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.

29. Wanted: Skeptics & Hypocrites II

Pre-Note

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I do own this plot.

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

Note: This chapter contains a lot of time switches (as in talking about Past and Present events) and perspective switching.

There are three Rukias here now to be attentive too.

Current Rukia / Younger Rukia in the Present / and the Rukia in the Past who is young at the time for now.

---

Wanted: Skeptics & Hypocrites Part II

Past

When Rukia hit the ground, she immediately began to cough following the mist of dust which arose following the heavy thumps of their bodies on the concrete ground.

Slowly, she perched herself up with her hands—surprised none of her bones broke considering the depth of the well. Cracks were heard as she tried to stretch it out, she had a feeling her body was going to be sore for a while.

Renji squirmed beneath her, causing her to lift up her right leg and let him out. He sat up coughing in front of her. She couldn't see him because of the dark but nonetheless, reached out to punch him.

"—OW!" He yelled.

"Why the heck did you push me down here?!" Rukia yelled.

He coughed in response as she slowly stood up, pressing onto the walls to feel cool concrete and dirt. Her hands carefully slid across the ground to find something she could use to light a fire.

When she did, the fire was lit and Renji stood up—cheeks red with dust and a huge grin, apologetic.

She hit him again. "Why did you push me down here?!"

"Look, listen, Ruks—" he had his hands up, Rukia groaned.

"Don't 'listen, Ruks' me, why did you push me down here? Get to the point." Rukia urged.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting there so," he clapped his hands once, "remember how Raiden said he was pulled down something with brick and entered the assassin training grounds n'what not? Well, this is it!" He sounded ecstatic with sparkles flying all over his face.

"This?" It was a dirty, old concrete corridor with no light.

"Okay, not exactly this but it doesn't kill to look around." He grinned again, a bigger smile etched on his lips.

"Renji." Rukia reprimanded. "I'm not about to get in trouble with those assassins for coming down here without permission. Let's go back up."

She looked up just then to the circle they had fallen out from only to see that it wasn't there. Great.

"We're gonna have to find another way out." Rukia said.

"Rukiaaaa," Renji whined as she stepped forward with the light to walk down the small hall. "Look, this could be our big chance to actually see those assassins. Didn't you want that?"

He was chasing after her. "No, I never said I wanted that. You all were talking about how you've never seen an assassin before. All I did was agree."

"C'mon, we're literally down here with them. It wouldn't kill to look around." He tried to convince her but it wasn't working.

"And get caught?" Rukia asked. "Nuh-uh, not happening."

"They're not gonna kill us, Rukia."

Rukia stopped. "How do we know that? We don't. We have nothing to offer these people."

She resumed walking. "But how do we know that?"

"Didn't we already go through this? We saw what happened the other day. We were surrounded by assassins, we didn't light up and we're not quincies either. What use would they have for us?"

"Okay, fine—you gotta point but I still think we should look around. This might be our only chance."

"What is there to look for? What is there to see?" Rukia asked. "Nothing, that's what."

"Wouldn't you want to see all those things Raiden talked about?"

"Why? And see the fancy interior and decor and whatever they use down here for people who belong to them? While we sleep outside and the others sleep in weak sheds with a bunch of cracks?"

"I get that you're iffy about this, I know—I get it but we'll probably never see this shit in our lifetime again. At least while we have the chance can't we make use of the moment and I don't know, at least say we have that sort of memory?"

She hated that she was almost prepared to give into that. Despite her animosity towards it all, it would be a pretty interesting experience to see all that grandiose stuff she had seen in books.

"I get why you want to see it, Renji but the problem is that at the end of the day, it's still—" a static noise was made and suddenly white lights came on, lining up above their heads down the small hall.

Rukia looked up and behind her to see the hall continue down further, illuminated with lights. She blew out the fire on the stick and looked up again.

"Do they know we're here?"

"I don't know…" Renji answered quietly, he seemed lost in the lights above them and the walls. They were stark white now.

"Come on," Rukia urged quietly. "Let's get out of here before we cause trouble."

Renji didn't say anything this time. His neck was still craning left, right and every other direction there was as if he was infatuated with the walls.

Walking ahead, Rukia passed by a door which she hadn't noticed with a single thick gold tape running horizontally on it to end above the silver door handle.

Once she did, the remaining lights ahead of her shut off. It was pitch black ahead. Rukia stopped immediately near the end of the last light. When she turned around, the white light remained but dimmer—almost grey.

Had someone wanted them to stop?

