The Iced Moon Arc Bleach

by tending

Lieutenant Kuchiki has a secret. A variety of secrets that the Gotei 13 do not know until a figure of her past and present tips them off and then a story is told, a past. A past connected to the very creation of the Soul Society from the Soul King to zanpakutos. Soul reapers are not the utmost rulers after all.

26. Blood Bath

Pre-Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. This is for creative purposes. I do own this plot.

As promised, the Wednesday update: Blood Bath. There are Images for this Chapter.

Reminder: Mature-rating. Mystery-themed. Light sexual content. Crucial to remain attentive to detail. This is for Rukia and her relationships.

---

Blood Bath

Wildfire sat for what felt like hours inspecting folders, documents, books, and scrolls trying to find the case which had been deliberately hidden.

She knew this wasn't going to be easy however, the place was so small and yet after all these papers, she was yet to find it.

She had tiptoed and slid her hand atop the shelves but only collected dust. There were drawers with key locks that she had opened with the ring of keys Haru gave her and yet nothing. All she wanted was that one file to know that assassin's side.

Now, after Haru had risked his job with this key, she was yet to find it and was beginning to contemplate on whether she should give up and leave.

She scanned the room again. A tapestry made of silk, the colour of chamomile tea was held up in front of her over the black cherry foyer table. It illustrated an antique map prior to the split. It was the only genuine one left, the rest were all copies put into textbooks for the sake of knowing.

Her eyes traveled left and saw the rich brown drum table painted with a bunch of flowers of maroon speckled with a lemon juice colour over a chelan cherry tinted wood in the middle. Another rare and unique artifact to the Kuchiki clan.

A glass carafe rested atop it filled just barely with wine, said to be the remains of the first drink which was taken when a ceremony declaring the name of the court was held. Seven glasses spiraled around it.

She could still see the imprint of lips on them.

To any historian, this would've been a dream experience. None of these artifacts were available for public viewing and yet here she was. Illegally, drinking it all in.

Her eyes shifted to the painting she had looked at earlier of the noble personnels which made up the divisions before the split. Very few had been able to cling onto seemingly immortal life. It was staggering to think that they could be witnesses from the very beginning who knew what life was like post-shinigami.

To have the opportunity to sit down with one of them was a knowledgeable pursuit. Unless they were Sensei Kyōraku who was more into the gossip portion of it but it was still mighty entertaining.

She looked away and marveled at the artifacts until she spotted the curled edging of the rug. She walked to set it down until she realized something.

Someone must've been here sooner.

Adrenaline coursed through her as she lifted the tip and found a folder. Someone must've tried to hide it in a panic and tripped over the edge while trying to run away. She didn't have time to wonder how they would've gotten the key or who exactly it was now. All that mattered was that she found it.

The headline in ink read: MISCELLANEOUS: S. HC. Unnamed Rukia.

A red was stamped onto it with the word 'SOLVED' on it. She didn't hesitate to rip the folder apart right there and divulge into the findings.

A recorder fell out and had a label with the assassin's name. Finally.

The label read: WITNESS #1: Doi Yuko. S. HC. MISCELLANEOUS U.R.

It was a voice recording of the assassin's witness statement. She shoved it in her pocket to listen to later before reading the report with his name on it. She read it carefully.

I was on duty that day near the outskirts of the Seireitei for reported soul shadow sightings. It was really cloudy that day, foggy too. After awhile it started to rain. I was patrolling the area near Velmar cliff, outside the Seireitei walls. I saw her then—but just barely, I recognized her white coat. She was walking forward and just kept going and going but it didn't seem like she was going to stop so I called after her, she was near the cliff. It was really misty that day and it was raining so I'm guessing she didn't hear me but she was so close to the ledge, I yelled after her and then she just...fell.

After that, I went to the bottom out of curiosity, I didn't think she would've fallen but then I saw it. She was dead. She really was dead and the Head Commander was there too. He saw her off and then turned around to leave. I turned my head for just a second to ask him what to do with the body and when I looked back, she was gone. Nothing was there and even when I told the Head Commander that her body disappeared and that maybe Jūshirmai took it, he told me to pretend I didn't see anything and that she was gone now.

The end.

Wildfire wasn't satisfied. She wanted more—she needed more details. This only confirmed that from the start, the Head Commander knew she was alive and perhaps had planned that incident. She didn't understand what reason they could possibly have for this.

She stood up. The voice recording no longer intrigued her, it was just this—whatever was written. She needed to meet him in person. She'd investigate downstairs in the central library of his whereabouts. His name was starting to test her brain's memory again.

He might've been from the 7th Division.

She packed up the loose papers and put them back under the rug, leaving it just the way it was in case that other person came back. She put back everything in its place and ensured there was no trace of her existence here before opening the door slightly and slipping out.

She locked the door quickly, heart beating even though she couldn't sense anyone here. Her legs trembled against her will but she expected it. She was nervous after all. The quivering would end when she was downstairs.

She left the door.

She'd find him no matter the trials. She needed a clear account of this from their behaviours to what occurred after, this was too vague.

The thought of discovering that all tonight put excitement to her feet—the key ring jingling in her hands only assured her speed. Once she got a proper account of the events, she'd go to the Shin'Ō Academy and find her student file and then download her noble and soul reaper file to compile for evidence and then she'd bring this absurdity to an end.

Another candle would never light in this court ag—she gasped.

Her chest jumped in surprise at the figure standing across from her with small black pearls for eyes, a permanent slouch in their posture, and the thinnest strands of snow white for hair combed back with gel.

"S-S-Sensei Haruyoshi?" She squeaked in disbelief before her own eyes fell to the keys in her hand.

"How dare you enter these grounds, wench."

---

Nanao stared at the black band in her hand, reflecting on what she had seen while under the heir's influence.

The journey had been in the doldrums ever since the violence which had ensued an hour earlier. The unknown whereabouts of the doctor and Lieutenant Kuchiki had dulled the mood though she could see why.

Noises still prevailed with rocks crumbling and water demolishing the walls they now passed by atop the body of the cobra. The waves were still vicious and tossed themselves frequently onto the skin they sat on to make it slippery but no one had fortunately fallen in.

The Gotei 13's bodies were all tied up with yellow rope while they held on without one. Kisuke assumed they would be like this until they found land that hadn't already been crushed into pieces. It left her feeling uncertain. All the luggage they had carried from books to stretchers had all perished in that water.

If anything remained, they were probably all soggy or heavily ruined. Though regardless, Yoruichi went back. Minutes after deciding to wait, the leftover things were brought up by Jinta and she left soon after to that area again. Her presence now also weighed on their minds as they moved forward.

Nanao's mind was in a jumble.

She couldn't think of anything but those visions she had seen of herself doing the unimaginable. It was very explicit and vile. The sensations she felt in her hands and legs were real, she didn't know how it could've been fake. Even now, she was wondering if that all had been a distant memory that she did but couldn't remember. How vivid they had been.

She shook her head at the thought but with the vision fresh in her mind, it kept feeling like a memory of hers but she had to believe it wasn't. It was just hard to overlook how she felt while seeing them as if she had done something like that before.

Hanataro must've noticed. He came shifting close to her with worry in his eyes. Nanao needed someone like Rangiku to talk too but since she wasn't here, she looked to the third seat to relieve herself of these visions.

She needed to hear it again. She needed to hear that they weren't real and were just some nightmare pushed into her mind.

"W-What is it, Lieutenant Ise? Are you hurt?"

"No," she whispered immediately. Her gaze stuck on the bracelet. "Just...confused."

"You can talk to me. I-I'm a good listener." She slightly grinned to that though it was indecipherable.

"I'm just thinking about those visions I went through when the heir got ahold of me." She admitted solemnly.

Hanatarō exploded with questions. "V-Visions? Lieutenant Ise, you have visions? Like Rukia-san? O-Oh no. Did you see something bad? Were you able to move? How long did it last for?"

"They're only temporary. At least...I hope they are." She tossed the bracelet up and down in her hand. "I saw some things I never imagined myself doing. They felt real, very real."

"Like what?"

"I...imagined myself…" the vision came back that instant. So real, so vivid. "dismembering Captain Kyōraku."

"W-What?" Hanatarō's eyes were shocked.

"It was disgusting. He had fallen asleep and I began to tear his skin," her chest felt heavy, she shook. "I-It felt so real. I was actually tearing his skin apart. And there was blood everywhere. He didn't wake up once. I just kept doing it until you could see the bones on his arms a-and…"

She shut her eyes. "I just kept going until there was nothing but skull and bones. I used my bare hands to do it too. And when I was done, I brought a baby tub filled with water and had his blood poured into it. Then somehow, I had moved to the other side of the room where candles were lit and I had a baby in my hands who I put in that horrible water."

Hanatarō didn't hide this fright with these revelations. As much as it unsettled her to talk, it did to him to listen.

She brought her hands up to her face. Almost as if she had just discovered them, she watched them.

"I could feel myself do it. The flesh…" she whispered. "It felt so real, I had held onto it. I heard the rip sounds so clearly...and then the baby...they felt real too. I can still feel their flesh on my hands."

"The blood too. I felt it on my fingers, I remember the touch of it and my nails and how they sunk in his skin. Even now, it still feels genuine to me."

Hanatarō was afraid to ask but did it regardless. "D-Did you d-do anything else?"

Nanao refused to respond.

"There was a b-baby, what d-did you…" do with it?

Her face buried into her hands. Hanatarō took it as a sign that it was too heinous.

"It's just not right…" she whispered. "And it happened again and again. I couldn't stop doing it. So I begged it to stop and then I saw Lieutenant Kuchiki…"

"Rukia-san?"

"There was a yellow light on the ground next to that spider lily field leading into the noble homes and there she was, stabbing the light. She was a child then, I could only see the feet of the person who she was stabbing but it went on and on with an arrow. And she kept screaming for them to die and leave her alone."

Nanao got more serious. "When she turned, I saw her face. There was something different about her. Her eyes were this...really bright red and her pupils were light purple and there was a black inside of it shaped like some raindrop. Blood was all over her neck and parts of her face and then behind her was some woman."

"W-Who?" Hanatarō leaned in with his arms pressed against Roger's skin.

"She was dressed in some bridal wear. Something like a veil covered most of her hair from behind except the front parts and there was another lace veil which guarded her face. She held her hands near her waist and was watching Lieutenant Kuchiki as she did it in the same spider lily field. Her eyes were bright red, they might've been the same eyes I saw on Lieutenant Kuchiki."

Nanao took a moment to pause. "And then something weird happened. Lieutenant Kuchiki started to cry over the person she had stabbed to death. She hovered over their body and began to sob so much that woman beside her in the field got angry. She grabbed her hair and when she did, I moved to intervene but Rangiku stopped me. When she did, I fought her and….a k-knife went straight into her throat."

Hanatarō gasped before Nanao went on, feeling unsettled.

"I was back into that room again—the one where I did what I did to that baby and Captain Kyōraku. The younger Lieutenant Kuchiki was there smiling with those same eyes and I started to scream at her for killing the pure light. The more I yelled, the more she smiled. The woman appeared behind her and held onto her shoulders. So I decided to kill them both and went off to some kitchen and brought out a bottle of poison. I don't know what exactly I did with it but I came back into that room and I forced her to drink it. When it was done, she died in front of me and I started celebrating but then less than a minute later, she stood up walking and I started to curse her for being a witch and condemning her bloodline."

"W-Witch? Rukia-san?" Hanatarō gulped. "Do you think t-that woman is the s-same one the younger Rukia-san mentioned before?"

"I don't know." Nanao replied honestly. "I could barely see her face. When I came back with the poison, she disappeared."

Hanatarō didn't know what to say with that.

"It just...felt so real to me. What I did, the way how things felt, the emotions inside of me when these things were happening. I still remember how sorry I felt when I saw her cry and how angry I was at Rangiku for intervening when I wanted to help."

"W-Well, none of that is real!" Hanatarō said. "It can't be. Captain Kyōraku's fine, Lieutenant Matsumoto is fine, and Rukia-san w-would never kill anyone intentionally. Y-You also wouldn't kill anyone!"

"I know but it's just...the way my hands felt...I was so certain that I was doing it." Nanao said. "I don't why but my brain feels like it's a memory. Even if there's nothing true about it now, it's like my heart and my mind is telling me it's real."

"But it can't be real! Captain Kyōraku and Lieutenant Matsumoto are alive." Hanatarō's hand rested on her arm. "I-It's not real, t-they're fine."

"It doesn't make sense I-I know. It's just…" she didn't finish her sentence. Like a lucid dream, she closed her eyes and the vision was right there as if she had never broken free.

"When Rukia-san returns, y-you should talk to her. She's been through this too."

"She's the one who got me out of it. The worst part is that I didn't believe her half the time that it wasn't real. Then that wall broke and we, well, fell." Nanao explained.

"She'll come back! And when she does, you c-can tell her about it and m-maybe she knows a way to relieve it. I-I can recommend some herbal tea!"

Nanao was about to respond though a memory came flooding back. She already knew the answer.

She had to draw it to erase it from her mind.

"Urahara Kisuke!"

"Yes, Lieutenant Ise?"

"Do you have any paper on you?"

"Paper? I'll have to go back to the store."

"What do you need paper for, L-Lieutenant Ise?" Hanatarō asked while twisting left to right.

"To draw."

---

"War?" Jūshirmai repeated as if it sounded absurd.

"The soul shadows are making their move on the Capital." She hustled to the other end of the room with a sheet. "They aren't happy with the kindness the Head Commander is lending to the Seireitei."

"Thought he planned on subduing them with an illness." He unfolded the clothes she handed him with the sleeves of his coat to detect any poison.

"It's only temporary. It was supposed to be a warning they wouldn't adhere to." She held a cigarette between her fingers. "They plan on using the soul shadows to imprison them in that court of there's. They have millions prepared to keep them occupied."

Jūshirmai swallowed. "The Capital, have they found a vaccine?"

"Not yet, but the trial is almost over." She braced against the wooden table. "They should have a solution soon. It's just lich haze poison, Adachi kind."

"Adachi?" The name was familiar—the Adachi clan, they were known for all kinds of spiritual regiments. "Why'd the Adachi clan supply him?"

"They didn't." She bounced off the counter and walked leisurely to the piano. "They supplied me."

Jūshirmai shot her look of disapproval. "You never know when to stop, do you?"

A permanent non-caring voice came after, "I got paid for that. A bulk of harmless poison isn't a crime."

He opened his mouth to speak though he cut her off.

"Besides, I'm not one for picking sides. Whatever happens, happens. Place your bets on your sister, not me."

"I never placed my bets on you in the first place." He removed his lab coat. "Aiding him doesn't make any sense. You said you opted out, now you're aiding him all over again."

"There's no harm in keeping up with your ex-allies." She snuffed out her cigarette in the box. "If I didn't do that, my empire would perish under higher colonies."

"You supplied him poison. That goes against the Capital. The enemy in disguise look isn't your kind, you're either working against us or with us."

"I already talked to your sister about this. I'm lending no hand to you at all." She brought out a stained glass and poured milk into it.

"I know that but I'm not comfortable with it. I don't trust you."

"As you should." She shrugged her shoulders before putting the milk away. "I'm doing this for personal gain. You, the Gotei 13, and the Capital mean nothing to me but the human world does. She offered her protection and I took it."

"You mean she poked holes in the alliance you fell for." He corrected as he removed his shirt and put on the new one.

"The difference?" He saw her long eyelashes flutter. "What matters is, she won't be able to protect me if the Capital is against her. Who would follow orders from a woman who left them?"

"They have no choice." Jūshirmai said after an exhale.

"That's the sad part." She muttered. "Unless they would've had her head."

"And you'd be there for the ceremony." Jūshirmai pointed out before standing. "Where's your...?"

"Outside." He headed towards the door she came through. "Though you owe me some assistance before you leave."

"I owe you nothing." He attempted to turn the doorknob.

"You owe me everything for your life." His back straightened while his hand was left on the peeling doorknob. "Easy to overlook?"

"What do you want?"

"That assistance. Medical." She took out a folder from the drawer and threw it on the kitchen table. "I have some children who are ill. I suspect it's just the flu though I'm no doctor, you are. They must've gotten too close to those deceased soul shadow bones that I helped transfer to that underground dimension."

"Flu?" He paused. "Who told you to bring them next to it?"

"Work needed to be done, so they worked." She casually said with another cigarette in her hand.

"Work." He mocked before letting go of the knob. He opened the folder and went through the symptoms, she observed him covertly as his eyes became invested in the report. "It's not the flu, they probably just got an infection after the exposure to bacteria from the rotting bones. There were animal heads you transferred, right?"

"Four-hundred lambs, a hundred and twenty-two merinos, and six horses." She listed off monotonously. "There were a couple lion heads, bear feet, otter bones and kangaroos."

His head was bent again to analyze the patterns on their skin. She never stopped staring at him until he looked up.

"Where are they?"

She gestured with her hand lifting the cigarette up. "Outside."

"In the heat?" He asked, outrage evident in his eyes.

"I'm their mother." She stated flatly as if it was some extraordinary feature which somehow made them immune to it. "They'll be fine."

He moved around her to head out the other door across from the one he was to leave out of.

"The human world has been boarded up with some ice sheets or rather, shield sheets that emit ice mist. They've been distributed across, we're in a semi-dome now. They're low on supplies but eventually, it'll all be covered up soon. I got some for myself, they're with the kids."

He turned back to look at her near the doorframe. "The Seireitei's expected to get some too. The Capital doesn't know about it but I do. I also know your sister plans on distributing it herself to warm the Seireitei. That'll be more trouble if they know it's her."

"So?"

"So, I'll do it myself." She offered while taking leisure steps to him. "I'll do what I need to do to survive and I suggest you do too. Go heal those kids."

Jūshirmai surrendered and left the cabin.

---

"Monkey," Snake called as they headed down the cave, opposite to the one they left with the others.

"Whadaya want now, Snake?" Monkey yawned a second after.

"Renji...do you think he's alright?" Snake asked with his head down. He felt bothered by his absence and he couldn't connect to him either.

"Whadaya mean?"

"I felt it earlier. He was being interrogated—I don't think Secretary of State Cang Du and Ingrim believe him." The last definite connection he had was then. His wielder was nervous, probably more nervous than he had ever been. The feeling boiled in his tummy.

"'Course they don't, didn't you hear his excuse?" She wasn't surprised that it was hard to improvise something on spot. There really wasn't a reason that they wouldn't attempt to poke holes into but the excuse that he had been injured and stayed at Inklin Mountains for fifty-two years was beyond unbelievable.

"What do you think they'll do with him?"

"We still got Raiden on our side. It'll be easier for him to sway their opinions on the whole thing so I wouldn't worry."

"I guess...but—"

"A dead end." Monkey observed.

Snake followed her eyes and landed on the pile of rocks.

"Great, what are we gonna do now?"

"Relax, it's just debris that fell from that earthquake chaos from earlier. We can remove it. It was probably intentional, who knows?" Monkey shrugged before tossing out a few. "See, it isn't even that much."

Monkey tossed out rock after rock before impatience zipped through her. "Snake! Where are you, dumbass?! Help me out here!"

"Snake!"

"Sna—"

"I think we should bust through here, Monkey." Snake suggested in the background, his voice seeming further away to her left.

Monkey looked at him. "What?"

His face was nearly squashed to the wall, rubbing his fingers over a spot where something silvery was starting to show.

"Is it the silver line?" Monkey's growing elation failed her a moment after.

"Nah, I think it's just granite. Hmmm—OW!"

"You idiot!" Monkey cursed.

"My head!" Snake screamed at her while holding it. "Anyways, I still think we should go through here instead."

"There's no opening."

"Unless we make one." Snake said before positioning himself in front of the exact spot.

Monkey's body followed him in her spot. "What are you doing?"

"We haven't used our assassin element in a while, don't you think?" Snake let his fingers burn red and fire danced above it.

"Well I guess." She muttered while Snake leaped in the air and did a butterfly spin which sent hot flames of fire from his hands, feet, and the tip of his tail to the spot and cut the wall into a circle following a boom.

Monkey let the dust wind pass her with the crumbles of debris before moving her hands to see the spot. He was right—there was another passage way beyond here and it was purple.

"Not one of these again." Monkey mumbled.

