't know...but I'm better now, thanks."
Orihime's smile brightened a little, and she nodded.
"That's good, we'd better get back to class; lunch period's going to be over pretty soon."
"Need an escort?"
Both young women turned at the sound of the voice. Ishida Uryuu was standing not far from them, quietly observing them from the end of the hall.
It kind of creeped Tatsuki out to see him; she was sure he hadn't been there a moment before.
And the way he was looking at her and Orihime...
Actually, mostly at Tatsuki.
She shook herself out of her unease. She knew Uryuu; maybe he'd grown distant from the old days, but it wasn't like he was a bad person.
Just a little odd.
It was obvious that he was waiting for an answer, though, and so Tatsuki affected a smug smile.
"You checking me out or something? A little late..."
Some part of Tatsuki was insulted when the young man in front of her just huffed his disdain at the idea.
"Hardly; you're not exactly my type."
You could have fooled me back in the day...
Orihime looked a little uneasy at the exchange. Maybe it was from having seen her friend in a bad mental state, but she cleared her throat to gain Tatsuki and Uryuu's attention.
"I wouldn't mind having you take us back to class, Ishida-san."
Uryuu smiled and Tatsuki could see it was more genuine this time.
"I'd be glad to, Inoue-san."
Tatsuki arched an eyebrow.
"Serious, Uryuu, why all the interest in us all of a sudden?"
"What do you mean?"
Tatsuki shook her head at his quiet mock-innocence as they started for the classroom.
"You've been avoiding us because of your dad all these years-"
"Father has nothing to do with this."
Tatsuki nodded her head, and then something occurred to her, something which softened her expression.
"Did you want something...like maybe get-"
"No."
Now Tatsuki was annoyed; Uryuu hadn't been sharp in his dismissal, but still...
"Then what's your game?"
The young man seemed to take a moment to choose his words.
"Let's just say things are getting pretty interesting around here, and that you two would be wise to stay away from Ichigo and new 'friend'."
The brunette's eyes widened at the name.
"What do you know about-?"
Uryuu held up a hand to stop her.
"Not very much; just enough to know you should just let them do whatever. Just let him go..."
The last of Tatsuki's fear disappeared at the words, to be replaced with a rising anger.
"Let him go. Like you let us go...?"
A small smile played on Tatsuki's face at the slight look of shame that came over Uryuu's. Then the mask was back and he was his calm, collected self again.
"Whatever. I just wanted to let you know. I can't do anything about it...I'm not allowed to to anything about it...but for your sakes' just stay away from the two of them. It'll only lead to trouble."
For just a moment Tatsuki thought about answering, but they were getting into more crowded halls and she didn't want discussions like that becoming part of the rumor mill.
She'd be having enough trouble living down-
"Hey, there's some of Ichigo's girls!"
Equal parts shame and rage flooded through Tatsuki at the words, and Uryuu's slight smile didn't help. Orihime seemed to be all right with it, though seeing as how that was what she wanted in the first place...
Still, some part of Tatsuki wanted to know what was going on. She knew Uryuu had been into something with his grandfather years before, and so he probably knew more about what was going on.
Maybe he knew who this Kuchiki Rukia woman was.
She sighed and shook her head to clear it; she had to worry about class now and other stuff later. At least all this had taken her mind off of her earlier fear.
Though now she was fearful for Ichigo.
She wondered what he had gotten himself into...
Shaolin sighed as she continued to run in the direction of where Rukia and Ichigo had gone. She'd stashed Ichigo's body in another hiding spot near the now-ruined alley; that had allowed Ichigo and Rukia to get even father ahead of her.
Now she was trying to make up for lost time, but her thoughts still went to Rin and Akane.
"I was going to take those girls to the fireworks if I got back early enough from my trip..."
"And now they are gone. Well, at least you were able to sublimate the Hollows; Yamada-san and Ito-san's souls will be moving on at least."
The ex-shinigami didn't say anything. Hana was right; she had to think that if she hadn't come back early from her trip, the two Pluses would have been simply consumed and then sent off to Hueco Mundo.
The best they could hope for there was to become part of a Menos, and wander what Hana had said was just empty desert for the rest of eternity...
So there had been at least a small victory today.
Shaolin had to think of it that way; she'd go mad if she thought otherwise.
