A/N: Hey there, minna, because one of you lovely followers was so excited, I was inspired to create the new cover art sooner than I had thought I would be. Again it's a screenshot I've edited to fit the story but, it's something.

folks: head to DA: beautifulrainboweyes to see it.

Well, this is it. The last part of TDK. 4 chapters to go after this. Ah! I'm so excited and yet, so nervous, and also kind of mournful. It's been a long ride. Six months so far. Probably seven by the time the last chapter is up. Where will we go from here? That depends on what I can get finished and edited. I'm sorry to say it's not going to be Bleach. I know a lot of you are waiting for updates on the other stories, but for a while now I've fallen out of Bleach fiction. They aren't abandoned as such, but I have to work out the bug to write the other stuff before I can work on those ones. Who knows...maybe I'll re-read something and be inspired again. In any case, I hope you guys will join us wherever we wind up going. For now, enjoy Shinji traumatizing the Court. Ja ne!

Part 5: Rise of the Paladin

When they stepped out of the doorway between places it was just like walking out of the front door of his home, but the sun was in the wrong position and the season was all wrong. There was snow on the ground, but not nearly as much as had been at home. All around the courtyard men and women in traditional garb dashed about carrying items or clothing. One woman with extremely long black hair almost tripped over them carrying a small child with wide, purple eyes and matching hair in pigtails. That wouldn't have been so shocking if she and the young red-haired boy being dragged along behind the priestess hadn't had large conical ears and bushy fox tails. Concern crossed the blond's face for a moment, but he couldn't dwell on it long when a girl of about seventeen came running up to them.

"Uncle D! You brought him!" She turned her too-bright blue eyes on Aizen, "Uncle So! Papa's lost his mind again! He's gonna—"

There was a scream and the Royal Directive tore through the courtyard like whirlwind and a bucket of cold water at the same time. All of the caretakers froze for a moment and the girl shuddered, looking over her shoulder at the building directly behind the one with the emblazoned symbol of water on the wall.

"Chichi ain't happy...he's been tryin' ta hold him off, but Papa keeps tryin' ta get away. He wants ta go on a..." Her eyes darted around for a moment as though she expected someone to be listening in, "an R. A. M. P. A. G. E." She hissed.

Aizen hissed, both hands burying in his own hair as his wings started to hum, his dust billowing about his feet like fog, spreading quickly outward from his agitation. "Do we know what set him off? Is it like when he lost his mind last time, same symptoms?"

"Roughly the same," Ulquiorra reported, "except much, much worse. He's forgotten his husband."

Aizen's heart dropped. "Oh dear living Lords of Hell, not that, anything but that! Ichigo has got to be going insane, and Conquest—" his eyes came around. "Shinji, stay here with Ulquiorra and the priests, please. It's too dangerous, I've got to get that—that—that thrice damned cat under control!" With that he disappeared in a buzz of Demonic Flit.

Shinji turned to the slim pale man as the blue-haired teenager took off after her uncle, and blinked nervously, "Eh, hi? Er...I guess, I should say 'konnichiwa'?"

Ulquiorra gave him a faltering half-smile. Things would be okay. Aizen was here. Aizen always fixed things. That was why he was the oldest. "Many of us here know English, never fear, Shinji-san, though I appreciate the thought. You see, a certain blue-haired moron we know—"

He had to stop and throw up his wings in a shield around them both as more of that glittering dust came sweeping through the courtyard, carrying the deep red of Sousuke's magic. Once he'd shaken the excess off his wings, he continued.

"—has managed to thoroughly fuck up with his Husband, our King, by forgetting that they are married. Your mate is the only one who can set this right before said blue-haired moron finds a way to disobey his husband's direct orders and go off on an insane killing spree."

"Eh...AH CHOO!" The blond sneezed, the red dust sparkling in a shimmer of gold before disappearing, "Seems ta me, he needs a keeper. Sum'body ta keep him in line when he's 'bout ta go off th' deep end. Ne?"