"I don't see any bones!" Snake echoed, already inside the new passageway which took a sharp right turn. "C'mon!"

Monkey stared at the passageway in uncertainty but gave in once Snake made the turn.

"Fine, but if we see any soul shadow bones we're comin' back. I don't wanna be anywhere near that shit."

She went in.

---

"What happened to the Gotei 13 and the others?" Rukia inquired, her legs were to the left like a 'Z' as she straightened her back.

"That shouldn't matter to you." He spoke to her in disgust. "You didn't come for me when I had asked."

His face was blank. There was suddenly no room for smirks or grins or laughter. Perhaps she had really gotten under his skin. She didn't remember the last time that had truly happened.

"And what of it?" She asked boldly. "I had things to do. I thought you wanted me to get them done."

"Don't act smart with me." He warned. "You stuck that abominable pure light into my heart and left me for dead."

"And yet you're still here." Rukia coolly responded.

"You would've killed yourself too, you fucking fool."

"If it means killing you then I'll gladly take the plunge." She lazily said while looking at her nails.

"What have you done to it?" He growled, Rukia didn't know the answer to that question. She did nothing.

"What?"

"Don't act like a fucking fool, Rukia!" He threw something at her that she dodged. For some reason, he was enraged to an extent that he rarely showed.

"I didn't do anything!" She shouted at him before looking at what he had thrown. It was nothing but a rolled up scroll but still, it wasn't something he'd do to her.

He pulled a part of his kimono to reveal the bare skin over his heart. There was a symbol engraved into it that Rukia knew all too well. Shock swept her and she found herself tempted to move closer to touch it herself.

Her fingers quivered to touch it. In the end, her hand just barely brushed over the etched streams of dry blood. The sai blade had acted on a conscious thought and did what it did to him. She had never stuck the sai blade in his heart before or in any part of his body to know such a thing could occur.

She didn't feel sorry for him.

But the intrigue came when she saw the symbol it cut into his skin.

A spider lily. The pure light was coming for him. This was a declaration of consciousness she had seen before but never carved on skin.

"Show me your chest." Taken aback, she defensively jolted backwards.

"No." She covered herself.

"Show me your chest." He said it much slower now as if that was supposed to change anything.

"No." She said again in revolt.

Her hands fell from her chest. Curiosity washed over her and she became tempted to check for herself if that occurred to her too. But at the same time, she doubted it. She was protected—for now. The pure light wouldn't hurt her until it was commanded too.

"Check."

While keeping their gaze, she slipped her right hand beneath the cloth of her uniform and ran her fingers against her heart. There was nothing there but skin.

She knew it.

"There's nothing." She brought out her hand in a rush, internally scolding herself for even thinking that could happen to her.

He scoffed. "Even you don't trust it."

"That's not true." She muttered monotonously with her eyes to the ground.

"Save the bullshit for the fools who believe you."

"If the pure light could hurt me…" she looked at him, straight-faced. "...I wouldn't be in this mess."

"Then shall we make it do it?" He stood up and held onto her left arm, pulling her up against her will.

She immediately shoved his arm off, resistant. "Tell me what happened to the Gotei 13 and the others."

"They shouldn't concern you now." His back was to her.

"By the looks of it, you're healed. I'm going back now." She took a step northeast.

Words flew out of his mouth without a single breath in between. "If you move even an inch forward I swear to you, Rukia I'll cut off your brother's—"

"You wouldn't touch him."

"You seem to think that you have a hold on me, powerful enough to make me spare anyone from your cursed bloodline. I think not."

She wanted to laugh. "If that wasn't the case, I'd be free now."

"Wrong."

It was Rukia's turn to scoff. He grabbed her left arm not a second later.

"Jushir—" he dragged her, pulling her at a force that she couldn't rival yet.

Leaving the room, she set foot into a hall with wisteria running up as vines along the wall and paintings of pear trees and gardens. Shimmery gold chandeliers with rose quartz cut into petals dangling towards the ends of the bowl and arms ran in a perfect straight line above them.

They made a sharp turn and he threw open a door which led to spiraling stairs in a magenta-heavy room with floral designs of bead blast gold on the walls. On what felt like the twentieth spiral down, she tripped but he continued to pull her regardless as she struggled to remain on her feet and stand up again

When they reached the bottom, he pulled open another door and the theme changed.

She was thrusted into cerulean walls which resembled the scales of a siamese fish, a deep berry rug, paintings of emperor butterflies which the large area very much resembled. A rectangular glass tank partly attached to the room displayed seawater of a true blue with fishes of brilliant yellows.

She was harshly put to a stop in front of a cell.

"What are you doing?" She tried to yank her arm away from his touch. He unlocked the cell and pulled it to the right and tossed her in. She was in a room.

An oval shaped bed with a teal padded quilt rested in the middle of the room with a dark cyan silk sheet hung up over it on the wall like tapestry.

"Are you trying to lock me up?" Rukia asked, holding onto her wrist which stung.

"Until you receive the same carving, you'll be binded to this bed." He was being serious. Rukia's heart galloped at the sinister presence he was excluding.

"You can't be serious." But he was and she already knew it.

"Why does that even matt—"

"You've ruined the heart with your lunacy." He barked. "Now, this is your fate. Suffer like me. Let it carve atop your heart and when it does, you will be free."

"The pure light can't hurt me! You know that!" This whole thing sounded so ridiculous.

"Then make it hurt you." He came so close to her face, she could feel the breath against her.

"But I can'—"

"Let the darkness in, let it win and I'm sure the light will see to it that you get cut like me."

"Jushirmai, that won't wor—"

"Rukia." He warned, eyes ablaze with contempt.

"It won't work…" she whispered while shaking her head. "It can't...not unless—"

"I gave you the privilege of not dreaming when I brought you here, now I will make your life a living hell so I suggest you keep your eyes closed and mouth shut. Start dreaming." He leaned back and signaled something to come.

"Also," he stared down at her. "You'll be stripped of your weapons and clothes. I'll allow you to keep the coat, nothing less."

"W-What?" She stepped back before that same old lady she had encountered before in her room and another one who was much younger took out her sai blades, dagger, clip point knife, butterfly clips, and her fan blade bands.

He pointed to the byōbu. "Undress her there. I'll give you a slip."

"Slip?" She leaned her head forward in disbelief. "What do you gain from me getting that carving? I already told you it isn't going to work!"

"Food will be given to you there." He ignored her—pointing to a small part of the prison's bars that was cut to move up and down. "Only two meals, one if you refuse to sleep, none if you try to escape. Eat all of it and drink the tea—it'll help you sleep."

"Jushirmai, this really won't w—" she broke free of the grey people who held onto her and stood in front of him. "That carving will mean nothing even if it happens. I can't get rid of the pure light I installed in the heart, you'll never get rid of it."

He studied her. "I'll see to it that it is done. Sweet dreams."

"Jushirmai!" They held onto her and pulled her back. Of course, she recognized the sensation.

First-rank Sensei sheatsu. Again. It was like all of them had it.

He was almost at the prison bars when he stopped. "I should tell you, your brother never made it back up to surface."

Her eyes flickered. The news took long to register but when it did, her heart threatened to stop right there.

"What?" She asked quickly. "What do you mean?"

Frantically, her eyes moved as she thought of the fall. The water was ready to trickle even when she didn't know whether he was telling the truth or not.

"Y-You're lying!" She suddenly accused him though her chest and face were betraying her.

Could it be true? Jushirmai could swim. He did it for volunteer work at the recreation centre for his kid patients. There was no way he could've...not made it.

She gulped, feeling nervous at the thought.

"It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not, Rukia. I just need you to dream until that carving appears. Revisit the darkness in your heart, the one you lost yourself too and you'll be freed from here."

"You bastard, if you're lying—" her voice cracked as they pulled her to the screen.

"What, Rukia?" He asked slowly. "What?"

His tone bled of impatience and it bothered her to no ends. Her silence served a sign for him to move and pull the prison bars fully closed and lock it.

Just when she thought her prison chamber was imaginary, it became a real one that she was left to rot in until she revisited the same darkness that followed her out the white haze.

---

Yoruichi visited the area which was nothing but a deep jade sea with vicious sprume waves which crashed onto the remaining walls and made noises louder than canyons. She had attempted to stand on air several times but the waves were overpowering even for her.

They were evidently being controlled by a strong sheatsu, a level above her and there was only one left after second rank Sensei-leveled sheatsu and that was first rank, purple. Her skin became red every time they touched, it was like a cut.

She dived into the pool and saw the remains of their things sinking down from the stretchers to the recent lily lights they had brought to add some colour. Books were displaced everywhere, she didn't know where to begin. In a flash, she went from left to right and collected what she could with flash-step.

The pressure was still turbulent underneath but she had grown accustomed in a short time on how to bypass it without getting the fullblow. She approached the surface and popped out.

"Damn, when'd that close?" She asked herself, now staring at the opening she had come through piled with rocks.

She attempted to flash-step to the other side but her body was stopped. It was slight, though she felt it—she had been touched. Something pulled her back.

She analyzed the water beneath her and then her surroundings. Something was definitely here and quick too. Only an assassin could move at that speed and no assassin would hold her back so it would have to be one of his allies.

She abandoned the books. "Don't be shy, come out, come out, wherever you are."

The walls beside her broke and a colossal wave threatened to slam her though she flash-stepped quickly and had the waves hit her at every angle until she couldn't take it anymore. They were like cuts—deep ones too. She didn't need to relive the injury she had experienced on her stomach.

More water came until all that was left was a single post of rock shaped like a parallelogram.

The waves became calm.

She kept her senses on all ends alert as she studied the area. There was a pressure pushing upwards, it bit at her skin. Identifying it was tricky. She knew it was Sensei-leveled—third and final rank being white however, there was something else to it which was nicking beneath her skin.

Something was weighing her down like an anchor. The stronger it got, the more she felt an unsettling familiarity with it.

No...it couldn't be.

That evocative scent took her back to a time when she was smaller then older. A cold sweat slipped down the back of her neck as she waited for the confirmation to let the breath she was holding in go.

With her calming surroundings, it should've been easy to notice the rising body behind her with the water trickling down on the surface but she didn't.

The ceiling and walls of garnet became black inviting a cool, dark atmosphere to enter as if the lights had been shut off. It became chilly, sparking more goosebumps to rise on her wet skin.

The figure behind Yoruichi slowly lowered her head into the water until all that could be seen were two beautiful yellow tinted eyes atop the surface which lost its jade colour and became a royal blue.

Her breath shuddered when she slightly turned to spot the figure with the corner of her right eye. The moment she saw saffron, her face was grabbed by leaden hands with long nails and pushed down in the water forcibly.

Loud splashes of struggle went on as those nails sunk into the skin on her face and left slits. She clasped onto the muscular arm and tried to pull it back from her neck but it was strong.

As expected from Sei. Even if you gave her a quarter of sheatsu, she could make good use of it.

Yoruichi flash-stepped out of her grasp underwater and appeared in front of her with a distance between them.

Panting, she locked eyes with her.

She was alive…as a soul shadow.

---

6th Division

House of History (Kuchiki) & House of Quincy (Haruyoshi)

Diamond / Bow and Arrow

"Let me go!" Wildfire pleaded as she was held or rather dragged to the underground prisons of the 11th Division.

Sensei Haruyoshi followed behind her. "Lock her up! She's a thief!"

Personalized noble guards of the Haruyoshi clan held onto her.

"Thief?! Sensei Haruyoshi—" the prison door slid open and she was thrown in.

She ran to the bars the second they closed and clicked.

"I didn't steal anything!" She gripped the bars tightly as she stared at the guards and him in disbelief.

"You were caught trespassing private grounds. You had no right to be there and yet you were." Sensei Haruyoshi's tone was resentful. "Tell me how you plan on pleading your innocence when I caught you with my own eyes."

"I—"

He jerked his finger to her face from afar. "You entered the Kuchiki lair with the intention to steal. A private area that is sealed off, is not for someone like you to enter. You have violated the law."

She didn't know where this venomous tone was coming from. She had never experienced an interaction like this with Sensei Haruyoshi.

"But I didn't go in there to steal! I just went to—"

He raised his hand up. "—Save it. I'll let Ginrei-dono handle your breaching."

"Sensei Haruyoshi—" he was already gone. Wildfire cursed and slapped the bars.

A shadow on the brick wall belonging to Secretary Cem appeared soon after. She breathed a sigh of relief as he approached her.

"Cem…" she acknowledged with hopeful eyes.

"You dare steal from the Kuchiki family?" She flinched.

"I didn't steal anything!"

"Sensei Haruyoshi claims he saw you leave the Kuchiki family's private lair on the top floor of the library. You had the key ring in your hands. What were you thinking?"

"I didn't steal anything." She repeated in frustration.

"So why were you there?"

"I went to find a file." She said. "I needed information that no one but the Kuchiki lair had."

"So you decided to enter forbidden grounds and steal a f—"

"I didn't steal the folder, I didn't steal anything. I just needed a name."

"A name?" He scoffed. "You expect me to believe you?"

"Yes." She stressed. "Look, Haru gave me the key because I couldn't find the information anywhere else. You know him, he wouldn't just give me the key if it was something I could easily find. I needed it."

"For what? What were you searching for?"

She huffed, looking away. "An end."

"An end for what?"

Wildfire paused. She already knew he wouldn't care regardless. Nothing was a justifiable excuse for breaking the law in his view.

"The Woman of the White Haze." She mumbled.

He flickered his eyes in annoyance. "You're on that shit just like everybody else around here. Wildfire, she's dead. Get over it. You've got four charges on you just because you managed to convince Major Haru to believe in some wild conspiracy that she's coming back."

"Did I say I believed it?" She snapped at him. "I didn't go 'cause I believe it, I think it's a joke just as much as you do."

"So what'd you go there for?"

For proof, for understanding, for something, anything that could justify why she would run to the shinigami side.

"I needed an ending."

"You got yourself four charges—two counts of trespassing, two counts for theft—for that. Fuck the story, it isn't real."

"I didn't steal anything!"

"Sensei's charging you for the keys and the voice recorder."

Her brows crumpled. "Voice rec—?"

She paused before her head tilted down to her pocket where the voice recorder was. She forgot to put it back. Fuck.

"If word spreads quick enough, the Kuchiki family will know that their quarters were invaded by a commoner who went searching for an ending to a myth. Sensei will have to answer as to why someone who's neither an Okasake, Haruyoshi, or Kuchiki noble or high-ranking officer of the 6th Division ended up there and nearly escaped."

"I didn't mean to get caught." She muttered slowly.

"Well you did and now you're being charged." Cem reminded her sharply. "The Kuchiki lair is private for a reason. There are crucial artifacts which are vital to their history and ours. They're valuable items besides files in there. Don't you get it? The Kuchiki clan won't take this lightly."

"Captain Kuchiki—"

"Minister Kuchiki," he corrected, "can only do so much out of courtesy. You know that, that room is protected by law. You won't be pardoned for trespassing."

Wildfire wet her lips. That was true. She did him wrong by entering grounds he valued most. More importantly, she had entered there with the sole intention of exposing Rukia.

He wouldn't help her.

She'd have to stay here in this cell until further notice. Her mind ran on Haru who was waiting for her to return to the Seireitei. If Sensei Haruyoshi was set on charging her for stealing the key, though that in itself was strange, she'd protect him. Protect his position.

"Cem," she called in a whisper. "You can't tell anyone that Haru helped me."

"Your secret isn't safe with me. He should be penalized for defying his obligation as the Major of the 6th Division and the son of Sensei Haruyoshi. He was supposed to treat that space as if it was his own filled with secrets. Instead, he disregarded the significance of that area and let you waltz in as if it meant nothing. He betrayed their trust in handing over their division affairs to the Haruyoshi clan."

"Are you a noble?" She hissed at him. Cem was more of a noble than Haru which made no sense since he was raised in the 83th District of the Rukongai without absolutely no noble influence.

"You both broke the law. You want me to show mercy because of status."

Both her and Haru were a rank up—his superior and yet somehow, he managed to make them look as the inferior ones.

She leaned into the bars. "I'm willing to take all the heat. Leave Haru out of this. You should show more respect, that tongue is betraying you."

He stiffened. "It doesn't change the fact you broke the law, Major Ira. If I treated you according to your position, I'd be no different than those reapers."

"I never asked for you to drop the charges, I asked you to not get Haru involved. Let Sensei think what he wants about the key."

Cem slightly tilted his head. "And you think Major Haru will agree to that? You know him, he won't let you take the responsibility alone."

"I'll convince him." She said confidently. "I can't let him take responsibility. It'll be much harder on him as a noble than me and the alliance between the Kuchiki and Haruyoshi clan will become sullen."

"Ah," a breath of fresh mint hit her nostrils. "So you do have a brain."

Cem was two years her senior. They trained in the same quarters in the Rukongai and did their mandatory community service work next to each other. It seemed that she would forever remain a child in his eyes even though they were only two years apart.

He still managed to chide her even when they were a rank apart with those cat-like eyes, the colour of lemon juice.

She scowled at the remark. "I'll take that as your promise."

"Take it as nothing." He backed away, Wildfire studied him in entirety.

His arms were bulky and shoulders were broad. Atop his black hanfu with wide sleeves, he wore a bright yellow vest with three hooks at the top which gorgeously matched his deep caramel skin which often glittered in the sunlight.

Near the outer corners of his left and right eye, there were two lightning streaks—one on each—in baby blue and outlined with an almost pale cyan, white shade.

His hair like the brown on cinnamon ended just barely above his shoulders with it slicked back, strands twisted.

He went to sit on the desk diagonal to her—kicking up his feet and pulling up a magazine as she backed off and sat on the steel bench attached to the wall.

---

(AN: TW Self-Harm / Suicide)

Rukia fell into slumber after drinking one dosage of the 'medicine' he gave her to sleep. Once she did, the horror began.

Okasake Gureta had retired to her room—specifically the interconnected room for her baby in the Okasake manor. Young, beguiling eyes the colour of turquoise with delicate features carefully swept the sleeping baby in her crib.

She held him close to her face in awe, donned in her white night clothes, hairpieces still hanging on the loops of her hair which remained in a high ponytail. Slowly, she began to walk to her right—eyes still sparkling in the same admiration.

There was a small tub lit with incense around it on the table. She turned to it and smiled.

No….please don't do it. Listen to me! Please don't do it!

Carefully, she placed the baby inside the steaming water and stared at him with such a gentle close-lipped grin. She rarely smiled with her teeth.

"This will be good for you." She had a deep voice. One which sounded all-trusting, retaining the delicacy each mother should have.

Please don't do it. Sensei Okasake if you can hear me, please don't do it. Don't do it!

Her ivory arms were hidden by the kimono sleeves which drooped down to her knees. The most she could see was a hand that began to push down the baby.

N-No...no….no, stop! Stop! What are you doing?

Cries were heard—pain written all over them as she continued to push the poor infant down, suffocating him. Kicks with splashes were heard as Gureta remained calm as ever while howls for air went on for an agonizing ten seconds until it ceased.

The infant was dead.

Okasake Gureta killed her son.

She took a knife to her wrist and slit it to have blood platter into the water. Once she was done, she stepped away with a smug look and arms raised with hands clasped just below her breast.

The only true blood heir of the Okasake clan was gone.

The scene changed. Rukia now saw Gureta bawling on the floor of that same room. With liquid dripping out her nostrils, she cried loudly for her son. She kept muttering that she had killed him with pain aging her youthful features.

"He's dead!" She screamed on the ground. "He's dead!"

Rukia's chest ached for her as she experienced another change. The same room was coloured with splashes of red but it wasn't paint. An elder woman in white had it soak the hems of her white haori. She dangled from the middle of the room with her head down and cuts on her neck.

Droplets of blood leaked from her fingertips.

Okasake Gureta was dead.

"No…" the strangled word left Rukia in her sleep.

Quick takes of each slit she had given herself with a pocket knife flashed before she was then taken to a world which she once belonged to. The human world where she had lived up until the age of nine until the day came when the siblings would part.

It was a much duller scene unlike now. There always seemed to be a sardine grey which took the skies then, unremitting rainfall, and dullness found in anything with even an essence of actual colour.

The house she saw then was the same in structure but different. It was painted completely white, the doors a tarmac colour. It was an orphanage house then. A small one ran by nuns who she only knew for about six years of her life.

