A/N: Thanks again to all reviewers. Just so you know, all your words are read and taken into account. The Statue, the chapter that follows this one has been added in as a direct result of your review. I was able to see a lacking in the plot line as a result, so thank you.

This is more of a "serious chapter", so the humour is a bit muted. My beta got cross with me as a result, but I do need to do this to get the story to move on. Don't worry, the chapters that follow are funny. You'll see, just you wait!

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The Heir Apparent
Chapter 2 - Ukitake's will

'So what happened then?' Rukia demanded, putting her chopsticks together neatly on her plate.

'Well, we all got up onto our knees,' said Renji through a mouthful of ramen. 'I already knew of course, all the captains had been warned beforehand that our new royal family was a bit, well -'

'Shut up, I'm telling the story!' said Ichigo. 'It turns out that my crazy father is actually the seventh son of the king of Soul Society.'

They were sitting in a small restaurant with a good view of the Gotei thirteen headquarters and the execution hill, just the three of them. Rukia wouldn't have invited Renji along had he not offered to pay, since he was now on a captain's salary. That offer proved to be unnecessary, the owner of the restaurant was so pleased to have the hero of the war in his humble establishment that he gave them whatever they wanted for free. Renji had taken advantage of the poor man's generosity, the empty plates were piled high next to him. She had a feeling that the offer wouldn't be repeated.

Ichigo related what to her what he remembered about the story of his father's escape, how he had met up with Urahara who had given him an untraceable Gigia. How he had met his mother, and had three children. The rest Rukia knew, but he explained for Renji's benefit how his mother had died. His father had returned to Urahara some time after to get a Gigai that wouldn't absorb his spirit powers, and they had slowly returned after that. Before he had regained enough to go shinigami though, Rukia showed up and transferred her power to his son, and they all knew the story from there.

'So you really are the prince!' said Rukia at the end, her violet eyes wide. Ichigo, the cocky teenaged boy who'd turned her life upside down, was the next in line to the throne of the Spirit King.

'Just don't tell anyone,' Ichigo warned. 'Old man Yama wants to keep this just between the captain's for now.'

'Heh, he could be king if his father doesn't want to be,' said Renji. 'The first carrot-top to reign in Soul Society's history.'

'There's no way I'll ever do that,' said Ichigo, crossing his arms in an X.

'But what are they doing about the king's realm,' said Rukia, 'How is anybody going to get in?'

When Ichigo had killed Aizen, he had broken the original Ouken inadvertently. And she couldn't see them sacrificing a hundred thousand more souls to create a new one. Soul Society wasn't like that any more, they stood for something. She liked to believe so anyway.

'They're keeping it sealed permanently' said Renji, pushing his plate away. 'It will be the tomb for the royal family and the royal guard.'

'Exactly how many people died there?' said Ichigo.

Renji thought about it for a moment, 'Well, your father was the seventh of nine sons, and I think there was a similar amount of daughters. Some of them were married and had children too, and there was the Royal Guard, I think they had seven members. All former captains.'

'That many,' Rukia was aghast, and counted up quickly. 'That would be more than forty people!'

'My family that I never met,' said Ichigo angrily, clenching his fists. His chopsticks broke with a snap. 'Damn Aizen, I wish I could have him here just to kill him again.'

'How could he have beaten so many?' said Renji.

'You didn't see his Bankai. It wouldn't make a difference if one or a hundred of the same power were fighting him. As long as he could overpower the strongest in the king's realm he would have had no trouble with the rest, even at the same time.'

Renji opened his mouth to say something, closed it, then opened again. He looked like a fish out of water. All he managed to say was a highly intelligent, 'Oh.'

His table mates snorted derisively.

'So, what happens with you and your father now?' said Rukia.

'Well, he's agreed to become the king of Soul Society, provided that he can stay in the real world until Yuzu and Karin are grown up. There's nowhere for the king to stay anyway, the old palace was demolished a thousand years back according to Yama. They weren't too happy about it, but they accepted, as long as he doesn't stay for more than fifteen years,' said Ichigo.