Renji suddenly grabbed the handle of the door and rushed inside.

"Renji!" She called after in a reprimanding tone. She went after him—entering a small room that was white and had a single red tape running around it horizontally. There was nobody there. Just a rolly white chair and a single shelf nailed into the wall to their right.

"Renji, let's get out of here." She tried to speak though Renji seemed miles and miles away from her. Infatuated with literally nothing but the bland white walls.

"Renji," she gritted her teeth in frustration as she looked back outside. She could tell that the remaining lights still remained shut. "Renji."

She headed towards his back again in a rush, "Renji, l—"

"Rukia-san?" A voice called. It didn't belong to Renji, it belonged to a sugary sweet voice she knew very well.

Mira.

She turned a bit to her left to see her on the ground. Her legs were sprawled as she ate some cake—her mouth was stained with rainbow sprinkles.

"Mira?" Rukia voiced. "What are you doing down here?"

"Whadaya mean?" She chirped. "I'm eating food!"

Rukia glanced at the paper plate and then to her. "From?"

"The assassins!" She answered cheerfully.

"What the hell?" Renji asked, it seemed like he had finally come back to reality.

"How'd you get there?" Rukia asked. "You weren't here when we came in."

The little girl just smiled and giggled with her mouth closed.

"What are you—"

"There are stations like this for Rukongaiers like us set up by the assassins. There's cake and candy and lots of things!" She informed her before taking in another piece of her rainbow cake.

"You didn't answer my question. How'd you get down here? How couldn't we see you?" Rukia asked her.

"You got sheatsu?" Renji asked her.

She giggled again and shook her. "Nope!"

Renji and Rukia looked at each other just then, suspicious. Before watching her again, Rukia moved away from Renji to get a little bit closer to the little girl she once knew.

"Then, tell me." Rukia urged softly. "How'd you get down here? How didn't we see you?"

"Who are you?" Renji asked her.

"She's Mira. A girl I knew back at my orphanage." Rukia explained to him though that hadn't been what he meant.

"I heard that part, I mean who as in what is she?"

"I would've thought a normal girl." Rukia muttered.

"I am normal, Rukia-san!" She glittered with joy. "Aren't you the weird one?"

Rukia's throat went dry. She didn't know what to make of that comment.

"Look, can you tell us how you got here and—" Renji glanced at the cake, "—how you got that?"

"Look, it's coming." Tōshirō informed them as they watched an unknown masked assassin, clothed in a black uniform come behind Rukia and Renji who were talking to the Rukongai child who seemed to be nothing more than a distraction.

A blade came to the light. It seemed like they planned on throwing it towards them and they did. It all happened so fast, Ichigo nervously shouted a "watch out!", only to blush right after as the realization quickly hit that they couldn't hear them.

More importantly, they were in the past.

The blade sped towards the back of them. Instinctively it seemed like Rukia had sensed it.

She shouted, "move!" and pushed Renji to the right side as she pulled herself to the left. They both hit the ground as the blade inserted the white wall ahead of them.

"Rukia!" Renji called in pain. "What the hell you'd do that for?"

She didn't hesitate to turn around from the ground once she fell. The masked assassin stood as if it never happened.

Renji, while rubbing the back of his head, finally glanced to look up at them.

Slowly, Rukia stood up and so did Renji.

That little girl named Mira was gone.

"We didn't mean to invade your property." Rukia spoke though the assassin hadn't said anything. "We fell—" Renji nervously glanced at Rukia, "accidentally. It wasn't our intention to—"

"Follow me." The assassin ordered softly.

Ichigo figured Rukia and Renji were being precautious when the assassin spoke like that. Were they being tricked?

"Sign up sheets aren't here." It sounded like the voice of a male school teacher talking to kids.

"We're not signing u—"

He cut Rukia off. "Testing stations aren't here either."

Renji spoke this time. "We're not here to do that either. We don't have it."

"How do you know?" The assassin asked. "Come, follow me."

He sounded kind, too kind. Ichigo got why they were both suspicious when they looked at each other again. When they noticed Mira was gone again, their suspicion grew.

The assassin had turned and was walking out the door.

"Hurry up," he kindly called as if he was ushering kids onto a school bus for a field trip.

Rukia and Renji slowly followed him out.

"Are you taking us to the exit?" Rukia asked. "We're not—"

"You should try."

"Try what?" Renji asked him.

"To get tested. All kids who 'accidentally fall' here do. It's better to know now than find out later." He chirped.

Rukia blushed at the mention of her cheap excuse. It seemed common.