She was in the front lawn. Tiny as she was, her kimono was like her eyes with a cropped cardigan. A single button at the top made the cloth separate into an upside down 'V' like the one she wore in the Rukongai.

She looked so lively. Beside her, a splitting image knelt with her in a baby pink kimono with a nice yellow obi. Hisana. Her bangs were short then and slanted above her right brow. A bit fuller in features in comparison to her tiny legs that were only the length of a twig then.

Both of their eyes glimmered in awe as the Sister bent down and handed Rukia a baby to hold. Jushirmai. She cradled him against her chest and cooed.

"He looks just like us!" Hisana remarked while she leaned in closer. He was a quiet one, eyes the size of marbles just wandered in reciprocated fascination.

"Does he have a name?" Rukia sweetly asked the Sister who stood up.

"Hm. His name is Jushirmai."

"Ja-sheer-may?" They repeated in unison.

"Juh-sheer-may. Afraid to say I don't know what it means but that is his name. He was born at 8:12 am. He's healthy, you should face no complications with him."

"Well that's good!" Rukia chirped before rocking the baby back and forth.

"Uh," Hisana looked up at her, a resentful expression as someone came to mind. "What about—"

"Give him to me." A woman's voice ordered before scooping up the baby from Rukia's hand. She shoved the Sister away with her elbow and turned back to the direction she came from.

The panic shrilled through her in her sleep.

"What?! No!" Rukia screamed after her. "Give him back!"

Rukia saw herself run after the woman who walked into the open forest, in present time bushy. For some reason, she couldn't reach her even though she was running fast.

A black bridal gown with kimono sleeves which dropped to her knees, a veil like the Sisters atop her head that lugged behind her.

It was her again. That monster.

She was headed towards the sea.

"No! Wait! That's my brother!" Rukia wailed after her.

"Let him go! What are you doing?!" She clasped the cloth of her gown. It was thick like the Sisters' habit.

The woman kicked her off and she fell back into the moist mud. "Wait!"

Rukia stood up, hearing the cries from Hisana behind her, her breathing stopped right there as something large made its way up from the ground, surpassing the length of the highest tree.

Eight thin legs like poles with fuzzy hairs near the ends of it caged her. A round sphere and then another, smaller than the other, was attached to it, the small eyes were that of blood. Fangs came just beneath it, she had never witnessed something like this before.

She screamed at how huge it was, it ran after her. Watching its legs move so hurriedly made her skin crawl as she ran. Her shoulders shook at the vision of it, she needed to get away from it but a three year old girl was no more than a pebblestone in this creature's eyes.

The woman still had the baby and was entering the sea.

"No!" She yelled at the lady though given how far she was now, it probably came out as a squeak.

"Jushirmai!" She shrieked as she watched the sea take the gown into its water.

"N-No!" She cried. "Please, don't!"

When the woman bent, she cried harder. The wails of Hisana echoing in the background.

Rukia paid the creature one last glance before speeding through their legs. She took advantage of her tininess to sprint towards the sea of water. She wailed his name as she ran to it but was intercepted by legs with hair which clipped her and threw her up.

Her tiny head was faced with a mouth opening to take her in as a meal. Crying sounds coming from both directions rang in her ears as her very last breath was spent screaming,

"Jushirmai!"

Rukia's short gasp was shaky as she identified that there was sweat at the back of her neck, up to her ears. She could temporarily feel the silk of the pillow behind her neck as she was thrown back into the world of dreams again.

This time, she was in the left bedroom on the top floor of the orphanage—present day, Jushirmai's room—set up to be the nursery for the babies. For some reason, the perspective shifted to her own and she walked towards a specific bed with a baby in a blanket.

The label read Jushirmai. She didn't like this feeling immediately, this vision made it seem like she hated him. It worsened when she saw the sharp knife rising from the right end, coming from her hand, she gasped and fought with herself though the vision proceeded as it would've.

A cry was heard before she turned around and saw a horrified Hisana. She thrusted forward to her and pushed her down onto the ground, holding up the knife already coated with rich blood before things shifted again and she found herself staring onto the floor.

Hisana laid on a futon, older, she looked ill—her face so glum and lifeless. Rukia loomed over her with a straight face. Hisana was barely breathing, no more than a shell she was. The sound of water flowing caught her ears and she turned around to an open shōji door with a fountain she knew all too well.

They were at the Kuchiki manor.

The moment she realized it, she shrieked. Confusion smothered her as she looked back and forth. She headed out onto the deck and turned to see the back of Byakuya.

She didn't expect words of hostility to leave the her in this vision so quickly. It made her uncomfortable to watch this as an interaction she never imagined seeing occurred.

"What did you do?" She saw herself question him roughly.

His back was to her when he spoke. "What did you do?"

The question in itself confused her.

"Me?" She jerked back at that. "She was in your care, what happened?"

"It is your fault."

"My fault?" She asked in offense. "What did I do? She was here, living with you. How did she get like this? She can't even move, it hurts her to speak more than three words a day, how could you let her fall like this?"

"It is your fault why she lived the way she did."

These weren't Byakuya's words, she thought to herself. The her in this vision had a pot of heat and fury within her. Rukia could feel it, the passion was severe.

"You blame me?" She half-heartedly laughed. "Sick...you're absolutely sick! Do you know what you've done to me?! Do you know what you stole?!"

She paused. "How could you? You and your whole clan are evil! Damn you to Hell! Burn! Rot! Die!"

The her in this vision screamed so hard her throat burned.

"I can't ever forgive you...I won't forgive you! All of you belong in Hell! How dare you do this to me?! Death to your clan!" She didn't know where the pebble came from but it was thrown to the back of him as she cursed.

"I would advise you," it was a warning. "To control your temper or else you will have to leave."

"Leave?" She snorted.

"You want to throw me out?" She gawked her neck out before throwing down the fountain she saw earlier. "Die! I want all of you to die! Die!"

"You are the cause of this." She finally saw his face.

"I didn't kill her!" She screamed at him. "I didn't kill her!"

Rukia caught in the dream screamed the words out too.

"I didn't kill her! I didn't kill her! I didn't kill her!"

She saw herself take a table—again, she didn't know where it came from—and throw it at him. Whether it did hit him or not, she didn't know as she felt herself kicking against something.

She was lost between a dream and reality. One minute she felt the silk of the sheets, the other she was venomously raging at Byakuya by throwing all sorts of things at him.

She heard shattering, she saw objects like poles and lanterns being thrown but never saw if it hit him.

"What did I do to you?!" She screamed before coughing right after. "What did I do?! How dare you?!"

Her knees were to the ground, water all over her face.

"What did I do?!" She screamed again. "What did I do?!"

That question repeated again before her eyes opened.

###

She gasped out of her sleep with her face wet and the question 'what did I do?!' leaving her mouth. She bawled right there, sobbing to herself before kicking off her sheets. She held onto her heart as she thought of everything she saw.

Hisana...It wasn't her fault, was it?

"You didn't kill her.." she told herself softly. "You didn't do it…" she sniffed.

"It's just a dream…" she said as she wiped her eyes though she found herself crying more. Snot went all over her right arm but she didn't care.

The scene of Sensei Okasake cutting herself was a dream she remembered explicitly. She had dreamt about it many times before, by now she could count all the cuts on her face and hands but it didn't change how she felt whenever she saw it.

The cries from the baby, it broke her heart. Each time the knife slit through her arms, it pained her. She had always wondered if there was any truth to these visions or if Jushirmai was adding gore to make her uncomfortable.

Sensei Okasake Gureta was, in some ways like her, a topic that wasn't really permissible to talk about though there was no law. She had died a death like no other elder according to her official death certificate, an illness to her liver took her life.

But there was more.

Speculation of her son's death as an infant became a hot topic when rumors began to spread. The guilt she carried from these visions of hers, led her to believe that she had killed her son.

Many believed that her son would become the heir and eventual Head Commander of the Soul Society.

When her pregnancy was announced, a festival of activities began in the Capital and the Rukongai. The baby's life was celebrated even before he was born. They believed that he would be the pure light and continue the blood of the Okasake line, filled with saints.

It brought life to the Rukongai and colour to the Capital. It was said they'd celebrate the pregnancy as a holiday each year until the news of her son's death circulated and it all disappeared. This was a period described as the Ages of Impurity. They took the news as if she would never conceive again, somehow predicting that Gureta wouldn't do it.

She would never find the heart to become pregnant again.

The dreams of potentially killing her son continued to haunt her and with that, the Okasake bloodline was reduced to the original three and no blood-related heir.

Long before Jushirmai adopted, it became crystal clear that the next heir would have to be adopted but that notion wasn't accepted unless they would bore the pure light too.

After her death, it became like a taboo to speak of her unless it was related to court matters. The 13th Division, her own division, spoke of her but no one outside were permitted to listen. Just like that, her name existed but without much of a story after the death of her son.

When she slept, she dreamt of killing her son—it terrified her and yet she continued to fight to sleep as a way of punishing herself. Till death, she lived with guilt and had long wished to leave.

That was the story of Okasake Gureta she knew. She was a victim just like her, one of Jushirmai's obsessions.

He had been responsible for her demise and yet he refused to acknowledge it because there was 'no proof' in his words.

Sensei Okasake Gureta never drew her dreams. She kept them within, that was her punishment. The only person who knew of what she was experiencing was Sensei Kuchiki.

Without that, Jushirmai said he wouldn't own up to something that there was no proof of. The words still sickened her to the core.

She'd burn him in Hell and avenge the lives that were lost to his torment. As number two-hundred and fifty-four, she had a responsibility to make this his last. She'd let him slice her open, but she wouldn't wince.

With that thought in mind, she closed her eyes to escape into his dreamland again.

---

"It keeps getting narrower." Monkey observed as the walls enclosed. "We can barely fit in here."

"I think I see a light up ahead!" Snake navigated in front of her as the wall's dust began to graze at her skin.

"C'mon, we should've never came here. There's nothing here." Monkey said. "Wall's are probably made out of amethyst or something, nothing special."

"I'm telling you, Monkey! Something's here!"

"Like what?" She dragged her finger against the moist walls but no silver line could be detected. A finger from her right hand lit a flame for her to see more of the wall, she drew back the moment she noticed the drawings on them.

"Snake."

"What's wrong?"

"These walls have some sort of inscriptions on them." Snake paused following that sentence and turned to the wall to view his shadow atop silver drawings.

"Heyyyy, you're right. But what do they mean?" Snake ran his finger atop one of them.

Monkey identified them.

"It's about shapeshift breeds." Monkey lowered her brows. "It tells a story of how each type became one, ya know a story of sacrifice to an animal and its statue? If you prove yourself worthy to become one, you might be rewarded with the animal's features and abilities. If not, then you sacrifice your soul as their meal."

"How do you know all this, Monkey?"

"Renji took a class on it after his community service hours were done. We learned about the history and how to read all the drawings n'stuff. It was pretty cool though we never saw a wall like this in real life. For the sake of immortality or power, people are really willing to do anything."

Snake observed the wall and the drawings of all sorts of animals.

"Right there's a cat creature." Monkey pointed. "People used to pray upon the cat creature's statue long before any type of scripture was written on how to attain those abilities. They'd prove their devotion through offerings and prayers in hopes of attaining the abilities cats had to offer. Once it began to work, scriptures from families who bore feline blood were written like this to lead the way for generations of cat creature types. The Shihōin clan is an example of these types. Their family's earliest members were pioneers of this movement from soul to cat soul."

"And what about those ones?" Snake pointed to a line of drawings with a symbol reminding him of the human world.

"Humans." Monkey answered. "Back in the olden days, they used to believe in this scripture too. For immortal life, they'd pray to the cat statue and give it offerings."

"Did they live?"

"Sometimes, something not. We've read about cases where they'd become one once they came to the Soul Society and others where their lives were lost to the Soul Society 'cause they didn't prove their worth or somethin'."

"Wow, I don't remember Renji taking any of this stuff, how do you?" Snake dragged his finger against the wall as he went down to feel the imprints.

"'Cause you were always sleepin'." Monkey muttered. "Those classes take place at night."

She studied the drawings for a few seconds before following behind Snake to the light he allegedly saw. They continued to run down the wall, illustrating the stories of each animal deity.

"I wonder why they're here…" Snake said. "Isn't this place supposed to be unused? Why here of all places?"

"I don't know either, we used to study tablets, I never knew they had original ones drawn here. It makes those soul shadow heads even more suspicious if you ask me."

"You think they're related?" Snake caught the head of a cobra on the wall.

"Could be. Why else are they here anyways? Those heads should be in Hell, instead they're scattered up here for somethin'." Monkey made it sound like it was a trifling matter but in truth, she was bothered by it from the start.

"What if this place is just unused to us then? Maybe this is something they all use!" Snake speculated. "We're not really expected to know that stuff anyways, shapeshifts aren't allies with no one."

"Could be," Monkey lightly shrugged. "We can ask Roger when we get back."

"See!" Snake shouted. "There's the light!"

Monkey looked ahead, "Looks like we're goin' back to red rock."

Snake slipped out with ease while Monkey got pulled back.

"Ow!" Snake yelled as he was yanked back by the chain. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm stuck." Monkey said.

"Hold on…" Snake summoned two flames on his fingers and busted the walls beside the openings for Monkey to come through.

"Thanks," she muttered before scanning the area. To their right was a dead end but the broad passageway led onto the left.

Snake hoisted himself up to test the walls, he rubbed it with his finger from the bottom to the top of it. No silver line. "What about there?"

"Nada." Monkey said before dusting the red sand off. "Guess we'll keep going then."

"This is gonna take forever!" Snake whined.

"Don't blame me, blame whoever broke that generator."

Snake huffed. "Whoever did, sure wanted the Gotei 13 out."

"Well they didn't do a very good job." Monkey criticized. "By now, we'd all be at the Capital. Instead, he got us worrying over them for nothing. If he didn't want them to be involved, they could've just locked the Seireitei or somethin'."

"Or, they could've collected the bodies before they fell here." Snake said.

"That still doesn't make sense to me." Monkey said. "By keeping them in the Interioreum World, they can still move around and leave the Seireitei if they get the opportunity, right? So what's the point? They're better off out of there than inside of there if you ask me."

"You're right…" Snake felt like he saw the light. "They could find out anything. Especially with the assassins stationed over there."

"Wait." Monkey stopped.

"What?"

"Do you know something?" The question took Snake by surprise.

"No...do you?" Snake didn't know what was going on.

"Didn't you say, 'whoever did, sure wanted the Gotei 13 out'? Does Renji know something?"

"I said that?" Snake fluttered his eyes. "I don't know, I don't think...I can't get in contact with him."

"So then where'd that come from?"

"I don't know." Snake said innocently before he crossed his arms. "What about you? You kept mentioning someone not wanting them to be involved. The Okasake heir wants them to be involved, what was that all about?"

"Wait, what?" It was Monkey's turn to be puzzled. "I said that?"

"Yeah, do you think someone else did it to them?" Snake inquired.

"What?" Monkey jerked back, still lost. "I don't know, do you? The only person I can think of is the Okasake guy."

"I guess." Snake resumed walking again. "You're right about them finding out things while being there. What if they've already gone to the Capital?"

"I doubt it." Monkey said. "Besides, I know that he wanted them to know the truth about the Soul Society's past but I'm sure he's limiting them somehow."

"Maybe...though," Snake bent his head. "I still feel weird about it. Why'd we say that stuff then? It feels like we knew before we realized it."

Monkey halted again.

"You feel that?" Monkey motioned to the wall in front of her to the right. There was a ruffling sound being heard, the ground wobbled as if they were experiencing a shock wave—pressure soared upwards.

"Yeah, it sort of feels like…" he turned to the area she was looking at.

"Senbonzakura?" They both said as the cherry blossoms busted through the area, creating a hole.

"G-Go up!" Monkey ordered before they springed upwards to avoid the petals.

Once they cleared, Senbonzakura appeared through the circle in the wall.

"You idiot!" Monkey yelled. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Didn't you sense us here?! You almost killed us!" Snake shouted afterwards.

"I adjusted my blades so that they would only soar up six feet. You had plenty of time to avoid it." He calmly said before Sode No Shirayuki, Byakuya, and Rukia appeared through the hole.

The zanpakutō pair came to the ground.

"What are you doin' here?" Monkey asked.

"We reached an opening that had been blocked by rocks from those occurrences so we made our own path." Sode No Shirayuki explained.

Snake looked to Sode No Shirayuki then Rukia. "Oh, did you find anything?"

"No, only more of those animal heads." Rukia said. "You?"

"We found some old inscriptions about shapeshift breeds. There's a whole wall of drawings talkin' about those old scriptures n'stuff." Monkey responded.

Rukia shot her perplexed look. "What are they doing down here?"

"We don't know either." Snake said.

"They couldn't be fake, I checked them myself. They're real." Monkey added.

"That feline's family were one of the first families to participate in those endeavors. They should be aware of this."

Monkey puffed. "We'll have to ask one of them then."

"Sensei Shihōin would definitely know more about this!" Snake assured them. "Though, if there's some down here, I wonder why you and Renji were never taught any of it."

"I'm wonderin' why too." Monkey told him before turning to Senbonzakura.

"We should get going." Sode No Shirayuki said. "It would be best to find that silver line before anywhere else is destroyed."

They were about to start walking but Monkey's voice stopped them.

"I gotta question for you." Senbonzakura waited, along with them. "Around the time you found out you could join with Sode No Shirayuki, did you start to know things without knowing you knew them from Sode No Shirayuki?"

Snake tugged on her. "Hey, wait a minute, you don't think…"

"Yes, it was one of the earliest signs which led me to believe that we were." Senbonzakura answered.

Both Monkey and Snake looked at each other just then.

Snake's eyes stretched. "T-That just happened to us!"

"What did you learn?" Sode No Shirayuki inquired.

"We started…" Snake tried to be forthright. "Speaking as if the Okasake heir wasn't the one responsible for the Gotei 13's condition."

"Yeah," Monkey hopped off straight from Snake's words. "We didn't really notice it at first though we went on about it as if it was someone else who put them in to avoid their involvement."

"Someone else?" Rukia stepped forward. "Who?"

"I don't know, we didn't say who." Snake answered.

"That is strange." Senbonzakura said. "It implies that whomever you're connected too is aware that it isn't the Okasake heir who's responsible for it."

"Zabimaru," Sode No Shirayuki addressed with a sober tone. "Can you think of any zanpakutō you could potentially be connected to?"

They both shook their heads.

"None," Snake answered. "I don't think we've ever seen any other zanpakuto but us."

"Is there anyone Renji becomes close to in the future on the shinigami side who could be responsible?" Rukia asked.

"To the extent of being connected? I dunno. You and Raiden are the only ones I can think of."

"Arigawa Raiden is a quincy." Senbonzakura stated. "And it's not possible for it to be Sode No Shirayuki either."

"It doesn't make sense for anyone from the shinigami side to want them to stay hidden though." Monkey said. "I think I said something about how he should've just kept them locked in the Seireitei instead."

"Who would want the Gotei 13 to be uninvolved in this matter when it concerns our land?" Byakuya asked.

"Almost all of the Gotei 13 members fell from the sky, right?" Rukia asked Byakuya who nodded his head.

"Based on the image I saw, it was everyone with the exception of four—five including you."

"Lieutenant Kurotsuchi was probably left behind because of the injury she suffered from the explosion." Monkey said.

"That leaves Lieutenant Mashiro, Lieutenant Chōjirō, and the Head Captain…" Snake said with a certain wariness in his tone.

"The Head Captain seemed very absolute in claiming that Rukia-sama was a traitor and did not address any of the claims that were made by the Okasake heir during the meeting." Senbonzakura said.

"Isn't there a chance he's trying to hide it?" Rukia asked. "The Head Captain wanted to keep the assassins a secret from the shinigami. It's written in our official alliance agreement that the existence of the assassins and the Soul Society history would be sealed in the Seireitei."

"That being said, there is a chance that he did wish to keep this private and by disabling the Gotei 13 from having any physical involvement, he was preventing their interference." Byakuya said.

"But he did all this without telling us? He didn't tell Renji anything and I'm sure he didn't say anything to Rukia, right, Sode No Shirayuki?" Monkey asked her.