'And what about you, Ichigo,' she said, feeling tense for some reason. 'Will you go back with them?'

Before he could answer, two figures skidded inside. She recognised them instantly as Kiyone and Sentaro, the acting lieutenants from her squad.

'Kurosaki-dono, Kuchiki-san,' puffed Sentaro, 'I've finally found you.'

'No you didn't,' said Kiyone, 'I saw them first.'

They both raised their fists and started pushing their forehead against the others, shouting in progressively louder tones.

'What's this about?' said Ichigo, interrupting their argument.

'I have been tasked with telling you that-' said Kiyone.

'WE were tasked,' interrupted Sentaro.

'Alright enough,' said Ichigo loudly, and pointed to Kiyone. 'You speak.' He turned to Sentaro, 'You shut up.'

'Yes Kurosaki-dono,' they chorused.

'Are those two a bit- you know,' Renji whispered to her.

'A bit,' she agreed quietly.

'Ukitake-taicho left a will,' said Kiyone, 'And both you and Kuchiki-san are beneficiaries in it.'

'WHAT?' Ichigo, Rukia and Renji exclaimed.

'They've already started' Kiyone continued, 'So you are needed at the thirteenth division headquarters immediately.'

'Let's go then,' said Ichigo, getting up and swinging Zangetsu onto his back. 'Thanks for the meal, ojisama.'

'Anytime, Kurosaki-dono,' said the cheerful shinigami restaurateur. 'I would be honoured to have you and your girlfriend again.'

'She isn't my-'

'Never mind,' said Rukia, pushing past him towards the door.

'I notice he didn't mention me,' said Renji, slightly miffed, as they made their way out.

'I wonder why. Are you coming with us?'

'Hell yeah,' he said with a cocky grin, 'I've gotta admit, I'm curious as to what the old captain left you. And Ichigo, of all people.'

They set off at a leisurely pace to allow the weaker Kiyone and Sentaro to keep up. Rukia had no trouble, in spiritual power she wasn't far off Renji's level even though she hadn't reached ban release yet. Her abilities had grown massively since the time she'd lost them, and not all of that could just be combat experience. Perhaps her protracted exposure to Ichigo had caused it.

She would have to ask the twelfth division to look into it. Now that Kisuke was back people weren't so afraid of going there any more, he wasn't the type to capture shinigami who came to him to perform dangerous experiments on them. Well, not often anyway.

When they reached the gates of the thirteenth division, the shinigami there immediately snapped to attention and let out a loud and joyful greeting of 'Kurosaki-dono'. Renji's eyebrow twitched when they didn't even bother to acknowledge him. Ichigo was lapping it all up, he was literally strutting with his head high. Rukia reached up, found a small hair on his face, and plucked it.

'Ow, what was that for?' said Ichigo, his hand over his chin.

'Just checking if the famous Kurosaki-dono is now immortal,' she said gaily. Renji chuckled.

Ichigo growled, and led them inside. There were more of her squad members lining up on either side of the path bowing to him, but he ignored them. She smiled as she followed him through the doorway, he was so easy.

There were already a good few high-ranking shinigami sitting in Jushiro's study. Captains Kyoraku, Unohana and her brother Byakuya were there as well as Captain-Commander Yamamoto and lieutenants Ise, Hisagi and Kira. There was also a group of white haired people that she supposed were his family. Kyoraku was reading the will. He greeted them as they came through the door.

'Kuchiki, Kurosaki, you came at a good time,' he said, unusually formal. 'We've just dealt with all the assets.'

'So what is left?' said Rukia, confused. Had they come too late, weren't they beneficiaries?

'Please have a seat,' he gestured to the floor. 'And you're welcome to listen too, Abarai-kun.'

'Right,' said Renji.

As they took their places Kiyone and Sentaro entered and sat. Nobody bothered to acknowledge them, they'd probably been there earlier.

