A/N: If you've been following the manga, it's Kensei vs. Wonderweiss unless we go back to Ichigo. Wow, coincidences abound. Is Tite Kubo-sensei taking notes from me? Next we'll be having Byakuya vs. Tousen lol. Sad about Hiyori, but I will freak if she doesn't die. Good guys need to die to make the story interesting.

To all Ishida fans. Don't read the crack at the end unless you're prepared for some serious character-bashing. You have been warned!

x

The Heir Apparent
Chapter 21: Moonlight Vigil

'You were supposed to be practising, PRACTISING,' Rukia shouted, towering over Zaraki Kenpachi, who was leaning on his knees in a chair. 'Have you ever heard of such a thing as, let me think, HOLDING BACK!'

'I prefer it when they're frightened of me,' he muttered, 'This is giving me a headache.'

'OY, ARE YOU LISTENING?'

'Yes mam,' he said dutifully, and just slightly sarcastically.

'So how exactly did it happen?' said Ichigo, looking through the observation window into the room where Renji lay in the bed next to Byakuya. He knew he should be angry with the eleventh squad captain, but at the moment Rukia seemed furious enough for the both of them.

Kenpachi shrugged. 'Well, we were fighting.'

'OF COURSE YOU WERE FIGHTING,' Rukia shrieked.

'Thank goodness these rooms are soundproof,' said Kyoraku, who was sitting besides Ichigo.

Masumoto, who was sitting behind, stuck her head between them. 'It does mean though that the noise is confined.'

'Good point,' said Kyoraku, leaning back with his arms tucked behind his head. 'I guess we'll just have to endure the storm. Anyone bring earmuffs?'

Rukia reached over Ichigo to smack Kyoraku's hat into his face. 'Shut it, will you.' She turned back to Zaraki. 'Well?'

The big man shrugged again. 'We were both enjoying ourselves, I know cos I was and Abarai had this smile like so,' he gave a demonstrative leer that didn't look like anything besides his own. 'It got a bit boring, the guy couldn't even cut me. So I told him to go Bankai.'

'Did you take off your eye patch?' said Ichigo, remembering clearly how Kenpachi's power had skyrocketed in his battles after doing that.

'Nah, then it would have bin too easy. Anyways, it got interesting, real fun.'

'Fun, FUN?' Rukia growled, 'How fun do you think it was for poor Renji when you chopped him to bits?'

'I stopped cutting when he stopped moving,' said Kenpachi defensively.

Rukia's face, which had been red the entire time she'd been shouting, turned a dark shade of purple.

'Ooh, woah, time out,' said Kyoraku, sitting up straight suddenly. 'Nanao-chan, I think Rukia-chan needs a bit of air. Would you?'

'I understand,' said Nanao, getting up and taking Rukia softly by the shoulders. Ichigo was surprised to see that she allowed herself to be led without protest. The observation room was almost ominously silent when the door squelched shut behind them.

'Maybe I should go after them,' said Ichigo. Renji was Rukia's oldest friend after all, she could probably use his support. He made to get up, but was stopped by Kyoraku's hand on his shoulder.

'Don't, this type of situation calls for a woman's touch.'

'There's no way Nanao's closer to Rukia than I am,' he said angrily, 'I'm going.'

'If you do, she will blame you for it. It's better that she's with someone not related to the incident.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Kenpachi-kun only fought Renji-kun because you put him off.'

'That's true,' Kenpachi put in.

Ichigo took a deep breath to calm himself. He seemed to be doing that a lot of late. 'So she'll blame me for running away from a fight, only to inadvertently cause the one that got Renji hurt.'

'Yes.'

'That's crazy!'

'Rukia-chan is angry, she's not thinking rationally at the moment,' said Kyoraku, 'Give her time to cool her head, otherwise she will say things to you that she won't mean to. And those sorts of things can't just be unsaid.'

Ichigo looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. 'Gotcha,' he said, and turned to look at the two prone captains, lying side by side separated by a thin hanging cloth. Kyoraku had never struck him as a particularly insightful person, he would have to rework his assessment of him.

The minutes ticked by as they sat, making small talk at intervals. Kenpachi seemed rather subdued, only speaking when he was spoken to. The door opened, and Ichigo turned, surprised that Rukia was back so quickly. Only it wasn't her, unless she'd suddenly grown and gone bald.

