The Heir Apparent
Chapter 47: Blessed Peace

Hitsugaya Toshiro opened his eyes with a start. He was lying in a bed, in what he instantly recognized as a fourth division ward. How had he- the memories flashed back. The Quincy enemy, Khaan, the fire. Then, nothing.

'I see, I… lost,' he said aloud.

There didn't seem to be anyone around, and he wasn't attached to any monitoring equipment. Yet his previously burned skin seemed perfectly healed, without even a trace of scarring. He touched his face to be sure. Nothing wrong there either, even his hair was back at its normal length. It was like it had all been a bad dream. Then he noticed the dampness on his thigh, and the weight on it.

'Argh, Momo, are you drooling on me?' he cried.

'Sorry, sorry,' she wailed, sitting straight up and wiping her mouth. Then her eyes glistened, 'Shiro-chan, you're… you're alright.'

'Don't call me-' he began, but was cut off when she launched herself into his chest.

'Shiro-chan, I was so worried. So, so worried.'

Just then captain Unohana stepped into the room. 'Good, you're awake Hitsugaya-taicho. You may leave when you're ready.'

'How long have I been out?' he said, not bothering to disentangle Hinamori from him. It felt, nice.

'Four days, two since you were healed. It was your mind that needed rest the most.'

'And the war?'

'It's over. Make sure to see Kyoraku-soitaicho for your debriefing.'

He'd forgotten about that, Yamamoto had been killed in action; so a replacement had to be chosen. He wasn't sure if Kyoraku being the new captain-commander was the best thing, but he was the only one fit for the position at the moment. One day though he would surpass him, and become the captain-commander. After all, he was the one everyone expected to ultimately take the position.

'Don't worry, nobody expects anything like that from you,' said Unohana sweetly, his ears burned as he realized he'd spoken aloud.

'They should, one bad loss doesn't make a bad fighter,' he snapped.

'Whatever you say, Hitsugaya-taicho.'

Both knew the truth. A soldier was only as good as his last battle, so until he had a good win under his belt the shame would follow him. Few shinigami would want to join his tenth division as a result, so just like Renji had suffered before he would be left with only the dregs. And right after a major battle too! He hadn't seen the casualty reports for his division yet, but he was certain they were high.

Thinking about his division another thought struck him, 'Momo, were you being held by those quincy people?'

'They were called Rache, and yes,' she said.

'Then, who took care of my division while I was…'

Unohana answered, 'Kuchiki-fukutaicho, she also beat your attacker. Be sure to thank her when you see her.'

'Kuchiki Rukia beat Khaan, how?' She had an ice-type zanpakuto just like him, wasn't she? And did that mean that another lieutenant had reached Bankai level? Actually, not another, Renji was a captain now.

'Why don't you go and talk about it with her,' said Unohana, 'And then go to your division. They've been without their usual leadership since the battle.'

'I wouldn't leave you, Hitsugaya-kun,' Hinamori declared from his lap.

'Baka, I wish you had,' he muttered, though his heart wasn't in it.

He shooed the women out and got dressed. But with the last item of clothing he hesitated, staring at the shihakushou on the bed, the symbol of his captaincy. Was he even fit to wear it anymore? Regardless, he had a job to do, every moment he spent dawdling was another his subordinates would be doing nothing useful. He settled the thin sleeveless jacket on and strode outside, somehow it felt heavy. Hinamori was waiting for him.

'Handsome as always,' she chirped, slipping her small arm around his.

He gave a small smile. 'Let's go.'

Their first destination was by the first division barracks, where Kyoraku as the new captain-commander must be. Surprisingly there was barely any noticeable damage around Seireitei, according to Momo there had only been a small skirmish within the walls, and while a portion of the twelth division's research lab had been obliterated the rest was relatively untouched.

'Urahara-taicho was so excited,' she said.

'Don't you mean angry?' said Hitsugaya.

She shook her head, 'No, he was saying how great it would be to start over.'

'Madman.'

She clapped her hands over his mouth, 'Shh, don't let anyone hear you say that. Not now.'

'But why?' he mumbled through her hands.

'He's a big hero right now, he saved everyone.'

There had to be a story behind that, but it would have to wait because they were just outside the bustling barracks of the first division. Shinigami were running backwards and forwards with great piles of papers, shouting things like, "These are just in from the fifth division, the rest are coming soon,"; "I've got the casualty lists from the second,"; "Where the hell are the tenth division's forms?".