Kyoraku picked up a piece of paper, 'This is the final wish of captain Ukitake Jushiro, who served the thirteen protection squads for four hundred and eighty years, and was captain of the thirteenth for three hundred of them.

'I extend my final wish toward the future of my beloved thirteenth division, and I pray you would take it into due consideration. As you know, for many years I have suffered with illness, to the detriment of my duties. It gives me great shame to admit that I had to rely on my subordinates more than any other captain would. Kiyone and Sentaro, if you are listening to this, thank you for your tireless work and enthusiasm.'

Rukia looked across at the two of them, and saw tears in their eyes. She felt for them, they had worshipped their captain. She could feel emotions well up inside of her, she had never had a father she could remember; if she had it would have been him. He had always been there, calm, friendly, willing to go to any length for anyone in his squad. She had only lasted after Kaien's death because of him. Her bottom lip started to quiver, she couldn't lose control in front of her brother. She reached out and grabbed Ichigo's arm, drawing strength from him.

'For many years, I had my replacement. I had no doubt that this man would surpass me, and then I would be able to retire and no longer be a burden. That man was Shiba Kaien. Unfortunately he died in active service. Since then I did not replace my lieutenant. There was one who was both capable and powerful enough, but for certain reasons I could not install her.

'More recently, a young man came to my attention. A man who bore a striking resemblance to my former lieutenant, and had achieved Bankai in amazingly short time. I am referring of course to the substitute shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. During the war with the Arrancar he was allowed to stay in the material world, partially because we didn't want to antagonise an unexpected ally during a precarious time, and also because he provided a measure of protection to the area that he stayed in; the spiritual centre.

'I knew though that this wouldn't last, that as soon as the war was over he would be required to either have his power sealed or live permanently in Seireitei. Soul Society cannot allow renegade shinigami wandering around, leaking their power and giving spiritual abilities to otherwise normal humans. I had a feeling that he would be staying here, so I planned to invite him to my division initially as a lieutenant, and as soon as he'd got the hang of that for him to replace me as captain.'

There was a general reaction in Ichigo's direction from all those seated. Byakuya saw her hand on his arm, and his eyes narrowed. Rukia reddened and let go. Kyoraku cleared his throat and continued.

'Those were my plan's for my division, if I were to survive the war. If you are reading this now, it is because I did not. My final wish is that the young man, Kurosaki Ichigo, would replace me as captain; and the woman who I would have had as my lieutenant would be raise to the post, Kuchik Rukia.'

Rukia felt cold, then hot. Her, a lieutenant? She glanced over to her brother, who hadn't reacted. She glanced over at Ichigo, who for once had nothing to say. He simply gaped at her.

'Wow,' said Renji, 'Ichigo a captain. Wait a moment, how would that work with him being a prince and all?'

'Thank you for revealing that fact to people who weren't supposed to know,' said Unohana with unusual sharpness. She looked at the assembled lieutenants and third seats as well as Ukitake's family, 'I trust you won't spread this to anybody outside this room.' Renji turned as red as a beetroot under her hard gaze.

'Regardless, that is an important consideration,' said Yamamoto, rising with surprising grace and moving to stand by Kyoraku. 'Jushiro had no knowledge of this when he wrote his will.'

'All captain's serve for many years in the ranks before they are raised to their positions,' said Byakuya. 'While Kurosaki Ichigo may have the power requirements for the position, such an appointment would be unprecedented.'

'He has fought along side us for a year already,' Kyoraku pointed out, 'against some of the toughest opponents Soul Society has ever faced. It's highly possible that none of us would be alive without him. You saw how celebrated he is, such a move would be very popular in the ranks, to have the hero of the war as one of the captains. And besides, you're forgetting about Zaraki Kenpachi, he never served any time in the ranks.'

'We still never have had a prince as a captain,' said Unohana.