Renji grumbled. "We already do know though, what's the point of getting tested?"

"You haven't if you don't have that red mark on you. Which you don't."

"Mark?" Rukia asked.

"It is mandatory to get a symbol from us on your ankle or wrist if you're tested and don't have sheatsu. It eventually fades away when you get older. It's a simple mark that only we can see so don't worry."

They were approaching two twin silver doors with a circle cut out in the middle.

"Here we are!" He informed them in excitement. The doors automatically opened and Rukia felt her insides twist when she saw the colour of the next room. It was much bigger, almost like a hall, a grey one.

The same hall Raiden had been brought to when he had been recruited.

---

Present

The Seireitei was entrapped in a dome—a semi clear one with a bronze-yellow gradient buzzing near the corners meant to generate heat. Outwardly it looked like the Seireitei was a rice ball or an igloo.

She went in.

A flash-step later and she was inside a familiar world. The warmth the sheets were radiating were little but they were enough. Buildings were yet to be restored, shards of ice scattered on the ground remained as evidence of a last battle with Jūshirmai's lines and last but not least, the place looked abandoned considering the fact that the assassins were out and the remaining shinigami members were all clustered inside the division buildings belonging to the Gotei 13.

Rukia took a deep breath before flash-stepping closer to the 1st Division barracks to have a look and see what was going on.

Minutes later and she concluded that there was not much that could be said about the shinigami's activity since the Gotei 13's 'disappearance' and the assassins' retreat from the Seireitei.

Most spaces were empty. It was a result of most shinigami becoming inactive given the lack of superiors to provide instructions. Most of the halls were left vacant with the exception of a few general rooms which had shinigamis wrapped in blankets and sipping hot tea but it wasn't all luxury and relaxation. Some, like the 11th Division barracks, had shinigamis training and fighting. Clearly there was some anger to be resolved as she saw banners cursing assassins to death and violent, vigorous training being conducted. It came to no surprise to her that the 11th Division would be this resilient to cooperation.

It was in their nature.

It became easy afterwards to skim through considering the lack of activity. There were some who took on the role of power and others who just stood by. The absence of Gotei 13 had left thousands of people left without much to do and the assassin's occupation of the Seireitei being no longer active aided in this lack of response.

The most active divisions were the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 10th, 11th and 12th. She had a feeling those divisions felt particularly motivated to be active due to their Captains. The 2nd Division were naturally stationed outside because of their assassin-given qualities, the 6th to no surprise were training away in their barracks without rest, the 4th were nurturing thousands of bodies, the 10th were alternating between investigating and training outside and the 12th were still researching away using whatever substance they could find as subjects of study.

It seemed very quiet. From here and there she heard chatter of the assassins—who they were, what they were and the story of their existence. Occasionally she heard of plans of resistance though by the looks of it, no one had assembled groups based on anti-assassin rhetoric. Everyone else was resting or recovering.

The temperature outside had served as an excuse to rest but the absence of the Gotei 13's orders was the true impetus of relaxation.

When the time came, she only saw a specific group of shinigami being prepared to join the fight against Jūshirmai, considering the possibility that they may even get the chance. Those thoughts vanished when she entered the 13th Division.

Her division.

As Lieutenant Kuchiki Rukia.

It felt almost vacant but Rukia could soon hear the chatters of division members downstairs. She was on the top floor—the office of her Captain and hers belonged up here. Rukia was itching just to look around and see what she left her world behind for.

She turned the handle of the door and entered her Captain's office. Immediately she felt her stomach sink as she drank it all in. To the side, she saw her own desk—feeling all her hate morph into a tiny ball and boil in the pit of her stomach.

How could this happen to her?

How could she have become...

The gold name tag reading 'Lieutenant Kuchiki Rukia' on her desk made her want to lose her mind—wreck it all—throw down the books from the shelves, break the table, shatter the glass of the windows and leave a mess that would take days to clean up in defiance.

It was dangerous to feel this much hatred as she was simultaneously contaminating the heart with her own feelings. Future or present didn't make a difference. She could feel her heart churning, being whipped amongst the dark energy she was giving it.

She fell to her knees. Her palms were flat on the ground as the tears came. She sniffed constantly with her bowed head giving way to the snot to drop from her nose.

If it had come to this then her life was truly over. How were the assassins supposed to forgive her when she had not only become a shinigami but retained some heart for them? So much that it felt difficult to leave?

Being alone finally gave her the opportunity to fall—to cry and release it all without feeling guilty. This is what she had become—she was no longer by Sensei Okasake's side but a Kuchiki, living as a Lieutenant with no further connections to her own world, the right world for her.

