Author's Notes:
We're ba-ack! And it. . . only took about five months! Well. . . such is the way of the laziness.

Cautiously, Ichigo looked around the luxurious room. The Fullbringers -half of whose names he had already forgotten, while probably misremembering the names of the other half- sat in various spots all over the room, and eyed him with looks that ranged from curiosity to scepticism to disinterest. Ginjo was the only one of them who gave him a look that could to some extent be described as friendly... but this being Ginjo, it still managed to look threatening, which more likely than not was his intention.

"Well, I would gladly tell you more." Ginjo said, his tone conveying the same type of 'friendliness' as his expression was. "If you would actually specify what exactly it is that you want to hear more about."

"You know exactly what I want to hear about." Ichigo growled. "I want to hear more about what you have to say about the Gotei. And I want to know how you learned about all of this."

"So you're taking up our offer? I'm honoured by this sudden trust of yours."

Ichigo glared at Ginjo. "Don't get the wrong idea. The moment I've heard enough from you, I'm out of here. And if any you tries something funny..." He paused, pulled out his shinigami badge from his pocket, and held it out so that all of them could see it. "I won't hesitate to use this."

"How very cautious of you." A tall man with long, black hair- Tsukishima?- said, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. "And yet you're here all by yourself, with none of your friends anywhere to be seen. That in itself is a bit reckless, wouldn't you say?"

Ichigo said nothing in response. He was right, of course... Ichigo had come here entirely on his own, and had not even told anyone else what he was doing. He did of course have his doubts about this entire deal, even now- but all the other things on his mind were far enough to outweigh those.

"Tsukishima, please. Don't be rude to our guest." Ginjo chided him- though not very harshly, Ichigo noticed. "Now, why don't you take a seat? I doubt that you want to stand in the doorway for all of our little meeting."

Hesitantly, Ichigo moved out of the doorway, and over to one of the oversized armchairs that were standing all around the room, sitting down on it. The chair was just as comfortable as it looked; he felt like he was sinking into it like a very comfortable kind of quicksand. However, Ichigo was determined to not get too relaxed. Not in this company.

"That's better. I would offer you something to eat or a drink, but I doubt that you would accept any of it." Ginjo said, smiling. "Now then... what do you want to hear about first?"

"Why don't you start with who you are, and where you came from," Ichigo said firmly.

"…all right," Ginjo said, nodding. "It's a long story, but I can tell it in short. I can't promise that I won't go into too much detail, though."

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, pulled his head back, and sat back in his arm chair, as if he was trying to recall all of his memories that were relevant now. "This entire thing began... I think almost twenty years ago." He opened his eyes again, and moved his forward again. "For me, at least. Back then, I wasn't really anything special. A young man, just finished with his education, not quite sure yet on what to do with his life, just keeping his eyes open for any opportunity that might open up."

Ichigo resisted the urge to make a face. He had not come here to hear Ginjo's life story... this might take longer than expected.

It seemed that despite his efforts to hide it, his annoyance was still written on his face, as Ginjo interrupted himself. "Don't be like that, Ichigo. I'm just giving you some context." He noted, giving him the condescending kind of expression that made him wonder why he came here in the first place.

"Now, anyway. Even then, I could already see spirits- in fact, I've been able to do so as far as I can remember. 'Course, since normal people don't see the ghosts of the dead around them at all times, I had learned to dismiss it all as a kind of hallucination that I'd never be able to really get rid of. Since the Gotei didn't consider me a filthy criminal yet, and still protected me from hollows that all worked out well enough for me for several years."

He interrupted himself yet again to give Ichigo a bemused look. "What, no grimace this time? You're more patient than I imagined."

"If you keep interrupting yourself like that, I can promise you that my patience won't be very long-lived..." Ichigo said in a quiet, and, he hoped, threatening tone, digging his fingers into the armrests of his chair.

"Ah, now this is the kind of expression that I would've expected." Ginjo noted, nodding. "Regardless... this is all that I had to say on my own background, don't worry. Now, one day, some things just didn't work quite so well on the side of the Gotei, and through a series of circumstances, I found myself in some back alley, a bloodthirsty hollow in front of me, and a heavily injured shinigami right next to me, leaning to a wall. I don't think that I need to explain what happened after that.

"The shinigami that had borrowed me a part of her power stayed with me for about one more day to recover, and then left for the Gotei, while assuring me that she'd arrange things so that someone would drop by later to rid me of the substitute powers." For a moment, Ichigo wanted to interject, to point out that this is not how it could have been... but then he remembered that in his own case, Rukia had never meant to lose the entirety of her powers to him, so he kept quiet. "As she promised, another day later, I received a visit from the Gotei, from none other than the captain of her Squad himself, Ukitake Jushiro. His plan was to officially thank me in the name of his squad for helping out one of its members, take my powers, and be done with it. But... in the time that it had taken him to show up, I started thinking."

He paused for a moment, as the hint of a genuine, reminiscing smile appeared on his face. "See, I had taken quite a fancy to the entire idea of being a substitute shinigami. I was young, had no clear vision of my future yet, and saw the entire shinigami business as a kind of secret hero's work. It seemed like a righteous thing, and so I offered to become an official substitute shinigami, for just a while longer."

"Well, now I know you're full of shit." Ichigo snorted. "You honestly took up this entire thing willingly? If had been in a situation like that... I probably would've been glad to be rid of that power." Though it's not like I really was in a situation where I could make that choice freely... he continued in his thoughts.

Ginjo shrugged, unfazed by Ichigo's comment. "I guess that only shows the difference between us. I was eager to play the hero right from the start, and you had some circumstances that pushed you out of the door. Multiple times. But I digress... the captain told me that he'd see what they could do, and left me with my borrowed powers. A while later, I got another visit from him, to tell me that I'd become an official substitute shinigami in the services for the Gotei- and he also gave me this."