Yamamoto tapped his staff. 'Jushiro was like a son to me, and I would like to honour his request. And since we are still lacking captains for the thirteenth and the third it would be useful to fill one of those gaps. Since Kurosaki Ichigo will be the heir and not the king, I think we will be able to flout the rule. But we will need the approval of Issin-ousama, the endorsement of six of the captains and the approval of three of the others. And finally, he must indicate that he is prepared to take the position.'

All eyes turned to Ichigo, the only one he looked back at was Byakuya. Rukia knew that if her brother didn't want him to be a captain, his answer would be…

'Fine. I'll become a captain.'

Yamamoto nodded. 'We will install you before Central 46 is re-established, or they might stall us with technicalities. All that's left to decide is if Kuchiki Rukia will become his lieutenant. I understand that Kuchiki-taicho did not want her to receive a seated position due to the dangers involved. What say you?'

Byakuya's head bowed slightly. 'I have less fears as to her safety now that the Arrancar have fallen. Rukia's life is hers to live the way she wishes.'

'Good answer,' said the captain-commander approvingly, then turned to Ichigo. 'Captains have a right to choose their lieutenants, do you agree to take her as your second in command?'

'I do,' said Ichigo immediately. Rukia felt her heart swell.

'Then will you, Kuchiki Rukia, agree to become the vice-captain of the thirteenth division?'

'I will,' she said.

x

Hitsugaya Toshiro sat back on his chair, the usual pile of papers on his desk notably absent. Finally, he'd finished his day's work and there still was something of the day left.

Since his recovery he'd been up to his eyes in work. No, more, the stack of documents had been taller than him. So many death's to account for, as well as the expected backlog from when he was away. The transfer request Matsumoto had put in had been difficult to deal with too, especially since she had never given a reason for it. He suspected that her swapping divisions with Hinamori Momo was simply for the other woman's benefit, she'd become terribly depressed following the death of the traitor Aizen.

He stepped out of his study, and found Momo sitting on the porch staring into the distance. She had been doing that a lot recently. He sighed. It was useless trying to talk to her now, she knew that her old captain had betrayed them and tried to kill her, telling her again would do nothing but upset her. She just needed time to work things out for herself. In the meantime he needed to keep her away from Kurosaki, there'd be hell to pay if she attacked their prince.

He leaned against the wooden support beam as he soaked in the tranquillity. It was times like these that he could think most clearly. Defeating the traitors had cost them four captains, but the replacement's that had come in were all stronger. No, not quite all, Renji wasn't as strong as Komamura had been. But the rest easily surpassed those they had replaced. He would even go so far as to say that Soul Society had been weeded out of it's weakest captains.

No, not quite, I'm still here; he thought sadly.

He'd tried so hard to be a model captain, taking up difficult and demeaning assignments that none of the others would agree to. He made sure to act more mature than the most mature adult, modelling himself on Yamamoto; and to a lesser extent Byakuya. He always did his duties promptly and without a fuss. But at the end of the day, he was still the weakest captain.

Except for Abarai, but he was new, a recently promoted lieutenant.

Despite being a child prodigy, and the youngest captain ever, his power hadn't matured properly. His body was that of a young boy, he would fall from wounds faster than any of the lieutenants. Except maybe Yachiru, but he hadn't seen her fight. He doubted anybody outside of the eleventh had.

He remembered his fight with the third Espada. He'd been so lucky not to die in that fight. But he'd been out cold for the rest of the battle, and when he'd came to it was all over. Aizen was defeated, and Momo was sobbing over him while she healed. He had a feeling she would have cracked if he'd died as well. From there he'd been taken to the fourth division.

A fifth division messenger flash-stepped up to them and fell on his knees. 'A thousand apologies for disturbing you, Hitsugaya-taicho, I bring a message from captain-commander Yamamoto.'

'What is the message?'

'All divisional captain's must assemble for an immediate meeting.'

He sighed, 'There goes my relaxing afternoon.' he turned to Momo, 'I'll see you later, look after things while I'm gone.'