He sneezed three more times in succession, and in the darkness of that nanosecond between inhale and exhale, Shinji saw a book. Bright purple with gold lettering, and high on the farthest shelf of the library, above where even his lover could see without flying. The book floated off the shelf, surrounded by a pale golden light to land in his open hands and flipped open to a page with writing in Cuneiform hieroglyphs. The delicate calligraphy was preserved only by how long it had been since anyone had opened that particular book, as the vellum of which is was made was crackling and threatening to fall to dust. It desperately needed to be re-copied before the volume was lost for good.

"Ah...Bakamono-san, do ya have a library?"

"Yes we do," the ebony haired man wrapped his wings around his shoulders like a cape rather indignantly and gestured, "this way. And please...I am not a monster. Only a demon. And I have a name. If you must address me by another term, I am a bat."

"I didn't mean anythin' nasty by it. Ya haven't given me somethin' ta call ya, so I gotta make somethin' up." Shinji shrugged and followed him. "Ya seem ta know my name."

"Of course. All of the Court knows who you are. And you can call me what you like, as long as it is not 'monster'. Friends call me 'Qio'," the Fourth added as he led him to the library. "Did you want something in particular?"

The blond grinned and leaned on his shoulder, that mask of confidence easily in place, in spite of only being dressed in a tee-shirt and blanket wrapped around his waist over his boxers. "Mah, much better, Qi-ou-kun. I'll know it when I find it." He dismissed and marched past the bat, worrying his lip and frowning up at the shelves. "Apollo...Caduceus...hmm...Hollow's Eve...Krishna...Ah! Memory-keepers!"

Using his childhood of climbing trees and hanging upside down, Shinji scaled the bookshelf. All the way at the top, just as he'd seen in his vision was the purple book with the gold lettering. The front was pristine but the spine and edges were covered with dust. In a reckless move, he launched himself from his perch to land on his feet in front of Ulquiorra with another grin. He held up his prize.

"Ha, see? Toldja I'd know it when I found it."

Ulquiorra was frozen, and slowly, almost comically, tipped back and fell onto the floor, still frozen. Shinji had just—he could have—if Aizen found out—The bat demon twitched, eyes wide and unseeing.

"Oi! Bat-kun!? Qio-san?! Oi!?" Shinji leaned over him blinking. Then shrugged, "Guess he needed a nap. Wonder if there's a place to get a pair of pants around here?"

He wandered back out into the courtyard, looking around and trying to figure out exactly where everybody else had gotten off to. He clutched the book to his chest to protect the delicate pages and peered into the building just across the way—East, from the symbols on the door.

"Ohaiyo? Anyone alive here?"

A mussed red head of hair poked out. "Ah? Oh, Shin-kun! You're here, um, whaddya need?"

A second redhead appeared next to the first, this one with conical ears with fur as red as his hair and slanted eyes with a wide grin. "Shin-kun? Oh! Uncle Shin! Great ta fin'ly meet ya, man!"

"Eh...How come ev'rybody knows m' name?" The blond scratched his head, resisting the urge to pull at the fuzzy ears on top of the boy's head.

"Well 'cuz the whole Court knows ya," the first redhead said, coming out fully, revealing the arm in a sling and the crutch under his good arm. Combined with his shut, scarred eye, he looked a right sorry sight, but for all that he was cheerful. "Anyway, didja need somethin'? Like...I'unno, pants?"

The boy giggled. "I can make him some!"

"Child, you damn well know yer magic wears off after'n hour. Don' even think 'bout it," his father warned.

"Real pants would be preferred." Shinji grinned, and shifted his weight such that the sunlight glinted off the book in an attempt to get the attention off of himself. Again with the 'everybody knows ya' line—it unnerved the blond.

"I'll git some," The older redhead said before disappearing again.

The boy, on the other hand, came floating up on a mist cloud, emulating his mother. "Wha's tha' ya got, pretty Uncle? Looks like an important old book."

"Ah, it's got a...somethin' in it that So-so needs." He looked down at it, frowning. The drive to get the book was gone, and now he had no idea why or what he needed with it. "I hope when I show it ta So-so he'll know what ta do wit' it. Sah, what's yer name?"

The young man came bouncing over on his cloud, tail waving happily. "Me? I'm Shanks. I'm—" his cloud abruptly disappeared and dumped him on the ground with a squeak. Sitting up and rubbing his head, he grinned sheepishly. "I'm still learnin'. Mom c'n make stuff tha' lasts fer like, ever."

