Author's Note: I hope you all are enjoying this! ^_^ Read and review!

Chapter 3

The sun's warmth felt like the welcomed embrace of her father and it was a comfort to be out of that frightening, dark place. The light and the Spring aroma was enough to help keep her calm, as her father had always said that a calm mind leads to a calm body and with her amount of spiritual pressure, she couldn't afford not to have as such.

She simply walked alongside the many captains, wrapped in the pink kimono from the one whom had called himself Shunsui Kyōraku. She felt heavy, weighted down from her rather savage lifestyle of living in the forest, struggling to survive and wasn't often she was given the chance to bathe on a regular basis. She wasn't sure where they were going, but so long as it was away from that Department of Research and Development, she didn't care.

"Where are we going?" She asked, glancing up at Ukitake whom was significantly taller than her.

"I suppose we should discuss that. You have nowhere to go." Ukitake said, returning the glance and providing a smile.

"I can manage on my own. I have been for decades." Nyruki said, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

"How long have you been on your own?" Unohana asked kindly.

"About a hundred years. My father was killed when I was a teenager." She said, wrapping Kyōraku's pink kimono around her tighter to cover her near completely.

"By that same Hollow?" Byakuya asked blankly.

Nyruki nodded, "Yes. We didn't have a good way to defend ourselves. Only Father's rusty sword that he had made himself."

Ukitake sighed as he place a hand on her shoulder, causing her to flinch hard from the touch. He took it back.

"He died protecting you didn't he." Ukitake said lowly.

"Yes. All I could do was suppress my spiritual pressure. I can't fight. I had gotten good at it, but even with all of my concentration, it still leaks." Nyruki said, bowing her head out of remembrance of her father.

"No doubt. Your spiritual pressure is higher than Old Man Yama's. By quite a ways actually. Only those with hundreds of years of experience and training can suppress that amount without help and not have it leak. I can feel it right now in fact." Kyōraku said, his hands still stuffed into each sleeve of his captain's haori.

"I know you can. I tried my best to hide it, but it wasn't enough and it got my Father-" Nyruki began, only to have her voice trail off as she hugged herself in the pink flower printed kimono.

"You did what you could. Your father's death is no fault of your own." Ukitake said.

"I tried to convince myself of that, but in the end, there was nothing I could do but watch him die by something I couldn't see. It's been a long time since I've discussed that night. I would like to never again have to remember it." Nyruki said, finally raising her head and revealing her large, sad golden eyes.

"Hopefully now, you won't have to." Ukitake said, again with his soft smile.

Nyruki returned the smile, but it only lasted a moment before Captain Unohana spoke, still with her hands clasped pleasingly in front of her.

"I would like you back tomorrow for a thorough examination and some more healing. I'm not quite satisfied that you're at your best. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave to attend to my other obligations." She said sweetly before heading down one of the crossroads, reducing the group to four.

"As must I." Byakuya said as he made to leave, only to be stopped by a hand snatching a handful of his Shihakushō sleeve.

"I'm sorry... About your pond." Nyruki said with sincerity that equaled her barely controlled spiritual pressure.

With no reaction, Byakuya simply looked at her and shallowly, barely visibly, bowed his head, "I have said before. Nothing that cannot be replaced."

With that, the noble turned and headed down the opposite crossroad, leaving Nyruki, despite his words, feeling as if he was angry that such a prized pond had been destroyed by her carelessness to hide her spiritual pressure. The roller coaster of guilt filled her being, and it caused her to hunker down even further into the pink kimono as if it would hide her from sight. She knew however, that it wouldn't, so instead of trying to hide, she would swallow down her feelings and press on. It was all she could do.

"Well, I suppose that leaves either you, or I, Shunsui. Where does she go?" Ukitake asked, breaking the silence to Nyruki's relief.

"There's no need. Your kindness has been greatly appreciated, but I'll find my own way. Perhaps I'll even find my way home." Nyruki said as she removed the pink kimono to hand it back to its rightful owner.

"Nonsense. You leaving the Seireitei will only put you in harms way and at the mercy of this mystery Hollow. You may stay at the Ugendo until a more permanent arrangement can be made." Ukitake said, shaking his head and resisting the urge to put a hand on her shoulder, concerned as to why she had flinched.

"I don't deserve such kindness." Nyruki said, bowing her respects to the man with long and flowing white hair.

"All souls deserve kindness." Ukitake said, widening his soft smile.

"He's always been that way, so you might as well get used to it." Kyōraku said as he refused to take back the pink kimono from her hand. She needed something to wear that wasn't tattered rags

"Come now, Nyruki. Let us get you cleaned and in a proper change of clothes." Ukitake said with an extended hand down the crossroad directly in front of her.

