Supernova

By Willow Athena

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach…but Rien is definitely mine

Chapter 9 – The Real World

Ichigo fell to his knee, exhausted from his run through the senkai while carrying Rien. Though she felt as light as air, something about the trip had drained him. He yearned to be back in his body, where everything felt normal.

"I was worried when my senkai activated so late at night. I thought Aizen was finally going to try to kill me for all my secrets." Urahara's sleepy, shirtless form joked as they all fell out the gate and into his secret underground basement. "A Quincy girl?!" Urahara mused as he noticed Rien still tightly clutched against Ichigo's chest.

Yoruichi emerged in nothing but Urahara's green robe, spluttering and swearing about the commotion that had woken her. Ichigo was thankful she bothered to put clothes on at all – he had frequently been subjected to her naked form everytime she shifted from being a cat.

Ichigo stood up and carefully placed Rien between himself and Ishida, unsure if he should continue to hold on to Rien or not, she looked surprisingly more stable now, compared to when they had fetched her. He could see the desperate side-long looks Ishida was casting him, and so he let go of Rien, trusting Ishida would catch her if she needed further help – which he knew Ishida obviously hoped for. But, she stood firmly, towering above Rukia behind her. But, Ichigo liked short and petite, or perhaps it was just Rukia that he liked. His heart had raced as he carried Rien, but not for the reasons it raced when Rukia touched him.

"She's not a Quincy, Kisuke, " Yoruichi immediately corrected. "You must be getting blind in your old age." She insulted in irritation. Yoruichi was never in a good mood when she woke, and Urahara had never made that same mistake again. He felt it unfortunate for Ichigo, that he had woken Yoruichi, but Urahara was certainly not going to bear the brunt of her sleepy wrath.

"Maybe I was just blinded by her immense beauty." Urahara poked back at her – injuring her pride a little.

"Hmph!" She acridly spat back, her expression letting him know that he would regret that later, when no one would hear him scream. Yoruichi's revenge was always a dish served cold, to unsuspecting targets that had long forgotten the injuries they had given her – she often felt the satisfaction of searing the memory onto their flesh, so they would never again forget who she was. Urahara had no visible scars, but his mind was awash with things he wished he could forget.

"Who's your new friend?" Urahara returned to the matter at hand, still cringing slightly at the thought of what Yoruichi might do to him later.

"Urahara-san, we need you to lock your senkai immediately!" Ishida said with urgency.

"But why?" Urahara was confused at this request. Could something dangerous be following them? What had Ichigo done this time!

"Please. Now!" They all shouted, except for Rien who remained quiet. He did as they asked, afraid some real danger lurked behind them.

Yoruichi watched the girl, in her peripheral vision, as Urahara used a long, complicated, powerful incantation to lock his senkai. Yoruichi loved to watch Kisuke's muscles become taut as he worked, it happened so rarely, that he actually did any work, that she thought she had better save this picture for later.

"How fast can you make her an untraceable gigai?" Rukia almost demanded. Urahara ignored her tone – he still felt guilty, he still felt as if he owed her for the hell he had put her through in the past. He motioned for them all to go upstairs, as Yoruichi continued to watch the mysterious girl.

He silently went to his desk and opened his drawer. Then he shunpo'ed and lunged at Rien, knocking her back into Rukia.

"Just as I thought." Urahara cryptically offered as he took off the glove he had once lent Rukia to help Ichigo get out of his body and turn into a shinigami.

"What the hell was that, old man!" Ichigo screamed.

"An experiment," Urahara blankly offered as though it were obvious from the start. "I can't be completely sure, but I don't think she needs a gigai." They all continued to stare at him waiting for a further explanation.

"If she was a departed soul, the glove would have sent her back to Soul Society…"

"How could you have taken that chance, we just saved her from there!" Ishida's anger flared. His obvious overreaction surprised Urahara. Departed souls belonged in Soul Society, so she should undoubtedly return there if that's what she was…but then again, shinigami like himself also belonged in Soul Society – so he decided, there were some possible exceptions to this rule.