'Hey you guys,' said Matsumoto cheerfully.

'Lo,' said Ikkaku, followed closely by Yumichika. Ichigo raised a hand to acknowledge them. They sat down behind Kenpachi. 'Whewee captain, you really did a number on ol' Abarai, didn't you.'

'So un-beautiful,' Yumichika sniffed.

'Did you guys put Yachiru to bed?' the eleventh division captain asked. Ichigo looked around, now that they mentioned it, Yachiru wasn't with Kenpachi.

'How do you deal with that little monster every night?' said Ikkaku. 'Yeah, we did.'

The door opened again, to reveal Kira, Hinamori and Hitsugaya. Ichigo's eyes immediately caught Hinamori's, and an unspoken understanding passed between them. This was about Renji, not their personal problems. There would be no mention of them while they were here.

'Kira, Hinamori, taicho,' said Matsumoto, 'You all came, I'm so glad.'

'We hardly couldn't, Matsumoto-san,' said blond Kira with a smile, 'Abarai-kun has been our friend since we were in the academy together.'

'Not me,' said Hitsugaya, and sat down in the corner opposite Zaraki. Hinamori took the place next to him.

'Looks like we'll need to squeeze in more seats,' Kyoraku noted. With the exception of the ones left empty for Nanao and Rukia, there was only one seat left, next to Kenpachi. And only a tiny person could have fit there.

It turned out that he was right. Minutes later Hisagi and Iba arrived, followed closely by Urahara and Yoruichi. 'What's his status?' said Hisagi after taking a look at Renji's prone form.

'Unohana-taicho said that if he lives through the night his chances are good,' Matsumoto related back.

Ichigo had heard this before. His immediate question on hearing that had been almost exactly the same as Hisagi's now, 'Why couldn't she just use those amazing techniques she always does?'

'They shock the body with their intensity,' said Kyoraku, 'If someone is close enough to death, it can kill them. That's why they he has to get stronger, so he can endure the treatment. So if he makes it through the night, by this time tomorrow he should be A-okay.'

'That's why we're all keeping vigil,' said Matsumoto.

'What do you mean, if?' Ichigo said to Kyoraku in a low voice. 'You mean, when.'

'I honestly hope you're right, Ichigo-kun,' said Kyoraku softly.

Rukia and Nanao returned a bit after. Rukia's eyes were red; like she'd been crying, and her hair was sopping wet; like she'd been dunked face-first into a pail of freezing cold water. Perhaps Nanao had taken the concept of 'cool her head' quite literally, Ichigo thought with a smile. It must have worked, for Rukia had no more outbursts for the culprit, she just sat down next to Ichigo; shivering; and put her head on his shoulder.

The vigil continued throughout the night.

x

Working a full day after pulling an all-nighter was a new experience for Rukia, and not one she'd care to repeat anytime soon. While she had dozed a bit on Ichigo's shoulder, she hadn't got nearly enough sleep. So while the morning had none of the usual grogginess at the beginning, doing something boring (like paperwork) had her falling asleep at her seat. By the end of the day even drinking strong tea like water wasn't helping, she was falling over in involved activities. The one good thing that had come out of their endeavour was the reassurance that Renji would be fine, and back at work from tomorrow.

'Man, I'm looking forward to turning in early,' said Ichigo when they'd decided to call it a day, two hours sooner than their normal time.

'Do I look like a man to you?' she said.

He glared at her angrily. There were dark bags under his eyes, and his hand were trembling slightly.

'Sorry,' she said, 'force of habit.' She sensed that it wasn't a good time to tease him.

He shrugged, the rigidness in his stance disappearing as quickly as it had come. 'It's fine. I…oh no!'

Kyoraku and Nanao had just arrived, both looking tired but not nearly as bad as them. Rukia groaned inwardly, she'd promised Nanao yesterday that they would start practising together from today. Since they were being pushed into each other's company anyways it seemed a waste not to use the time. She hadn't known then that she would be deprived of sleep in the time in-between.

Kyoraku looked at their expressions, and chuckled. 'I see you're raring to go,' he said, his tone amused.

'Shunsui,' Ichigo groaned.