But she hated it...
It was the kind of thinking she other places, not here, and she was already falling into it.
"Karakura isn't going to be the same, is it Hana?"
The mod soul waited a moment before saying anything.
"Actually, it is merely going back to normal, Shaolin. What we have been experiencing for the last while has been the anomaly."
Shaolin nodded her head in understanding.
"Which means I'm going to have to do what I can to fight those things until...well, whenever..."
"That is not your job, Shaolin..."
"No, that is Kuchiki-hime's job, isn't it? After all, she is the appointed guardian of Karakura...at least for the next little while. 'Don't worry folks, she'll take care of everything...'"
She could just feel Hana nodding her 'head'.
"With 'help' from her handsome assistant, of course."
Shaolin sighed.
"Gods, Hana...Kisuke-san's right, isn't he? I have become bitter and cold, haven't I?"
"We both have good reason to feel that way about what just happened. Yamada-san may have been like that, but you are not going to get a morality lecture from me."
"Thanks, Hana."
Shaolin took a moment to center herself, even as she was running, and then turned her attention back to the issue at hand.
"Still no Hollows?"
There was a long pause.
"Other than the ones we just fought? No, but Ichigo-san and Kuchiki-hime have stopped somewhere, so I assume that is where the Hollow will be coming from."
The ex-shinigami nodded; she could feel the subtle shift in Ichigo's reiatsu that said he was more or less at rest. She started to slow her pace a little; there was no need to burst in on them, and it would make sure she wasn't completely winded from her run.
After just earlier, she was ready for anything to happen.
"Are you going to help them?"
Shaolin almost stopped at that one; she took a moment to think.
"How about we see what happens, Hana."
"You mean you are curious about how Ichigo-san handles himself as one of your kind?"
Shaolin thought about that for a moment.
"...Maybe... Maybe I just want to see a little of the dynamic between those two before I do anything. You always see a person's true self when they're under stress..."
There was another pause.
"True... And I suppose you have reason to be concerned. After all, they call each other by their given names..."
The ex-shinigami sighed and shook her head.
"Please don't remind me. I can understand Ichigo, but Kuchiki-hime...?"
"I am seeing your point. This could be very complicated if that turns out to be what-"
Shaolin held up a hand as she spoke.
"Let's not go on with that line of thought unless we have to, okay? I've got enough on my plate right now."
"Agreed."
By now, her senses were being totally blinded again; she was getting close to where Ichigo and Rukia were.
They were entering some slightly run-down part of Karakura; the buildings featured chipped plaster and cracked windows, and there was plenty of trash and weeds in the road and alleyways. She even saw the occasional boarded up window or sign saying a house or building had been condemned
It made the assassin shake her head; this would have never happened a decade or two ago, but with the economy the way it was...
At least there would be the small favor of no one seeing what was going on. Especially with...
"I can't believe she's going into battle in a gigai..."
There was a pause as Shaolin began to slow down. The assassin didn't want her quarry to see her.
"Maybe she will stay back from the fighting?"
Shaolin shook her head.
"Then why wasn't she guarding Ichigo's... Why wasn't she someplace safe? It kind of defeats the purpose of the ritual, doesn't it?"
"That it would... And she cannot be much of a kidou-user; she would have tried to heal Inoue-san and Arisawa-san."
Shaolin just sighed in frustration.
"No, she has the look of a sorceress; I mean, just the 'feel' of one... I'll explain later, if you ask me when we're not occupied like this."
There was a pause.
"So you mean she intentionally left the girls like that?"
"It would fit; the exalted members of the Gotei 13 don't care much about 'the little people'."
There was a long pause now; Hana was probably realizing that she was straying into a bad subject, and the thought made Shaolin feel a little bad. She didn't like the idea of a wall like that between her and her friends even when there was no denying it.
"Maybe she's just a block-head, then..."
Shaolin hoped the words would mollify the gikongan, and then turned her attention to where she was going.
"Or maybe she never had much power to begin with. Maybe Ichigo-san with all his faults and inexperience is a better shinigami than she is."
Shaolin stopped for a moment.
"You know, I didn't think about that. That's a sad statement, but it might be true."
Filing that thought away, she continued on again and made her way slowly down a narrow street, trying as much as possible not to disturb anything that would make a loud noise.