He reached into one of his pockets. Before he could even pull the object that he was reaching for out, Ichigo already knew what it was. And sure enough, what Ginjo pulled out was in fact a substitute shinigami badge. It was visibly older and more worn down than the ones that Ichigo and Tatsuki had been given, and from the looks of it had been broken and put back together at least once, but it was beyond a doubt a badge. "So there I was: A young man, feeling like a hero who protected the people around him without their knowledge, unstoppable in his desire to do the right thing... in other words, I was a complete idiot. For some time, my little heroics went over without too much trouble. I killed a couple of hollows every few days, and spend the rest of my time going after my life with complete self-confidence. At least until things stopped going well."

Ginjo made a pause, beyond a doubt for the dramatic effect. His audience was Ichigo, though, and the only result was an annoyed glare from him. After realizing this, Ginjo shook his head in disappointment, before he continued, "It wasn't really anything out of the ordinary that happened on that day. Just another hollow attack. I had dealt with groups of hollows before, and also dealt with hollows that could match me in strength before. But on that particular day... I had to deal with both. About a dozen hollows, each one strong enough to be more than a challenge if I had to face it on its own, but against all of them at the same time? I didn't stand a chance. But, being the fool I was, I hoped that the Gotei would notice what was going on, and send backup, and I threw myself into battle. I did manage to hold my own for a while- I managed to take down two hollows or so, and didn't receive any major injuries myself. But as the battle went on, I grew exhausted... and nobody came. Thinking that I could maybe distract the hollows by luring them away from the town, I made a run for it."

"So you fled the battle, leaving the people you had to protect behind." Ichigo stated flatly. The other Fullbringers, who until now had just quietly either gone after their business, or listened to Ginjo, glared at him angrily. It was clear his opinion was not popular- not that Ichigo cared.

Ginjo sighed. "Whatever it was is meaningless now. The point is, I tried to get away, and they followed me... for a while, at least. See, a few minutes after I started running, I turned around to check how the hollows were keeping up with me- but they weren't there anymore. I don't know the reason, but they had simply given up chasing after me. I think I don't need to tell you what that meant for my hometown."

Ichigo kept his face expressionless, though he did feel a cold shiver running down his spine against his will. The thought of something like that happening while they were defending Karakura...

"I was horrified. I turned around, and I wanted to dash right back to the city. But I had completely overestimated how much strength I still had left. The drawn-out battle against the hollows in addition to my collapse had taken its toll on me, and I collapsed." Ginjo paused, and buried his face in his palms, as if the memory of what had happened was still painful to him.

Ichigo moved around in his seat uncomfortably. If this story that Ginjo was telling him was the truth, then sure, it being hard to talk about was understandable. But then again, he could just be lying, exaggerating, putting his own spin on things for sympathy, and Ichigo was not ready to believe all of this just like that.

"When I came to, I was all by myself." Ginjo continued, uncovering his face enough for him to see. "I was still very exhausted, so it took me a while before I managed to get up. Once I did finally manage, I immediately rushed back to the place where I had been fighting the hollows to begin with. But along the way, I... already noticed that it was all around too quiet in town. And when I got there... nobody was there. No hollows, and no people either."

He gave Ichigo a composed, but slightly pained look, and he couldn't quite tell if he was being genuine, or just trying to evoke sympathy. Ichigo remained stoic, and only made a gesture with his hand. "Go on."

"How heartless." Ginjo noted dryly. "Well then. After recovering from my initial shock, I started searching the area. Maybe there were survivors? Maybe someone managed to escape, after all? But before I could find anybody, I myself was found by a group of shinigami. They informed me that the hollows that had been attacking the town were already eliminated, and that they already confirmed there being no survivors... and then they seized me. I don't exactly remember what their charges were, but it was something along the lines of desertion, and endangering innocent souls. I didn't protest. I was too overwhelmed and exhausted to do anything."

"The shinigami took me with them to Soul Society, where they threw me into a prison, and told me that I'd receive my sentence later. So I waited. As time went on, I eventually snapped out of the state of shock that I had been in, and I started to realize what situation I was in- the Gotei had either completely messed up, or intentionally set this up, and now they had decided that I, the substitute shinigami was at fault for all of this. Being young and idealistic as I was, I think you can imagine I didn't take that well. But seeing as I was already imprisoned, and awaiting judgment, being angry didn't make a damn bit of difference. However..."

Ginjo paused again. Ichigo just rolled his eyes- this story was already long enough as it was, so Ginjo's little dramatic pauses certainly did not help his patience. "Just as I thought that all that I could do was sit there and rot until they decided how to punish me, I got a... certain visitor. A captain of the Gotei, who had heard about me and my situation, and decided that he would help me out. Using the powers of his zanpakutou, he helped me escape the prison, and brought me back into the world of the living, back to what remained of my home town. Before he left me, he told me a few things. That the shinigami badge was a tool to watch and regulate me, that the Gotei had decided that I was to be executed... and how to manifest new powers of my own, independent from the powers of a shinigami."

"This Fullbring thing?"

"Precisely. Grateful as I was, I promised to pay back the captain's kindness one day- a promise that he immediately accepted. He then headed back to Soul Society, where, he assured me, nobody would even suspect him of aiding my escape. I meanwhile just made a run for it. I didn't know where I could go now, but I was damn certain that I didn't want to stay in the ruins of the town. But as I ran through the empty town, I suddenly sensed something that I had not expected to sense at this place- the presence of another spiritually aware person. Thinking that it must be a survivor, unlikely as it seemed, I headed towards them." He glanced at Tsukishima with a hint of a smirk. "And indeed, what I found was a lonely young boy, huddled up under a tree, all by himself."

"You know, I am still grateful to you and everything... but you really don't have to word it like that..." Tsukishima said, sighing.

"Wa- wait." Ichigo blurted out, feeling genuinely surprised for the first time since Ginjo started telling his journey. "How much older than him are you?! I thought you were just exaggerating when you said that this took place about twenty years ago!"