His kindness was almost too much, as it forced her to produce a thankful smile across her bitten and red lips. It helped to keep the uncertainty at bay, to keep the fear of the unknown away which in turn, aided in her rough ability to keep her spiritual pressure under control. She had always feared what she possessed, always hated that it had so many times brought trouble to her and her father. She blamed her power for his death, but no amount of self loathing would change her sorted history. It was just something she had long since come to accept.

With her smile as her thank you, she followed the kind captain's lead down the crossroad.

The morning was chilled, but not wholly cold as to warrant more than a thin blanket and a hot cup of tea to stave off the crisp air. The lake outside the modest estate was alive with the morning splashes of the massive koi whom had become accustomed to their new home, jumping free of the water to rejoice in the fine Spring morning in the same way that the birds sang their songs.

Sitting up in his bed, with a thin blanket over his shoulders and a steaming hot cup of tea in his hands, Jūshirō Ukitake read through the many reports that often greeted him in the mornings. The tea soothed his aching throat and chest, providing a much needed reprieve from the ever present, sometimes worse, ache in his ravaged lungs.

Suddenly, a soft knock at his door broke through the morning stage that had been set by the scenery outside his open window.

"Come in." He said softly as he took a sip of his medicated tea.

The door quietly slid open as a small young woman entered with a small plate of food in hand. She had shortly cropped brown hair that fluttered in the morning breeze and her large doe like eyes were a vibrant shade of hazel.

"I've brought your breakfast, Ukitake-Sensai. Would you like it on the table?" The attendant asked as she walked to the small rolling tray table next to his bed.

"That will be just fine. Thank you." He said with a brief glance up from his papers, still with his contented smile in place.

She set down the small plate on the table and positioned it next to him so that it was within his reach, before she bowed and turned to take her leave.

"Leesy, could you do me the favor of checking on our house guest?" He asked, stopping her at the door.

"Of course, Sensai." Again, she bowed before leaving the room and closing the door.

Returned to the quiet of the morning serenade, Ukitake found where he had left off in his morning reports. He sighed as he read about how the 13th Division, specifically two of its members, had broken out in a bickering battle over the silliest of things, namely whom had finished the sake while out to eat at one of the many restaurants that dotted the whole of the Seireitei. It was their usual behavior, but not un-welcomed due to that most of the time, their antics were comical and a good laugh always helped to push the thought of his illness from the back of his mind.

However, the serenity of the morning was shattered when Leesy burst back into his room without so much as a warning, nearly causing him to spill his piping hot tea all over his chest from the sudden ruckus.

"Sensai! Ms. Sawada is missing! She isn't in her room!" She yelped, worry clear in her young features.

"What?" Ukitake leapt from his bed in a smooth and single motion, managing to place his tea on the tray while he moved.

His reports splattered to the bamboo floor as he sprinted passed her and ran down the hall to the last room on the left, throwing it open to confirm that what his young servant had said was true.

Nyruki's bed was empty, its covers missing entirely and the window was open, leading out into the garden that surrounded the expansive lake. He stepped inside and looked around, but there was no sign of her. It was almost as if she hadn't been in the room at all until he looked beneath the bed at a corner of the blankets poking out.

With a tilt of his head in curiosity, he stepped up to the bed and crouched, leaning his head far over to peer beneath the wooden frame at a crumbled ball of blankets with a river of clean obsidian hair spilling out from beneath them.

He sighed with instant relief as he reached forward and pinched a corner of the blanket between his thumb and forefinger and slowly, seemingly holding his breath, lifted it to reveal Nyruki's sleeping face, squished against her hands that were clasped together and serving as her pillow.

"There you are." He whispered, smiling as he looked back at is worried attendant, "I've got things from here, Leesy. Thank you very much."

With a bow, the young woman left to return to her duties as Ukitake looked back at the sleeping Nyruki whom seemed so content to be hiding beneath the bed that he almost decided to leave her there. He released the fabric and gently rested his full hand on her covered shoulder to give her a gentle shake which proved more than enough to wake her up from her slumber.

However, she didn't simply open her eyes from the movement, they shot open wide with sheer terror. She scurried back against the wall with sparks of lavender beginning to surround her body and the weight of the air began to press down on his shoulders.

"Whoa! Whoa, easy, Nyruki. It's just me. It's Jūshirō." Ukitake said quickly, holding his hands up in defense to show he was not an enemy.

"Wha?" Nyruki asked as she blinked several times to bring her vision into focus, panting from the sudden shock of being awoken.

"It's alright. It's just me... Why are you underneath the bed?" Ukitake asked calmly, sitting down on the floor to help put her at ease.

Nyruki simply breathed for a few moments as her heart returned to a normal pace and she fully realized that she was not in harms way.

"It... It was too soft. I'm used to sleeping on the floor." She said, making no attempt to move from the safety of being beneath the bed.

"I see. I had thought you left when my attendant said you had vanished." Ukitake said.