"Yer cute, kiddo." Shinji ruffled his hair, and froze, his whole body freezing up as that ice pick drove into his temple again.

Blood. Everywhere. And tails! Someone was...hunting...tails? It made no sense, but there was a hiss and the slice of a blade across his cheek. Externally he stumbled into the wall, and within his mind a woman laughed as she tore the small boy from his arms. The little fox wailed and was abruptly silenced, his body thrown at Shinji's feet like so much garbage, missing his tiny, fluffy orange and white tail. His wide, innocent blue eyes were filled with horror where his head was turned the wrong way on his neck. Shinji screamed and fell to his knees, holding his temples, the precious book skittering across the floor.

"Mah! DAD!"

At the call Renji came running, with more speed than seemed possible given his state of injury, and when he saw Shinji down he swore, casting a quick neutralizing spell used for preventing wars. It removed all painful and unpleasant influences on a person.

Where he had just finished binding Grimmjow so they could fix the stupid moron, Aizen's body froze, jerked, and he twisted around. His mate! He Flitted to him, nearly panicking.

The entrance of his flustered boyfriend had Shinji grinning from where he'd slid down the wall, holding an ice pack Shanks had materialized for him against the temple closest to the doorframe. "Mah, So-so...all finished?"

He seemed a little dazed and there was a smudge on his cheek of something dark brown that could easily have been dirt, but wasn't. His hair was mussed a little, and there was an echo of something in his normally shining chocolate eyes. Otherwise though, he appeared fine, in spite of sitting heavily on the floor in a pair of Gin's clubbing khakis, the kind with glitter sewn into the weave of the fabric.

Aizen collapsed onto his knees, taking his face in his hands and nuzzling into him, sniffing at the smudge. It didn't smell like blood exactly, but he still crooned over it, his wings wrapping them both in a semi-transparent, rainbow-glitter curtain.

"Not finished, don't care, it'll keep" he said shortly, petting him, fussing over him.

"Hey...hey...I'm fine. I just tripped over my own two feet." The blond gave him that crooked grin that was an instant tell that he was hiding something but didn't let the brunette get a word in as he snagged his prize from the library with the hand not on his ice pack, "I was lookin' fer ya anyway. I found a book that might help."

Famine took it in one hand, and for a moment looked between book and mate before reluctantly pulling back to flip it open. His expression turned to wonder and knowledge, before transitioning straight into worry and his gaze swung back around to his mate.

"This. How did you know it would help me?" His hands dropped the book, a flutter of magic holding it up while he grabbed thin shoulders. "Shinji, mate, the love of my existence, tell me you're not remembering."

The blond blinked, "I...don't think so...Qio-kun...we were in the library, and...it just seemed to call to me..."

It wasn't an outright lie, the book had called to him the second he'd seen it. He just didn't mention that it was the whole reason they'd gone to the library in the first place.

His boyfriend scrutinized him for several long, long moments before kissing his forehead again. "...alright."

The butterfly knew his love was hiding something, but he was really afraid to press. Perhaps it simply had something to do with how he was surrounded by magic and demons and probably wasn't reacting too well.

"So, will it help?" Shinji looked down at the book.

Another kiss was the blond's reward, "Yes, yes, immensely, love. But right now I'm much more worried about you. Are you sure you're alright?"

Shinji brushed him off, actually pushing himself back to his feet, attempting to laugh in the way he always did when the butterfly found him on his tail somewhere. "Really. It's just my clumsiness ag'in. Y'know yer always findin' me sprawled out places. Guess I really am s'posed ta walk upside down. Then mebbe I wouldn't fall so much, ne?"

Aizen frowned deeply, wings flicking back into their paper-flat position. He didn't like it when his mate made light of his hurts, but understood it as part of his nature, his chosen coping mechanism. He cupped his cheek and kissed him gently.

"...very well. Perhaps you should come with me while I make use of what you found."

"Heh...that's where I wanted ta go in th' first place. An' somehow I wound up here instead." The blond scratched the back of his head, and held the ice pack out for Shanks to dissolve. "Thanks, kiddo, but ya might wanna make another one o' those fer Qio-kun when he wakes up from his nap. I can't imagine the floor of th' library bein' too comfy ta sleep on."