"How much longer are we going to have to wait, Rukia? … I mean, we've got to be back to school in not too much longer..."
Shaolin's ears pricked at the sound of Ichigo's voice. There was a short pause.
"Just what I said, Ichigo; it won't be here for a few more minutes-"
"How would she know...?"
There was a short groan, and Shaolin could just imagine Ichigo throwing his hands up in the air.
"Yeah, right...whatever..."
Another pause as the ex-shinigami made her way towards the edge of the alleyway she was in.
"What do you mean by that?"
Shaolin managed to make it to the end of the brick building and carefully looked into the space beyond. It was an abandoned lot, several decaying buildings surrounding what had been probably a strip mall or office complex.
Standing in the middle of the place was Ichigo in his full shinigami regalia, sword in hand like some ridiculous anime character, and glaring at Rukia like he wanted to pound on her but couldn't quite bring himself to do so.
Rukia was standing next to him, her arms crossed and a defiant look in her eyes as she glared back at Ichigo...
And she was in her gigai.
The very sight made Shaolin groan inwardly, even as she saw Rukia slowly losing patience with the young man in front of her.
"Well?"
Ichigo took a moment to gain some more control over himself and then locked eyes with her.
"Rukia, have you been trying to run some kind of scam on me?"
The words took the small shinigami completely by surprise; her jaw dropped a little and her eyes widened, first in shock and then in stunned outrage.
Shaolin had to admit she felt the same way, though without the outrage part.
Now she definitely wanted to stay hidden, at least until this conversation was finished.
Rukia managed to pull herself together enough to answer, though she was still shaken.
"A scam?"
"Yeah, you've been trying to con me the last week, haven't you?"
He proceeded to plant his blade tip first into the ground and cross his arms over his chest.
"You've been having me hunt these Hollows for the last week, and instead of help, you've been just standing there letting me do your job for you."
Shaolin felt her teeth grind a little at the young man's words.
"You know why you have to do it!"
Ichigo arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah, right, you lost your powers when you gave them to me a week ago..."
The ex-shinigami stopped when she heard that. It was Hana who gave voice to her thoughts.
"What did he just say?"
For just a moment, Shaolin considered the idea, and then scrapped it.
There was no way something like that could happen, none that she knew or had heard of anyway...
She turned her attention back to the pair in the lot; Rukia seemed to have gotten herself together, though she still looked shaken.
"I'm telling you the truth, Ichigo; if it weren't for this, I wouldn't be here messing around with your friends."
Ichigo didn't look like he believed that, and Shaolin didn't blame him.
She didn't believe the girl, either.
"That's all you've been doing is messing around!"
He pointed to the zanpaktou next to him.
"You're having me do this job for you, but you never train me, never show me how to use this sword-"
Rukia gained an irritated tick in one brow.
"Zanpaktou. Call it by it's proper name."
The young man threw up his hands.
"What's the difference?"
Rukia looked mildly outraged at the question.
"A zanpaktou is more than just 'a sword', Ichigo. It's a part a shinigami; a part of their soul... You wouldn't understand..."
She was shaking her head, even as Ichigo continued to glare at her.
"Well, maybe I would understand if you'd talk to me a little."
He closed his eyes and sighed.
"You're about as bad as obasan, sometime; keeping things from me, never trusting me enough to handle anything..."
Shaolin stopped short at that.
"Ichigo..."
Rukia looked like she was thinking on the matter for a little bit, and then she sighed and looked a little away.
"Look, Ichigo...I know this is kind of a pain for you...and I know this is my fault."
She looked back at the young man, gaze firm but not hard.
"But I think you hate me more than you hate this job, don't you?"
Ichigo didn't say anything, instead just looking uneasy for the first time in the conversation.
"You like protecting people...you like helping them, both before and after death. And though I know you don't want to admit it, you feel you're doing more good now than when you were a human."
Ichigo didn't say anything, but his eyes showed he was starting to agree with her.
"But it isn't right, Rukia. I'm not dead...or at least I hope I'm not dead; I shouldn't be a shinigami yet..."
Rukia lowered her head, a somber look on it.
"Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry about that. But, right now, we're stuck with this. And besides, isn't this a better way than handing toys to dead children, hoping that will allow them to pass on?"