"Well, I never thought she was a departed soul. If she was human, then her soul would have leapt out of her body with a soul chain link attached…but she's obviously not human either, not a conventional one at least. If she was shinigami it would have just gone through her soul as if she were air, and if she was Quincy I would have been thrown outside since Quincy resist the daemon magic of the glove." Yoruichi silently smiled, Kisuke was so much smarter than he looked, and she could see him revelling in this unsolved mystery.

Wow, Ishida thought. This was more progress than Mayuri had made in a month. After all, Urahara was the original head, and the founder of the Research Bureau. "What is she then?" Ishida was weary of not sounding voyeuristic to Rien. Though he had denied it at first, Ishida was now resigned to the fact that he cared about her, she was more than just a 'thing' to him – though it really didn't matter to him in the grand scheme of his feelings for her, he could not quench his curiosity.

"I'm not really sure right now, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. But, at least we know she's alive." Urahara smiled but no one looked amused. They would not allow Rien to be a lab rat, just in a different location. He turned towards Rien, "Why didn't you tell them you don't need a gigai?" Urahara asked the confused looking girl.

"I didn't know I'd need a gigai, until they said 'I need a gigai', but since I didn't really need a gigai – how would I know? What's a gigai?" Rien's chimes rang throughout the room, silencing and confusing everyone.

"She can't remember anything about herself before she appeared in Soul Society a month ago." Ishida attempted to clarify.

Urahara became very serious as he peered deeply into the girls eyes, determined to solve her mystery. "I'm Rien." She trilled as she hugged him, and then went over to hug Yoruichi. "Rien." She smiled again and hugged the violet haired woman. Urahara and Yoruichi gave eachother a knowing look only two people who had know eachother for hundreds of years could understand. They felt Rien's lyrical voice ensnare them both and their affection for her grow exponentially. They both wondered about the reality of this almost sickeningly sweet part of her character, if innocence really came in her 21 year old form.

"Yeah, she does that sometimes." Ishida tried to explain it away, secretly wishing it was him she was embracing.

"I have to go back," Rukia announced, after barely being there for 10 minutes. "Ill try to be back in the morning. But, I have to get back now before Nii-sama realises I'm gone." Without another word, she walked out of Urahara's store, opened the Kuchiki senkai, and vanished.

Yoruichi saw Rien's face drop, and assumed it was because the girl's friend, Rukia, had gone. For some unknown reason, Yoruichi could not stand to see the sad look on Rien's face. "Don't worry, I'll help you fend off these boys." She attempted to lighten Rien's mood. But, Yoruichi could not have guessed that it was envy that made Rien's countenance take a turn for the gloomy.

Rien envied Rukia's proximity to Byakuya. She hadn't had insight into it before – but, in the moment she realised that Rukia would return to his side – Rien would have given anything to be her, to stand by his side…to breathe the same sweet air as the man at the centre of her universe.

No more! Rien told herself. She would dwell on him no more. He did not want her, he just wanted her to disappear…she could feel him repeat the phrase everytime he was near her. Why had she allowed herself the delusion of thinking that he cared for her…how could a man love someone who didn't know what love meant. No more, Rien reiterated.

Yoruichi came back into the room. "I'm Shihouin Yoruichi, and that bumbling buffoon over there is Urahara Kisuke." She smiled her warm mischievous smile at Rien. "Come, I think you deserve a nice hot bath," Yoruichi added, offering her hand to Rien. She showed Rien to an already prepared steaming hot bath, as the others sat around the table and briefed Urahara on their last month in Soul Society.