"No, Rukia-sama has not been in contact with the Head Captain for awhile." Sode No Shirayuki confirmed. "Besides, it does not make sense that he would not let her know before doing so."

"And the bodies fell down right in front of our home too. We spent two months thinking that something had happened to them but instead, they were stuck in there the whole time." Rukia said.

"I find it odd that he would do that intentionally." Sode No Shirayuki responded. "It would not make sense for him to not notify us of this decision. We would not have to remain here with the Gotei 13 if that was the case."

"It is impossible for you both to be connected to the Head Captain. It is obvious someone else knows this within your inner circle." Senbonzakura said.

"Yeah but who?" Snake asked. "We've never seen anyone come into our world like that."

"The only person who remained unaffected was Lieutenant Ise of the 8th Division." Senbonzakura informed them.

Rukia looked up at him. "Though I doubt she knows anything about this."

"And Renji and her don't even have a connection like that. She isn't even a regular zanpakutō user." Monkey added.

"The Head Captain is still a logical suspect though it is true that you cannot be connected to him. There is a possibility it could be someone else with great access to power." Byakuya speculated.

Rukia looked at him. "Like Central 46? I heard they lead all major decisions."

"That's a possibility. But I'm sure anyone who could be responsible wouldn't have a connection with Zabimaru." Sode No Shirayuki said.

"If it isn't the Okasake heir then whoever it is, sure wants them out and any of the higher ups over there are suspects to me too." Monkey said. "Anti-assassins are just as much a thing as anti-reapers."

Rukia sighed. "It really does seem like a waste of time. Older me should've been notified. In the past two months, her worrying over them affected the heart too."

"We'll have to ask whoever did it." Monkey said. "If it's the Okasake heir, then it makes sense why he wouldn't tell you but if it's someone else who knows of you then, it's pretty careless not to mention it."

"That's why we should find the silver line quickly and release them as soon as possible so Rukia-sama can focus on generating more light for the heart and a method to purify it." Sode No Shirayuki said.

Senbonzakura agreed. "Sode No Shirayuki is right, we should get to it or else we'll be wasting more time."

"Then let's get on with it then, no point in just standing here." Monkey was already steps ahead by the time the words got out.

Senbonzakura, still turned back to her, eyed the dead end. "Very well, scatt—"

"Wait, you idiot! We're going this way! I thought we agreed no more breaking walls!" Monkey yelled.

"Yeah! Sode No Shirayuki said no more destruction! What are you thinking?!" Snake shouted near him.

"Sode No Shirayuki said that we should find the silver line before anywhere else was destroyed by the string of events we have gone through." Senbonzakura responded. "We can not afford to waste time or be swayed by dead ends which could contain another passageway."

"We also can't afford any one of those bat cleaners to come running through you nitwit! You used reiatsu every single time you released your shikai! That reiatsu accumulates in the air and sticks to the walls! When a specific amount is accumulated, the cleaner runs through to clean it!" Monkey explained. "Releasing your zanpakutō is gonna trigger the cleaner again!"

Sode No Shirayuki stepped forward. "Perhaps we should follow Zabimaru's path, Senbonzakura-dono and see where it leads us. If we remain unsuccessful, we could always come back."

"Yeah! Besides, your reiatsu already takes up half of this entire place because of the bankai release you did earlier," White smoke began to swallow him as he spoke. "If you release your shikai again, this whole place is gonna be flood w—"

Monkey threw a rock at him. "OW! What'd you do that for?!"

"You idiot! Why'd you have to say that?!" Snake had already grown in size by then and took on his bankai form.

"W-Woah!"

"Come down from there before you activate the—" the sound was already echoing before she could finish.

"Not again…" Rukia whined in annoyance as the cluster ran through them yet again.

---

Waves slammed onto the edges of disformed rocks which served as a piece connected to the land they had found hours later after sailing.

The stretchers were back to being lined against the walls but remained hoisted on the tin silver cart for efficiency. Everyone sat nearby as they observed the Lieutenant of the 8th Division's abnormal behavior as she resumed her drawing.

There were officially thirty-three new pieces of artwork all done by her. Most were colourless but the moment she got her hands on pastels, they became full of life—much closer to her vision but at the cost of witnessing the horrifying aspect to it.

Perches were lined up atop a fire to grill before they were eaten to the bone, except one. Lieutenant Ise couldn't tear herself away from her work.

Sweat framed her forehead as her eyes remained dilated and body jittery as if she was high on caffeine. Her hands moved fast to complete each drawing but nonetheless, it came out perfect. There were no stoppages in between, she only spoke when someone attempted to pull her hands away.

The drawings illustrated many things that were noticeably disturbing. Hanatarō finally got his ending regarding the baby. She had drowned it in that same tub. What she did to Captain Kyōraku was depicted down to the last detail and the images of Rukia were horrifying.

She appeared as if she was a demon with a red as bright as the feathers on scarlet macaws replacing the noble violet in her eyes. A lavender shade forming a pool with a drip of black in the middle.

There were several drawings of her with this look. The most noticeable one being the way her body was on top of the laying person Nanao identified as the pure light.

There was also that woman donned in a black bridal dress with three veils, two laced and one solid. Her sleeves dropped to her knees with heavy padding on her shoulders. The most distinct part of her being those eyes akin to Nanao's depiction of Rukia.

She appeared everywhere.

Not even Nanao knew why but there was a speculation that she was indeed the stalker woman the younger Rukia had educated them about.

Everything about her appearance smelt of it.

Nanao only drew her in Rukia's presence, otherwise she was nonexistent as a character in all of these images.

She went on.

Babble of Yoruichi's absence after hours and worries of Jushirmai continued. Kla sat in the corner and forced herself to connect with Okasake Jushirmai but failed each time. She didn't eat and neither did Roger.

Rukia's safety was assured either way so the concern paled in comparison to her brother who remained missing. Kisuke was sure the Okasake heir would've snatched him but the fears lingered.

With the absence of the zanpakutō spirits, Kisuke had long thought of returning to the 12th Division to potentially fix the generator from there however, they'd be left without a defense as long as Yoruichi was absent as well as the others.

His faith in anyone was starting to wither as he thought of who would potentially target the Gotei 13 like this. He no longer had suspicions that it was Okasake Jushirmai if his method was the Interioreum World. A soul reaper technique was one he'd never touch.

It had to be someone with access to it in the first place. And with Mayuri a part of them and Lieutenant Kurotsuchi still injured, he could only think of one person who would have the authority, ability, and knowledge to activate that without suspicion.

Head Captain Yamamoto.

---

"Sei…" Yoruichi addressed, stunned at her appearance. As if something completely miraculous had occurred, she studied her as if she was a rare gem.

Though parts of it brought discomfort to her. It had been almost a hundred and twelve years since Sei and her daughter had disappeared. She later learned they had passed for reasons unknown.

To see her here was phenomenal though it struck her when she took into account that she had become a soul shadow. She hadn't passed on successfully and the Soul Society hadn't been capable of purifying her soul so she became a shadow with dread.

It depicted itself clearly on her face. This was a version lost to despair.

It showed on her skin which exhibited a mackerel smoke grey brushed with the dull blue found on herons. Cracks like lightning formed vines on her body, shining as if the evening sunset had become a river and filled the spaces of the branches.

Bright eyes like the sun remained intact though were ringed with hostility. She still wore the same cut skirt with two slits at the front where pearl legs used to shine and the short top with straps which hung off the shoulder made of hard metal like a cuirass that she used to wear atop her short-sleeved assassin uniform.

Metal bands lined with a rusting gold were randomly fastened around her arms and the bottom of her legs like armor which they could very much be.

The remains of her nobility were shown through the short navy blue gloves she wore lined with gold at the cut edges which led to her hands which held a staff, the head sculpted into static.

Yoruichi found that she had a hard time looking at her. Sei had been one of the few noble friends she could mingle with. They had a history between their families, Sei being a Balinese demi-cat had tightened their bond from a young age.

Okasake Jushirmai's words from earlier came through about a person awaiting to fight her. This had to be it—Sei was working for the other side.

She had succumbed to the dark side of her pain and became a hollow ghost. It showed the moment she spoke to her.

"You look slim. Perhaps it is the injury you suffered earlier which makes you so slow."

Formality swallowed her tone. Informal speech had never been her thing—she was bound to communicate as a queen.

"Sei," Yoruichi addressed. "You've changed sides."

She clasped both hands on the staff. "Became motivated is the word you are searching for. I could care less for what they plan on doing."

"To associate with them is a sign of acquaintanceship."

She brought her staff up and behind her head. "Casual association exists."

"So he enlisted the help of soul shadows...not surprising given the amount which has terrorized the Capital over the years however, you…." Yoruichi didn't continue.

"If it's shocking that I became a soul shadow then Shihōin Yoruichi you are unworldly."

"You disappeared."

"Was left behind." She corrected her. "Forced to become a shadow because I was wronged."

"Sei, you need to let go. Your soul can still find peace if it's purified by the pure light. I can help you."

"Don't spute nonsense. A light will not satisfy me, I returned here to be fed by vengeance not to have my end resolved by purity."

"Those aren't your thoughts. Your mind is being controlled by whatever pain you left with."

"And if I said, I felt this way even before I hit my end?"

"I'd say you were corrupted easily."

"You should ask, what went wrong? But I suppose that does not concern you, negligence seems to live with you."

"I get the job done at the end of the day, by all means I'll come off negligent if it can trick someone like this."

"Trick?" She slowly tilted her head. "That doesn't seem right. From my experience, that is your true face."

"Your experiences have become distorted too." Yoruichi observed.

She grinned. "You can't seem to get past the fact that I was reborn as a soul shadow and have come seeking payment."

"The Sei I know doesn't do that."

"The Sei you knew trusted you more than anyone in this world but was poorly rewarded. She's learned from her mistakes and has been reborn with better judgment."

"Jushirmai must've influenced you with his energy. Regardless of whether you feel vengeful, you wouldn't associate with him."

"How could influence be a part of it if I went myself the moment I became a soul shadow? What reason did he have to take me in when I had nothing to offer his corps of shadows?"

"Easy, me."

"Wrong." She roared. "I hold no importance to you whatsoever."

Sei then studied her. "Fine, I'll show you proof."

While she flash-stepped past her at a fast speed, her left hand clipped on a butterfly blade to her waist. Yoruichi was about to flash-step though the chain connected to the clip yanked her back.

Sei dipped Yoruichi's body down before tossing her upwards in a half circle. Yoruichi smirked upside down before a shadow bled on the surface of the water.

A heavy cloud appeared before a lightning of silver shocked the area of her previous injury and thunder rippled through the area.

Sei's unique ability thrived in the dark. And lucky her, the area was surrounded.

---

When Rukia woke up, she ate with caution as she reflected on what she saw this time, her chest didn't have the spider lily carving. She already knew why but it seemed that Jushirmai was persistent.

She had dreamt of the night before Sensei Okasake Gureta reached her eight month of pregnancy. By then her stomach was round and every day seemed to be full of festivities as the future heir was to be born soon.

Much like some of her earlier drawings, she had seen Gureta attempting to cut her stomach with the intention to kill, being successful, and thus delivering a dead baby.

She could only dream of blood water. It showed itself everywhere after she watched the surgery and saw a corpse being tossed into red water. Each part of the act made her feel frightened to the core, gasps and pleads meant nothing as her mind forcibly relayed the story.

Next, she was back to her hometown in the human world, near the open forest in front of the orphanage. The woman who followed her everywhere threaded behind her like a shadow even with the sunless days. Her younger self took several glances behind her, seeing no one, which made her fear.

That unknown feeling unsettled her entirely to watch because the eyes were everywhere. Little her just couldn't see until she was grabbed by force to turn and saw the face of the shadow. Every part of it made her scream as it lunged at her with the sharpest teeth.

Next came a portrait in a room she did not know. It was of that woman but it was harmless as it was nothing but oil paint. The breaking of glass proved her wrong when the woman came out of the painting and charged at her.

Now she sat on the dry ground of the Rukongai, braced against a wood house, the last piece of bread she had retrieved from the ground in her hand. In front of her, the woman sat and her kind heart tore a piece and gave it to her.

Few days later, she caught the woman gorging on piles of seasoned fish from a distance.

She saw her but never offered her one.

The high tree next to the river she frequented had now grown stubbles of grass next to it. Much like the vision which had shocked her to the extent of waking up from her seven day sleep, the woman in black hung from the tree and screamed at her viciously.

She had then been shown herself in the grassy region of the Seireitei, three black lacquer boxes in her hand with meals for her friends in the Rukongai.

Somehow, she had transitioned into the grass hill in the 78th District of the Rukongai and the woman was there—awaiting her in close proximity. They didn't say anything to each other but Rukia had felt a peculiar aura coming from her.

Back to the human world she went, her younger brother—then nine years old—ran into the fire which had been started to burn the orphanage house down after she and Hisana had died. That fire had taken his life and he came into the Rukongai with the memory of his human life clearly.

He had never forgotten them.

It stung her when a replay of events she remembered began to show back to back. From waking up to her room in the Okasake, to feasting on red meat, to the elder figures which served as guidance, to the privilege of even having the opportunity to come into the Seireitei—into the Okasake manor—it all made her chest swell with guilt.

Princess of the Rukongai was the name that 2nd Division member had called her when he came searching for her in the human world when she had transferred her powers to Ichigo.

She thought of that title now with hate. She had lived life comfortably then because of the people who surrounded her. Though she shared all her meals and stayed in the Rukongai, it would never be the same as it was before she met all of them.

The cruelty began when she saw Hisana starving—she'd always had a weak immune system and was susceptible to even the littlest speck of dust. She was already weak from her body to steal, that good conscience seemed to transfer with her to here.

The fainting, the cold, the dirt, her shredded kimono, Rukia couldn't think of the life she lived without thinking she deserved the utmost torture from the skies. Jūshirmai was even worse, for he had come into the Rukongai with the memory of them and searched for them. An endless journey he endured for years and years.

He could take care of himself, of course. She knew how intelligent he was to create traps to find food however, the wails for his sisters, the recurring sickness, the lack of warmth and guidance sickened her.

A quarter into the bread and she began to cry again. Suffering hurt twice as much when it was of those you cared for. If only she could've remembered sooner, she might've had better luck finding them and then she could've lived with them.

She sobbed so much, she couldn't eat. How stupid she was for not realizing it sooner. While she had waltz from one class to another, there was her own blood enduring hardship. Instead of being there like she should've, she was out witnessing and indulging in the luxury Hisana only got a taste of.

Hisana…

It should've been her who contracted the illness and died. Why ever did the world have to take her of all people? Even till the very end, she vouched for her to have a good living.

She didn't care for arguments about Hisana being wrong or the fact that it was impossible for one to remember their human life. Logic never applied to her and yet it decided to treat her normally now.

She should've remembered. Somehow the thought should've come to mind. She uttered Hisana's name once in the Rukongai (AN: Scattering Stars Like Dust) and forgot about it the next day as if it was nothing.

She couldn't eat. Let her starve if she had too. Nothing would ever make up for the pain Hisana went through from searching for her, even if her story was inaccurate, to suffering on her own. It didn't matter whether she had been taken in by Rukongai nurses or if she lived in the Kuchiki manor for five years.

In the end, it was only suffering she endured.

Guilt swallowed her, she felt so poorly of herself as she grew older. Her weak immune system left her susceptible to an illness which took her life. A life that should've had a chance to be at peace.

She wouldn't stop crying. To remember the love she felt for siblings constantly tossed her into a pit of fire to remind her of how grave those losses felt and had been.

When she remembered Jushirmai, she refused to look in mirrors, when she remembered Hisana, she realized she deserved a life of equal unhappiness and guilt.

With that perspective, she was starting to feel guilty for even stepping in the Okasake manor again. In the heat of the moment, she wanted to erase those interactions and return back into her shell. But she was too far deep to retreat. She still had an obligation to fulfill.

This very mindset would itch her skin each time she dipped into the forgotten past.

Rukia was glad they had stripped her of her gloves too unless what would've happened to it if it stayed…?

---

"Urahara." Nanao called. "Where's Yamada?"

The shopkeeper looked up and around. "He must've gone on a walk."

"Walk?" She didn't believe it. He had disappeared out of nowhere without telling anybody. She was sure that he would notify her or someone if he was going to leave.

"Yūshirō-san is gone too!" Kurōdo said.

Ririn ran after him. "And Roger-san!"

Kisuke and Nanao looked at each other that instant.

---

"I think I sense them over here." Yūshirō guided with Roger to his right and Hanatarō to his left.

"We h-have to tell Rukia-san about Dr. Oswald! She can go back and find him!"

"He must've swam to the surface in another area." Yūshirō speculated. "Just like Lieutenant Kuchiki and Lieutenant Ise ended up in another area. He could've slipped through a crack or something!"

"He can swim well. I'm sure he's fine." Roger assured them. "Though, the fact that we can't detect his reiatsu is what worries me."

"Y-Yoruichi-san said the Okasake heir would s-save him. Do you know if that's true, Snake-san?"

"Call me Roger and I'd hope so. Jūshirmai is her blood and one of the two who helped revive the pure light within her. If he were to die, logically the pure light would weaken and that would benefit him more however, if there's any truth to his words, he cares about her enough to not leave her with anything if he gets his hands on Kurosaki Ichigo."

"But we can't be sure that there won't be a catch to it, right?" Yūshirō asked.

"I-If there's a catch, will Rukia-san have to d-do something?" Hanatarō asked in concern.

"No...I don't think he'd ever manipulate her with him. That's too cheap for him." Roger said.

"Here, they were just here…" Yūshirō said pointing at the area where a hole was cut into the right wall.

"They can't be far. Let's go." Roger said in a hast.

"W-Wait for me!" Hanatarō shouted as they began to run.

---

"Another intersection." Senbonzakura observed as they reached the middle of divided paths.

"Are we gonna divide again?" Snake asked.

"Just check them right now." Monkey approached one of the openings. "No big deal."

"There's still interconnected passageways to worry about. I'm sure these all lead somewhere." Sode No Shirayuki said.

"Nothing here." Monkey reported.

Senbonzakura turned to the group. "It looks like we will have to separate again."

"We can divide by pairs." Byakuya said before distant voices were heard calling Rukia's name.

She turned immediately and saw Yūshirō, Hanatarō, and Roger all jogging together towards them. When they were within a reasonable distance, Rukia opened her mouth to ask them what they were doing but she caught something.

There was something rising behind them. A long body which was glossy with a rusted gold shine. She couldn't see the head due to the ceiling difference.

It released a roar which sent the three closest to it in a frenzy.

"W-Woah!" Hanatarō, who could see the head, stuttered.

Fire came out its mouth and began to shoot into the ground. They did their best to dodge as the incoming attacks grew.

Rukia had her fan blade throw itself out immediately from the band and cut its presumed neck. When the blade returned after circling, it returned with something attached to the rib.

It looked like a computer piece.

She held the fan blade in her right hand and casually lifted the fan to have the chip thrown upwards for Byakuya to catch.

"It's animatronic." Rukia said when he did. In the foreground, the bottom of the robotic beast fell backwards.

He held the chip between his fingers while looking at her. "How did you know?"

"No reiatsu or sheatsu. He's not a hollow or any type of shapeshift breed. To be a shapeshift, it has to be a legitimate animal. From his skin, you can see the material used to make it—latex. His execution of that fire release was too precise too."

"Who would send that type of crap?" Monkey asked before the ceiling of the cave was ripped off to reveal another animatronic figure which seemed to resemble a dragon.

"I'll take this one." Snake flicked his finger to spark fire and moved his hand to swirl before throwing it up to hit its trout which exploded.

"It seems that this was purposely placed." Sode No Shirayuki's neck craned from up to down as she watched the passageways they were prepared to explore get pulled out.

They were in an open area like before. None of these passageways would've led to anywhere but the walls which made up the area.

Piece by piece, the place got dismantled until the true width of the area showed. It was the size of a log of a very tall tree. Spacious and filled with animatronic dragon-like figures.

The group got to work as Yūshirō, Hanatarō, and Roger joined them.

Rukia threw out her original blade from her hands with the sharp stainless steel blades spread across the fan with an artwork of a blueberry colour matched with white petals beneath it.

Back to back, she chopped off the necks of the robotic dragons from her spot without much effort. The blade guided its own path in a circle while attached to the chain leading to her wrist.