Ichigo looked like he didn't know what to think, and the emotion was mirrored in Shaolin's soul.
"Shaolin..."
"Damn it, Hana...I've only been trying to help the boy. I mean...I know I'm not human, so I don't know exactly what would be expected of me..."
"Shaolin-"
The ex-shinigami shook her head.
"I can be overbearing sometimes, but-"
"It is for the good of the boy?"
"Yeah...maybe I'm...maybe I'm wrong...maybe I should have told him everything when he was younger..."
"And maybe you are getting snowed like your godson there."
Shaolin froze yet again in the alleyway.
"What?"
The was a pause, and she could feel Hana smiling at her, and not in a good way.
"You know, Ichigo-san should have been your child; the two of you are so alike sometimes. I was originally going to say that Kuchiki-hime seems to be quite the actress, but she seems to have fooled you as well."
Shaolin didn't know what to say. She looked over to where the two teens were and...
Yes, she could see just the trace of a smile on the younger girl's lips.
"Now that you feel properly humbled, what are you going to do?"
Shaolin just waited a moment, even as she felt some emotion...rising up in her...
It was only with great difficulty that she managed to suppress what she realized was outrage, even as she saw Rukia's expression turn to one of curiosity.
"Ichigo, there's something I want to ask you."
The boy arched a wary eyebrow.
"What?"
The young shinigami gained a dangerous look in her eyes.
"May I ask what your obasan meant when she mentioned a 'harem', and included me in it?"
Ichigo's eyes widened and he looked like he wanted to stall for a minute. Then just sighed in defeat; now he looked like a condemned man resigning himself to his sentence.
"It kind of has to do with girls; a harem's-"
"I know what they are, Ichigo; I'm not completely ignorant. I just want to know...are you romantically involved with those two?"
Ichigo's eyes just bugged out.
"Orihime and Tatsuki? No way! They're just-"
Rukia crossed her arms and just looked at him slyly.
"A couple of pretty girls you know...I'm sure..."
"Damn it, Rukia, this isn't funny!"
The girl managed a chuckle.
"It seems that way to me."
The young man pointed at her.
"You're going to have to live with that too, you know! Being one of 'my girls'! Or are you just going blank their memories like everyone else?"
Rukia made a show of thinking about that for a moment.
"I don't know, it is a big school..."
Then Ichigo seemed to think of something and began smiling.
"Maybe I should tell everybody about what's been going on at home. I mean, if my rep's trashed, I might as well go all the way..."
Now it was Rukia's turn to go wide-eyed, a sentiment shared by Shaolin.
"You wouldn't dare! You-!"
"I get the idea they bicker like this all the time, do you not?"
All Shaolin could do was nod as she tried to think of what Isshin would say.
Or Masaki, for that matter...
Then it didn't matter, for she could see a rift begin to open in the sky. The two teens suddenly stopped their sniping at each other and turned towards the opening, Ichigo grabbing his sword and readying it.
Shaolin braced herself as well; she hoped she wouldn't need to help the young man, but if it came to that...
A being materialized from wherever the rift directly led to, a humanoid Hollow with a long tail, who let out the almost obligatory roar of challenge.
Shaolin nodded her head; if Ichigo had survived this long, he'd probably be able to handle this one. It irked her that Rukia appeared to not be doing anything other the watching herself.
The assassin hoped the girl was going to do more than stare the thing to death.
But that didn't matter right now; Shaolin waited for the rest of the monsters that would be coming forth...
And then the rift closed.
Shaolin froze, even as she saw Ichigo launch himself at the beast. And then she turned her attention to Rukia...
"One Hollow."
"What was that?"
Shaolin had to restrain the instinct to walk right up to the Kuchiki girl and slap her in the face. It would have only distracted Ichigo from the fight, which she could see was going...
Well, he wasn't horrible.
The creature made a downward lunge and swipe at Ichigo, but the young man was too fast and managed to leap over the attack. He swung his sword back over his head for a killing blow on the thing's mask, and Shaolin had to wince at how open Ichigo was leaving himself.
"Gods, you've got to be kidding me..."
"He is that bad?"
The creature could see the attack and swung its tail at Ichigo, causing him to divert his blade to use as a shield. It held, but now he was knocked by the force of the blow right into a wall; a cloud of dust and debris exploded from his point of impact.