Yoruichi returned to Urahara's side having already heard everything with her cat-like ears. "What did they do to her? I sensed something was wrong with her body, but this…" Yoruichi looked furious. Though the other knew Rien had probably been tortured during her time with Mayuri, Rien had never revealed the specifics to them. "Her body is perfect, not a mark or a scar on it, no hair anywhere except her head, like a new born baby – unbruised, smooth, soft skin. But…her muscles underneath – it's like they've been cut, bruised, and torn apart over and over again. Her healers were very skilled, in time her muscles will heal as though they had never been touched – but, right now, I'm surprised she's able to walk at all." Yoruichi's anger had spread to Urahara, whose fists clenched tightly in fury. They both looked at eachother – they knew two things for certain : she was alive; and they would now do anything to protect her.

It was like a drop that caused a ripple through all their hearts. They felt it rather than heard anything – her silent sobs. Then the echoing rain began outside and they all felt a sense of despair about what had happened to this unprotected, lonely girl, who had no one in all the world. Yoruichi promised in that moment that Rien would never be alone again.

The rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and Ishida and Ichigo wondered if they should not begin heading home before it began again.

"Thanks for all your help Urahara, Yoruichi, but I think Rien and I better head to my house now." Ichigo off-handedly stated as though it was a given matter-of-fact that Rien would be staying at his house as Rukia had.

"Kurosaki…" Ishida always used Ichigo's last name when he was mad at him, and about to insult him. "I'm sorry to burst your naive bubble, but Rien will be coming home with me tonight." Ishida confidently said pushing the bridge of his glasses up.

"I'll be better able to protect her if they come for her!" Ichigo argued.

"That's a highly doubtful assumption your making. Anyway, may house is large and empty – Rien will be able to have some privacy and comfort there. Kurosaki, what would your crazy father say about you sneaking a beautiful girl into your room in the middle of the night?!" Ishida smugly added.

"He'd probably be really happy for me and give me a pat on the back." Ichigo baited Ishida with a realistic possibility, considering the craziness of his father.

She laughed from the doorway. It was like an explosion of joy that resonated within all their souls – it was pure, deep, care-free, and untouched by her time with Mayuri.

Urahara smiled. Her laugh reminded him of when they were younger, and how he and Yoruichi would laugh together for hours – before the weights of adulthood were squarely placed on her noble shoulders.

Rien wore one of Yoruichi's black, skin tight training outfits. The sleeveless halter-neck top exposed Rien's unbruised, beautiful shoulders and collar bone. "Sorry I didn't have anything else." Yoruichi uncharacteristically apologised. "I don't really like to wear clothes," she added with a mischievous smile aimed at Kisuke.

"Me either. They're so restricting," Rien acknowledged. "But, I get so cold, so..."

"I just find some body to keep me warm…" Yoruichi's voice trailed off as she suggested her solution. Although Rien knew nothing about these things, Urahara's shirtless appearance now made sense to her.

Urahara, now looking a little uncomfortable tried to change the subject. "Rien will stay with Ishida for tonight – it will be harder for shinigami to sense his reiatsu. Though I don't think they will mobilise tonight anyway – they'd need too many preparations so send anyone worthwhile." Ishida looked smugly at Ichigo, having won this battle. "Be here as soon as you can in the morning." Urahara became very serious, "If anything happens to Rien, I'm going to hold you personally responsible, Ishida!" Yoruichi and Ichigo nodded at Urahara's comment.

Ishida did not look phased by this – he would already do anything to protect her. "We should go, Rien." He attempted to hide the joy in his voice. Deciding she should probably not walk the long distance to his house, he walked over to her. "Hold on tight, and close your eyes," he softly said already having to control his racing heart as his arms encircled her.

"Bye," she chimed to everyone as she held on tightly to Ishida's defined, muscular form – and in a flash of hirenkyaku, they were gone.

Ishida awoke.

Although the hot summer sun shone through his open balcony doors, he felt cool. As he opened his eyes, and regained his senses, he had to control himself from jumping out of his skin. Rien was under the duvet, in his bed, and asleep on his left shoulder.

He hadn't thought about it last night, but she was probably scared to sleep in the guest room all on her own. He should have probably offered to sleep on the floor next to her bed. He internally beat himself up for not having considered the possibility.