"R-Rukia-san, we have terrible news!" Hanatarō said.

Rukia caught the fan blade which came back to her while looking at them.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Jushi—" Yūshirō halted speaking once a shadow grew in front of him and dimmed Rukia's skin. He swept around as the belly to the neck rose behind them.

The weight of the beast caused the ground to quake, sending the three people in front of her flying forward at the pressure. The beast raised its leg to stomp on them, forging a dark circle.

Rukia took her blade and threw it through the bottom of the beast's feet before it exited up and went through the artificially built body and wrapped itself around until the chains held onto the beast securely under her command.

Her right hand lightly shifted to the left to secure the lock before she sharply whisked it right and the artificial body's skin tore off and scintillating white ice covered it with her hand now up. Once she pulled her hand down, the body broke into pieces along with the ice.

With that the blade came back into her hand. She turned around, "so what were you saying?"

"R-Rukia-san! There's another one, l-look!" Hanatarō pointed to the right of her where a larger beast stood.

"And there!" Yūshirō pointed to her left.

Analyzing her surroundings, she realized that she'd have to multiple her blades. She could no longer hide in the shadows like the ones being formed beneath her.

In one way, she was tired of lying, of pretending the past which was currently her present didn't exist. Without knowing what she lost, no one would ever understand why she felt the way she did.

Both of her hands opened and with that, a hundred fan blades from each side came flying out with its chain. She pushed both hands to their respective sides and set them free to the direction they were released from.

Raising both of her hands up, tiny circles formed on the ground following the movement of the chains circling around each beast in her range. Akin to the action she did before, they all tinged at the same time and rose up with white mist.

Rukia grabbed Hanatarō's arms, "hold on."

One of the blades created a circle beneath them, she intended on bringing them up too. They rose immediately with the ice beneath their feet while the beasts which surrounded them crushed into chunks of ice and they elevated upwards.

Though Rukia didn't recall her blades, instead she focused on the next target behind her. There was a portal behind them but black unlike the usual white ones she went through.

From there, an endless amount seemed to fly out. She had to keep them occupied until they found a method to stop it.

She signaled her blades forward and began to control them from the chains closest to her. From twirling to easy movements like skipping ropes for double scotch, she casually had them dance in the air by her movements to entrap them in quickly moving chains.

Her feet occasionally moved to control the chains which came out the two bands at her ankles but the majority of the work was put to her hands.

"We need to find a way to close that portal."

She was at the top of the ice bark she created though they could still hear her from the bottom of it.

Snake yelled up at her. "What?!"

Rukia slightly leaned over the edge, "find a way to close that portal!"

Byakuya suddenly appeared beside her and sheathed his sword. "They are from the 12th Division."

"How'd you know?" Rukia asked while straightening her back to twirl the right chain in her hand and simultaneously tapping her right foot in a two step format.

"When I cut one, there was an inscription at the back. 'Property of the Research and Development Department'. I heard some time in our future, the 12th Division adopts a sector like the ones I read exist in the Capital. A Research and Development Institute. "

Rukia scrunched her brows. "So why are they attacking us?"

"I presume somehow its commander became aware of them and manipulated their system." Byakuya said, keeping his distance from her as she controlled the blades with her one hand.

"This can't be Jushirmai's doing. Robots? Not his thing." Rukia looked ahead at the large portal.

"It is likely someone else who wishes to cause us hindrances in our search for the silver line."

"Though that can't be just anyone though. Who would want to stop us from finding the silver line? And before you say it, no it can't be the assassins. They want their officers out of there as soon as possible. Having the Gotei 13 back is what they're rooting for."

Byakuya thought for a moment. "Is there a possibility it could be one of those rebellious groups I read about? The ones who wish to see the soul reaper race gone?"

"Unlikely. They have their followers but to break into the 12th Division under assassin and soul reaper watch to get ahold of some private artificial dragon army? That sounds too impossible."

"And it cannot be the soul reapers there either. It seems that we have found another enemy."

Rukia didn't respond this time, thinking deeply.

"Is there a chance," she looked at him, "that it is that woman who is a former ally of the heir?"

She thought of this thoroughly before responding. "I don't think robot things like these are her thing either. I'd associate soul shadows with her or even….those things…"

"Spiders?"

Shudders went through her. "Yeah...but it could still be a possibility I mean, I don't know her enough to say she wouldn't ever do that. Well, at least in our time I don't."

"They are not formidable opponents." Byakuya observed. "With one strike, they are down. I do not see why this was kept as a project either."

"Their fire is artificially generated, they're slow on their feet, and with their size, they can be tangled up easily." Rukia listed in agreement. "I don't get the point either."

"There is also no sense to them. They move to dodge but it is merely a computer chip guiding them."

"That computer chip should contain data of who it targets. Whomever brought these, must've had some knowledge to know how to do that." Rukia did a butterfly twirl with one fan blade she summoned.

"That is true however, to say that it was one of their own implies that someone does not want the Gotei 13 out of the Interioreum World. To have a motive such as that would also imply they know of assassins."

"It could be someone who has animosity towards the assassin side to ya know."

"How so?"

"Well, a few assassin officers and their divisions being stationed there is already causing huge conflict within the Capital. Especially quincies. At a time like this, the last thing we need is opposition. Sensei and myself would also never leave the Seireitei unguarded therefore, the longer the Gotei 13 are gone, the longer the assassins stay and that in turn will bring problems to the court and division."

"You believe that the assassin empire could fall if their Head Commander continues to aid the Seireitei? Is there not an agreement which exists for that sole purpose?"

"It wouldn't fall entirely but with the hatred that assassins have for shinigami, there would be a lot of conflict within the court. As for the quincies, extending a hand to the kind which almost executed you isn't a great feeling now is it? The agreement may exist but that doesn't mean a piece of paper would be enough to justify prolonged care for the Seireitei."

"The Seireitei was once their land too." Byakuya said.

"Yeah but most assassins no longer claim it. It's a part of history, yes but is it worth protecting the shinigami? No. The Ministers and Senseis have a different perspective when it comes to land. They do still cling onto the historical aspect to it and there's still the noble houses which are located there to be concerned about. Considering that, even if the higher ups are okay with that decision, they're not the majority."

"Therefore, there is a possibility that it could be the division's own however, clearly they weren't aware that these creations of theirs are nothing but a mere tide."

"A possibility though I don't want to accuse anyone just yet. I just want to keep multiple scenarios in mind."

Her blades whipped past many and left them dazed at the speed coming from all ends. Rukia brought up another fan blade close to her, twirled it between her fingers and sent it out while simultaneously controlling the rest of chains in front of her—occasionally letting her feet do all the work while keeping her hands open.

Byakuya eyed her for a few seconds though decided not to question her further.

Suddenly she pulled her hands a part and the fan blade all slit right and came rushing back to her with the chains sucking into the tiny leather band until nothing was left. The artificial bodies were cut into almost shreds while the portal closed.

A scrapyard of metal laid on the ground.

"Not much of a challenge if you ask me." Monkey said at the bottom of the bark.

Snake appeared beside her. "Yeah, the portal was a hologram! The person couldn't even create their own, there was a senikamon behind it."

While they continued to chatter, Rukia drowned out their voices as she sensed something peculiar that would be much more challenging. A presence bore a feeling equivalent to the one Jushirmai's emitted.

It wasn't him but it had to be one of his members.

Rukia kept her hand behind her back, expecting to throw her fan blade and just her fan blade to the target spot where it was the strongest.

She waited patiently until she found it. It bled like ink through paper, across from her at a high point. She was about to have her fan blade fly out and hit it though oddly enough, it disappeared.

"What is it?"

She straightened her back as Byakuya's voice brought her back to reality. "Huh?"

"Nothing. What's wrong?"

"We have decided to proceed into that path." He pointed to the space they entered from.

Rukia was confused. "We're going back there?"

"We intend on forging our own paths. It is clear that we cannot rely on these passageways if there are others embedded into these walls." Byakuya explained to her.

Rukia nodded her head, understanding though parts of her mind were still stuck on that energy she felt.

"What is it?" Byakuya inquired again, she assumed he was expecting an honest answer this time around.

Rukia didn't give one. "Nothing."

If it happened later, she'd say something.

---

"We can't say anything now." Roger whispered to Yūshirō and Hanatarō. "Once they find the silver line, we can let her know. They need to do this together. It isn't smart to have her separate from them."

"But what about Dr. Oswald?" Yūshirō whispered back in fright.

"I believe he is just fine."

"A-And the older Rukia-san?"

"If she's missing for this long, the only answer is that she's with him or back with the other Jushirmai in the Soul King Palace. Either way, she will know of his condition from there."

Yūshirō was hesitant at first though he eventually slouched his shoulders in defeat.

They prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Rukia shouted once they were on the ground. "Didn't you want to tell me something?"

"H-Huh? U-Us? No, n-not at all!" Hanatarō said.

Rukia read through him easily. "You're lying. What's wrong? Roger."

"It's nothing Rukia-sama, we just thought you would need our assistance. With this place washed up, we can also aid in finding the silver line." Roger responded.

"Did something happen over there when it did? The tides are very strong. I imagine the place isn't the way it used to be."

"It's not." Roger replied honestly. "We've relocated to a new location which is also something we wished to notify you about, right?"

If Roger could smile with teeth, he would disperse his own uneasiness with one.

"You should join us then." Sode No Shirayuki said. "We could use the extra hands."

"N-No, we'd just get in the way!"

"Isn't that what you came for?" Rukia raised a brow. "Unless you're lying."

"O-Of course not! We'll help you." Hanatarō said before shooting a jittery look to Yūshirō and Roger.

Yūshirō didn't want to do it. He would much rather try to find Jushirmai himself but he knew better. He wouldn't be able to do it on his own.

With that key fact in mind, he had no choice but to remain and search for the silver line.

---

"W-Wow this place—achoo!—has a lot of—achoo!—dust." Hanatarō said as they entered a darker cave with streaks of black on red.

There was a yellow light glowing at the end which they were headed towards after being unsuccessful in finding the silver line in the hours they continued to search after that odd interaction with animatronic figures.

Though Hanatarō chose to stay quiet, he often looked at the back of Rukia and wondered if it was the right thing to do. He didn't know the situation well so he couldn't take just anyone's words as confirmation. Besides, if anything did happen to Dr. Oswald, she should be the first one to know.

"Rukia-san."

"Yes?"

Hanatarō paused. "U-Uh...y-your blades!"

"What about them?"

"Uh…" his shoulders heaved.

"Do you want one? I have extras." Rukia said. "I still haven't tried the ones older me gave me yet."

"S-Sure!" Hanatarō caught the band tossed to him.

"He cannot even hold one up." Byakuya muttered next to her, Rukia sneered.

"So what? Let him have it." Rukia said. "Besides, I still have these," she took the three bands out, "to try."

Byakuya glanced at them once. "You have trained in tessenjutsu (AN: This is the term for the martial arts of the Japanese war fan)."

Rukia smiled. "Yeah," she paused. "Mad?"

"No. Did grandfather tell you to hide that from me?"

"Thought that was obvious. I guess he wanted to lessen the weight of discoveries but I don't really see what's the big deal of keeping something I know like this. These are my blades, I'm sure you didn't expect me to be left unequipped there."

"Well, seeing that you knew how to flash-step from before and carry those sai blades, I figured you were aware to a certain degree of how to use them. I did not expect the blades associated with the 12th Division to be something you mastered."

"It kinda hard not too I mean, they're so pretty. The weaponry over at the Capital is beautiful, even if it looks the least bit interesting in action, the beauty is enough to make you want it. I almost mastered the staff instead."

"What else do you have?" Byakuya questioned. "And do not lie. I would hope we are past that."

Rukia reached into her pocket. "I have these, they're butterfly clips and a dagger, " its handle was a glass jade, "ooh and these needle point blades, they're usually supposed to be attached to my side but I took them out 'cause of Captain. Oh and this clip point knife, one of my firsts."

"Is it an assassin requirement to carry a certain amount of blades?" Byakuya asked.

"You should at least be a master in three. The first one is the sai blade which is mandatory for everybody. The second is the main blade you choose to master and the third one is compulsory to know to at least an experienced user level. The rest are just add-ons that you know well."

"I was trying to buy a glaive but I didn't have enough to buy one so I sort of just left it." She added.

"You have to purchase weapons to train in them?"

"No, training weapons are free to use. I meant the designer ones. You either earn new gear or buy new gear. I learned a bit of the glaive so I thought of actually mastering it but when I realized I wouldn't be able to afford the one I wanted, I just left it. I own enough." Rukia explained.

"You paid for all these?"

Rukia shook her head. "Earned them. I only bought the butterfly blades but that was by the choice, I still have the original ones I got. Major Shira's clan produces all the designer weaponry in the Capital with Yoruichi-san's clan. Weapons are mostly earned and for that, I'm glad for."

"Did the Okasake clan not give you anything?"

"Of course they did but I never took them." Rukia giggled. "Though I did get to see the new collections before anyone else so if that counts, then yes I had a little advantage."

"What is the point of working for them when you can easily avoid the trouble?"

"You already know the answer to that, Byakuya. It's the same with earning a position. That's like me asking you why you train so hard to prove yourself worthy of your family's Head title when you'll inevitably attain it whether you prove yourself or not."

His response wasn't immediate. The comparison did make sense however, things like weaponry could be accepted.

"A position and weaponry are different."

"Nope." She instantly disagreed. "If they were, then why do soul reapers have to work so hard to earn their shikai and bankai with their zanpakutō? Let alone, communicate with it in the first place. It takes effort to do these things and rather than accepting it on a silver platter, I'm sure we all want to earn the things we receive unless we're lazy. Weaponry like these are held with the same weight as zanpakutōs are for you."

"And what of the nobles who accept the weaponry given to them by their families?"

"That's them. I'm not a noble." Rukia said. "I know it seems that I'm being stubborn and I won't deny that maybe I am a tad bit over resistant at times however, I just want to earn things by myself 'cause that's how I was brought into this world. And even if I was brought here with a family, I'd like to think I'd carry that same spirit regardless."

"You have honor and pride. Despite your perception of nobles, those characteristics reflect a noble character."

"Really?" Rukia shot him a ridiculous look. "So where are they? I mean, among noble heirs. The ones I witnessed were too in love with their privilege to be the same."

"Perhaps you have not seen enough."

Rukia stared at him for a bit longer. "Perhaps not…."

They turned right towards the yellow light.

"Oh great, these things again." Monkey said in annoyance as they faced a narrow hall with inscriptions on it belonging to shapeshift kinds.

"It is quite odd to find so many here." Senbonzakura said.

"Indeed. Most inscriptions like these were carved in mountains belonging to the human world. The fact that there are many here as well is odd." Sode No Shirayuki said.

"What are these ones about, Monkey?" Snake asked.

Roger answered for her. "These are about demi-spiders, specifically the black widow kind. They're viewed as the rulers of the species due to their high toxicity. They are some of the few deadliest of the species, these inscriptions depict how they attained such a huge following from the human world."

Rukia subconsciously shifted closer to Byakuya at the thought.

"Isn't it weird to have them down here though? I heard that their scriptures were written in the human world." Yūshirō said.

"Unless they were moved here." Roger said. "These walls are nothing like the rest of this dimension and I have a feeling I know who's responsible."

"Who?" Rukia had her suspicions of who exactly it was, she just needed the confirmation.

"I know it might bring you great discomfort to hear this Rukia-sama but the woman who was once affiliated with Okasake Jushirmai and has been watching you is the sovereign of this species. She is a shapeshifter or more eloquently put, a demi-spider."

Rukia still gulped even though she expected it. In the Rukongai she had learnt about the many poisonous species to avoid. Black widow spiders were one of them and just like their infamous colour of black and red, that woman embodied all of it from head to heel.

"That woman is a shapeshifter like the demon cat?" Byakuya repeated.

"What does she want from me?" Rukia asked. "Why would the sovereign of spiders ally with Jushirmai to watch me?"

Roger didn't answer.

"There is a possibility that she is what stems your fear." Byakuya said.

"Huh?"

"She has been watching you from the human world. Perhaps there is a chance, you were aware that she was a demi-spider from before and that fear carried on with you to here."

"That is correct." Roger caught their attention. "Your fear of spiders is with reason. It's not an arbitrarily given fear, it comes from her."

Rukia didn't say anything further.

"So you think she moved this all the way here?" Monkey asked. "Doesn't that mess with the historic sentiment a lil'?"

"She would never lift a finger. It's most likely the young demi-spiders which took care of this by her orders. History doesn't mean much to her if it gets in her way." Roger said. "They were artificially painted over with this gold spray. She wanted them gone for a reason so she left them here."

"So is there even a point of going in there then? I mean, if it was just recently put or whatever it can't have the silver line. The second generator was brought here around the time the first one was made centuries ago." Monkey said.

Senbonzakura walked past her. "Any area is crucial to inspect. This may lead to another passageway."

Byakuya turned to Rukia. "Are you comfortable with going in?"

She was hesitant but nodded her head regardless.

"R-Rukia-san, we'll go in last!" Hanatarō said with Yūshirō by his side.

"We?" Byakuya repeated before the others went in.

Rukia reached the line where the narrow passageway began but stopped, suddenly feeling alarmed.

"Um…" she stared at the line, contemplating whether it was worth going in.

Suddenly, her hand was brought into another and their fingers intertwined. A light tug made her look up nervously.

"You have nothing to fear." Byakuya said to her.

She glanced at the line nervously one last time before stepping over it with a heavy breath.

"W-Wait! What about u-us?" Hanatarō, who was already trembling beside Yūshirō, shouted but they were already gone.

"Maybe we should s-stay out here." Yūshirō said.

Hanatarō's eyes sparked. "Alone?"

"We should head back to the others instead."

"O-Oh yeah! That sounds better."

---

Ichigo analyzed the scriptures dug into the wall though he couldn't understand them. The most he could do was piece together the drawings but even those were altered in a way which didn't make sense by today's standards.

Something about this new information made him uncomfortable. The woman who had been stalking Rukia was the sovereign of the entirety of spider species. She was the reason for her deep set fear for them.

Jushirmai's want for Rukia no longer meant a thing. He was more interested in this woman who had been with her just like him. Even more longer if she attained this fascination with her from the start.

Given her type, Ichigo wondered if there was a possibility that she feared that woman more than she did Jushirmai. He didn't know what she looked like though if she was a black widow spider, Ichigo had a feeling that her appearance was much more gruesome.

He really hoped they could find the silver line soon so he could ask her himself.

His eyes caught the younger Byakuya and Rukia in front of him holding hands and smiled.

"Looks like they made up." Ichigo said with a smirk to Byakuya on his left.

"Hisana had the same fear though it was not to the extent of Rukia's." The smirk left his face.

"She had a fear too?" Ichigo paused. "Doesn't that mean she saw that woman too?"

"I am considering that possibility however, I do not think she was a target."

"Still, that means she could at least see her, right? They died young, whomever she is must've scared them both but what about Jushirmai?"

"That does not matter."

"It does though. That means that they could see her too or maybe...that means she couldn't make herself visible to only Rukia like Jushirmai could at that time."

Byakuya didn't say anything for a few seconds while Ichigo contemplated this thought. He felt like he really had paved a way to something true.

"These inscriptions depict a story of how one becomes a demi-spider." Byakuya suddenly informed him, Ichigo was surprised he could read them.

"You know about them?"

Byakuya didn't answer. "The conversion for a human will not give them access to the full abilities of the kind unless they are formally converted. In order to do so, they must appeal to the sovereign at the time."

"So you mean, maybe she was yet to be fully converted and that's why she had no choice but to show herself to all of them?" Ichigo paused. "Well doesn't that sort of scratch the idea that maybe it had something to do with whatever spider realm she now rules?"

"Her fixation is with Rukia. I do not believe it is motivated by anything else."

"But why is the main question." Ichigo said. "Believe it or not, Jushirmai no longer interests me, I wanna know about her. She stuck around her long enough to want something from her. Your grandfather mentioned that she wanted Rukia to contaminate the heart just as much as him but why? That can't be her only reason. And how did either of them know that she'd get that responsibility to begin with?"

"I believe her fixation runs deeper than that of the heir." Byakuya said. "As for the reason, I believe Rukia knows herself."