"I was never asleep, I merely died," Ulquiorra quipped from the ceiling where he was holding his own icepack to his poor head.

Aizen snorted. "Considering you are Death itself, he must have shocked you something terrible," he teased, pulling his mate into his chest.

"You have a most...unusual mate," Ulquiorra mumbled in reply, not about to tell his brother that he'd feared for a second or two he'd have to take this particular mortal early.

"You...wait...died?!" Shinji gawked, but enjoying the feeling of his lover's arms around him. "Dude, if I'd'a known ya were that easy ta scare I'd've never jumped off. I'd've at least slid down th' side."

Aizen's wings went stiff and turned quickly brown with worry. "You what?!"

"What? Ya know how I like ta climb. Ya didn't expect me ta ignore a prime jungle-gym in th' makin', didja?" Shinji grinned, his bangs sliding over to cover one of his eyes.

"You were careful right? Because if Death carries you off, you know I have to kill him." Said wings fluttered in agitation.

Ulquiorra shuddered. "He will. He really will. I would have flown you up if you had asked, y'know."

"O'course I was careful! I may land on my ass more times'n I'd like ta count, but I've never broken any bones. An' I know ya know that's true cuz o' them 'friends' o' yers that ya always had flyin' over my head." The blond raised an eyebrow at his lover, then turned to the bat. "Nah, it's more fun if I climb. Ask th' kid, he knows what I mean."

Shanks flushed, and ducked back behind his father, knowing that his practice with his mist cloud was something of a conversational piece among the Four. He couldn't ever hold it for more than a few seconds, but couldn't help trying either. How the blond newcomer knew that, the little red kitsune wasn't sure, but it was true. He simply couldn't resist trying to get as high as he could go using only his own magic.

Renji ruffled his second youngest son's hair with a fond smile. Of all of the kits, this one was the closest to his heart, if for no other reason than because of said trouble with magic.

Aizen gave a sheepish chuckle. "Can you blame me for worrying?"

"No, I guess not." Shinji's grin softened and he turned to plant a quick kiss on the butterfly's cheek. "Yer wings're cute when they're pink like that." He teased, pulling away towards the door. "But don't we got a kitty ta save from his husband's wrath? Er somethin' like that?"

"Yes we do. Come." Famine picked up the other man and Flitted.

When they arrived in the North building, Ichigo was pacing back and forth in front of a bound Grimmjow cursing and yelling in some language Shinji didn't understand. It wasn't Japanese or English, but it made his ears burn and abruptly cut off the giggles that always threatened to overtake him when coming out of that movement with his boyfriend. He couldn't help it, the sensation tickled something in his spine down near his kidneys. This time, however, he immediately frowned, and leapt out of Aizen's arms.

"Whoa! Spitfire, how 'bout relaxin' fer a minute? He ain't goin' nowhere, I'm sure."

"Who the Hell are you?" Ichigo glared.

The blond just grinned, "I thought eve'rybody here knew me. Heh. I'm Shinji."

"Fine...Shinji, go sit over there and stay out of the way." Power rippled through the courtyard, as per usual when the King gave an order, but something seemed different, as the slim male in the sparkling pants and faded graphic tee-shirt just crossed his arms.

"No."

Ichigo stopped dead. "What?!"

"I said," Shinji put his hands on his hips. "No. We're here ta help. Sah, I'm gonna."

The albino Mage, who'd been holding the end of the binding on the rabid panther, stared. "Did he jus'...?"

"How did you refuse one of my orders?" Ichigo finished the thought.

The blond shrugged, "I've been doin' stuff people told me not ta do my whole life."

Aizen looked his mate over from head to toe before laughing. "Have you forgotten? Did you not know? There is of course one who can refuse the Orders," he chuckled. "Just because he cannot be among the Court does not change his intrinsic nature. However, we have much more important matters to deal with just now." Then he crossed the room to give the book to the Mage. "My mate gave me this to help us."

Shiro's eyes lit up as he scanned the book, flipping the pages faster than humanly possible. "This is perfect!"