Ishida tried to control his racing heart. His left hand was on her bare back, holding her against him – Damn, Yoruichi and her clothes, he thought, but was too scared to remove his hand in case he woke her. He would gladly stay her willing prisoner like this forever, he thought to himself, a content smile forming on his face.

Her waist length straight black hair shone like silk as it lay strewn across Ishida's bare chest. He tried to arch his head to get a good look at the sleeping girl's beautiful face, but it was also covered by her long hair. Her skin felt soft, supple, and vulnerable against his shoulder, where her head fit perfectly beneath his jaw.

He gently moved the hair out of her face, and gazed upon its beauty, its perfection. She let out a soft moan. She moved her arm across his chest and her left leg across his body – further securing herself to him. His heart threatened to explode as he continued to watch her content face.

She smiled, "Byakuya," she whispered.

And with a single word, she shattered his beating heart.

She startled herself awake, as though she had fallen from a cliff in a dream. She scrambled backwards out of bed, looking extremely confused. "Ishida-kun?" She searched for a clarity that was not coming.

Ishida pulled the shattered pieces of his heart back together and looked at her, as though unphased by her dreamt whisper. "It's okay. I think you just sleep-walked into my room last night. Don't worry, its normal, it happens sometimes." He could not summon up the emotion to sound like himself right now. His words just sounded empty to him.

"I'm sorry if I was a nuisance, Ishida." Rien softly said feeling her heart begin to race as the shirtless Ishida walked towards her, and she remembered Yoruichi's words about Urahara.

"I didn't even notice. Don't worry about it," he flatly replied. Rien saw the truth reflected in his attractive blue eyes. She threw her arms around him, as his lay flatly at his sides, not embracing her.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me." As she had said to Byakuya when she didn't know how she had hurt him. Ishida gently peeled Rien's arms from around his neck.

"There's nothing to forgive." She could not look into his beautiful blue eyes. She knew she had injured him, she just didn't know how. Rien felt Ishida's soul cry out in agony while his face was plastered in a smile – she could not bare to look into his bleeding soul, knowing, as she had with Byakuya, that she was the daemon who had twisted the knife in there to begin with.

Why do people so rarely say what they mean? She wondered to herself.

Ishida lived in more of a mansion than a house, and his household staff fluttered about for his every convenience. As Rien and Ishida emerged from his room, she felt the household staff give her a few side-long glances and begin to chat among themselves. She did not understand their looks, but Ishida did not seem to care about their conversations.

Ishida took Rien to the guest room across his bedroom, where he had left her last night, and suggested that she should have a shower, and that he'd be back before she finished. Ishida had noticed Rien's propensity for taking long baths last night, and was sure that he could shower and be back from the shops before she was done.

Ishida had driven to the shops and bought Rien clothes, as he walked up the stairs to her room, he admitted to himself, that the reason he had not taken her along was not because it would have been dangerous and confusing for her, but because he wanted her to wear the things he wanted to see draped over her body.

Ishida placed the various bags of outfits on Rien's barely used bed, and stood, one hand on the door to leave. "I've left some clothes for you to choose from on the bed," Ishida said as he heard the shower stop.

"Don't go!" Rien bellowed as she tried to run out of the bathroom in her towel. Rien slipped at the doorway of the en-suite bathroom, but Ishida was there to catch her glistening, wet body.

As the heat from her shower and their close proximity wafted her strawberry scent to him, he felt some of the shattered pieces of his heart melt back together. Rien felt the comforting feeling of Ishida's strong arms around her, and she longed for him to be happy again.

As she sat on the bed and rummaged through the bags, she noticed that all the clothes were either white or blue and began to contemplate Ishida's obsession with the colour – but all that subsided when she happened upon a bag full of small lacy things. "What are these?" Ishida turned a bright red; Rien enjoyed the colour on him – it made him look alive again.

"Um…you wear them under your clothes." Ishida went even more red.