Hitsugaya grimaced as he entered the corridors and made his way towards the main office. 'Hinamori-kun, can you go back and start getting things in order. I'll be there soon.' He also didn't want her there when he faced the new captain-commander.

'Sure thing, have fun,' she said, and turned away.

Hitsugaya had been into Yamamoto's office on occasion before; it had always been an empty meditation room where the old head captain had conducted his meetings. The late Sasakibi Chojiro, his lieutenant, had allegedly done most of the paperwork on his own and only brought the most important things to Yamamoto the following morning; unless it was urgent. Now, however, it was quite different.

The first thing that hit him were the piles of papers almost twice his height, stacked together like mini mountains, barely leaving enough room for a corridor. The next was the setup. There were four work stations set up in the corners of the room; each had two seated officers working together except the last which was Kyoraku on his own. There was a conveyer belt attached to the ceiling in a wide circle that passed each, it had dozens of moving pegs suspended from pieces of string, and each of the seated officers would periodically attach a document to them and send it down the line. Sometimes they would put a red stamp on it and attach it on a red peg, and then their fellows would ignore it and only Kyoraku would pick it up. Otherwise the station before was the end of the line, where the mountains of papers grew.

'Ah, Hitsu-kun,' said the new captain-commander, raising his head to reveal deeply ringed eyes.

He was about to continue when a hell butterfly flew through the window and landed on his desk. The voice that came out was Ichigo's. 'Oy, Shunsui, Inoue's up.'

Hitsugaya shook his head, 'That Kurosaki boy never learns respect.'

Kyoraku smiled tiredly, 'That's our heir apparent. Do you like my setup?' Before the boy captain could answer he stuck his head into the backroom, 'Nanao-chan, my sweet, could you please take over early?'

'I've only been off three hours!' her voice came back.

'Sorry, I've got things to do.'

Seconds later an even more tired looking Ise Nanao appeared at the doorway and without comment took Kyoraku's place. An unseated shinigami meanwhile rushed in, collected the completed papers, and rushed out again. Presumably he was going to get them inserted into the computer system that wasn't present here. Four more followed him in, carrying tall stacks of even more paperwork which they added to the mountains without direction.

'It's been a madhouse here recently, twenty hour days split into two shifts. Well, come with me,' Kyoraku said, leading the way out.

Hitsugaya felt he should say something as they headed back into the walled pathways, but he couldn't think of anything. After all, he'd never hung out with the man socially. 'Um, congratulations?' he said lamely.

'For what?'

'For this, your promotion.'

Kyoraku smiled, 'It's not official yet. Though soon to be, if the other captains have their way,' he added under his breath.

'What happened to central chamber 46, and the Soul King Kurosaki Isshin?'

'Don't worry; we kept them safe until it was over. They were reinstated and crowned yesterday. A bit of a rushed thing, you understand. But we needed to get everything in order quickly; a ceremony to calm Rukongai will just have to wait.'

'Oh,' said Hitsugaya lamely, 'That's good.'

The silence stretched on as they walked. Kyoraku hummed to himself and plucked a long stalk of grass, which was growing between the cobbles and the wall, to put into his mouth. Hitsugaya though grew more and more uncomfortable. An invisible hand was squeezing on his gut.

'I let you down,' he burst out suddenly, 'I let you all down. I lost; I was beaten when we had to win. I failed-' he trailed off, lost for words.

To his surprise the other man put his hand on his shoulder. 'Don't beat yourself up. Four other captains besides yourself fell that day. Older and more experienced captains. Besides, your opponent was stronger than you.'

That only made him feel worse. 'Kuchiki Rukia beat him. She's a lieutenant.'

'She's got her Bankai now, and she knew what she was up against. That makes a big difference. Even then it was a close one, I'm told.'

She won with a barely reached Bankai. Her power would have been severely limited, far more so than his was. His shoulders slumped. 'What happens now?'

'The same as what happened after the Aizen incident. We rebuild. We move on. Pretty soon we're back to business as usual here in Seireitei.'

'I mean what happens to me. I will accept any punishment you see fit.'

