Another Saturday, another chapter.
Rukia had a problem.
Ichigo, while moving at an okay pace, was moving at a pace that was okay for shinigami. For the time constraints they were working under such a pace was potentially unacceptable given the fine control he needed due to his relative power.
She needed a faster training method, and that caused her to look around for methods that achieved similar results to what she needed on the timetable that she needed.
There was only one conclusion she came to after scouring the Kuchiki and academy archives.
She would need the help of a quincy.
From a pragmatic point of view, it made sense. The quincy were able to train combatants of great strength and control within human timescales. While they may not entirely work, they could accelerate the timetable by years at least.
The problem was that all the quincy in Seiretei were under the lock and key of the Onmitsukido in a detention camp.
Thus she needed the approval of both the head captain, and Captain Sui-Feng. Because of this she had requested a meeting with the head captain and requested that Sui-Feng be present as well in her capacity as commander of the Onmitsukido.
She was nervous. As far as she could tell, Ichigo being a quincy was need-to-know information, and she had not disclosed her knowledge of this information prior. This was also complicated by the fact that she didn't know if Sui-Feng knew. She was a known hardliner politically, and it was likely that she supported the execution of the remaining quincy, though stayed her hand due to standing orders not to as captain of the second, and what sense of professional honor she had prevented her from circumventing these orders by invoking her rank as commander on the Onmitsukido, a position outside of the Gotei's command structure.
"Lieutenant Kuchiki. Head Captain Kyoraku is expecting you," the voice of Okikiba drew her out of her thoughts.
"Thank you," she nodded respectfully before moving to the head Captain's office.
The small office was nowhere near as grand as the one of Yamamoto, but that was to be expected given the sheer damage the first division's barracks had taken in the opening salvo of the war.
In the back of the room, she could see the form of the head captain, and standing next to him, Captain Sui-Feng.
"Lieutenant Kuchiki, I wasn't expecting you to deliver your progress report personally," Kyoraku spoke jovially. Likely to ease the tension in the room.
"As you can likely surmise, that isn't exactly the case," Rukia spoke formally. She was in the presence of her commanding officer and a senior.
"Good. If that were the case this would have been a waste of my time," Sui-Feng spoke with her usual almost contemptuous tone.
"Ichigo is not progressing at the needed rate for him to be allowed passage to the living world within the decade," she of course needed to cite her current progress report in order to give context as to why she would be asking what she is asking for.
"You mentioned this previously, and it is troubling," the head captain rubbed his chin. "At this rate, Central 46 will bar him from returning," Kyoraku sighed. He wants to give the kid a fighting chance, but his duties come first, and if they say Ichigo cannot return to the living world, his hands were tied.
"Pardon my impatience, but I fail to see how this concerns the Onmitsukido," Sui-Feng's apology was purely for decorum. The training of Ichigo was purely a Gotei matter and was Lieutenant Kuchiki's chief responsibility.
"Yes," Rukia cleared her throat before speaking again. "At the start of his training, Ichigo informed me of relevant need-to-know information. Information I am unsure if you have been informed of Captain Sui-Feng."
Both the Head captain and the supreme commander of the Onmitsukido raised an eyebrow at this.
"'Relevant information,' Could this be…?" Kyoraku trailed off. He didn't want to compromise this information himself. Especially not in the presence of Sui-Feng.
"Yes, Ichigo Kurosaki is a quincy," Sui-Feng's eyes shot wide at this revelation, speaking only after recollecting herself.
"Since I was not informed earlier I assume you do not wish for me to detain him," Sui-Feng already didn't like the boy. He was a loose cannon as far as she was concerned, and she fully agreed with the Central 46 trying to leash him, even if it was for blatantly political reasons.
"No," Rukia replied, confirming Sui-Feng's statement. "I am saying this because I have reason to believe that the quincy have access to training that can get us the desired results within a reasonable time frame," Rukia simply hoped that the hardliner captain would be willing to play ball.
"So you want Ichigo to be trained by a quincy so that he at least has a fighting chance to be able to go home," Kyoraku was looking at the big ask she was making. He knew he didn't have the real final say here.