"Oh, well I'm glad you pay attention to all the important parts of the story." Ginjo noted dryly. "It is true, though- this all took place over twenty years ago. I myself am forty-six years old now. Just a little something that I can thank to these substitute shinigami powers that I still have. But regardless...

"Ever since that day, we've been balancing on the edge of a knife- that's how we've lived our lives. In a few months, I had mastered my own fullbring, and had taught Tsukishima how to use his own, which, as it turned out was more than just necessary. Two beings with heightened spiritual powers that could not rely on the help of the Gotei to defend themselves- we were essentially walking snacks for hollows. As time went on, we found more people that were like us. Those that were strong enough to awaken the powers of a fullbring, the ones that the Gotei didn't want to give any special protection. Since there was no one else that would do it, we just looked after ourselves, defending each other, hiding from the Gotei, and hoping that one day, we would be able to make them pay for the pain that their arrogance and incompetence had caused us."

"Hang on," Ichigo said after a while, finally interrupting Ginjo, "if you've been hiding for so long, then why are you coming back now? I'm no expert, but Karakura's crawling with souls, and the Gotei's watching. Doesn't that put you in danger?"

Looking at him with an inscrutable expression, Ginjo said, slowly and deliberately as if choosing his words carefully, "Your arrival made a bigger splash than you might have realized, Ichigo. The Gotei noticed you; so did Urahara Kisuke, so did even… Aizen Sousuke."

"What do you know about him?" Ichigo said sharply.

"We too have our sources," Ginjo said, and it was clear to Ichigo he was hiding something, "suffice to say, recent events made a big stir- big enough that information spilled over into this world, too."

"What Ginjo-san means to say," Tsukishima cut in smoothly, "is that he is concerned for you. He is a very moral person, although he may not look it. You are exactly where he once was- with a firm belief in justice, in protecting the weak and making a difference, and it is his- and our- desire that you see the truth before you see a blade thrust into your neck."

Ichigo looked at Ginjo with scrutiny, and the man nodded. "Tsukishima is much more eloquent than me, but er, that's about it. I'll be honest enough to admit I think you'd make a hell of an ally- you and any of your friends. We don't want to be your enemy- we want you all to know what you get into. If it means you joining forces with us when you see the truth… all the better."

"So you risk everything for a possible recruit?" Ichigo said sceptically.

"We've slipped away before," Ginjo said dismissively. "We wouldn't take this kind of risk without a backup plan. Which, if you'll forgive me, remains secret. We've not survived this long by being trusting."

"I don't care," Ichigo said, shrugging. "So that's it, is it? You hope for us turning against the Gotei, for whatever ends you have?"

"Our motives aren't entirely selfless, no," Ginjo said cautiously, "but tell me, have we lied to you yet? You were lied to and deceived by Urahara Kisuke, and found yourself in a new world- our world. If you think that is a world you can ever leave from, where you'll find some sort of peace, you are kidding yourself. All you can manage- what we can manage- is to survive."

"I knew he was tricking me from the start," Ichigo said dismissively, "he got what he wanted, and I got what I wanted. Fair trade."

"And I'm sure that's what he wanted you to think," Ginjo said, "but tell me… was I wrong to say you were spied on by the Gotei? Did you find out how they followed you?"

"How would you know?" Ichigo snapped angrily.

"So you did," Ginjo said coolly, "and I know that because it's how they spied on me, too. Ask yourself, Ichigo- between Urahara Kisuke, the Gotei Thirteen and us, who has lied to you and who hasn't?"

"Like hell that means I can trust you," Ichigo growled.

"I'd consider you a fool to trust us so easily," Ginjo said, nodding, "trust is earned, the hard way, and those who give it too easily… they fall prey to their own foolishness. But know this- one day the time will come when they decide you cannot be trusted. Sooner even than for me, because… you achieved bankai. You are one in a million, boy, and if they cannot control that kind of power they will destroy it. If your own death won't impress you, then imagine seeing the limp and lifeless body of your childhood friend Tatsuki. Imagine walking down the street one night, seeing her lie there in a pool of her own blood, knowing you're next-"

"Shut UP!" Ichigo roared.

"It's the cold hard truth, Ichigo," Ginjo said steely, "that they either control you or they kill you. You are a good lad- powerful, and rebellious against authority, if you think the authority is wrong. They don't value that in a potential enemy- and a potential enemy is what you are in their eyes."

"So what the hell do you expect me to do, huh? Join your merry little club of misfits?"

"I am not asking anything of you, Ichigo. I imagine that will be a first in your time in the spirit world. From us, you will get nothing but the truth."

"The truth?" Ichigo said dismissively. "Is there even such a thing as the truth?"

Ginjo smiled. "An interesting question- but that would be philosophy, and this is a bit more practical than that. You asked what we wanted from you- and I am telling you this: keep your guard up, and when the time comes, know you'll have an ally to count on. When they come for you, run and find us. Together, we'll survive. That is my promise to you."

"I think I heard enough," Ichigo said, standing up.

"Be my guest," Ginjo said, gesturing at the door.

Without another word, Ichigo made his way to the door. Once there, he let his glance wander around the room once more. Most of the Fullbringers were already no longer paying attention to him, instead going about their own business. The only ones that were still watching him were Ginjo and Tsukishima, and the purple-haired one, who was giving him some weird looks. Pushing any confused thoughts aside, Ichigo turned around and left the room. He had more than enough to think about as it was...

oOo

"And there he goes again." Yukio stated flatly. "How many more times do we have to go through this before we're finally done with all of this?"

"Until we get him to question his loyalties, and he gets his friends to do the same. We've been over this several times." Tsukishima said, giving Yukio a glare that would've made anybody who did not know Tsukishima feel very uneasy. However, since Yukio had the distinct advantage of knowing Tsukishima, it accomplished little more than making him visibly more annoyed.

"Well, yeah, I know that. But just how long is that supposed to take? Because we still haven't made much progress here, if you ask me."