Kyoraku smiled and shook his head, and then Hitsugaya saw it. A quincy 5-pointed cross and chain wrapped around his hair, holding it in what he supposed was a ponytail. Whatever had possessed him to model his wardrobe after his worst enemies? 'Always so serious, Hitsu-kun, so responsible. So alike Daiken, and yet-'

'Took your sweet time,' Ichigo interrupted him.

Hitsugaya blinked, they were at the first division's training grounds, but all sorts of equipment had been set up and put aside. It could only have come from the twelfth division. There was a group of –what were those things, machines, amplifiers? The cluster of mechanical somethings were in the centre and surrounded by twelfth division members. And Zaraki, he kind of stood out from the crowd. And there was Unohana with tall Isane, and redhead Renji. Actually all the captains were here, and some lieutenants. Ichigo's human friends with abilities too, minus the tall dark-skinned one. Then what Kyoraku said came back to him, he opened his mouth to ask who Daiken was.

'We're all set soitaicho,' said Urahara, making the title sound like a joke.

'Then let's begin.' Kyoraku moved away before he had time to speak.

Kyoraku and Hitsugaya took their place in the crowd, and Hitsugaya finally got a look at what they'd been milling around. It was a sword, a zanpakutou in its sealed state. Wait, that was the sword that his attacker had used, Ajmer Khaan he'd called himself.

Kyoraku pointed to it when he asked, 'The sword you see here was stolen from fourth seat of the onmitsukido, Kuroi Anjin. It's all that's left of him. Using Urahara's equipment, Inoue Orihime's unique abilies, and us as a power conduit, we should be able to restore his soul to the flow.'

'He'll come back to life?!'

'No, not right away. Well, maybe, we haven't done this before.' Urahara put in with a laugh.

'Not a chance, or we wouldn't have replaced the old man,' growled Zaraki.

'They'll just return to the flow, to be reborn as they should be,' Kyoraku said, 'It's not much, but we're making a start at undoing the damage done by the Quincy order, and their offshoot.'

Just then the human girl Orihime, who was kneeling down by the blade, gave a nod. Ichigo shouted out, 'Everyone, get to your places and get ready. This could get wild.'

Lighting-like white energy arched between the sekkisekki-created barrier above them and the ground.

X

It was a madhouse in Seireitei. Everyone was running around working frenetically, and often not taking nearly enough time to think about what they were doing. That old saying, more speed less haste was very relevant here. Kuchiki Rukia was doing her best to keep everything under control, but it was hard not to feel overwhelmed.

First she had been trying to sort out the tenth division, and she didn't know anybody there. Work had been slow at best. Then Hitsugaya-taicho had returned, and she'd gone back to the thirteenth. A few hours later she'd been asked to fill in for the eighth, with Kyoraku and Nanao now heading up the first they were leaderless. Once there she'd had to deal with pompous and slow witted third seat Enjoji.

And now this, a captains meeting in the middle of all this. She wasn't even a captain for crying out loud!

Orders were orders though, and she was there at the required time. From what she'd heard, the room outside Yamamoto's office had served as the meeting point for most occasions. Now it had been repurposed into some kind of auxiliary paper storage room, and they were meeting in a first division dojo. Nobody was doing too much training at this time.

Rukia got there just as the captains were filing in. Ichigo's face split into a broad smirk as he saw her, and she immediately frowned. It was particularly suspicious since Renji was sporting an identical expression. The idiots had obviously done something, whether she'd kill them for it or not remained to be seen. A few of the other captains greeted her with knowing smiles, and Byakuya gave her a brief nod. What was going on?

As she followed them in she was immediately unsure of where to stand. As a lieutenant at such meetings she would be expected to stand behind her captain when attending, but she was filling in for the captaincy of the eighth. To be safe she took her spot behind Ichigo, who smirked again when he saw what she was doing.

She was the only lieutenant there, but not the only non-captain. Ishida Ryuken, Uryuu and Orihime were there too, standing ill at ease behind Kyoraku. For once Uryuu wasn't attempting to look collected and superior, his head was down and his face a blank mask. Orihime was wringing her hands nervously. Only Ryuken maintained the pretense of calm.

'I call this meeting to order,' said Kyoraku, cutting her observations short. 'First, a minute of silence for those who died. '

They bowed their heads. Rukia stared at the back of Ichigo's legs. It seemed so long ago, though it had really been less than a week. They had just been so busy it had been hard to take a moment to soak it all in. Yamamoto was gone, the rock that Seireitei itself seemed to have been built on, and yet life went on. So was Sentaro, and Chad. She'd known them both for ages. They'd won at least, defeated the enemy that was madly determined to destroy them; even if it had undermined all existence in the process; yet why did that victory seem so hollow? It was useless, she needed more time to process it all.