Shaolin had to keep herself from crying out. She had to remind herself that Ichigo was a shinigami now; the Hollow was a problem, crashing into inconvenient buildings wasn't.
"Shaolin?"
"Come on, Ichigo, what is that?"
Shaolin turned her gaze at Rukia, wishing she could send the girl into her next incarnation through glare-power alone. It didn't matter that some part of Shaolin agreed with Rukia; he shouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
And it didn't help that Rukia wasn't doing anything other than stand there on the battlefield like an idiot; she was serving as a distraction at best, and not for the Hollow.
For his part, Ichigo didn't seem that phased. Even as the Hollow made its way towards where Ichigo had landed, the newly-made shinigami just picked himself up and literally dusted himself off.
"Shut up, Rukia! Like you're doing any better!"
That seemed to quiet the girl, even as the Hollow let out a roar of challenge.
Ichigo merely looked at the thing, kept his eyes on the tail, and waited for the creature to make its move.
The thing launched the tip of its tail at him, trying to spear Ichigo. He in turn just ducked to one side as the appendage flew past, and then raised and brought down his zanpaktou.
The massive blade sliced through the Hollow's tail with only a minimum of difficulty, severing a half that quickly dissolved. The Hollow roared out in pain and dismay, and Ichigo took the time to duck its now-frenzied swipes at his head.
Bringing his sword back – he wasn't making himself quite as open this time – he swung again and tore through the thing's mask, shattering it in a spray of bone fragments.
The Hollow made one last howl of pain, and then vaporized into nothingness, leaving only Ichigo and Rukia on the field.
"So...how did our boy do?"
Shaolin took a few moments to think about it, even as she saw Ichigo dusting himself off and sheathing his sword. Even though he'd been annoyed with his 'partner' earlier, the assassin could see the hint of a satisfied smile playing on his lips.
She didn't have a problem with that kind of attitude; he had done something most people couldn't.
Still, she sighed at the sight.
"He's still 'alive'..."
"Well that is good."
"Not good enough, though. Well, it's time to put an end to this."
She could feel Hana shaking her 'head'.
"And just when I thought we could get some help for this area."
"Later."
Even as Ichigo was sheathing his blade and walking towards Rukia, Shaolin came out of her hiding place clapping her hands together in exaggerated fashion. The sight of it made the two teens turn wide-eyed heads towards her.
"Obasan... What the hell are you doing here?"
The ex-shinigami stopped clapping her hands and looked carefully at her godson.
"I'm here because you're here. What are you doing here?"
"Well, I..."
Ichigo gesticulated wildly as he tried to come up with some decent explanation. Then he wound up pointing at Rukia, who shrunk back a little.
"She dragged me here!"
"I needed you to come with me!"
Rukia turned her ire at her older counterpart.
"And what are you doing here anyway? This isn't your fight, so just-"
By now, Shaolin was standing in front of Rukia and enjoying the fact that she could look down on the girl. She leaned forward just a little, causing Rukia to look a little uneasy.
"This is my town, and this is my fight, little woman. And I'm a certified adult person; I can go anywhere I want any time I want."
She pointed at one and then the other of the teens.
"You two are the ones who are supposed to be in school."
Rukia sounded like she wanted to argue about that, but she seemed to decide against it.
"This is more important; there was a Hollow-"
"I saw it."
Shaolin pointed back they way they had all come.
"There were four more back there, who you for some reason missed."
She decided not to mention Rin and Akane; this would all be over for Ichigo soon, and she felt she could offer him this small mercy.
Still, Ichigo looked stunned and disturbed at the news, while Rukia arched an eyebrow.
"Well, I'm glad you took care of th-"
"There was a matter with Ichigo's body, though..."
Now the young man's jaw seemed to drop off its hinges as his eyes bugged out.
"My body! What happened to it?"
Shaolin let him hang for a moment, noticing the venomous look he gave to Rukia. For her part, the young shinigami looked more than a little startled.
"I thought we left it in a suitable location..."
"Yeah, you did. But the battle with the Hollows kind of banged up the area...and banged up your body, Ichigo."
Now the young man looked truly horrified.
"OBASAN!"
Shaolin could almost hear Hana giggling.
"You are very cruel, do you know that?"