"But they're so pretty, why would I wear them under my clothes?" Ishida began to panic. "Are you wearing them?" She playfully said, as she tugged on his white pants.

Ishida flew to the door. "I think I need to call Rukia – no wait, she won't be of any help…Inoue maybe…No, Yoruichi…just wait here Rien." He was almost hyperventilating by now, but Rien could not understand why.

After a few minutes Yoruichi was in the room with Rien and helped her get dressed. When they emerged, Rien looked beautiful – human.

"You cut her hair?!" Ishida said a little disappointed.

"She said she liked Ukitake's hair, so I just cut her some bangs like his," Yoruichi defended against Ishida's accusing tone. It wasn't like she had significantly reduced the length or anything.

"Don't you like it, Ishida-kun?" Rien sounded worried. "Don't you think I look beautiful?" Yoruichi smiled, obviously having put Rien up to this.

"Of course you look beautiful, how could you not." Ishida admitted in defeat, hoping Yoruichi hadn't taught Rien anything else while they were alone together.

"Come soon, Rukia should be back anytime now," Yoruichi advised.

"We'll be there right after breakfast." Ishida assure her.

"You made me breakfast, Ishida-kun!" Yoruichi teased him.

"Um…You're welcome to stay, but I didn't make it," Ishida offered with his heart leaping into panic again. Not so secretly hoping Yoruichi would leave.

"No, I have to get back anyway, but you-two enjoy." Yoruichi smiled her mischievous smile at him and shunpo'ed away.

"Please have a seat." Ishida suggested, his voice seductively deepening. Rien's heart began to race, but she didn't know why.

Rien fervently tried everything on the table as though she had never tasted any of it before – which from her point of view, Ishida thought, was pretty accurate.

"Uryuu." A deep voice said from behind Rien. She turned to see an attractive man in a blue-grey suit. Who surprising looked a lot like Ishida, except for his blue-white hair. The man looked…sad.

"Ryuuken…you're home." Ishida floundered.

"Is that any way to talk to your father? Of course I'm home, where else would I be at this hour?" Contrary to the impression he was currently trying to give, Ryuuken was never home – ever!

"We were just finishing up." Ishida did not want them to meet. He wished they had left with Yoruichi., but he knew it was too late now.

"And who's your friend?" Ryuuken was decisive in his movements as he now stood between her chair and Ishida's. She was more striking awake, than she had looked asleep. He assessed every feature.

She stood up. "Rien," she said embracing him. Ishida would have to teach her to stop hugging everyone. He inwardly sighed. Ryuuken was surprised by it, and it was not often that anything surprised him. He reflexively embraced her back.

"Yes, you do remind me of her." The softness that had crept into his father's voice was a sound that Ishida had never heard coming from Ryuuken.

"Perhaps you should get your coat, in case it gets cold," Ishida suggested to Rien who let go of Ryuuken, who lingered in the embrace a moment longer than she had. Rien nodded and ambled upstairs hoping she would not forget her way in the big house. The connection between her name and Ishida's deceased mother's only now dawning on her again. She wondered in what way she was like his mother, the whole house was devoid of any pictures, so she could not be sure, and she didn't want to bring up the painful subject for either of the men downstairs. She found Ryuuken strange, although she did not have a family, something about Ishida's interaction with his father seemed off, seemed cold. Although Ishida has a family, is he also alone?

"You're lucky she wasn't a shinigami, or we wouldn't even be having this conversation – I would have killed you both in your sleep last night. Is it a coincidence, that she has your mother's name?" Ryuuken whispered as his eyes followed Rien up the stairs.

"Yes." Ishida lied. His father had no business meddling in his affairs.

"Long black hair and striking blue eyes – it seems you've inherited my taste in women." Though Ishida was adept at lying, Ryuuken could spot his lies like ink on paper. He decided not to push the issue at the moment, considering his son finally had a lover worthy of his name.

"I'm nothing like you." Ishida was defensive.