"That is correct, head captain," Rukia nodded in affirmation.
"I can approve the measure, but as I am sure you're already aware, Commander Sui-Feng is the one with the final say here," she was the one who ultimately decided if Rukia had the type of access to the camp that she needed, and if anyone could leave it, even if only temporarily.
"My orders are to ensure that the quincy within the camp do not pose a threat to the Seiretei. If you can come up with a way for you to have a quincy train him without threatening the Seiretei in any way, I'll allow it," the Onmitsukido commander looked sternly at Rukia. "Otherwise my answer is no."
Ichigo was walking home from 'Camp Seidlytz' after speaking with a family of quincy that sought the protection of the Shiba clan.
It was awkward speaking to a former enemy in such a capacity, but their request made sense.
They were unsure of the survival of the wider Wandenreich and if they would be allowed to live. By pledging themselves to a great house and aligning politically with Seiretei they hoped to be freed sooner and be exempt from any potential extermination orders.
That last part was uncomfortable to think about.
While Ichigo was certain that Kyoraku had a plan to keep things from getting to that point, he didn't know what that plan was, and as such didn't know anything about it; and well, as a quincy himself, he found that he had a very vested interest in Central 46's plans for them. The problem was that they had yet to deliberate over the situation since the camp had been set up.
Fortunately, today's talks resulted in an idea. Zanpakuto should allow quincy to purify souls as opposed to destroying them like Zangetsu allowed him to do. The only problem is creating a situation where they can become shinigami, and that any who are allowed to return to the living world are granted entry into the substitute program.
But that was something Ichigo would have to deal with later.
With his training on hold for now until Rukia can come up with a faster way to get his powers at a tolerable level of control, he found himself in the shopping district.
He didn't really have a reason to be here. Most of what he needed was provided by the manor staff and clan servants. However, he is facing an awkward situation.
With him and Rukia acknowledging their mutual feelings he now found himself in the weird not-quite-dating phase.
This was primarily due to their mutual status as nobles and how an unsanctioned relationship could cause… issues.
First and foremost of those issues were that both he and Rukia were next in line to lead their respective clans if something happened to either Byakuya or Kukaku.
Not to mention Ichigo still wasn't entirely sure if he was staying. Sure, he wanted to leave Karakura, possibly even Japan as a whole, but what would he do?
He didn't really have much of a plan other than leaving, and him getting his powers back and then the subsequent war with the Wandenreich threw a brick through what little planning he had done.
Then there was the fact that he wouldn't dare ask her to come with him. He knows her answer, especially now, but it would just be demanding too much of her.
As Ichigo was consumed by his thoughts over the tricky matter, he saw something of interest.
Apparently, someone figured out how to make decent stuffed animals, because what he saw was a stuffed chappy that was definitely bigger than Rukia.
It was dumb, over the top, overpriced, probably a pain in the ass to walk around with subtly…
It was perfect.
Sure, he thought Rukia's obsession with Cappy was a bit over the top, but… he knew she'd like it… and the mental image of her walking around with it was frankly hilarious.
How Ichigo walked away from the market district with a massive ruck, he dare not say, only that it needed to go to the thirteenth.
Rukia's work was particularly intense today. Not only did she have to work through her paperwork, but she also needed to come up with a secure and discreet way to get a quincy over to a training ground nobody would be anywhere near.
The training ground was obvious enough. The one beneath Sogyoku Hill was perfect, as the longer the quincy was in transit, the higher likelihood of being discovered. But as for the matter of security, she'd need a way to keep a handle on their power.
Before Rukia could start thinking that over a knock could be heard.
"Yes?" Rukia took a pause from her reading of several security briefs.
The door opened and Kyone popped her head into the office.
"Ichigo would like to meet with you Lieutenant Kuchiki," she was somewhat surprised at this. Ichigo made a point of not getting in the way of her work.
"Tell him he can come in," she wasn't handling anything so sensitive that he can't be in the room with her, and she knew that if she had to, she could trust him to not say anything if he saw something he shouldn't. So if he wanted to visit he could come in.
When he did though the massive bag on his back caught her by surprise.