"Not to mention that we're still putting ourselves in risk here. What if any of his friends decide that they've had enough of us, and contact Soul Society about us? Or even decide to take care of us by themselves?" Jackie chimed in, earning her an approving nod from Yukio, and another glare from Tsukishima.

"I don't think we're at that much of a risk with Ichigo there..." Riruka said, causing Tsukishima's glare to shift into an expression that became visibly close to defeat. "I'll admit that he seems rather open to us, but with his friends being more sceptical of us, is this even worth it? Even with these supposed great rewards?"

"Silence, all of you." Everyone turned their heads towards Ginjo, falling quiet. He had not spoken loudly, but everyone had heard him nonetheless.

"If you all are really this sceptical of our mission, then go right ahead. Leave. I am not forcing any of you to stay with me here, but don't even think about changing your minds once you're gone. Let us who are willing to stick with this handle it ourselves." Ginjo made a pause and looked around. Jackie, Yukio and Riruka looked to the side ashamedly, but neither did they say anything, nor did they make any attempts to get up and leave. "Good. I can understand that you all have your doubts about this mission and our chances at succeeding in it, and I would lie if I said that I didn't have some doubts myself. But just think of what we can gain from this: Being finally rid of these powers, or no longer needing any protection from them. Getting our revenge on the Gotei for forcing us into these lives, or even simple materialistic rewards. This is all within our reach when we do this."

Giriko coughed, to get everyone's attention. "Hmm, not to criticize you, Ginjo, but let us not get too far ahead of ourselves in our visions of potential rewards. Before we can get any of these things, we need to at least get the young Kurosaki to be on our side to at least some extent- and while I do in no way share the others' extreme scepticism, they do have a point with our progress so far being not too impressive."

"You're all being too pessimistic." Ginjo said, shaking his head. "Ichigo listened to everything that I had to say to him. Our story, why he should distrust the Gotei... he stayed for all of it. Sure, he did comment on some things quite impolitely, and questioned some others, but he did listen nonetheless. And if you ask me, that's a good enough sign of progress."

oOo

"So you still haven't found her yet?" Rangiku asked.

"No. To be perfectly honest, I don't think that we've even made the slightest bit of progress in our search yet." Rukia said.

The two of them were sitting around the desk in the little makeshift office that Shiba Kukaku had given Rukia as the headquarters for her search mission- the exact search mission that Rangiku had come to hear about. Although Rukia didn't exactly know the vice-captain of Squad Ten well personally, she had heard more than enough about her to know that similarly to her captain, there was not much of a need to be overly formal with her… though that in itself made things a bit more awkward for Rukia, who was more used to authority figures acting like, well, authority figures.

The vice-captain sighed. "I figured that this would be the case. But regardless, Shiba-taichou will need a report on this."

Rukia resisted the urge to groan. This was exactly the reason why she had been against putting up several hundreds of Squad Thirteen's Shinigami up to the search of Kurosaki Yuzu, aside from Rukia's own persistent insecurities about commanding others to begin with. This amount of Shinigami being pulled from their regular duties in the Gotei's war preparations meant a lot of organisation work coming up, and with her in charge of the 'operation', a good deal of it fell on Rukia.

"So what exactly do you need to hear from me for this report?" Rukia asked, trying to remain professional.

Rangiku shrugged in a decidedly unprofessional manner. "Just tell me about any problems that you've come across so far, or any progress that you might have made. I think that should do for a report."

"In that case…" Rukia took a deep breath. "Our first and foremost issue is still the sheer amount of ground that we need to cover. The Rukongai is absolutely massive, and we have absolutely no clue where Yuzu could even be. If we do manage to find her, it will most likely through sheer luck, rather than an efficient search. Our second biggest issue comes from the amount of Shinigami on this mission. While our numbers allow us to cover more ground more easily, there's plenty of Shinigami here that are just not motivated for this search for one reason or another. Some are just discouraged with how big in scale this search is. Some are not motivated because they don't see why they should be interested in finding Yuzu. And others still consider this entire search a waste of time to begin with, and would rather be preparing themselves for… the upcoming events."

"…A-Anything else?" Rangiku asked, a little taken aback by the unexpected amount of information.

"Well, there's also another side effect of the amount of Shinigami involved in this: We are attracting the attention of the civilians. By now, it seems to be common knowledge around these parts that we are looking for a young girl that has recently arrived in Soul Society. Some consider this to be a big chance for them. They think that if they manage to find her before we do, they will be rewarded in some way, despite none of our team ever having mentioned anything like that. So every day, we get about a dozen civilians with young girls in tow, trying to sell them to us as Yuzu."

"And what do you do with those?"

"I usually personally talk to these people, check if they by chance did succeed where we did not, and just dismiss them once I'm certain that they didn't bring her to us. I'm just glad that so far we didn't have to arrest anybody for forcing a girl to come here and claim to be her…"

The vice-captain gave her a sympathetic look. "You know, if you think that you're not up for this task, I'm sure that Shiba-taichou wouldn't mind putting somebody else in charge of this."

Rukia paused. She would've had to lie if she were to tell Rangiku that she hadn't considered this herself yet, though each time that thought had come up, she had dismissed it. This search was simply too good of an opportunity to repay the Shiba family. For everything Ichigo had done for her, for Kaien's role in her life, for her role in his death… even if they did not consider it to be necessary for her to do anything in exchange, to Rukia... she needed to do this. Especially since this was also something that Ichigo would really appreciate…

Rukia shook her head, ending her short silence. "No. I will see this search through. I also have some personal attachment that prevents me from just leaving this."

"What, you mean you want to do your friend, the taichou's son, a little favour?" Rangiku asked, smirking.

"I- what are you implying-!" Rukia burst out.

Rangiku waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, calm down. I'm just teasing. Back on the subject of the report, I guess you don't have anything else to add to the things you've already told me?"

Rukia blinked. The nerve of that woman! First bringing up Ichigo like that, out of the blue, and then dismissing the topic right away…

Given her position as Shiba Isshin's vice-captain, it was unsurprising that she'd know more about her connection to Ichigo than most people, but still. It was very uncalled for.