"That's not something to boast about," Ryuuken dismissively said. "I'm glad she makes you happy. Just don't lose her by being yourself, or someone else may take her away." Ryuuken didn't mean it as a threat, but rather a warning to his too nice son who always waited until it was too late to take the things he wanted.

"Who exactly is going to take her away from me?" Ishida had interpreted his father's words as a threat, a challenge to his claim on Rien.

"I don't know, you tell me. Though she's your lover, you don't touch her like she yours. How serious are you about her, or is she just this week's toy?" Ryuuken knew his son well enough to know he had feelings for the girl, but he could not stop himself from taunting Ishida, his reactions were always so amusing to Ryuuken.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stay out of my bedroom, especially when I'm in it." Ishida whispered as he saw Rien descend the stairs holding a long white jacket. His relationship with Rien was none of his father's business. Rien could never be a toy to him, he cared about her, more than he should, considering they were just friends.

She gracefully walked towards him and held onto him tightly, as though he were hers – even if she wasn't his. Ishida didn't look surprised. "No, I think we should probably drive there." They should not be using hirenkyaku in the real world, especially during the day when bystanders might see, and he secretly wanted her to experience his new black sports car – he knew the experience would thrill her. Rien had no sense of boundaries or social appropriateness, and Ishida hoped this display of her natural inclination to be affectionate, was enough to keep Ryuuken off his back for a while. He took her hand in his and turned to leave without another word to his father.

"Goodbye, Ryuuken." She sang as she turned to leave.

"Goodbye, Rien." Even after all these years, it hurt to say her name. She had died almost 20 years ago when Ishida was still a baby, but Ryuuken could not stop loving her. He detached himself from everything, especially Ishida who reminded him of her in every way – it was the only way he could go on without her. Above all things, he did not want his son to lose a love that could destroy him – as his love for Rien had been.

When they arrived at Urahara's, Rukia was already there, and they were all huddled around the table in conversation.

"Rien!" Rukia said shocked, looking at the girl's short white pleated skirt, white sneakers, and pale blue strappy top. "Your hair looks wonderful," she finally said. Rukia hadn't noticed how long the girl's legs were before, and how shapely – she envied her, not knowing Rien would gladly change places with her. Rukia had started off being taller than Renji, but as they got older he shot up like a barge pole – now, he and Ichigo were both far taller than her, and it frequently pissed her off.

"Ishida drove me here in his car!" Rien excitedly told Rukia about her new experience.

Damn that rich show-off bastard! Ichigo thought.

"Well, what's happened in Soul Society?" Ishida said impatiently.

"As I was telling Urahara before you got here, Central 46 has made the decision not to pursue Rien to the real world – one of Kurotsuchi taichou's reports strongly suggested that she was a living person, and as such, is out of the jurisdiction of Seireitei and Central 46." Ishida breathe a sigh of relief as he sat down next to Rien. Although he had guessed that this would be the outcome if Central 46 actually followed Seireitei's laws, he was surprised that they did not try and fabricate a reason to pursue her.

"But…"Rukia continued. "She can never return to Seireitei as long as she is alive, if she does, she will be captured and executed along with all those people who aided her."

Rien let out a whimper, but held back the tears that threatened to escape. Now that Rukia had told Yoruichi about Rien's attachment to Byakuya, Yoruichi understood the real meaning of the whimper.

"Surprisingly, there are no clues about who helped Rien escape – except Ichigo and Ishida. But, there have been lots of questions – about what senkai you escaped through, and a very powerful captain level kido net that kept all the 12th squad members trapped in their barracks and unable to pursue." Rien smiled, Rukia herself had no idea that it was Jyuushiro – perhaps its better that way, Rien thought. "But, don't worry Rien, there are somehow no clues for anyone to trace." Rukia assured her.

"But, did they not suspect you and Renji?" Urahara wondered.