"What is that on your back?" She looked quizzically at Ichigo, not quite able to make out what was in the massive bag he brought with him.
"Well… I was walking around the markets and saw something that made me think about you and…" he then unceremoniously dumped out the bag's sole occupant.
A five-foot-tall Chappy plushie.
"..." Rukia didn't know what to say. She had been eyeing that exact plushie since she saw it in the market yesterday and Ichigo just walked in to gift it to her.
"Are you okay?" Ichigo was confused by Rukia's silence as she rebooted from the surprise.
"What… you didn't…" Rukia stopped herself from sputtering, cleared her throat, walked over to pick up the massive stuffed animal, and walked back to her desk. "Thank you."
Ichigo simply smiled back and left her to her own devices.
Karin had once again been out on patrol with Shino.
Nothing as eventful as what happened last time occurred, and she was honestly thankful for that. Her fight against that hollow reminded her of how dangerous they could be. Even if she could actually fight back now.
So far the patrol was much the same. Shino taught her what her responsibilities would be as a substitute, how to do this or that, and practice with konso.
It felt nice to be able to do something.
Karin knew her brother was listless since losing his powers, and how much he had liked this 'job.' Now however she understood why. Helping souls move on was rewarding in a way, and the occasional adrenaline rush of taking down a weaker hollow was a little cherry on top.
"Liking the job so far?" Shino had noticed this slowly building enthusiasm. It helped that she was a quick study. She even was okay at comforting the souls she was sending to Soul Society.
"Honestly, I can see why my brother loved this," She knew how rewarding helping people could be. She often was at her happiest when helping patients in the clinic. This was simply an extension of that.
"The 'helping souls move on' bit is always nice," Shino understood where Karin was coming from.
While Shino had different reasons for becoming a shinigami, she understood both the appeal of helping others, and the appeal of testing yourself in combat.
"Yeah, it is," Karin looked over at the setting sun as she let herself contemplate her future.
She had always intended to become a nurse of some sort. She had experience, genuinely liked the job, and it paid well. However, this new career choice was definitely giving that a run for its money.
Shino had so far been impressed by her charge. Karin was strong, very strong, but it wasn't just that. It was clear in spite of her cold exterior she genuinely wanted to help people. She had anger, a lot of it, she could sense it rolling off of her zanpakuto as though it was smoke coming from a fire, but fire didn't just burn, it provided warmth, it gave a means to safely prepare food, and cast light to guide oneself in the dark. Shino had learned this as she both got to know Karin as she worked at the Urahara shop and now as an apprentice.
"I gotta say. You seem to have most of this down already. I'll give it a few weeks to be sure, but you might already be good for a substitute evaluation," Shino wasn't lying. It was clear that Karin understood much about the world she was thrust into, and Hiyori's lessons created a strong sword fighter. She had a lot to learn still. She was nowhere near as skilled as either Ikkaku or Ichigo, but the foundation had been laid well.
"If you say so, I still can't use kido" Karin disagreed, she still was in the practice phase of her kido training. It would be a while still before Tessai would even let her cast an actual spell.
"I'll be honest with you, most people in the gotei don't use it. It's handy to have, but you don't need it," Kido was a discipline that required far more patience than zanjitsu, hoho, or hakuda. Most graduates had some level of kido skill, but it was by no means a requirement for the gotei save for the fourth.
"I'd rather have the skill than not," Karin was of the opinion that it was better to have and not need, then need and not have. Not to mention that she was genuinely interested in learning kaido.
"Fair," Shino had come to the same opinion after the war. Quincy blut had proven to be quite effective against zanpakuto, but some kido spells had shown success in putting down soldats. The problem was that it was the more complicated spells that were the most effective. So she had started picking up kido herself, much to her brother's chagrin. "I think you should go home for the night. I can handle things from here."
Karin nodded in response before vanishing away in shunpo to return to the shop. Shino didn't want to overwork the kid. She had a life outside of this, and soon school would start back up for her and she would have other obligations.
It was best she get to live her life with minimal interruption from the world of the dead, even if she chose to get involved.
I hope you enjoyed, and reviews are always welcome.