Ichigo released a breath. "We're getting outta here soon. I'm sure she'll tell us."

What's rare?

---

12th Division

House of Souls

Fan chained blades / Moonstone

Raiden blew the tip of the wooden arrow he sharpened while waiting for them. "Yeah, yeah just go before half of the place is burnt fucking over."

The member of his division disappeared while Shira appeared in front of him through a white portal.

"And the Seireitei?" Raiden looked up.

The cold really did nothing to her.

"You again. Did ya help Renji?"

She wore no overcoat, she didn't even wear the long-sleeved version of her black haori. Still donned in her black hanfu with the sleeveless version of her haori and a brooch of gingko leaves made out of emerald and gold, the Li's family representative stone, pinned near her chest, nothing changed.

She wasn't even an ice type. She was a wind one.

"The sheets for the Seireitei, hand them over." Shira said.

"Aren't you supposed to be over there or somethin'? The fuck you doin' here? I can't give you the sheets for the fucking Seireitei 'cause I gotta find a way to put them up there without fucking assassin hands touchin' them."

She put a hand out. "The sheets or I find them myself."

"Now hold on, ya can't just raid my division ya know. The fuck you want them f—Shira—" she walked past him but stopped at the mention of her first name without her title.

Raiden paused. "Are ya gonna put them up yourself?"

"They can do that themselves." She responded after a while.

Raiden considered this thoroughly before making a final decision. "Fine but if they don't do it, it's on ya to finish the job. They're in the lab."

He pointed his fingers backwards and watched her enter the opening where the top floor's lab was, all futuristic as it could be.

Despite her exterior, Raiden knew she had enough of a heart to help them through this. They had history.

###

13th Division

House of Honor

Butterfly blades / Moonstone

"All I'm sayin' is that you gotta learn to take on the big roles. I could die any day from now. Tomorrow, the day after that," he gasped, "maybe even a year after that so you have to learn to be responsible."

Nana rolled her eyes. "I already am responsible. Look, why don't you just demote yourself from being Major and let me handle the job. It's not like you show up at meetings anyways."

"And what level of Judan are you stuck on now?" He pushed his head forward and had his left hand put to his ear as if he was holding a seashell. "Huh? Huh? Huhhhhhh?"

"Doesn't matter. I can get there, besides that, I'm perfectly qualified to be a Major. I do your work, I'm basically the Head of the division, it isn't fair to me to have to rely on myself when my Major is out trying to star in movies that no one will ever pay a penny to see."

"If you can't do that now, how will you survive as Major, dear Nana?" He asked softly.

"Like you do. You do nothing." She pointed out again. "When's the last report you handled? There was an emergency meeting and you didn't even show up. Now the 13th Division is banned from involvement and we have to do community service work all because of you."

"And where were you? Probably goofing off with that little friend of yours?" He fluttered his hand with a smirk.

"Doesn't matter, I showed up—you didn't. You're just coming back now from who knows where. I should be Major if you can't handle being a superior anymore."

"Ah, but Sensei Okasake loved me, princess that's why I'm here and that's where I'll stay." Mani said. "You get good work experience, I get to be out of your way, it's a win-win. By the way, did you get the drama links I sent you?"

"It isn't if you're still around. I do everything here and somehow you get the praise. If you want to be in movies so badly, retire and become an actor in the human world or something."

"And why can't I have both?" Mani asked. "Ah, Princess Nana you're making this much more difficult than it needs to be."

"I can't train 'cause I'm always doing your work and mine, I run the division and you get the praise, it isn't worth it."

"It is if you treasure experience."

"I want a Major who can equally distribute work and is present regularly so I can learn from them. I learn nothing from you, you're never around, the entire division barely remembers you're in charge. They might as well call me Major Nana and call you, 'who?'."

"Then what's stopping you?" Mani questioned. "You either lack guts or know you don't have a chance. So let me star in my films and maybe...just maybe I'll make you my assistant!"

Nana blew a large bubble until it popped. "I'll pass. Either resign or own up to your position. When's the last time y—"

The wartime bell was hit three times. Nana popped out of her chair and ran to the balcony out front.

"Soul shadows on the way!" A voice shouted, Nana looked up and saw a heavy cloud of black containing the many faces of soul shadows—there were already so many on the ground, making their way through the corridors of the streets.

She gripped the bar tightly. "What do we do?"

She waited for an answer but it never came—her Major didn't even follow her out. Angrily, she went back into the room with the shōji doors still tore open to see him sitting down on the wine couch adjacent to the one she was sitting on.

"There's a bunch of soul shadows out the—"

"We're banned from involvement so just sit and relax. They'll handle it, it'll give me time to show you this—"

Nana angrily glared.

"If you're so worried about it, go appeal the order then—no problem." He wasn't even looking at her. His fingers danced over the tablet he had pulled to his face.

Nana clenched her fist and stormed out. She'd get him overthrown somehow. She had to make everyone see him for who he is.

---

"Hey, look it leads out to something. Another area—maybe." Monkey said.

"Feels like we just went in a circle." Snake said right after as they entered a large circular area much like the ones they had encountered before.

"Wait, where's Hanatarō and Yūshirō?" Rukia asked while turning her head.

"They chose to stay behind." Byakuya told her.

"It's like we went right back around." Monkey said.

Roger slid past her. "I expected that given the curve we followed inside of there."

"Shall we move forward?" Sode No Shirayuki proposed. "Time is ticking."

"Hey, why's it so dark in here?" Snake asked though his voice was not coming from anywhere close to them. Instead, his little head was poked into the large side hole which showed an area of darkness.

"Get away from there, a place like that only spells trouble." Monkey said monotonously as the group moved up to be near him.

"What do you see?" Senbonzakura asked.

"Is there anything you can hear?" Roger added.

"No, nothing really. It's just black." Snake reported in response to Senbonzakura's question. "There's….something like muffles? It sounds like white noise."

Rukia went to the opening and just barely leaned her head past the line. For some reason, the sound got loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Move from there." Byakuya told her—she didn't listen.

"I knew those animal heads weren't for nothin', there's probably a whole pile of soul shadows in there generating their bodies." Monkey said.

"Though to assemble their bodies here is strange. It's an act mostly completed in the House of Evil or in reserved places where an aura as strong as Hell can be found. This place has always been cited as unused and now we're seeing shapeshifters and soul shadows inhabit this place as if they're reclaiming it." Sode No Shirayuki said.

Roger agreed. "Yes, to assemble their bodies here as well—so close to purified land and with the presence of pure sheatsu—is strange. Though they distanced themselves from us, I'd like to be presumptuous and say that this area is the only area they've occupied for nurturing."

"If that's the case then, there is a possibility that it could have the silver line. There are many areas like this even further away but they chose here." Senbonzakura said.

"I can't say whether it's the act of Jūshirmai or if they acted on this one alone. If there are inscriptions down here and skeletal scrap yards for soul shadows then maybe they chose this one on their own." Rukia hypothesized.

"The pressure is so strong here." Snake described in a distant voice. The most they could see was his tail.

"Don't go in there, you idiot." Monkey scolded. "Just 'cause you look like a snake, doesn't mean they're gonna accept you in there unless you're stripped to the bone."

"I can only hear voices. But they're all distorted…" he continued to describe as if he couldn't hear him. "There's a bunch of chewing noises too."

"You must go in there and find the silver line." Senbonzakura instructed.

"Are you crazy?" Monkey pulled his non-existent collar. "There's a bunch of soul shadows in there!"

"It is possible if he has another form which can allow him access in there." Senbonzakura responded. "As a shapeshifter just like Roger."

"Then why can't he go?" Monkey asked in reference to Roger.

"They know I am an associate of Rukia-sama." Roger explained while staring into the darkness. "Everyone knows. Shapeshifters have no true ally however, there are some like me who do forge such relationships. Rukia-sama is one of my many. That being said, I won't have a second to search for any line as I'll be their next meal."

"Right, and we don't?" Monkey bent forward to the back of Roger. "They're gonna sense him the moment he goes in there alone."

"You both are different." Roger didn't turn back once. "You existed in Renji as the entity of sheatsu and reiatsu intertwined. This manifestation of yours didn't begin until he began training as a zanpakutō user. This appearance won't be recognizable to them especially if you can control your sheatsu. These aren't fully developed soul shadows, they're still in their nurturing stages—their senses won't be as strong to detect Renji if you can enter with this form and manage to suppress your sheatsu in the slightest way."

"I still think it's too risky." Monkey said. "By those instructions, you still have as much of a chance as we do and you're better at masking your sheatsu and reiatsu."

"They'll know it's me...they'll know. There may be hundreds which look like me but only one would dare enter such a place in hopes of aiding the shinigami. My kind minds our business unless someone jabs at it. You'll find very few of them, I'm the only known one who works at court." Roger slightly turned back. "You know this well already, Zabimaru. How else did you come to manifest the way you are?"

"Look, he's already gone." Rukia pointed out which drew their attention to the squiggly snake tail departing into the darkness.

"S-Snake!" Monkey yelled. "Wait for me!"

She grabbed onto his tail and they both disappeared into the darkness.

"We should stay here. It's best they handle this." Senbonzakura said.

"The pure light agitated them." Rukia explained while pulling out the sai blade from her pocket at a distance. "When I leaned in, it must've sparked."

"If you threw that in there, they would die." Byakuya stated and Rukia nodded her head.

"But, it would trigger some defense from their own kind."

"I'm sure they will be successful." Sode No Shirayuki said as they waited for Zabimaru to return from the darkness.

---

"A-Are you sure this is the right way back, Yūshirō-san?" Hanatarō asked while staring at the walls. "I-I can't seem to sense L-Lieutenant Ise or Urahara-san."

"My portals aren't generating either." Yūshirō said beside him.

"If you d-don't mind me a-asking, what are those anyways?"

"Portals? They're the assassin equivalent to senkaimons and transporting with flash-step but these are easily accessible to anyone and a lot more gracefully executed in their words." Yūshirō explained. "We call them Gateways of Purity because the circle is created by purified reishi which takes the form of stark white and allows you to travel between many worlds like the senkaimon allows you too."

"But I-I thought the senkaimon was the only official way to leave the Soul Society? I-If everyone has access to it, how do they t-track it?"

"Your movements are recorded by the portal itself and can be accessed if necessary though it rarely happens. Creating portals is a free will of movement." Yūshirō answered. "As for the senkaimon, there's a lot of things about the Seireitei which seem definite but are actually not."

"I-I never thought this could be possible."

"Anything can seem impossible if it's hidden well enough." Yūshirō said. "The only problem is that when it's revealed, people have a hard time believing it. So much that they pretend it isn't real."

"W-Wow, Yūshirō-san! Where'd you learn to speak like that?"

"Nee-san." Yūshirō replied. "I know why it might be hard to accept that there are others that came before you which you're most likely a copy of but I think the sooner the shinigami come to accept it, the better. Maybe they can finally look into a mirror."

"D-Did the soul reapers do something bad?" Hanatarō looked horrified.

"It depends on how you look at it. They did do a lot of wrong things to the quincy race and depending on which story you believe in, their creation was created out of spite."

"What kind of s-stories are there?" Hanatarō asked curiously.

"Too many to count, little brother." A voice belonging to neither Yūshirō or Hanatarō said, they both turned around.

The moment Yūshirō did, something hooked on his collar and threw him out into the sea of water closest to them.

"W-Wha—W-Who are you?" Hanatarō asked while trembling at the man who stood in the air, spinning a short knife endlessly around.

He grinned. "Isn't it obvious? I'm your brother."

"B-Brother?!" Hanatarō's eyes widened. "N-N-No, a-assassin-san I-I don't h-have a b-brother!"

"How sad," he remarked, "they didn't mention me."

"Y-You have the wrong p-person."

He introduced himself. "Yamada Seinosuke."

"Y-Y-Yamada?! Uh, well—a-assassin-san there's lots of people w-with the name Yamada! Millions even! I-I think you're m-mistaken."

"Care for a DNA test?" Hanatarō was rendered speechless. "What? Didn't expect me to come so prepared? Take a look."

Hanatarō's body quivered all over as he attempted to open the white envelope given to him, afraid of what he would discover.

The paper eventually slipped out and came to the surface.

Startled, Hanatarō dropped the paper and stepped back.

"B-But h-how?" Hanatarō asked. "I-I…."

"The 23rd Head of the Shihōin clan offered you some great words of wisdom just a moment ago. 'Anything can seem impossible if it's hidden well enough'. In your case, I'm the impossible and the hidden bits are those of my past which everyone seems to be queasy about so let me tell you with my own words, what kind of brother you have."

Hanatarō shuddered.

---

"They're taking too long." Ichigo observed.

"Maybe they're lost. It is pretty dark in there." Rangiku said.

"By the looks of it, their element is fire, they should be fine." Tōshirō said.

"Soul shadows cannot be exposed to light or else their bodies will become disfigured during nurturing stages." Mayuri explained. "They're better off roaming in the dark than starting trouble."

"Then how are they supposed to see the line?" Momo asked.

"The line will shine itself then." Tōshirō said. "They just need to check the walls."

Orihime gasped. "Something's coming!"

She pointed into the darkness, channeling all their focus to the spot she was pointing at. They stared into it until they saw something peculiar. A rectangle of darkness shot out of the opening and suddenly it became all black.

They heard the noises but could barely hear each other.

"The darkness expanded!" Tōshirō said in an attempt to speak over the noises.

"Think they can sense us, Ishida?!" Ichigo shouted with his zanpakutō out even though he wasn't sure it'd work.

"Not sure! I don't think!" He heard him yell back.

"Think I'd prefer those bat things instead." Kensei said though no one could hear him.

Voices on top of voices with words no one could make out echoed through the area. The multitude of presences could easily be detected. Hell's stench was a fetid one.

"It's 'cause of the pure light!" They heard the younger Rukia yell. "It's agitating their birthing process!"

"Roger is missing!" Sode No Shirayuki yelled.

"It won't be long until they recognize you two! Let's return to the passage we came from until further notice!" Senbonzakura yelled. "Follow me!"

---

"Are you done digging?" Monkey snapped as she nervously held onto Snake's tail.

"Almost, but I don't feel anything different." Snake said. "Or maybe I haven't taken enough sand out."

"Well hurry up! This place gives me the creeps."

"I'm trying but it's not as moist as the other walls."

"Uh-oh."

"What's wrong, Monkey?"

"Bones, they're falling down." She noticed as she heard the sounds of cracking and saw faint glimpses of cream.

Soon, they began to dust over them as Snake tried to scrape faster. Monkey was knee-deep into a pile of all kinds of skeletal bones as Snake elevated to check each level.

"Be careful, there's developing soul shadows up ther—agh!"

Snake looked down to the space where he had last heard her voice. "Monkey! Monkey! Where are you?"

She was unresponsive. Snake contemplated whether he should jump down and search for her or continue to serape for the line.

"Monkey! I'm coming!" He chose his partner and jumped down into the sea of bones to find her. "Monkey! Monkey!"

Monkey popped out. "Now you've done it!"

"You're alright!"

"Now you've got them wanting monkey bones!"

Snake blinked. "Wait, what?" He looked up and felt something pushing towards them. "You mean us?!"

A heavy pressure scattered the pieces of bones which surrounded them. They moved left and right to avoid the pressure however, whichever force caught them, pulled them up and threw them back.

They were no longer in the circle area they had entered.

---

"S-Sorry, a-assassin-san—I really do think y-you're mistaken." Hanatarō lied.

"The paper is in your hand and you still think I'm mistaken?" He brought his knife up in front of him and stared at his reflection with a smirk. "We look alike, what more do you need?"

Hanatarō didn't know what to say. "I-I'm sorry, assassin-san! I-I really do think you have the wrong p-person! I'm sorry!"

With nothing else to do, he ran away. The moment he did, the ground began to break and rise from all sorts of spots. He leaped through the ones he could and tripped over some as he tried to sprint to the next opening.

Still in his spot, with an amused tone he spoke. "Where are you going?"

The short katana left his hand and went surging forward to Hanatarō with a chain attached. Just when it was about to reach him, the chain was cut next to the middle and Hanatarō went flying into Nanao.

"L-Lieutenant Ise!" Hanatarō acknowledged in surprise before turning around to see Kisuke in front of him—responsible for the cut chain.

"We're not doing anything wrong, Urahara." Seinosuke said slowly. "I just wanted to speak with my little brother is all."

"It's interesting to see you alive of all people, what's Okasake's use with you?"

"There is none. Hard to believe that I came back here for my little brother?"

"As a soul shadow, no but if you're here as one of his allies, yes. Out of all people, I'm interested to know why he chose you as one of them. Your past may be dirty but there's nothing special about it, you're just a hidden criminal in the force." Kisuke said.

"That's why Unohana Retsu and I worked well, don't you think?" He licked his blade. "How is Captain Unohana, little brother?"

"C-Captain?" Hanatarō asked. "Uh well—"

"Don't answer him." Nanao ordered. "He was the Lieutenant of the 4th Division under Captain Unohana."

"L-Lieutenant?"

"Ah yes, the good ol'days where everyone hated me despite Captain Unohana selecting me herself." Seinosuke grinned.

"Captain c-chose you?"

"Yes, by your tone, you're asking me why."

"I often wonder the same thing too." Nanao said. "Why?"

Seinosuke scoffed. "You don't know her well enough to understand why she took interest in someone like me."

"You have poor character." Those words came from Nanao. "Perhaps she gave you the position in an attempt to lead you out of it."

"Hardly, I wasn't a nuisance to her at all. We just had…" he raised his brows. "A few common interests."

"H-How'd you d-d-die?" Hanatarō asked.

"Caterpillars." Seinosuke said. "Ate my soul, an infection from animal bones meant for soul shadows weakened my state at the time."

"So how'd you come back here? Why didn't your soul become purified?" Nanao questioned boldly.

"It never has been, of course it wouldn't dance off peacefully."

"You mean your purpose here is for fun?" Nanao asked. "To plot against the soul reapers for satisfaction?"

"I am dead, there is no use for me to continue with the allies I had when I was alive. Something new doesn't kill. I just wanted to meet my little brother who knows nothing of me."

"But Lieutenant Ise," Hanatarō looked up at her. "Why didn't no one ever tell me about him?"

"He's not a good person, Yamada. There's nothing to tell, he wasn't on good relations with your mother either. Captain Unohana thought it was best to keep it that way."

"I can't say I liked anyone as much either so the feeling was mutual."

"You have a message for us or something?" Kisuke asked.

"I believe your old friend, Sei has already done so with Shihōin Yoruichi. You can free the Gotei 13 though it'll achieve nothing."

"So Sei's become a soul shadow too…."

"And her daughter. Together, they're a slaughterhouse."

"Okasake didn't revive you all then. You were reborn as soul shadows and maintained the soul appearance you carried when you were alive. You joined by choice."

Kisuke now knew why Yoruichi was taking so long. "What others have come to his aid?"

"He hasn't recruited too many familiar faces, it's too cheap of a way to get the emotional ball rolling."

"He says that and then he tortures us with horrid visions of those we care for." Nanao said. "It's no different. His methods already are cheap."

"The fault is on your weak mind, not him. Those are mere illusions and yet you all fall so hard for them. If anything, he's shown how none of you are worthy of praise if you can be so easily manipulated." Seinosuke responded.

"I got out of it once, I can do it again." Nanao assured him.

He scoffed. "Just barely. If it weren't for her, you would've probably remained trapped in that illusion. You drew it out to erase it from your mind, you couldn't even bear the thought existing in your head."

"You'll find that not many people would like the vision of dismembering your Captain and drowning a baby, real or not, stuck in their brain like a memory." Nanao said. "Though I can see why you might think it's that easy to live with that."

"There's a reason he has such a hold on you though if I start talking, it'll give it all away," he leaned in, "won't it?"

"His tricks won't fool me. I know what is real and what is not. He has no hold on me." Nanao said defiantly.

"He held onto you enough to temporarily put you against her and convince you that she's responsible for the death of the pure light. You tried to kill her in that dream and found that she was immortal and began to curse her existence. You recreated the scene of Okasake Gureta killing her infant son, to me his tricks have already fooled you. Somewhere in your heart, you still believe that some of that is real."

"But which part?" Seinosuke asked. "The part which you folded and keep in that pocket of yours. Shall we bring it out?"