She waited a moment more, letting the two teens stew a bit, and then she smiled and shook her head.
"Your body is all right, Ichigo; I took care of it. I'll show where I put it in a minute."
The young man processed that, and then visibly relaxed.
Shaolin turned her attention to Rukia, and fixed her with a cold gaze.
"Now let me try this again... Why have you brought this young man, who I care a great deal for, into this conflict of yours. He has no experience, he is not even dead, and you seem to be a perfectly fit shinigami. And yet you seem to be content just standing around on the field of battle like some innocent bystander while he does your job for you.
"Why is this?"
Rukia looked like she was trying to keep up her appearance of being in control, but out here where it was just the three of them she looked like she was having a hard time of it.
Ichigo started to move forward.
"Obasan, it's-"
"Ichigo, shut up! We don't have to tell her anything!"
The young man stopped at Rukia's outburst; apparently she'd regained a little of her composure.
"Rukia, maybe she can-"
"I don't care. She's not a shinigami; what would she know about this?"
"A lot more than you two might think..."
Shaolin ignored Hana's comment and tried to keep her smile intact; she was beginning to get tired of this girl, but she really didn't want to explode.
It would cause too much embarrassment.
"I'm sure I can help. You said earlier that you lost all your powers somehow?"
Rukia's demeanor changed now; apparently she figured out that she was going to be treated with kid's gloves.
"No. I don't need to tell you anything-"
"Rukia!"
The young noblewoman gained an annoyed look on her face; she walked over to her taller companion and then slapped him upside the head.
Shaolin flinched as if she'd been hit herself, and then she stared putting on something she'd brought along: a black, fingerless glove.
"Be quiet, Ichigo; this is between the two of us!"
Now Ichigo started looking angry at her.
"No Rukia, I've had enough."
He pointed to Shaolin.
"I want to get her involved, whether you like it or not."
Now Rukia was the one who looked like she'd been slapped. It lasted only a moment, then her expression turned to one of outrage.
"How dare you?"
She slapped him upside the head again, and something snapped in Shaolin.
The ex-shinigami suddenly decided that maybe she could stomach having to fight Byakuya or Ginrei after all.
Ichigo was worth it.
"I've been nice en-"
Before the girl could finish, Shaolin came before the Kuchiki scion and grabbed the girl by her school uniform. Rukia and Ichigo looked at her with stunned surprise and then horror as the assassin then pulled back one of her fists as though she were going to punch Rukia in the face.
"Obasan!"
"Be quiet, Ichigo! This girl has no right to treat you like that; you're better than her."
Rukia at least had the composure to look slightly outraged.
"What do you mean?"
Shaolin smiled at her, a smile that made Rukia turn pale again.
"I don't have to tell you that. And I want to see who I'm really dealing with."
She opened the fist she had, showing the flaming skull pattern on the inside of the glove, and Rukia's eyes went even wider with horror.
The girl looked over to Ichigo, who was looking very uneasy.
"Obasan, maybe you shouldn't-"
Before he could finish, Shaolin rammed her palm onto Rukia's head. A bright flash of blue-white light surrounded the point of contact, spread through the body, and then a moment later Rukia's spirit form flew back out of the gigai.
"No!"
"Rukia!"
Ichigo leaped over to grab Rukia's spirit form as it came flying out of her gigai. The girl had too much momentum to stop from falling, but Ichigo did manage to catch her and cushion the fall.
Even as he began to pick himself and Rukia up, Shaolin's eyes widened at the sight of the girl's spirit form; the gigai fell out of the assassin's hands and went to the ground like a forgotten sack of vegetables.
Rukia was clad only in a white kimono, an obvious undergarment to the robes of a shinigami; her zanpaktou was nowhere to be seen on her. As Ichigo helped her into a sitting position, the last of Rukia's composure left her; she made herself into a ball by hugging her knees, and then looked at Shaolin hatefully.
But with the outrage in Rukia's eyes, there was also a sense of defeat; she looked like a condemned woman awaiting her judgment in a prison cell.
And that thought activated memories of the old days.
Shaolin had seen shinigami like this, in this state, criminals who had...
Her eyes widened and she looked at Ichigo, who was trying to comfort Rukia.
"She...wasn't lying earlier, was she? You really did strip her of her powers...?"