"No, there's nothing to add." Rukia said, pushing the thought aside. The sooner she'd be done with this meeting, the better. "But we have to keep in mind that this search has only been going on for a few days. We should be making at least some progress in the days to come."

"Fair enough, I s'pose." Rangiku stood up. "I'll tell the captain about this, then. That should be enough in regards to reports for a while. See ya, Rukia-chan."

"Goodbye, Rangiku-san." Rukia responded, also standing up to bow at her. Raising her hand without turning around, Rangiku opened the door and left the room.

Reliefed to be on her own again, Rukia sat back down at the desk, which was covered in reports from the Shinigami under her command. When Rangiku had shown up for their meeting, Rukia had been busy organizing the documents, so that they weren't in a complete mess. Now with Rangiku gone, Rukia intended to finish just that, before going out to try and find some of the Shinigami under her command to learn if they had found out anything noteworthy.

As it would turn out however, these plans wouldn't get very far.

"Hey there, Rukia-chan! Hope I'm not interrupting you during anything important?"

Slightly disgruntled, Rukia looked up from her work- to see Yoruichi standing right in front of her.

"Y-Yoruichi-san? What are you doing here?" She said.

Yoruichi grinned. "Well, Kisuke's busy running some errands for which he doesn't exactly need me... so, I figured that since we're still gonna be here for a few days, I might as well drop by, and give you a hand."

oOo

The Gotei Thirteen was not such a bad place sometimes, Urahara Kisuke thought as he made his way to the Shiba residence. Aside from the grudge he kept, it was a little nostalgic- the clean, well-ordered streets, built to be a military complex and a home both…

Well, he was not there to reminisce. He walked into the Shiba manor in the seireitei, an appropriately modest place- well, for a noble family, at least. Isshin was here, he could sense it, and Kisuke smiled under his hat. It had been a while, and while Isshin technically was a disposable asset, he was also a good man, one whose company he hadn't minded very much. He was a bit of an idiot, but he at least knew his place. When he found him, in a large and spacious common room, Isshin was pacing across the floor restlessly. He sat down in a comfortable chair, only to stand right up again, and resume pacing. It took several seconds for him to notice that Kisuke had entered the room.

"Well, isn't that just perfect?" Isshin mumbled to himself, throwing his hands up in the air. "I've got a daughter out there somewhere, and here an unblessed bringer of headaches comes to visit me instead."

Kisuke smiled. "Is that any way to greet an old friend, Isshin-san?"

"Sorry," Isshin mumbled. "Welcome to my house, an' all that…"

"You look like a father whose wife is in labour," Kisuke commented, not being able to help the grin on his face growing a little wider.

"Ain't it like that?" Isshin grumbled. "I wasn't around when she was born, I never even saw her once while she was alive, and now she's coming here, to me... and I don't know her at all. The only thing she knows about me is that I abandoned her mother. She will hate me, Kisuke, I just know it!"

Beneath the typically melodramatic tone was a hint of genuine worry. Not one for giving advice on family matters, Kisuke quickly said,

"I know personally that she is a very sweet and understanding child. Besides, if you screw up too badly, I am confident she will take to Kukaku."

"Wouldn't that be dandy?" Isshin murmured. "Two womenfolk, conspiring against me…" He sighed, and waved exasperatedly at nothing in particular. "Now that you're here, at least tell me about Masaki. How is she doing? All I know right now is what Ichigo told me, and he obviously didn't know her while I was still around."

"She didn't take being left too well, as I think you know. But… she is doing well, considering. She raised the children well- mostly well behaved, with good grades. Your children did well because of her."

"She always was really strong, in all the ways that mattered," Isshin said, a wistful look in his eyes. "Nothing else? Nothing in general…?"

"I don't think I could find out much more without turning into a proper stalker, Isshin-san," Kisuke said amusedly. "I'm telling you as much as I've told you over the years- Masaki is a good person, if a little bitter."

Isshin sighed. "I'll have to talk to her myself. I don't look forward to it, but I'm going to have to, one of these days."

"It is your funeral." Kisuke said simply. "But… on to other matters."

"…you mean your pet scheme to create a new world order, or whatever?"

"Don't say it out loud, even as a joke," Kisuke said sharply. "You never know who might be listening."

Isshin gave him a look. "You turned paranoid since you left, Kisuke."

"It kept me alive and safe." Kisuke said curtly. "And there is too much at stake to take unnecessary risks."

"Fine, fine," Isshin said, rolling his eyes. "So, the pet scheme to cover the world in puppies and kittens?"

Kisuke resisted the urge to grumble. Like father, like son…

"The plan moves forward. Everything is proceeding just like it needs to."

"Uh huh. Does that include the part where Aizen steals an artefact of immeasurable power, that you made?"

Kisuke kept a cool face. "When you play a game of chess, you have to be prepared to lose some pieces, or even find yourself outmatched at certain points. Not everything can be planned for. What matters is who is left in position to make a check mate."

"Sure, sure," Isshin said dismissively. "So what do you need me for?"

"Nothing, at the moment," Kisuke said cheerily. "But soon, I might. I will need the Shibas on my side very soon- before a year has passed, I will either be dead by Aizen's hands, or stand triumphant. Either way, it will be the end of the Gotei as we know it."

"Right, right," Isshin said, his tone the verbal equivalent of a shrug. "Didn't you just tell me not to talk about it out loud?"

"Oh, I know this place is secure, because I scanned it for bugs and such this morning," Kisuke said smugly.

"So there wasn't a problem."

"You didn't know that. I did. That's the difference."

"Uh huh." Isshin said, seeming unimpressed. Kisuke fought the urge to sigh.

"At any rate, can I count on you?"

"It's the same as before," Isshin said simply, "we are Shiba, and when we say we'll do something, we mean it. Kukaku and me, we're both behind you."

"That was all you needed to say," Kisuke said smoothly. "Now, since you mentioned her… I think I need to speak with Kukaku myself."