She didn't even blink to acknowledge that he'd spoken. He sighed again and shunpoed away.

x

It was evening, and Ichigo and Rukia were sitting outside the Kuchiki manor, enjoying the silence after a hectic day. After the meeting at the thirteenth, they had contacted his father using the projector set that had originally been set up in Orihime's house, but now had been moved to the Kurosaki clinic. Isshin had had no problem with the idea of his only son becoming a captain, but became hysterically happy when he heard Rukia was becoming his lieutenant. Yamamoto had severed the connection about the time when he'd been demanding at least nine grandchildren, much to Ichigo's relief.

After that had been the second captains meeting that day. To his surprise, every single captain there vouched for him. Even Byakuya, despite his earlier statement. The official ceremony was in few days time, it hadn't been finalised yet, and only then would he be recognised as a captain of Gotei thirteen. He would be starting work before his promotion, as per Kyoraku's suggestion, apparently there was a bit of a backlog. First though he had to go back to the real world to say goodbye to his classmates and nakama.

Their day had finished off with them fighting off the many well-wishers. Apparently Kira had told Matsumoto what had happened, and she'd told; well; everybody. Only she'd expanded it by saying that Byakuya had given permission for them to get married. That had taken a long time to clear up, there were probably still shinigami spreading the story of their impending nuptials. One of the blessings of staying at the Kuchiki manor was that few people trespassed, so they'd been able to spend the evening in relative peace.

'Did you know what Soul Societies plans were for you?' said Rukia. She lay back with her arms behind her head.

'I kinda guessed, after what happened to Chad and Inoue,' he said, duplicating her action. They had been sitting next to each other, his body was so much longer that his elbows fell on the grass above hers. 'I still can't control my spirit energy well. And Keigo, Mizuiro and Tatsuki have started to see spirits too.'

'So it doesn't bother you?'

'A bit,' he admitted, 'but I understand the reasons behind it. As a captain, I guess that I'll have to be here sort-of permanently.' He gave a huff.

'Don't say it like it's so bad,' said Rukia. 'After all, I'll be here by your side.'

He couldn't resist baiting her. 'That's why it's bad. OOF! If I'm going to be your captain, you'd better start treating me with some respect.'

'Like that's going to happen,' she said, absently removing her elbow from his stomach. 'You should know though, captain's have unrestricted access to all the senkaimon gates. So whenever you take leave you could go visit your family and friends.'

'And how much leave do I get?'

'All shinigami get one day for every six days of service. They can take those days whenever they want, but you can't store up for more than fifty years. And if there's a crisis all seated officers get recalled.'

'Captain's especially,' he muttered. 'I don't suppose it's ever going to be possible to get any long holidays in, is it?'

'Not if you don't want your division to fall apart under you!'

They continued to watch the colours slowly deepen across the sky, until Rukia broke the silence. 'Does it bother you, leaving behind the material world?'

'Not really,' he admitted, 'Not as much as I thought it would. There never was anything holding me there, except my family and friends. And I'll be able to visit them whenever I want.'

'But why did you decide to stay, what makes Soul Society different?'

You do, Rukia, he thought, then his eyes widened with shock. Where had that come from? 'I dunno,' he said, scratching his head and turning his face away to cover his embarrassment. 'I guess it's just the sense of peace that this place has. And I would miss battling the hollows.'

'You won't like the paperwork that's involved with your position,' she said.

'Most jobs in the real world have a lot of that,' he said, shrugging his shoulders. 'How bad can it be.'

'You'll see,' she said smugly.

Ichigo had an horrible sense of foreboding.

Byakuya came into view, looking as calm and unruffled as ever. 'The gate is ready,' he announced.

'Right,' Ichigo said, getting up and turned to Rukia. 'Are you coming.'

She thought about it for a moment, 'I think I should,' she decided, 'I need to say goodbye to Inoue and the gang.'

He nodded and smiled, 'I thought you'd say that.'

And so Ichigo and Rukia walked side by side through the gate, for one last night and day in the real world before they started preparing to take up their new roles.

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