Nanao looked down to grab it but the paper already sprang out with the wind Seinosuke was controlling and brought the drawing into his hand. He unfolded it.

"Ah, this." He held it like a scroll and showed it to her. It was of Rukia and that woman with the same scarlet eyes. "I suppose her immortality is still suspicious to you, even when she was the one who got you out of your illusions. Sad that she doesn't like to listen. If she left you all screwed, you'd have no chance."

"I carried it along to question her about that woman." Nanao said.

"Yes, you did but why did you bring this one out of all of them? This one forms a connection, you believe that she's somehow linked to this woman in a way which would explain her abnormality. Even when she informed you that she had been a victim, you still don't believe her...sad."

Nanao tightened her jaw. "You're mistaken."

"You believe she's a victim but you don't believe she's anything normal and has connections with something unknown. There's no harm in accepting it—it's your truth." He averted his eyes to Kisuke. "But that's her truth, what's ours, Urahara Kisuke? You chose a specific person for the hōgyokū, certainly you know what I'm talking about."

"I'd say I do, but I don't really know the connection here between you and her. You're clearly not interested." Kisuke said.

"You're right. She lost my respect." Seinosuke answered. "I came here to have a chat with my little brother."

"If that's the case then you should leave then. 3rd Seat Yamada has no interest in you." Nanao said to him before he flash-stepped away from her eyes.

He was now behind her with his blade to her throat. "And what right do you have to speak over family?"

"D-Don't hurt her!" Hanatarō pleaded as Nanao pushed his arm off and stretched out her arm to do a kido spell.

"Shakkaho! Shakkaho! Shakkaho!" She yelled as many times he disappeared and reappeared for her to aim at him.

"You should know, Lieutenant Ise, attacking a member of the 4th Division with kido is no different than attacking a fish with water. Useless."

He appeared in front of her again and did a butterfly kick, sending her far back.

"Lieutenant Ise!" Hanatarō shouted before running to her.

Seinosuke spiraled around and around while moving his blade to hit Kisuke's who flash-stepped in front of him. The sound of steel clinking against each other was delivered at each second.

Quick movement went on in speed, Seinosuke's element was wind and forced the sword dance to stay within a specific range.

"Not that it matters, but what kind of animal head did you take on, Yamada?" Kisuke asked as their blades crossed.

"Fox—sly and clever."

"Why, was the caterpillar head too ugly?"

"Not at all, I just have no interest in becoming a butterfly." He pushed Kisuke off and they resumed the sword dance. Their strength was equally matched for the most part though Kisuke found himself becoming slower each time.

"You know," Kisuke said once they parted. "Using poison during something like this ain't a good look."

"Poison?" He snorted while clutching the hilt of his katana as if he was going to stab something. "I have a thing for rotting bones, Urahara Kisuke and you my friend have fallen in close contact with it, that slow movement of yours is an effect of the infection."

Kisuke glanced at his left arm and saw orange-red patches with cracks of yellow appear on it.

"Luckily, I got a store that sells a cure." Kisuke charged at him once again. His vision was betraying him with glitches and odd movement though he kept going.

"Your strength hasn't wavered even while living in exile. Even though your vision isn't strong and your movement is slow, you're still sharp." Seinosuke complimented while simultaneously blocking with his bare hands.

He then brought out a nunchaku and slapped Kisuke's wrists in quick movements—pushing him back. He became dizzy after witnessing the blurry objects being pulled left to right. The infection was amplifying each time he got within close range.

"Is the sword fight too close for you?" Seinosuke asked.

"An infection won't take me down as easily."

"Then I say, let's skip to the blood." Seinosuke bolted towards him and spun around multiple times while hitting him with his blade.

The goal was to cut him first. Seinosuke didn't hold back and continued to use the wind which he controlled and fast movements to his advantage. Eventually, Kisuke's slowed body betrayed him and the first cut tore through his skin.

Though Seinosuke didn't stop there. With his maintenance of the wind, he pushed Kisuke forward and brought pressure to his arms and legs with the force of wind to slow his movements. The gust which encircled them like a tornado made him more dizzy.

Slashes went to his wrist, diagonally from his right shoulder, and cut a line on his face.

Kisuke wiped the blood off his cheek. "Well ain't that a bit cheap."

"I wonder what you make of those whose power do not rely on it." Seinosuke said. "Artificial abilities will never rival those that are naturally born."

"An assassin line." Kisuke acknowledged.

"A way of life." Seinosuke corrected before he stood back to observe him. "The infection's spreading."

"I'm still alright."

With that confirmation, he stepped forward.

"W-Wait!" Hanatarō grabbed onto his brother's shihakushō. "I-If you're my brother, p-please don't hurt these p-people!"

Seinosuke pushed him to the ground from his spot in the air. "I can't fulfill that promise, sorry—let go."

Kisuke lost his hat to the wind. Miniature tornadoes formed around them for Seinosuke to control wind from. The one beneath them generated the most pressure upwards which brought their hair up too.

He pushed his arm through the wind with his katana, having Seinosuke believe that he was going to slash him with steel. Whish, the wind pressed on him though his wrist pushed through the invisible bondage.

He threw the katana back in the midst of a spin and released it before he gave him a side kick that Seinosuke blocked before abandoning his own weapon.

Speed was put to a test once the katanas were abandoned and they engaged in rigorous hand-to-hand combat with precise blocks which prolonged the contact without breaks.

Though Kisuke's blocks were precise, his failing vision from the infection which continued to scorch his skin took a toll on how flawlessly he could evade the attacks.

On Seinosuke's end, the nunchaku appeared in a flash to slap Kisuke's wrists at each opportunity. By the end of this ceaseless contact, Kisuke was painted with blood at his forearms and cheeks.

Though the most noticeable of changes was his right eye which became a lemonade colour with an even lighter cream pupil. Beneath it, the skin was swollen and nearing a bruised purple.

It was an effect of the infection.

###

"T-There has to be some way I can cure him." Hanatarō said beside Nanao on the ground.

"It seems that he was infected by the bone based on what your brother said."

"T-Then wouldn't Tessai-san know what kind of cure to use?" Hanatarō asked.

"I don't know if there was any truth to it but Urahara said his store had a cure for it. Maybe you should return and ask him."

"But h-how will I get back, Lieutenant Ise? There's no senkaimon here a-and Yūshirō fell in the water, I-I don't know if he ever got out." Hanatarō started to panic. "D-Do you have sheatsu, Lieutenant I-Ise?"

"If I did, I would've gotten rid of it." Nanao turned to the water. "He fell in there?"

"Yes!"

Nanao took fast strides to the edge of the rock and peered into the water. "If he came up to surface, he would've been here."

"What do we do?"

"Jinta and Ururu are back with the Gotei 13's bodies along with the Bounts in the same area. Go to them and have them open a senkaimon for you and ask Tessai-san." She instructed.

"A-And Yūshirō-san?"

"I'll find him. Just go before Urahara-san is unable to fight. The infection seems to be spreading more briskly. Go." Hanatarō nodded his head and sped out of there.

---

Monkey held onto her forehead and groaned. Her spine ached and cracked the moment she made a slight move.

"Where are we?" Darkness surrounded them no more. They were back into another section of the red-rocked dimension.

The soul shadows made their noises from afar though they were nowhere near them. A sigh of relief left the pair as they stood up.

"Are we gonna go back?" Snake asked, Monkey thought about it before looking to the walls.

"Try here first."

Snake did just that. He hoisted up onto one of the walls and began digging away the surface sand. A brief sight of a silvery-cream colour made his heart skip again, its texture was different too—smoother.

His finger ran over it. He gasped. "Monkey…"

Her chest heaved, "is it it? Did you find it?"

Snake's silence made her even more sure that he found it.

"Talk to me! Is it it? Did we really find it?"

Snake leaned back with his eyes fixated on his fingers.

"Did we find it?! Is it it?! Speak, you idiot!"

"Monkey…."

"What?!"

Tears leaked out the corner of his eyes. "I think I touched an infected soul shadow bone!"

The fright turned his face blue as he hastily wiped his fingers against the sand in hopes of getting rid of it.

"Monkey, look!"

"Don't bring it to me!" Monkey yelled. "Urahara probably sells the cure. He sells everything, relax."

"But my hand! It's gonna turn red too, isn't it?!"

"If you've been infected. It could be just a normal bone."

"Check." Snake urged while holding his wrist.

"I'm not going over there."

"Come."

"Let's get outta here and find Urahara."

"Look!" Snake gasped. "I think it's already turning yellow."

"I told you not to show me!" Monkey moved back to avoid it but Snake came closer to her.

"Would you just take a look? It's not contagious!" He backed her to the wall.

"That doesn't mean I want to—ow!" Monkey's head hit the wall hard. She turned around to look at the spot where it hit and saw a decaying bone colour. "A-Ah! I think I just touched one too!"

She moved away from it while rubbing the back of her head as Snake approached it—noticing something.

"Monkey…."

"What?" She gulped nervously. "Don't tell me it's one of the ones with blood still on it."

"No…" Snake reached out to touch it.

"What are you doing?!"

"It's silvery…." he faintly ran his finger over it, "and smooth…"

"What?"

"Monkey...I think you found the silver line!" Snake smiled before rubbing away all the dirt to see a perfect thick line like a ribbon suddenly run to the ends of the wall.

"Wait. I did?!" Monkey removed her hand. "So I'm not infected? What about you?"

Snake glanced at the wall. The line ran above it.

"A-AH! N-No! Monkey! I'm still infected!"

"Urahara can give us the cure. Let's go tell them we found it." Monkey said proudly. "Just don't touch anybody."

Snake sneered. "It's not contagious!"

Monkey raised her hands up. "Whatever you say."

"I mean it! Didn't you learn anything?!"

"Those classes bore me to death, what were you expecting?"

Snake jumped at her. "It's not!"

"Just try not to forget this place. We'll start here and move forward until we reach the second generator and free the Gotei 13."

"But what if this line goes into that area where the soul shadows are developing?" Snake asked her.

"We'll just have to find a way to get through it."

---

Kisuke had blood all over him. From his skin to his sandals, it stained him everywhere. The swell under his right eye grew into a giant lump but he kept going regardless.

Hakuda and Judan had him trained well in hand-to-hand combat. His knowledge from elemental Judan which touched upon the basic usage of other elements aided him in using the strong winds to his advantage.

The only issue was the infection depressing his movements. With each move, the infection was dulling his strength which made it difficult for him to push past the pressure of the wind to block in time.

The several cuts and bruises to his face and skin were due to this factor which he couldn't control unless given the antidote to reduce the effects.

Despite his will to continue, the state of his body screamed otherwise. The infection would soon spread to his legs which would impact him detrimentally. Most of the fight had been dependent on speed which Judan was largely dependent on besides hand-to-hand skill.

Seinosuke was well-trained in it and fast. He was barely managing now to avoid them and just took the hits. But in doing so, he had one last advantage left that he hoped would last him until Hanatarō returned with the antidote.

He did his best not to swallow his own blood.

---

"Roger!" Rukia called for in the darkness. "Roger!"

Something cool slithered against her skin inside her garment. She touched the outside.

"What do you think you're doing in there?!" She hissed while pulling her neckline for him to hear her more precisely.

"Hiding!" He answered.

"Get out of there!"

"Not until we get out of this darkness! They know me!"

"How much further to the passage?!" Byakuya asked Senbonzakura.

"Not sure, though I'm sure we'll find it soon!" Senbonzakura said. "Its walls are gold, it shouldn't be hard to miss!"

"You don't know where we're going, do you?!" Rukia asked flatly before sighing. "Why don't I just release the pure light?! That'll get rid of them for good!"

Senbonzakura stopped and had Byakuya and Rukia bump into his legs.

"S-Sorry, master, Rukia-sama!"

"I think it's a good idea!" Sode No Shirayuki yelled over the noise. "I'll light the way, Rukia-sama you can throw the light then!"

"Sounds good to me!" Rukia yelled as Sode No Shirayuki parted her hands and then shaped a circle which emitted a white haze and shot up.

It brought light to the horrors which existed in a developing soul shadow's bedroom. Disfigured faces liquified and screams which could break glass came out.

A thin reflection of the faces came out further but were transparent and were lined with various colours in relation to the emotion which they carried to become a soul shadow.

Rukia didn't wait a moment longer and kicked up the sai blade which transformed into an arrow and surged upwards until it hit a point. Its aura spread like radiation waves but in circles.

Screams were reduced into squeals until the darkness swarmed away and they found themselves just in front of the opening to the narrow passage they came out from.

"We did it!" Snake suddenly appeared in front of them. "We found the silver line!"

"Really?" Rukia asked.

Roger slithered a bit out of Rukia's uniform from the neckline in excitement. "Was it in that place?"

Rukia hit the back of his head. "Get out of there!"

"Actually, no." Monkey said. "We got thrown some place far back and found it."

"Well the good news is that we found it." Sode No Shirayuki said. "We should return to the others so we can get moving as soon as possible."

Senbonzakura opened a portal. "Let's go."

---

Kisuke's movements were now slow enough to be hit at each time. Each slit stung twice as much as the infection made the surface of his skin rough and peeled.

He slid back—not by choice—but with a kick which created a distance between them yet again. He was brought back yet again and then kicked backwards, stumbling a few times before he maintained his ground.

"You still have the will to continue." Seinosuke observed.

"I don't see why not."

Seinosuke snorted. "Is your own blood a joke to you?"

"Hardly, it's just an infection." Kisuke said. "Frankly, I'm more interested in your purpose here."

"Is that why you continue? I already told you your answer, I should meet my little brother at least once, no?"

"Didn't seem that way when you slammed him into the ground. Jūshirmai got a message for me or something?"

Seinosuke smirked. "This came from Naohira. We should weaken every point which threatens damage."

A spiral of wind whipped against Kisuke's body, amplifying his dizziness at the fast push back and then forward. Bruises lined against his hairline as hard kicks, from each angle, threatened to crush his skull.

"I forgot to ask," Seinosuke said some time after they parted again. Kisuke was barely recognizable now, just a figure covered with red slobs. "You're not a man who relies on your element often, what is it?"

Kisuke didn't answer and threw himself towards him.

"This is becoming too easy." Seinosuke didn't hesitate to use bone-shattering strength with his fists and legs. "I almost feel pity for you."

He threw Kisuke back and while sliding, he fell to his knees—eyes just barely open, shoulders slouched. A corpse retained more life than him. Swollen skin all over with bruises and peeled skin, white hot.

His other eye eclipsed the colour found in his right eye in the shape of a crescent moon. Like scales, rings of orange ran up his neck in a patterned rash from the infection though were barely visible beneath the layer of blood.

Kisuke coughed up blood though had his hand over his lips before it could splatter. His blurred vision gave him the clearest view he would have for the rest of this battle of Seinosuke holding his katana behind his shoulder.

"Hm. One mark down." He turned around. "Now where's that little brother of mine?"

"Blood." Kisuke croaked out with his head to the ground beneath him, his knees still bent in the air.

Seinosuke slightly turned. "What?"

"Blood." He repeated again with the same scratchy tone.

With whipping sounds, the blood from his face and body was sucked out and formed ribbons around him.

Kisuke's elemental ability was blood and sun. Ruby.

The ribbons began to encircle and cover more ground—eventually tucking the two into a space just for them like a cage.

Kisuke brought his two hands up and splashed blood, from a distance, onto Seinosuke's face which burnt like fire. He pulled a splash back which took the shape of a bisentō (AN: also known as a brow blade) and crushed into Seinosuke's chest.

Blood peeled off his face with delicate movements and rose up, mutating into red mist which swirled around the area.

With the signal of his hand, the red mist cluttered beneath Seinosuke's feet and with violent thrusts upwards it ripped through his skin, leaving lines as if it had been a rake responsible.

Seinosuke wiped the burning blood on his face. "You tricked me."

"I beg to differ, Yamada-san. I just told you my element." The blood mist brought up his hat and had it swirl on top of his head. "Benihime thought we should wait until you were finished."

"Now," his hands shaped a circle, "let's begin."

Using a stream of blood, Kisuke slid forward and simultaneously tossed red hot liquid into Seinosuke's face before resuming hand-to-hand combat.

He could no longer see properly so he followed his zanpakutō's scent on Seinosuke's body.

Within their fast encounter, the blood took the form of multiple weapons which Kisuke used in the midst of it in addition to using Benihime's zanpakutō technique of a hexagon shield with blood mist.

If he had used his zanpakutō, it would've been called upon by saying Chikasumi no Tate.

What Kisuke observed from Seinosuke was that he only knew of the basics of the wind element. He had no technique of his own, he only knew of how to control the pressure and use it for simple tasks.

Despite the effectiveness, it would work against someone like Kisuke who had mastered his element well.

Though it brought no surprise to him. Seinosuke's methods of fighting which were rarely shown, given his position, resembled those of the 11th Division which relied mainly on the steel of their blade as opposed to spiritual techniques.

He was skilled with his sword and on his feet but his familiarity with elements were quite limited. With Kisuke's infection spreading and worsening each of his senses, he had to prey on the weakness.

Once Seinosuke became bloody, he used the blood against him and sparked a fire within them to have them burn against his flesh like the infection had stung his own arms.

Seinosuke couldn't react with his arms scorching his flesh, emitting smoke. Kisuke pulled off some blood from Seinosuke to form a line and curl around the neck of him and threw him further.

His body collided with a stack of rocks near the edge before seawater.

---

Wildfire was unsettled.

She heard the gong outside ripple through the underground chamber she was in and had watched Cem run out without a word. Guards stood outside though no one interacted with her.

Something was wrong, very wrong based on the amount of times that gong rattled. But in her position, she was in no place to help them. Hours went by and her stomach remained knotted with her feet uneasy.

She strided back and forth within the cell, waiting for someone to come down to her and tell her what exactly was going on though she had a feeling that only a few knew she was imprisoned down here.

But soon, she had heard a voice outside the chamber door. She couldn't see or identify them with their presence but the moment the door creaked open, she found that her nervousness had been enhanced.

It was Captain Kuchiki.

Now, he stood in front of her at the side of the jail cell, awaiting answers.

"Captain Kuchiki…" she acknowledged quietly.

Nothing of his aura was accepting. She bowed her head lower—ashamed.

"What were you doing on private grounds?" Not a single ounce of leniency. He had come here as the judge to sentence her.

"I...went to read a file." She admitted softly. "Though, I had no intention to steal, Minister. You have to believe me. I just went to rea—"

"What?" He interrupted her with vileness.

She ran her tongue over her chapped bottom lip. Her heart stopped.

"I wanted to read Rukia's file." Wildfire murmured. It didn't matter if she broke the law by saying it, she was already in a cell. "There's...an assassin who testified that he saw her on that day, I wanted to read his witness statement."

For the first time, she properly looked him in the eye and saw nothing but stoicness.

"And what would you do with that information?" Expose her, Wildfire answered in her head but any ounce of honesty like that would only enhance the flame.

"I—"

"You are already aware that she is alive." Wildfire's chest heaved while her lips pressed together. Raiden. He must've told him that she knew. "What is the need to read a file which does not apply to the situation?"

"W-Well," she stammered, "I...wanted a conclusion. He's the only one who was there so, I wanted to know if he could've seen anything or know anything which could answer this."

"You were also aware that Hirosuke knew of this."

"Y-Yes, I know but…" what could she say?

"The document you found did nothing to form a conclusion. If you had any patience, you would have waited for her to tell you herself." Wildfire wanted to grit her teeth, though she knew better.

"That's just the thing," she didn't know where she was going with this. "Would she have told the truth?"

Captain Kuchiki didn't answer, his stare indicated that he wanted her to make her case.

"I know the normal answer would be to conclude that it was probably a mission or something that Sensei sent her out on but that doesn't make any sense to me. She didn't have to lie and fake her death. By the looks of it, it seemed like she planned on staying there. She had no reason to obtain a seated position but she did. I don't get what mission she'd even have to do over there anyways. What business do we have with the shinigami? Anything we want, we have the legal authority to ask and get it so why?"

Wildfire couldn't hold back her tongue now.

"And out of all people? It just doesn't make sense for her to be the one to do it. Why was death necessary? Why was lying necessary? She had everyone here thinking she's dead, they're lighting candles now. Candles, Minister Kuchiki. They think because of that stupid folklore story some idiot wrote about her about the white haze she left in, she's gonna come back through it and you and Renji are somehow holy confirmations of this."