"She'll be in her room, down the hall," Isshin said, pointing in a general direction.

"I'll be off, then. Good day, Isshin-san," Kisuke said, and walked out.

Kukaku was laid out on a divan, propped up by colourful velvet pillows, having a smoke on her pipe. For somebody so crude and down to earth, Kisuke thought, she seemed remarkably at home in such a luxurious room. Not surprisingly, there was a tray with a saké bottle, and a small cup to go with it on the small table next to the divan.

"Kisuke," Kukaku said, sounding a little irritable, "fancy seein' you here."

"Your reaction overwhelms me," Kisuke said sardonically. "A hundred years since we parted ways, and that is all?"

"What, you expect a parade? That was never me." Kukaku said, shrugging. "'sides, it's not like we haven't talked to each other in the meantime. Now sit your ass down and have a drink."

"That is true, yes," Kisuke said, shooting her a genuine smile, and pulled up a chair to sit opposite of her.

"I decided not to go back out to the Rukon for a while, help that poor girl settle down for a bit. Yuzu, that is. God knows Isshin won't handle that without putting his foot in his mouth a few times. Problem is, bein' in this nobby getup," she gestured to the kimono she wore, which did seem brighter and more expensive than her usual attire, "and in this whole… thing," this time she gestured at the whole room, "all that is boring as shit. So I sit here, smokin' and drinkin' until Rukia comes back. Good kid, that one- though that doesn't really speed up things with the searchin'."

"You really haven't changed," Kisuke said happily.

"That a good thing or not?" Kukaku said, pouring herself a drink- and one for Kisuke, too.

"Good, I think. But, do you remember I said I would have something for you when we met again? A little thanks for your efforts?"

"Did you?" Kukaku said, pushing the small drink glass his way, before downing her own. "I guess you did. What is it? Better not be something dumb, like a necklace or a dress…"

"Oh please, as if I'd ever be that tacky," Urahara said self-assuredly. He reached into his coat, and pulled it out. It was a simple feat of kido engineering to make a pocket bigger on the inside than on the outside, but it always was unexpected to see a three-foot long object appear seemingly out of nowhere.

"Wot?" Kukaku said, looking at the object. It had a joint of sorts, and odd metal strings at its end- it looked like a mechanical… arm.

"I thought I'd build you something practical. Forget about dresses- try this on."

Holding the prosthetic up with a sceptical look, Kukaku said,

"You know, if I wanted a fake arm, I'd get one. What's this about?"

"This is not your regular arm, no," Kisuke said, almost a little excitedly. "I built it myself, to fit you personally. It is built for your reiatsu, and it will work… well, just try it on and you'll see." He grinned.

"How do I…" Kukaku mumbled holding it lamely toward her stump. "I can't strap that on with one hand, ya know."

"You won't have to. Just hold the end towards where your arm ends."

Giving him a long, especially sceptical look, Kukaku finally did as he told her. Slowly but firmly, she put the end of the prosthetic towards her stump. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen.

"See? I told you that-"

Then, the metal strings hanging from the stump came alive. There were at least a dozen of them, whirling up like each one had a mind of their own, each one quickly burrowing into Kukaku's arm.

"Hey! OW!" She shouted. "That- what the hell is this? It hurt, you idiot- ow…" She fell quiet, as she watched the metal strands finish whatever they had done. There was no blood that she could see, and oddly enough, it didn't really hurt much. A small, dull ache, but not much else.

"They were engineered from a special mineral," Kisuke explained, "one that bonds very well with other sources of reiatsu. Think of those wires as your new nerves. Now… try and move your new fingers."

Kukaku held up her new arm, and gave it a good look. It was mostly skin-coloured, but very clearly not a natural arm- it looked hard and strong, and it had plates and joints neatly in place. The fingers were finely crafted, looking like a marvel of mechanics. With an awed look, she watched as the thumb and index finger touched, forming a small grip. She opened the hand, then closed it again, then opened it. She let the fingers move around, following her mind just like it had been her normal hand.

"…huh." Was all she managed to say.

"I know you grew accustomed to just the one hand… but I thought you might find two hands more useful still." Kisuke said, looking pleased. "Sorry I didn't warn you- but to be honest, I just wanted to see your reaction."

Kukaku made a fist, pulled her hand back, and in one very quick movement stepped up from the divan and socked him across the jaw. Kisuke reeled back.

"Ouch! What- what was that for?"

"Huh. This thing really does work. Thanks, Kisuke," Kukaku said, a broad grin on her face.

"….yeah. Don't mention it." Kisuke murmured, rubbing his sore jaw. This entire family was just all the same...

oOo

Ichigo sat in his room, his mind racing. A few years back, he would have taken to the streets to clear his mind- beat up some punks, walk it off, get himself distracted. But now… he couldn't do that now. This wasn't just some teen anxiety- he had to focus, think, because lives were in the balance. Potentially, at least. His own, his friends, his family's…

He made a fist, and resisted the urge to smash it into the bed. All right. Relax. Getting angry would just make it worse. He took a deep breath, and followed it with another, then another. After a couple of minutes he felt, if not better, than at least more in control.

All right, focus. What did he know? As in, know for sure, not just guess, think, assume? Well, he knew Urahara was devious and manipulative, but had kept his word in all their dealings. He knew the Gotei looked bright from the outside, but it probably wasn't at all, because their values system was pretty medieval, and they seemed to have no problem employing psychopathic murderers. He knew almost nothing about Ginjo and his group, and that was troubling. He knew they had come at a very convenient time- he had already been having his doubts about these people, and along Ginjo and company came, just happening to have damning things to say about them. If somebody wanted him to hate the Gotei, then the fullbringers would seem perfectly timed. Why not be paranoid? He was caught up now, in a world not only of ghosts and monsters, but one with politics and schemes too, and it was too late to get out of it.