"They did, that's why it took me so long to come back. But, Nii-sama has vouched that he gave Renji an order, and that he has no doubt that Renji followed it and remained at the 6th squad's barracks all night." Yoruichi saw Rien's fists tighten on her lap, at the thought of Byakuya protecting Renji, protecting her.

"Ukitake taichou told them I accompanied him to Koryaku taichou's birthday party because I was concerned about his health." Rukia laughed. "I don't know how, but people remember seeing me there." She chuckled a little more.

"Jyuushiro is skilled in many different things." Yoruichi spoke warmly about her previous classmate, and then began to chuckle as well.

"So, you're free to live in the real world, Rien." Rukia beamed at the still stoic girl. "But Ichigo, Ishida – you both are no longer welcome back either, for breaking Rien out. They will arrest you both if you return," Rukia added, a hint of sadness entering her voice.

"Not like I was looking forward to going back to that dungeon anyway." Ichigo laughed it off.

"I don't know how to thank you all, but thank you, from the bottom of my heart." Rien spoke her emotion-filled words while looking down, her newly cut bangs partially covering her right eye and resting on the top of her cheek.

"What are you going to do now Rien, you're free?" Ichigo asked full of hope.

Rien suddenly felt panic fill her body – she knew nothing, she had nowhere to go, and no idea of what to do. It was a more complex question than Ichigo could have imagined – Rien knew nothing about the real world. She felt herself become lost in the vastness of the possibilities.

"You're welcome to stay with me. I mean…we can all go to university…together, if you'd like…its just that, that's what most people our age…do." Ishida tried to hide the fact that he had just asked Rien to live with him, under the guise of the propriety of university. Ishida had already prepared for this outcome, knowing what Central 46 was likely to decide, after spending three weeks studying Soul Society law when they couldn't see Rien, he had known all they had to do was find a way to rescue her. Ishida placed the university application papers, which he had fetched this morning, on the table. Ishida knew she was intelligent enough to be able to handle the learning curve, and he dearly hoped she would chose this option, with him…and Ichigo.

Ishida had also known that rescuing Rien meant that she would never be able to see Byakuya again – this thought allowed the shattered pieces of his heart to heal completely, knowing that in the end, he had won.

"It wouldn't be proper for a beautiful young girl to live with a single man. How would it look to the rest of the world?!" Yoruichi was going somewhere with this, but Rien interrupted her flow.

"What's wrong with that? You live with Urahara-san," Rien inquired wide-eyed. As the others smiled, Yoruichi ignored the comment.

"She could live at Ichigo's house," Rukia suggested. "I could say she was my sister."

Ichigo smiled at the idea, "Kuchiki Rien and Kuchiki Rukia – sounds good to me!" He thoughtlessly beamed.

"No." Rien flatly refused. "I would love to be your sister, but I can't bear the same name as you…couldn't we say I was your cousin or something." The thought of constantly being called by his name sickened her – she would not steal it from him, she would leave everything about him behind her.

"I think it's best if Rien stays here, where Kisuke and I can watch over her if any trouble arises. What do you think Rien?" Yoruichi hopefully suggested.

"I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience, Yoruichi," Rien humbly said.

"I've always wanted a little sister." She looked a little misty-eyed as she said it. "I could be your beautiful, more experienced, older sister. I have a lot to teach you about the world. What do you say?" Yoruichi smiled her warmest smile at Rien. Soi Fon was a grown woman now, and she had missed the best of her years, Yoruichi was determined to be the best big sister Rien could hope for.

"Hai." Rien smiled, enchanted by Yoruichi, as everyone was when Yoruichi chose to be this way.

"Very well, from now on, you will be Shihouin Rien." She said kissing the girl's forehead and then hugging her.

Ishida looked sick, thinking of the things Yoruichi would teach Rien. He was in for a hard time and he knew it.

Author's Note

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please hold on - awesomeness to come in the chapters that follow. If you want to think of them as arcs as Bleach does, then this is the beginning of my 'Real World Arc'. Please review and let me know what you think so far.