She huffed and pushed her tongue into the right side of her cheek. "It's ridiculous. If she's gonna come back, can she come back now and get rid of this nonsense? What's the delay?"

"And," she rushed closer to the bars in a hushed voice. "That file, the witness statement I found from that assassin, Doi Yuko. According to him, she may have intentionally thrown herself over Velmar's cliff and when she did, he saw the body. He claimed that she was dead and that Sensei appeared out of nowhere and shut her eyes and left. And when he turned his back for a second to ask what to do with the body, Sensei told him to leave it and when he turned around, the body was gone...poof...vanished. Was that their scheme at Velmar cliff? To fake her death and have her run away?"

Captain Kuchiki only bore his steel eyes into her skull. She leaned back and loosened her jaw.

"It was all a trick, wasn't it?" She whispered before cautiously glancing at the guards outside through the small rectangular hole in the door.

Moments went by and he didn't speak.

"Were you given the key or did you steal it?" Captain Kuchiki moved on, it seemed that her yelling episode had never happened.

"Stole." She lied.

Again, his eyes watched over her as if he could right through her lies. She hated them.

"You are sure of that?" Wildfire didn't know if he either knew she was lying, had proof that it was Haru, or was taking a jab at her like so many lawyers did in court.

"Of course." She said firmly. "I took it when we were in the Seireitei."

"You did not steal from a low-ranked officer."

Stealing from Haru seemed ridiculous even in her mind. She didn't know how she was going to prove she did it. Haru was always on his feet.

More importantly, Minister Kuchiki knew him well. He had chosen the Haruyoshi clan specifically and naturally was aware of the extent of Haru's abilities. Despite her youth spent on stealing, she was nowhere near the skill to steal from Haru.

She needed to make this story as believable as possible.

"I didn't say it was easy." Wildfire said. "I...was a bit dazed," from drinking, "and Haru came to check me out and when he did, I slipped by hand beneath his haori and took it. He probably would've caught me if it wasn't for his division member who came to tell us about the sickness the 7th Division got."

A real event with slightly altered facts. She had Haru's division member who could confirm it.

"You did not think to ask him for the key." Minister Kuchiki already knew they were close friends.

"No," she swallowed. "I didn't think he'd give it to me since that place is private. I was afraid he'd move it and make it harder for me to take it if he knew."

"You were aware of its significance and chose to enter it regardless." None of these sentences were questions.

She shamefully nodded her head. "I had no choice. It's the only place with the file I wanted. Despite the look of it, I really didn't mean to be intrusive and come into your property. I'm aware that there are a lot of things in there that are significant to our history and your clan's history and that there's a reason they're not supposed to be touched or looked at by others though I wanted this file more than anything, so I did what I did."

"And the voice recording."

She still didn't know how Sensei Haruyoshi had seen that.

"An accident. I really didn't mean to take it, I did plan on it but after I read that witness statement, I realized that it would be no use to me since I had already read everything I wanted to hear. I planned on finding him myself for more information. I just left there in a hurry and forgot to put it with the file."

"You have admitted to two counts of theft and trespassing private property with the intention to steal." Minister Kuchiki announced. There was no leniency for her sentence.

She then remembered. That rug had been lifted—someone had been in there before.

"But—wait. Captain Kuchiki! I think there was someone already in there who wanted to hide Rukia's case." She held onto the bars. "When I went in there, the rug at the left end had been turned over. That's where I found the file. Someone must've intended on hiding it but almost got caught and flipped over the rug in a hurry. Who could that be?"

"That is a separate matter." He told her impassively. "Is that all?"

"But—it couldn't have just been me right? I mean, Haru wouldn't go in there, you wouldn't hide anything like that, and Sensei Haruyoshi…" she paused. "Does Sensei Haruyoshi know about this? But wait. Why would he be in a hurry? Who else besides you and Haru would have access to that place? I doubt it was the Kuchiki elders."

Minister Kuchiki ignored her. "I have permitted two of my own guards to observe the place for anything missing. You have admitted to two counts."

Wildfire released a breath in irritation. "I didn't steal anything. I went to read that file, the voice recorder was an accident. Why are you ignoring the fact that—"

"If that is all you have to say about your case," he interrupted her yet again, "reflect on your actions and accept your consequences when they are decided. That is all."

He turned around.

"Minister Kuchiki, wait—" he was already gone.

What's going on?

---

"I'm impressed." Kisuke said, his head spinning. By now, his eyesight was completely gone.

He was pushed back by the forces of the wind yet again and found that his body was having difficulty standing up. Weariness took over his muscles, his legs burned from the infection.

"You won't let me bleed." Kisuke spun slowly in his spot, against his will.

"I'm not an idiot." Seinosuke still spoke at a slow pace with an amused tone. "You won't last another minute."

"Try me."

"You can only feel." Seinosuke pulled his blade to his chest. "I'd like to see how you plan on preventing yourself from falling to your own condition."

"You forgot taste, smell, and hear." Kisuke said.

"You'll find it difficult to use those when you're without breath." White gale curled beneath him and whipped violently towards Kisuke.

It trapped him into a tornado. The wind blew at a blustering speed of two-hundred and sixty-seven mph. Instantaneously, he spun with it—unable to fight against the tremendous pressure of a tornado at that speed and strength.

It was a matter of breathing now.

Seinosuke channeled the wind to have water from the nearby sea splash onto his skin to rid him of blood. With a supercilious grin, he washed his arms and watched the tornado continue to spin at a distance—a grey barrier shielding him and the area from being affected by its turbulent pressure.

Mist suddenly rose from his arms. He looked down and saw that the sea water had transformed into mist tangled with blood. Once again, it set fire to his skin. The blood mist lined his arms and began to scald his flesh.

The outer layer began to blister and peel to reveal blush red and white flesh. It scorched it until the flesh was gone and his bone could be seen. By then, his face followed and half of it returned to the skeletal fox head while the other half was left as a patchy red.

A thick circle of blood churned beneath him, a double formed in front of him. He took note of the fact, there was one beneath the tornado too.

Just like that, circles like blood cells developed around him and Kisuke shot out of one of them. The impact of his sandals to Seinosuke's face was heavy. It tossed him back towards the sea though he responded by having the wind push him forward.

When it did, he lodged his head into the blood cell-like circle accidentally as a blood bath had slithered beneath him and slid him into it.

While in there, he gurgled on Kisuke's blood. When out, the fox bone was calcined and soaked with blood.

His head was pulled back by the remains of his hair and the column of air he had signaled from before cannoned him straight into the tornado he had created.

Seinosuke spun with the speed of the tornado before he found the strength to cease it, the final spin tossed him further into the air and against the wall.

The left ear of the fox tore off.

Seinosuke coughed blood out, his head forced to bend. It would take almost half a minute before he spoke again.

"Now who's playing cheap?" He wiped his lips and stood up.

"Using blood's not a crime." Kisuke smiled. "It's my element."

An unforeseen cough interrupted what would've been his response.

"Ever heard the phrase 'blood's thicker than water', Yamada-san?" Kisuke tossed his cane up and caught it. "How'd you think it'd feel to drown in it?"

He pushed the hook of his cane into the blood cell and it came out the round circle above Seinosuke. It hooked onto one of his bones and lifted him up into it.

Inside he gurgled on blood water. In response, he formed a whirlpool of wind beneath him to pull him out of it though Kisuke's strength could hold onto him.

"Now your sheatsu may be stronger than mine but you certainly don't know how to use it properly." Kisuke said. "Physical energy can make your system more resilient than you think."

Kisuke let him go and had the whirlpool pull him down. With the flick of his finger, a rush of blood like a fountain shot Seinosuke's body up and another pushed him forward.

Kisuke held onto his stick like a bat and hit a home run which he couldn't see.

His legs were immobilized due to the infection though he could still transport with his blood cells. His strength may have slightly diminished though his opponent's lack of experience benefited him.

It would've been a clean victory if not for the unexpected figure which popped in front of him for a mere second to thrust a powerful high kick to his jaw, shattering a few teeth, which left him unconscious.

The quick figure clasped onto the kimono of the bloody Seinosuke and disappeared with the wind.

Hanatarō and Tessai came running in the background to aid the fallen Kisuke.

---

"What the hell happened to our spot?" Ichigo asked as the group arrived at their new camp site.

"Some crazy shit." Shuhei answered as the divided group joined into one.

"There was an incident." Captain Ukitake explained. "We were forced to relocate after the walls broke down and the place was filled with seawater."

"Didn't you hear what we said earlier, Kurosaki?" Uryū asked.

"Yeah, w-well—"

"That confirms the water we hurled out earlier." Tōshirō said as Uryū had suggested before. "What did you learn?"

"Well that Roger guy is huge...like huge...he carried us the whole way here." Izuru shared.

"Captain Kyōraku's crazy Aunt no longer likes Lieutenant Ise anymore." Shuhei stuck out his finger. "Annndd Lieutenant Ise may have become the Okasake heir's two-hundred and fifty-fifth victim. She became sorta possessed? And she drew a bunch of weird drawings like Lieutenant Kuchiki."

Momo gasped. "Oh no."

"What did she draw?" Rangiku questioned.

"It's all over there." Shuhei pointed to the papers left on the floor. They walked over to it as he spoke. "She said she saw herself dismembering Captain Kyōraku and drowning a baby to death. She also saw the younger Lieutenant Kuchiki stabbing the pure light with some woman beside her near that spider lily field again. And then she started crying and the woman tried to abuse her so she tried to stop it and ended up stabbing Lieutenant Matsumoto who interfered. Then, she tried to poison Lieutenant Kuchiki who died and got back up again with that same woman there."

"The sovereign of the spider species." Uryū mumbled under his breath as he studied the drawing of the younger Rukia and that woman holding onto her shoulders. Both with red hot eyes.

"What's that?" Isane asked.

"Ya know that woman she mentioned who stalks her too? Yeah, she's the current sovereign of the spider species." Shinji said.

"She's also the reason for Rukia's fear of spiders." Ichigo added while observing Nanao's drawings.

"Oh. And get this," Rangiku looked at them. "Our zanpakutōs can merge with other zanpakutōs and have joint abilities."

"It's true." Tōshirō confirmed right after. "We saw it ourselves with Kuchiki and Kuchiki's zanpakutō spirits. They shared that zanpakutōs can join with other wielders."

"Well, look, more surprises to add to the list." Captain Kyōraku said.

Captain Ukitake took a disbelieving step ahead. "How can that be possible? There has never been a case scenario with zanpakutōs being able to join from the start."

"Their zanpakutōs said that it's up to the wielders to know for sure and that most don't end up recognizing it 'cause it ain't essential." Ichigo explained. "We saw it ourselves. They really did join abilities."

"But with what conditions?" Captain Komamura asked.

"We're not a hundred percent sure but by the looks of it, souls that are meant to meet or have strong ties and whatever are the ones who become connected. Our zanpakutōs are supposed to notify us by being unresponsive or something like that." Shinji answered.

"That noble heir event with that photo was where they said their worlds first opened up." Ichigo explained further. "On that day, we saw it. They stood beside each other but they didn't know each other until another circumstance put them together."

"It seems you learned much more than us. What else?" Iba asked.

"Ruki-Ruki is an ice freak!" Yachiru said with glee.

"She can summon her zanpakutō abilities without a calling." Ikkaku clarified.

"What?" Isane asked.

"Kuchiki's more equipped than we thought her to be. I knew she was different though she can summon her shikai abilities with those fan blades of hers and has trained in tessenjutsu. She also informed Kuchiki that she carries other blades and perhaps knows them well enough too." Tōshirō said. "I was hoping you, Ukitake could explain that for us."

They directed their attention to Jūshiro.

"Are assassin abilities similar to those of zanpakutōs?" Uryū asked him.

There was a grave, long silence before he responded.

"Yes, but they're all related to an element of some sort. Abilities can be triggered with a weapon alone, it doesn't necessarily require a zanpakutō."

"She was moving those blades pretty well too." Ikkaku said.

"Yes," Yumichika popped up beside him. "I'd never seen anything like that before."

"Listen, I've seen a lot of guys practice tessenjutsu but not like this." Ikkaku added.

"To what extent?" Captain Ukitake quietly questioned though his tone indicated that he was miles away in thought.

"Four bands, a hundred blades each, enough to understand?" Kensei asked him.

"Yeah, they were flying all over the place and not a single jam. Also, they encountered some animatronic dragon things and she somehow knew they were before anyone else, less than thirty seconds in." Rangiku recalled.

"I don't know how she was controlling them all but when I watched her she was only doing a few movements with her hands." Momo said.

"Not gonna lie, it was pretty cool once you get past the 'how did she do it part'." Shinji complimented.

Captain Ukitake kept his eyes lowered.

Ichigo scanned the area. "Where's Rukia?"

"Something terrible happened." Isane answered. "When everyone fell into the water, Lieutenant Kuchiki's younger brother and the others made it to the surface when it all died down but a part of the walls were still crumbling and it pushed him down. Urahara-san tried searching for him but he could never find him. Eventually, they had no choice but to leave without them."

Ichigo clenched his fist, chest pumped with anger. "What the hell?! And Rukia?!"

"Lieutenant Kuchiki and Lieutenant Ise and you were relocated to some area at the top of the walls. That's when Lieutenant Ise started acting all weird and Lieutenant Kuchiki got her out of it. When she did, you, her, and Lieutenant Ise were blasted into the same area the rest rose up at. Yoruichi-san retrieved both of you though she couldn't find Lieutenant Kuchiki either." Shuhei explained.

"Now Urahara says that she was probably brought to the Soul King Palace. Either way, she can't die right so no problem. Yoruichi-san says that the Okasake heir will protect her brother 'cause he's her blood." Izuru elaborated further.

"Another reason I can't trust this." Kensei said. "There's too many favors and exemptions for me to say this is normal."

Shuhei agreed with his Captain. "Adding onto the fact that she can do those things you mentioned and's pretty weird on her own too."

Ichigo was too fixated on the missing Jushirmai to argue.

"There's something else too. Renji's zanpakutō spirit did something weird. Apparently, they're connected to someone who knows that someone else's responsible for us getting in this shit." Ikkaku said.

Tōshirō stared at them solemnly. "Yes, Kuchiki and Kuchiki listed some suspects though there is a specific one which concerns me."

"Someone else?" Ōmaeda repeated.

"Who?" Shuhei questioned immediately.

Tōshirō opened his mouth but the clap of a stick caught their attention. They turned around and looked to the distance behind them.

A quick flash and the Head Captain appeared with his cane between his feet.

"Yama-jii," Captain Kyōraku greeted. "You're a bit late, don't you think?"

He didn't answer. Instead, walking slowly towards them.

"Where've you been?" Ichigo asked him.

"You're stuck in here too." Tōshirō observed.

"Head Captain," Captain Komamura turned in relief. "We've confirmed that Lieutenant Kuchiki is indeed treacherous."

"There's something really wrong about this whole thing." Shuhei added.

"There's a lot of things you probably don't know." Iba said.

"Even after all that, you're still callin' her the enemy…" Ichigo muttered under his breath.

"Look, Ichigo." Shuhei put his hands out. "I believe the younger her but the older her is a whole different story. The younger her's innocent, I believe that. She's just as confused as we are but the older her, Lieutenant Kuchiki, entered the Seireitei, our grounds with some intention. The younger her could care less about the Seireitei or becoming a soul reaper but the older her has all those qualities of the younger her on top of a truckload of shit we don't know."

"You can't blame her for keepin' it a secret though. She was just followin' the rules, the agreement between Head Captain and Sensei Okasake. Thought you all didn't like law breakers, well there ya go—she didn't break the law and somehow she's still the bad guy here. She's the only one keeping the Soul Society pure while experiencing a bunch of other shit." Ichigo argued.

"I didn't say for her to be executed or imprisoned or anything, Ichigo. I'm just saying there's too many things off about her character. Now she may be keeping the Soul Society pure but there's something else to this whole thing. I'm not entirely comfortable with her relationship with this Okasake heir at all. Now, it may not entirely be her fault but it's still something to be concerned about."

"She's too abnormal of a character." Captain Komamura said. "I will applaud her for protecting the Soul Society however, she has lied tremendously. She works for another side therefore, she cannot be trusted."

"That's another thing I wanted to mention." Shuhei said. "Even you admit that she hasn't said a word about this to you. Now, her younger brother doesn't count—he's got nothing to do with this. But everything else? You're close with her, she tells you everything, no? So why not this? Maybe if you knew something 'bout this, I'd feel less suspicious but you're just like us, you know nothing."

"Her role in the Capital seems really well-known too." Izuru's voice drew their attention. "Earlier, I heard a bit of what Sensei Kyōraku was tellin' her, something tells me she's more than just the Okasake granddaughter over there to them. The younger her just confirms it to me if she really did what you all said she did."

"There is a chance she was sent here intentionally." Captain Komamura said. "It would explain why our Head Captain didn't know anything of her identity because it was intentionally supposed to be sealed for future use. Perhaps her task required her to break all connections with the Capital to avoid any one of us discovering her history."

"That doesn't make any sense." Ichigo tried to control his building agitation. "If it really was a task, why the hell did she stop speaking to Sensei Okasake then? It doesn't add up no matter how many times you try to make her the bad guy here. Her chains with the pure light hold up the Soul Society now, she wants to save the Soul Society and the other worlds connected to it, besides that one thing with that Jushirmai guy, there's nothing really to hold onto."

"She might be a bit weird but I don't think Lieutenant Kuchiki ever had any malicious intent with us from the start." Rangiku said.

"Me too!" Momo clenched her right fist. "Besides, when that old man told her it was a mission, she didn't look right because she knew it was a lie."

"There's no way that Byakuya's grandfather would've comforted her so much to go talk to him if he knew that it was an act all along. They don't know we're here, they were alone, there's no reason to lie about something like that." Ichigo, a bit calmer now, added.

"Okasake Jushirmai and the sovereign of the spider species are allies too. Knowing that, it wouldn't make sense to say that Kuchiki-san is somehow his ally too. Comfortable or not, it's still a relationship she's taken advantage of for our benefit and not theirs." Uryū said.

Ichigo bore into Shuhei's eyes. "You watched her go and try to buy us time, no? Imagine spending time with someone or something that makes you more uncomfortable than anything in this world. He preys on her and she still goes. Now you can all see that as the duty of every warrior or what not but what I see, is someone who wants to protect this place and every other one, enough to sacrifice themselves and their happiness. She didn't do anything wrong to all of you, she stayed here when she could've gone and refused to leave until we all got up."

"Besides, Nanao went through the same thing and you all said she was pretty shaken up. Now imagine Lieutenant Kuchiki. She isn't the bad one here, if she was, why'd the pure light aid her?" Rangiku asked.

"Accusing Kuchiki is the equivalent of accusing blindly. Without accepting these facts, your opinion on her holds no value." Tōshirō said. "Though, I'm more interested in hearing what Head Captain has to say about all this."

Tōshirō slightly turned to him as he joined the group. "Did you know, Head Captain? About Kuchiki? About everything else?"

A song of silence went on. No one spoke, only waited for the Head Captain to open his eyes and speak.

"Come on, Yama-jii…."

"Did you know about Rukia or what?" Ichigo asked.

"You knew about the elder Kuchiki being here, you must've known something else." Tōshirō mentally inhaled a breath. Nervousness chipped at his chest. "Enough to want to keep us here and away, enough to stop us from getting involved until we knew the truth—"

"What are you saying?" Captain Komamura's words didn't stop him.

"—or perhaps, you didn't intend on us finding out the truth but we did. Out of all people, I'd like to know why you put us in here when you could've kept us in the Seireitei." Tōshirō finished.

The song of silence repeated yet again. Nothing. Just curious stares waited for the Head Captain to speak. Some to dismiss Tōshirō's outrageous claims, some expecting him to fess up about his own secrecy.

Enduring the quietness made it worse.

Shaky breaths were halted the moment he opened his eyes.

---

End Note

Images for this Chapter

Rukia's dagger.

Moodboard for Okasake Gureta / Sovereign of the Spider Species / Sei / Cem

I'm working on creating a designed tumblr page for characters and moodboards to make it simpler and a lot more visually appealing than reading.