Damn it. When it came down to it, he really didn't know a whole lot. And what was worse was that he didn't know a way of knowing- he didn't know any way to find out for sure, by himself, and it frustrated him, because he had the nagging feeling that eventually, he'd have to make a decision anyhow. It would be one based largely on ignorance and gut feeling, and that was definitely not ideal. At the end of the day, the one thing he knew with clarity was that he couldn't trust any of these people- not Urahara Kisuke, not the Gotei Thirteen, and certainly not the fullbringers. It would be a choice between the least shady, if it came down to it.

Tatsuki… as much as he didn't quite understand her lately, she was probably right. He was overthinking it. But then again, he couldn't under-think this either. Sighing, he realized he couldn't tackle this alone. It didn't matter if you had good grades, if you were smart- you could still make really stupid decisions. He'd ask Ishida. Tatsuki would just lecture him if she found out he'd gone to see them, and Orihime… she was very nice, but not always all there. Ishida was a bit of an ass, but he had a level head. He'd have to talk with them all sooner or later, but until then… until then, he'd rather try and work this out himself.

Life had taken a turn for the strange recently, and it had shaken all in their little group to the core. Everyone, that was, except for Orihime, whose already loose grasp on reality had let her adapt rather well- spirits, ghosts, an afterlife with a great kingdom- well, they didn't have a king, but mostly it was like a kingdom, wasn't it?- and an evil overlord trying to overthrow it… it hadn't really surprised her much. Orihime took such things in stride- it was rather like a fairy tale, and playing a part in a fairy tale was kind of awesome, if you thought about it.

She was not without her concerns, though. Sitting at home, in her apartment after school, her head was full of thoughts, and oddly focused- well, relatively speaking.

She was worried. Not like Ichigo- he was full of worries, it was obvious whenever she saw it, but he was afraid because he didn't understand, because he didn't know what to make of this whole situation. Orihime didn't understand very well either, but she wasn't as bothered by it- there wasn't much she could do about it, and she had a life to live too. No, she was worried what this might do to her friends. Tatsuki, Ichigo, they were good people, but they cared, very deeply, and that was a problem because it meant they couldn't stay away. There would be trouble up the road, maybe sooner or maybe later, and both of them would feel like they had to do something about it. Neither of them seemed to remember that they were still humans, that they could just leave it to the others. If there was a war between the evil overlord and the shinigami king, then that was probably best left to those two- people who knew what they were doing, and why.

But Tatsuki was much too responsible, and Ichigo much too stubborn, and they'd get themselves involved. They wouldn't have to, but they would anyway, and when that happened they could get killed. She herself could get killed too, because she couldn't let them do it on their own. If that happened, it would crush Tatsuki, and she didn't like the thought of that at all. That, and being dead didn't appeal to her either.

Then there was Uryu. He was such a nice boy, even though he acted so cold- it was like he did it out of habit, because he didn't know any other way. He was weirdly awkward when he didn't, and it was actually kind of… adorable. He too would get swept up, she was afraid- because he would do what she would, help her friends even when they did something stupid. Friends… he had friends now.

Maybe she should ask him out, or something. There was school, and the whole monster hunting business, but there would have to be some time off. They could go shopping, see a film, then she'd make her best pickles, mustard and syrup noodles…

Orihime smiled to herself. Life didn't have to be so grim, not really.

oOo

Soifon sat in her office, relishing the distraction of hard, extremely professional work. Her emotions had been a little bit in flux lately, as of her little meeting with Yoruichi-sama… which was why the upcoming war preparations were a virtual godsend. The intelligence network was being worked harder than ever, new spy programs were being developed, they were in contact with twelfth about applying science for the creation of anti-hollow weaponry, and when she wasn't delegating, issuing orders, chewing out incompetent insubordinates or whatever else needed doing, she trained herself as hard as she could.

At this particular moment, she had an audition with the representative of the Karakura surveillance team. He was punctual, of course- she demanded nothing less from her officers- and was down on one knee, head deeply bowed.

"Report." She said, and the operative- Zuri- raised his head and stood up, standing firmly to attention.

"Spiritual activity higher than ever, taichou." He said curtly. "Hollow attacks have increased in frequency."

"Never mind the hollows." Soifon said sharply. "The substitute."

"Yes, taichou. You will find a full assessment with every detail in my written report. As of this point, we consider Uryu Ishida the most skilled. However, given time he will likely be succeeded in priority by Kurosaki Ichigo and Arisawa Tatsuki, as they hone their shinigami skills to complement their bankai. Inoue Orihime represents an unknown- little to no offensive power, yet radically different from the rest. Recommend further investigation of each one."

"Do you believe them capable of resisting a strategic assassination scheme, officer?" Soifon said, her voice neutral. The substitutes were undoubtedly powerful, and would make for good allies- the Gotei was no stranger to unruly but strong agents in their employ. However, she was the first of assassins, and it was her job to prepare contingencies in the event that they would pose a threat. Mere children, having grown so strong so fast? The potential threat level could be enormous.

"No, taichou." Zuri said, shaking his head. "Would recommend each one be targeted separately, however. If I may say so, this would likely call for your personal involvement- if we are to keep safety margins at an acceptable level, that is."

Soifon nodded. "So far, nothing unexpected. Anything else?"

"…yes, taichou." Zuri said, nodding. "We detected the presence of seven unknown elements of significant power. As per your instructions, we stayed well out of the range of possible detection, but as such we could establish little about their nature. At first we believed them to be a possible cabal of surviving quincies- however, their spiritual structure was more reminiscent of a hollow's. We discovered them to be human beings possessed of power- and control over it."

"At this time?" Soifon said, frowning slightly. "This cannot be a coincidence."

"I concur." Zuri said, nodding. "As far as we can tell, they at the very least match a single digit officer in terms of spiritual energy. Assuming they have combat training, or manifested special abilities with which to fight, it would require highly ranked officers to take them on. We know nothing of their intentions- only that they have interacted with the four special interests at least once, and with Kurosaki Ichigo several times. Currently, we are working on using human law enforcement archives to identify them, but we have so far found nothing. Several of them are foreign to the country, we know at least that much."