Finally Kyoraku cleared his throat, and they all raised their heads. 'This will be our first fully attended meeting since the Reoccurrence War. I propose this as the official name for this short but violent conflict. Any objections or alternatives?' When no one stirred he continued, 'Reoccurrence war it is. Moving on; all of Seireitei extends its gratitude to Unohana-taicho and Orihime-chan for their speedy treatment of the many injured. Thank you both, and to the Ishidas who helped Orihime-chan to save my life.'

After the applause all of the captains were then called to account for their casualties; and how their reorganization was going. Not surprisingly, the fourth division had taken the smallest hit, but they were the farthest behind with organization, with their many patients taking priority. Rukia had to report for the eighth, which was also dismally behind. There were many winces when Zaraki reported a nearly 65% death rate among eleventh division members stationed in Seireitei. Otherwise the losses taken had been roughly similar across the board. Gotei 13 had lost nearly a third of its total members.

When they had finished Kyoraku pulled a handwritten document from his robes, and sighed. 'Ishida Uryuu, Inoue Orihime, please come forward.'

They did, their nervousness now even more pronounced. 'What's going to happen to Ishida-kun?' said Orihime timidly.

'Kurosaki Isshin has been debating the problem of the remaining Quincys for the last few days with Chamber 46. I'm sorry, you'll be able to keep your powers but they'll have to remain sealed except if on assignment from Chamber 46. And you're forbidden to teach them to anyone else; on pain of death. Even any children you might have.'

'What the hell!' Ichigo cried out, 'He helped us, remember.'

'It's alright, Kurosaki,' said Uryuu with a pained smile, 'We expected this. Can't have another war like that one a few hundred years down the line.'

'Additionally, we need one of you two to assist Orihime-chan,' Kyoraku continued, 'The surviving Rache members have had all Quincy artifacts stripped from them, fortunately there are none left amoung them who know how to make more. Most of their powers have been effectively sealed, and we've accepted a few into the academy.'

'That's good,' said Ichigo.

'I'll need their names,' said Yoruichi.

Kyoraku nodded.

'Assist me… with what?' said Orihime.

'Healing the damage of the two Quincy wars, as much of it as can be healed anyway. That's why you'll need a Quincy's help, they're the only ones sensitive to their energy residue. That person will be on permanent assignment. And they will be given an exemption to use their powers.'

'I'll do it,' said Uryuu.

'I've got a hospital to run,' Ryuken muttered.

Urahara cut in, 'Orihime-chan, your abilities are the only thing we've ever encountered that can reverse the damage done by Quincy energy. Not something I'd intended, to be sure, but a welcome discovery nonetheless. We have a lot of work to do together!'

'What did you do to her?' said Uryuu, dangerously softly. He wasn't alone in his anger, Ichigo was gritting his teeth furiously and Rukia could feel a pressure building behind her eyes.

Urahara went into some detail. He'd been conducting experiments on humans with powers for a while, hoping to find a way to permanently destroy the Hogyoku. He'd settled on Inoue's family about fifty years before, hoping to find a member somewhere done the line whose powers he could tinker a bit to be just right. As it turned out, he'd struck gold much earlier than anticipated.

'-Almost like the flow of souls was coming to my aid, giving me a way to right the wrongs, to heal the damage-'

'Alright, we get it,' said Ichigo, scratching his orange hair, 'enough with the science and soul crap already.'

'There's one more thing in the order,' said Kyoraku, 'I'm against it, but here it is. Inoue Orihime is forbidden to have children.'

'Forbidden is such a strong word, don't you think,' said Urahara, beating everyone's angry words, 'I mean; it's only until I find a way to stop you passing on those powers of yours. Or some mutant form of them. I owe you that much, I think.'

'You owe her more than that,' snapped Uryuu.

'And how long would that take?' said Orihime.

Urahara held up six fingers.

'Six years?'

'No no, sixty.'

'We're mortal, remember,' said Uryuu.

'Oh alright, I guess I can do it in six. Probably. Possibly. Maybe…'

'In six years I'd be… twenty two' said Orihime, working it out with her hands, 'Ishida-kun, is it okay to wait so long?'