'I don't feel like it either,' said Nanao, adjusting her glasses.

'Then why're you going along with it?' said Rukia.

'May I?' said Kyoraku to Nanao with a coy grin.

'You're going to, whatever I say,' she said in a resigned tone.

'Thank you, my lovely Nanao-chan,' he said with an extravagant arms-spread bow that brought his head almost to the floor. Nanao's leather bound book knocked him down the rest of the way.

'You overgrown popinjay,' she muttered under her breath in a tone Rukia knew only too well.

Kyoraku got up slowly, rubbing his chin. 'Ooh, you're too cruel, my precious, pretty…' She raised her book again threateningly, and he quickly turned to Rukia. 'Ahem, what was your question again? Oh, never mind, I remember. It's because this is an excellent training opportunity.'

'It's not,' Rukia said angrily, 'We're all tired, very tired, there's no way we'd perform well.' Tired? They were finished.

'That's exactly why it's perfect. If ever we do have another serious war, do you think the enemy will only want to fight during working hours?'

He had a point, but Rukia found it hard to believe that there'd ever be another adversary capable of challenging them. At the very least, it would be a few centuries before that happened, and they would probably have plenty of warning. Aizen's betray had been an anomaly. The most recent other full-blown war Gotei thirteen had been involved in was the Quincy crisis of two centuries ago, and that had been simmering for decades before it finally boiled over. If that could even be called a war, it had been very one-sided.

'I hate you,' said Ichigo, and turned to her with a resigned look on his face, 'let's go.'

Rukia sighed. She wasn't going to enjoy this one little bit.

Training passed in a daze for Rukia, she was so intent on the swordplay and Kido practise that between her focus and tiredness she remembered almost none of it the next day. The first thing she realised, coming out of a death sleep, was someone's soft breath on her face. She opened her eyes slowly. Ichigo lay facing her, his face inches from hers. Once again, they'd slept in the same bed together.

Wracking her still warming up brain, she had a vague recollection of leaning against him as they rested after practise, then nothing, only a soft rocking sensation. Her cheeks went slightly pink, he must have carried her back. Had anybody seen? She reached out to touch his face. When her fingertips brushed his cheek he snorted, and she quickly withdrew her hand.

Ichigo's eyes opened one at a time. ''Morning,' he said, and gave her a faint smile.

I could get used to this, she thought, her cheeks going pinker. 'You dumb oaf, couldn't you have woken me, or at least put me in my own bed?'

'Hmph, questions so early in the morning.'

'Your breath smells. Now answer!' she said, sitting up and facing him.

He sat up as well, and ran a hand through his ridiculously orange hair. 'Well, to the first, you looked so peaceful sleeping on my lap; I didn't really want to wake you. As for the other, we are.'

'What?'

'If you'd taken as much care to notice your surroundings as my breath, we are in your bed.'

It was true, they were in her lieutenant's room. That was why they'd been lying so close together, her bed was quite a bit smaller than Ichigo's captain's one, being about the same size as his in the material world. 'Well, why didn't you go to your own bed?'

He started to blush, 'I put you down, and…and…'

'And what, Ichigo?'

His face was going bright red. 'Dammit Rukia, you just looked so damn cute sleeping; I wanted to watch you for a moment. Next think I knew you were onto me like the friggin Gestapo.'

What was a Gester-poe? But perhaps she was being a bit hard on him. He had carried her back in the middle of the night after all, him being at least as tired as she'd been. 'Sorry, and …thanks,' she said grudgingly.

The softness in his eyes made her chest unbearably tight. 'Anytime, Rukia.'

'Idiot,' she said, looking away.

The door burst open, and Kiyone and Sentaro flew inside. 'See, I told they'd be here,' said Kiyone triumphantly, 'That's five hundred mon you owe me.'

'Damn, I thought it would be the captain's room, he's got a bigger bed,' grumbled Sentaro.

'You don't understand a woman's mind. After we've used one room, we need try another. Her room was obviously going to be the next one.'

Ichigo and Rukia stared at them. 'What are you doing here?' said Rukia, taken aback by their sudden intrusion.

'You were sleeping in again, so we came to wake you,' said Kiyone, 'By the way, can I be the godmother to your first child.'