Ichigo took a moment to pat Rukia's hair a little, and then turned a serious gaze at the assassin.
"Yeah, obasan...I...I did...I guess..."
Shaolin took one more look at Rukia, and her jaw dropped as she felt her world start to cave in as thoroughly as Rukia's must have.
"Well, how the hell did that happen?"
Author's Notes: I'm hoping the section with Rin wasn't too graphic (I'm pretty sure it isn't, seeing as how the manga has Hiyori being cut in half on-camera at one point), I just wanted to show that not every battle should be a victory, especially with an enemy as vicious as the Hollows.
It also occurred to me that, if she's been staying in Karakura for a while, Shaolin would have probably become known and friends with a number of the spirits there. The idea that she'd know some of them by name doesn't sound too outrageous to me.
The use of shunko by Shaolin may have been a little extreme, but I wanted to showcase it for a moment, and I don't think it's physically impossible; it is cannon fact that a shinigami can use kidou magic while in their gigai (Rukia in her fight with Shrieker), and shunko uses the same principles. And this is one of Kisuke's gigai; I'm sure he'd be able to come up with something special for her if needed.
I showed Tatsuki having a breakdown because, believe it or not, it's part of the process of giving her powers (although, it may also just be bad writing...). I believe I figured out how the Hougyoku gave cannon Orihime, Chad and Ichigo their powers while leaving cannon Tatsuki alone (sadly, if I'm right, cannon Tatsuki will never get powers of her own).
And finally, I know I kept saying Shaolin didn't want to do anything to Rukia because of her name, but there is a little bit of an out. Rukia, who is a Kuchiki by adoption, is messing with Ichigo, who is a Shiba by birth; technically, I would think he has higher status than her. So Shaolin might be able to use the thin excuse of helping a higher noble against a lower one (the Shibas are only out of power for the moment; if they ever get back into power...).
EVA-Saiyajin: I know you sent two reviews, but I'm going to answer both at the same time; I hope you don't mind. Anyway, you're right about Rukia having softened her character over the course of the canon series; at the time these chapters are being set, Rukia was being pretty cold and bossy to Ichigo. She will change in this story, though; she just needs to be cut down to size a little (and there's the fact that she has a different set of influences in this time-line). As for the matter with Tatsuki and Uryuu, that has to do with Shaolin's past in this story.
Ability King KK: Glad you liked the chapter. I did go a little crazy there, but apparently it wasn't completely overboard and I'm glad of that.
The Fifth Horseman: Thanks for the review, and don't feel nitpicky; I like hearing other people's opinions of my work, and I appreciate an honest critique. In fact, I very much like reading your reviews of my work; don't hesitate to say what you feel about it. I'm a beginner, still trying to figure out my strengths and weaknesses, and any criticism or comments are more than welcome from anyone who wants to give them.
As for your concerns – Orihime's listening device was a little over the top, wasn't it? Then again, I have a reason for that; I'll probably want to do a little revision later to make it less of a 'hammerspace' issue. And as for the matter of the first scene with Shaolin – actually, after going over it again, I think you're right about it being 'off'; I'm going to try to be more careful about that in the future and I'm also keeping that in the files for if and when I do a re-write.
Oo TheLadyLuna oO: Thank you. I hope you've liked this chapter as well.
GazerBlitz: Welcome aboard and thanks for the review. Like I've mentioned above, Rukia's a little OOC for a reason; this is an AU, after all... :)
Love Psycho: Thank you for the cupcakes. (They were delicious :) And I'm glad you like some of the ideas and I hope you also enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully I handled Shaolin's discovery of Rukia's situation fairly well (I'm still something of a beginner), though next chapter is when we really get to see just how bad the situation is...
Obiki Doragon: Thanks for the constructive criticism; a couple of other people mentioned they found my story kind of confusing, but you're the first to offer specifics. I'll try to watch for the viewpoint changes, and I hope I did better this time. Hopefully, I can convince you (through future writing) to make this story a Favorite :)
Keiren-Kun89: Thanks for the review, and your charity. And thanks for the constructive criticism: I'm beginning to think I overdid it with the flashbacks a bit myself; I'll try to tone it down some. As for what Rukia thinks of Shaolin...they're going to be spending some quality time together, so they'll get to know each other quite well.