Uryu's cheeks went red, and he ducked his head to hide them, muttering, 'Yes.'

'We don't want to be here all day, plenty to do,' said Kyoraku, nudging them to the side with a knowing smile. Then his expression became blank. 'Central chamber 46 has approved my temporary promotion to Captain-Commander of Gotei thirteen, and has requested that I take the role permanently. You all know my feelings on this. Is there anyone else who wants the job?'

He stood, waiting. The other captains looked elsewhere, not knowing what to say. Silence prevailed.

'Get your head outta your arse,' said Kenpachi, 'we all miss the old geezer and stuff. That doesn't change the fact we gotta move on.'

'You're the best person for the job,' said Unohana.

'This is a no-brainer man,' said Renji.

Kyoraku looked at Ichigo, who shook his head. Then at Unohana, who raised an eyebrow. Byakuya held his gaze and stood silently. Hitsugaya looked away.

'Fine, I get it, I'll take the job,' he said, sighing. 'Now, onto something a bit happier. We have a new captain joining our ranks, vouched for by all twelve of us. A new record, even breaking Kurosaki-taicho's of eleven.'

'I don't mind,' said Ichigo with a smirk.

Rukia had a sudden foreboding.

'Chamber 46 vouched for you too, meaning that you can't turn this honour down. Please step forward, new captain of the eighth division, Kuchiki Rukia.'

She froze.

'Go on,' said Ichigo, giving her a nudge.

Numbly she stepped forward, in-between the two lanes of captains, who all seemed as tall as mountains. Kyoraku was waiting for her with a disarming smile. 'Well done, I've been waiting for this day for decades. You may now say the pledge.'

It was fortunate that she'd helped Ichigo recite it six weeks ago. That was very little time even in the mortal world, a blink of an eye here, yet it felt like an eternity with all that had happened. She began:

'I swear to protect Soul Society as long as there is blood in my body.
I swear to defend all souls from hollows and others that would do them harm.'

She felt incredibly self-conscious, and glanced backwards at the others. She caught Byakuya's eye, he didn't look away. Instead he stayed expressionless and gave her a small nod. Then she remembered; everyone had vouched for her, even him. Warm feeling welled up in her stomach as she continued.

I swear honour and obey the edicts of central 46 and the spirit king.
'I swear live by the code of the shinigami and to lead my division in accordance to it.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ichigo and Renji grinning again, those two! The others at least had the decency to maintain their formal expressions. All except Hitsugaya, who seemed somewhere between sadness and pain. Was it because she'd succeeded where he'd failed? Should she talk to him about it?

'I swear to maintain the balance between the living and the dead world.
To protect and serve is my oath, as a shinigami and captain of Gotei thirteen.'

Then she felt a weight settle on her shoulders, it was Ichigo who had come from behind and placed the haori over them. He must have been hiding it the entire meeting.

'Well done, midget,' he said in her ear.

'Am not,' she replied instinctively.

Feeling finally came back as she walked to the space between the tenth and the sixth division captains. Next to her Nii-sama. She was a captain now! It was like a dream, the most wonderful dream ever. Her longing so secret she'd never dared admit it even to herself, finally coming true.

'Last order of business,' said Kyoraku, nodding at her, 'With the crowning and reinstatement ceremonies done in haste and secret, we needed a new confidence booster for the people in Rukongai. Well, several really, but this will be the first. We're going to have a high profile wedding this weekend in the fifth district, can everyone come?'

Instantly all gazes shifted back to him, '"High profile", who's gettin' married, a captain?' said Kenpachi.

The bridegroom could not contain his smile.

X

A/N: Apologies, I promised last time this would be the last chapter. It's not, obviously. My original chapter was too long, so I've split in two. Next bit is the last part; and I'm also going to be giving a comprehensive explanation as to why Bleach is failing, and has failed, as a story. As far as I can tell this kind of explanation has never been done, outside of a few rants and message board gripes. It's also a question I've been asked nearly a hundred times in my reviews.

Again, if anyone wants to ask any questions about Bleach, my fanfiction or me personally, I'll answer them (as well as the questions asked after the previous chapter) in a note at the end of the next chapter.

Otherwise, review, and stay frosty. (That should be Hitsugaya's signature farewell, lol)