He looked up at Shinji, who was grinning at an extremely stunned Ichigo. The orangette appeared to be trying to come up with something to say but couldn't. Effectively, the blond's presence was perfect for keeping the overly-worried monarch completely out of their way and occupied. The albino grinned at Aizen.

"Sweet. So, is he th' P-"

Aizen's abrupt, intense, feral snarl prevented him from actually saying the title, and his wings flared high and bright crimson. "We do not say that name! You know not what you may do! With my Key broken came terrible consequences, he is not that nor can he be!" His hair came into disarray slightly, and he coughed as he pushed it back. "Now...we need to get to work."

That brought the attention of all other four people in the room, including the feral panther, who looked up with a confused expression and a soft, "Mow?"

Shinji coughed, slightly uncomfortable. "I'll just take his majesty here out ta th' other room while ya work then?"

Ichigo started to protest but Shiro gave him a look, and the orangette let the blond lead him into the next room. On the way, he frowned slightly and asked, "So, you're Aizen's..." The rest of the question was cut off by the shutting of the bedroom door, but Shinji grinned at him beginning to answer as the barrier was shut.

Shiro rolled his eyes. "Sorry. I know it's a sore subject, but he did give us th' book."

The albino held out the spell, pointing to the way it was set up so the butterfly could begin scribing the symbols. They would need to summon the King back after the runes were laid, but somehow, the Mage had the feeling they wouldn't need to waste any energy in calling for his twin. Something about the slender blond just tickled something in the back of his head.

"I know, and that's what worries me," Aizen replied softly, runes already writing themselves quick and precise on the ground in the necessary places. "If he is being Awakened by being in proximity to the magic of the Court I fear this life will end up as the others. I...I cannot bear to lose him again Shiro. If he suicides again...I will follow him. If necessary I will make you give me a Directive in order to succeed. I can do so to you, though I cannot command the King similarly, and I will not endure another many lifetimes of waiting, Shiro. It will drive me mad. Beyond mad."

Grimmjow struggled, snarling, feeling the magic building.

The albino wiped his nose in a sniff, knowing unfortunately that Famine could do exactly as he said, but not at all comfortable with the idea. It was a subject that ran entirely too close to the Mage's heart. So, he rolled his shoulders to cover up his irritation and spoke in a clipped tone. "Well, we'll just hafta make sure he don't. If he's bein' Awakened, we'll handle it. That's why ya ain't Marked him yet, innit?"

Holding the book in the hand he hadn't used to dismiss his nerves, Shiro took the other across Conquest's brow, painting runes on the golden flesh. Each one glowed a different color as they filled with power to be released at the appropriate time.

Grimmjow tried to struggle, tried to smudge it, but the brunette held him hard with magic. "Yes...that and his soul could not accept it. Not without Awakening forcibly, which is guaranteed to drive him insane."

"So...maybe he's Awakenin' so ya can Mark him?" The Mage smacked the First across the temple, far from any of the runes, and cast a sidelong glance at his partner. "I've seen th' way th' two of ya look at each other. An' I've only known him in person fer a couple seconds."

"Of course. I love him, and I'm blessed that he loves me. But I'm afraid of what may happen to him even if he Awakens gradually. His lives have been horrifying and traumatic." Aizen added to the designs on the floor when Grimmjow quieted, lip curled, tail twitching.

"Yah, yah, I know. But, Grasshopper, if he is the you-know-what, that's why. He's gotta be stronger'n th' rest o' us." Shiro knelt to continue anointing the panther with runes.

"But do you think that could mean...do you suppose he's ready to Awaken now that we're together?" The butterfly hardly dared hope, laying the rest of the spell-work and gathering the potion's ingredients and already putting them together to feed to the two and allow the memories to transfer.

The albino shrugged, "Maybe. All I c'n say is don't fight it. Look't what happened ta Red. He tried not ta give inta his nature as War, an' what happens? Th' night he Awakens, he killed sum'body." Dusting off his hands, the leftover powder from the butterfly's wings always stained his fingers, and standing back up, he surveyed the room. "I think we're r—"

He was cut off by the bedroom door opening. "Hai, see? Toldja they were ready fer ya!"