Soifon nodded. "This is… conspicuous. Resume your mission- I am authorizing you to investigate them more closely."

"Taichou." Zuri said, bowing.

"Dismissed." Soifon said simply. Zuri quickly removed himself; he'd be back in Karakura within the hour, she knew.

This was… conspicuous, indeed. Four special interests, and now seven more on top of this? It could only be Aizen's hand at work. But why would he show himself so openly? Perhaps he considered them expendable- she was not unfamiliar with the idea of sacrificing agents for the sake of intelligence. Somebody as callous and calculating as he would likely have no trouble doing just that…

So lost in thought was she that she didn't notice the approaching energies, and was taken by surprise when two familiar faces walked through the door. One filled her with joy, the other with irritation- into her office, without bothering to knock, walked Yoruichi-sama and that obnoxious man, Urahara Kisuke. She had already heard that he had arrived in Soul Society several days ago, but she had hoped to that she would be able to avoid seeing him herself...

"Soifon!" He said cheerily, his cane dangling from his arm as he walked in, swaggering about like he owned the place. "We were just in the neighbourhood, and we thought we'd stop by."

"What do you want?" Soifon snapped. The both of them always rattled her, in very different ways, and she hated rattling. It was… untidy.

"Relax, Soifon," Yoruichi said cheerily. "You need to relax a bit, you know that?"

"There is a war coming. There are preparations to make, there will be fights to fight, and dead to bury. If there was ever a time not to relax, it would be now." Soifon said. She had intended for it to sound quite sharp, the very model of a no-nonsense commander with no time for interruptions- but as it always was when she was around, it didn't sound nearly as cold as she wanted it to.

"I noticed your spy leaving." Urahara said. "They're very good. Not so good I didn't find them, of course, but very good still."

Soifon grit her teeth. He was the worst kind of rogue- obnoxious, irresponsible, and with the background of an expert intelligence operative like herself. Of course he had found them.

"Being as they were on my home turf," Urahara continued, "I knew of course what they were after. I would recommend you did not underestimate my projects- I did not choose them as expendable pawns."

"I will be the judge of that." Soifon said, this time truly sharp.

"And of course," Urahara continued, a smile on his face still, "you wonder about the new arrivals. It just so happens that I know all about them- in fact, I know that the moment I tell you who they are, you'll be positively giddy with murderous intent."

"Then tell me who they are." Soifon said, knowing full well it would not be that easy.

"Well," Urahara said, pulling out a file, "I suppose I could. But it so happens that the old house is in a bad state, and I need to renovate it, and of course rent's not cheap either-"

"Spare me your tomfoolery and name your price." Soifon said.

"Always so to-the-point. I'll never understand what she sees in you." Urahara said, and Soifon felt the strongest urge to crush his head. "But yes, money… let's just say quite a lot. We'll work out the details later."

"Don't worry, bee," Yoruichi said. "I won't let him rip you off."

Feeling both angry, embarrassed and a little pleased at the nickname, Soifon nodded. "I think we have room in our budget, yes… give me the file. If it's worthwhile intel, you may name your price. A reasonable price." She added hastily.

"Normally I wouldn't- but the things we do for friends, eh?" Urahara said, handing her the file. They were most certainly not friends, Soifon thought- but as she rifled through the papers in the file, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This… was worthwhile indeed.

"This is… acceptable." She said, nonchalantly putting the file down on her desk. "I will have to review it more closely, but if this is accurate… then I've got work to do."

"I thought so!" Urahara said. "Now, about the payment-"

"Get out of my office now," Soifon growled, "or I will kick you out personally. You will get your money."

"I think I'll handle that one." Yoruichi said, with a grin on her face.

Soifon felt a little rattled, but not in a bad way.

oOo

It was nearly nightfall, and Tatsuki was walking around outside, trying to gather her thoughts. For once, she hadn't lied to her parents- she really did need some air, and she really was out for a walk. Life was… complicated. Funny how it works- for most people her age, that meant 'does he like me or not' or 'am I cool or not'. For her, it meant 'I might be killed in a power struggle between two vast spiritual forces'.

Funny. And not in a ha-ha sort of way.

She had walked toward the neighbourhood where the fullbringers were. Not that she intended to pay them a visit, but… they made her curious. Ichigo was seemingly buying into their crap- god, what an idiot he could be… he always had been. But in a good way. He had a way of always wanting to do right- no matter how much he tried to hide it under that punk attitude, he was just as much of a white knight as Ishida- more so, probably. But they weren't in a place where right and wrong was all that clear, and it didn't sit well with him. He liked that sort of thing neatly lined out, but… adult life was a set of gray shades, not blocks of black and white. Who was really right here? The Gotei were no saints, but their enemies were black as night. They had been deceived, but the outcome had been for the better.

She sighed to herself. In a way, she envied him. Ichigo knew what he believed in. She… she couldn't really make sense of it. Life had to be so easy when you knew what was and wasn't okay.

Like that, lost in thought, she wandered around, slowly. It seemed such an ordinary night- not even the odd hollow attack to liven things up. Frustrated, she kicked a can lying on the street. Why couldn't things just-

But then her frustrated musings were interrupted. There was a surge in spiritual energy, she could feel it, and quickly she dashed around the corner. It wasn't hollow, didn't have that sharp edge to it- no, it was a portal, the kind shinigami used. She saw it from afar, down the street, as it opened. The door slid to the side, and out of it stepped Soifon, the captain of Squad Two, followed by several masked shinigami. She had a cold expression on her face- well, she always looked cold, she had for most of the time she had seen her back in the Gotei- and she stepped forward with determination and purpose. Quickly, Tatsuki fumbled for her badge- if a captain was here, something was going down. In the blink of an eye, the captain and her followers had disappeared, slipped into a shunpo. Tatsuki mumbled a swear, pushed the badge into her chest, and followed suit as best she could. This night would be livened up, after all.