"I didn't mean to worry you. I wouldn't leave without expressing my gratitude for your kindness." She said as she deemed it safe to began scooting towards the man.

Ukitake stood and stepped back, giving her the room she needed to wrest herself from underneath the bed. She popped up onto her feet, still wrapped in her blanket cocoon and sat down on the bed that was too soft with a muffled plop.

"I understand," He sighed, "I was hoping to discuss something with you that Captain Kyōraku and I touched on yesterday." He said as he tightened his morning robe around him a bit.

"What about?" Nyruki asked, curling her knees into her chest.

"I want to discuss, perhaps, you attending the Shinigami Academy. You can receive proper training on how to keep your spiritual pressure under control as well has learn how to combat against the Hollow." He said, taking a seat next to her on the edge of the bed, making sure to leave some room out of concern of startling her once more.

At the mere mention, her golden eyes widened, "Really? I could learn how to fight the Hollow?"

Ukitake nodded once, "Yes, you can. Would that be something you would be interested in?"

"Really?" Nyruki erupted, causing Ukitake to jump from the sudden burst of energy that came out of the freshly awoken woman.

However, it was not solely her excitement that caused him to hold his breath, but the sudden return of the weight against his shoulders that bore down on him far heavier than before. The weight was steadily growing, compressing his chest to the point that the ever present ache morphed into all out pain.

His lungs began to hop with a sudden cough, the force only adding painful fuel to the painful fire as he felt the iron tang creep up into his throat. His coughs grew into harsh, double toned rasps as blood seeped from between his lips and he was forced to cover his mouth with his hands in an attempt to stem the flow.

"Ukitake-Sensai? W-What's wrong? Are you ok?" Nyruki asked, worry coloring her pretty, but gaunt features.

She jumped to his side as she placed her hands on his shoulders to help keep him up, his coughs ragged, angry as his eyes squeezed shut with each heave.

"Y-Your... P-Pressure." He coughed out, blood trailing from the corner of his lips to his chin.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Nyruki pled, forcing herself to concentrate to bring the crushing weight back under her feeble control.

As a minute passed, the unbearable weight lifted from his shoulders and chest, releasing its hold and allowing his breathing to resume its normal functions. The cough continued to persist as his attendant rushed in, holding a fresh hot cup of tea that she immediately handed to him and helped guide to his lips.

"Drink, Sensai. It will calm your illness." She said, helping Nyruki to hold him up.

"What's wrong with him?" Nyruki asked, her worry still driving her as she rubbed his back out of a desire to do anything to help ease the pain that she caused.

"Ukitake-Sensai is very ill. An illness he has lived with for his entire life." Leesy said, taking a small rag she had brought with her to dab away the blood at the corner of his mouth.

"What illness?"

"An incurable one. I only live by the grace of a fallen god." Ukitake said with a rasp in his voice that lingered on each word.

"I... I'm so sorry. I sometimes lose control when I get excited. I didn't mean-" Nyruki's voice trailed off as she shook from barely contained emotion.

Seeing this shake, Ukitake raised a hand and rested it on her shoulder with a gentle squeeze, but this time, she didn't flinch.

"Do not worry yourself for me. This is common place I'm afraid." He said, taking his hand back immediately so not to make her uncomfortable.

"Still... You didn't need me losing control." Nyruki said as she tried to hide in her blanket cocoon.

"All the more reason for you to consider the academy." He said, managing an honest, genuine smile across his pale lips.

Nyruki tightened the blanket around her as if it was a shield guarding her from whatever threat may linger in the room. The kind man's coughing had calmed, leaving his voice airy and rasp laden, but it was still kind, almost as if he was entirely made of it. His brown eyes were still full of life, still a warming shade of chocolate despite the illness that, on a daily basis, tried to claim him for its own. It was a comfort to see such hope in those eyes, such rebellion against forces that sought to end it, and it drove her to make the decision she thought right.

No more would she allow her power to control her.

"I wanna join the academy." She blurted out, leaving the blanket on the bed in a heap as she stood, now clothes in plain blue robes that Ukitake had let her borrow.

"Are you sure this is what you want? I want you to want this for yourself, not because Captain Kyōraku and I think it would benefit you." Ukitake said, managing a shallow swallow before taking a mouthful of his tea.

"Yes. No more will someone suffer because of me. Having me here is a danger to everyone and that is no way to say thank you to such a kind man." Nyruki proclaimed, her small fists tightening with her bloomed determination that was as new as the Spring season.

"It will not be easy, Nyruki, but with your potential, you have a chance at achieving something great." Ukitake said, relieved that the dull ache in his chest had returned to normal.

"I want to try. No matter what, I want to try." She said confidently.

With a soft clearing of his throat, and with a bit of help from his attendant, Ukitake rose to his feet, still with a smile in place.

"Then it shall be."