'And can I be the godfather,' said Sentaro quickly.

'HUH?' said Ichigo and Rukia together.

'It was my idea first, don't steal,' said Kiyone angrily, shaking her fist at the taller man, 'And you'd be a useless godfather.'

'Yeah, well you'd be useless godmother,' said Sentaro, copying her stance. Rukia mentally rolled her eyes, another loud fight was about to begin.

Apparently Ichigo sensed this too. 'Out,' he said loudly, pointing to the door.

They scurried to attention. 'Yes, taicho.'

'Absolutely taicho.'

'Try not to take to long, if you feel like another round.'

'If you raise her back just a little, like so, you can increase the stim…'

'OUT!' Ichigo shouted, his head and neck red. Finally they left, scampering out nearly as quickly as they'd come, and slamming the door behind them. He turned back to her, 'Well, I guess I'd better go clean up, and get some fresh clothes.'

'And brush your teeth,' she said with a grin.

'And that,' he agreed, getting up and crossing the floor. 'See you at the office,' he said before closing the door behind him.

Today would be just another day, as Ichigo had said, at the office. It would be filled with paperwork, filing and other menial tasks. But that didn't phase her, in fact she was very much looking forward to it.

For she would be sharing it with him.

x

Kyoraku Shunsui sipped the green tea politely, facing Yamamoto across the low table. He really didn't care for the stuff, but the captain-commander loved the ceremony. So for the sake of their sort of old student-teacher relationship he humoured the old man once in a while by participating. Besides which, it was the best way of talking to him outside their respective stations.

'I've been having interesting conversations with Shiba-taicho and Urahara-taicho,' Yamamoto was saying.

'And?'

'It's as we suspected, he is who we thought he might be.'

'Was there ever any doubt?'

'The evidence is conclusive,' said Yamamoto, 'Shiba shared her family records with me, and collaborating them with Urahara's research there could be no question.'

'Still, after what happen four hundred years ago-'

'You'll have to speak to Urahara-taicho if you want the details, they're long; boring and I couldn't care to remember them.'

Kyoraku smiled, setting his cup down. 'Do you remember the first time we saw him, standing tall and proud, fending off the most powerful execution device ever created; uncaring that he was incurring the wrath of half a dozen captains. All that mattered to him was saving a girl who he'd only known for a few short months. I wasn't sure if I should laugh at the absurdity of it, or cheer for one of the most stupidly brave things I've ever seen. I thought it might be him, even then.'

'I was a little distracted at the time,' Yamamoto growled, 'By your and Jushiro's apparent treachery.'

'Ah well, it all turned out for the best in the end,' Kyoraku laughed.

'You realise what this means for the two of them?'

'Of course.'

Yamamoto opened his eyes ever so slightly, 'My boy, I'm warning you, I know how you like to meddle. I forbid you to say anything to either of them. You know what sort of complications could arise.'

'Bit late now,' said Kyoraku under his breath.

x

Day-amn man, you got no butt. Jes' a crack at the back!

(Chad, Orihime and Ishida are sitting on the school roof together.)

Orihime: Now that Kurosaki-kun's gone, don't you guys feel like something's missing. Like… Kurosaki-kun.

Ishida: I don't care about that, I'm just worried that all these cool gestures I've been practising to perform after my Quincy moves will be going to waste.

Orihime: Don't worry Ishida-kun, we think they're cool.

Ishida: Great!

Chad: Very cool.

Orihime: Super duper cool.

Chad: Totally appropriate.

Orihime: Amazingly elegant. Almost… feminine.

Ishida: (hanging his head low) You guys are mocking me, aren't you.

Orihime: (shaking with laughter) It's just that you try too hard, Ishida-kun. It shows.

Chad: (giving a rare smile) Almost like the underdog complex.

Ishida: (finally snaps): I may now have a whooping great sword, or an amazing Bankai. But I have Quincy bow abilities. Which are kind-of cool, sorta, some of the time. Come to think of it, I do have a sword. It does bear an uncanny resemblance to a lightsaber, but that's besides the point. And I fight powerful enemies, granted the battles I win never really effect the storyline. But I am capable of slowing down the significant enemies, so there!

Chad: Real inferiority complex.

Orihime: (sadly) Pity I can't heal that.

x