She couldn't help but look at this place with utter disgust. There was nothing for her here...no one. The Kuchiki heir didn't matter, he couldn't matter enough to have her stay.

The heart would only grow darker if she remained.

Lieutenant Kuchiki was merely an illusion. It was just evidence of her hitting 'rock bottom' as he had said before he left.

It was true.

She had fallen hard.

Now all she could ponder about was her rarity which had supported her throughout life only for her to end up here.

What's rare? She had asked the Captain but a part of her had always known what he'd been referring to all along.

It was inside of her. Whispering against her chest and in her hands and her thighs. It lived within her and grew to thrive within her fully like a magical spirit.

Her rarity was much more than healing bruises and injuries or coming back to life. She was much more than all of that in fact, those were things which fell under the umbrella she held.

Raising her head, she caught sight of the mirror hanging above the shelf behind her Captain's desk. Parts of her skin had become spotted with the same inconsistent grey shade which coloured the older her's skin when the pure light's barrier in Hell grew weak.

She would have to reject the darkness this world had brought to her if she was starting to experience this again. In her time, she had only gone through this experience twice and that was before the Soul King heart was truly sealed.

She didn't even die then. She wasn't supposed to, nor had she become sick due to the heart because of her own darkness inside it as it had seldom existed then. But now was different—she was in the future and yet was capable of generating enough darkness to experience pain when the barrier thinned.

If there were any more reasons she needed to tell the truth now, this would be a key one. Being in the future was allowing the darkness to thrive and live—keeping her truth locked up was only killing her inside.

The truth of why she was so wanted.

---

Raiden pressed his nose onto the small, rectangular window built into the door of the basement's general chambers. The view was fuzzy though there was no doubt the tall blob was Wildfire pacing back and forth inside her jail cell. To the right, he spotted only a bit of the legs of the lower ranked division member who was watching her.

Raiden went in.

When the door cranked open, Raiden didn't hesitate to crack a wide smile open with his 'hero' face on as he approached her in his cell.

He saw worry in her eyes, he had seen it the moment the door had whipped open and she snapped her neck to see the guest.

It seemed that she hadn't been pacing like he had thought but rather, was near the far corner of her jail cell with her arms holding each other near her chest.

Raiden couldn't wait to take all that fear away. With wide open arms, he approached the cell but Wildfire didn't move from her spot like he assumed she would. Instead, she held her arms and twisted to look at him with something indistinguishable in them.

Was it fear?

Was it worry?

Whatever it was, he was here to take it all away.

"Wildy!" He greeted her with a grin so bright and cheerful. "What the fuck you doin' in there?"

He snorted and dropped his arms. "I'm kidding, I'm here to bust you out. Those soul shadows are fucking insan—"

"Raiden." She interrupted him with a stern voice.

"Okay, okay, sorry," he raised his arms up apologetic before fumbling with the lock in front of him. "Now how the fuck do I get rid of this thing?"

"Raiden."

"Now hold on, don't push me the fuck out yet I'm trying. Didn't exactly come here with much of a plan but if you saw outside, you'd know the fuck why." He said as he tried to bust the lock.

"Raiden—"

"Relax, alright," with his hands still on the lock, he glanced up at her in assurance. "I'll get you outta there, don't worry. I won't leave without ya."

"Raiden." It came out as a loud whisper this time.

"I'll get it done, just wait. Maybe I can use a screwdriver or somethin', I don't know." He played with the lock more. "How the fuck do they open these locks anyways? All rusty n'shit. All the ones upstairs use sheatsu or an identity lock or something. Why the fuck is the 11th Division so old fashioned to use a fucking lock with a key!"

He glanced up at her with excitement. "A key! A fucking key!"

That's what he needed.

He spun around, suddenly remembering that he had seen the feet of the lower rank division member watching her. It was sort of strange that he didn't immediately spring up to intercept considering how he had waltzed in and just said his intention loud and clear.

"Raiden—" Wildfire shrieked behind him but he didn't know why until he saw the division member.

His feet were kicked up alright but the body attached to it was dead.

It was a young guy. He was bent forward with his arms dangling. Blood dripped and slid from the many deep cuts which were slashed so tiny they left a patterned work of art on his skin. Though hidden by his hair, Raiden could see the patterned cuts ran up to his forehead too. His legs were no different. Whatever killed him had the sleeves of his uniform ripped out too.

What the hell?

Raiden didn't hesitate to spin back around to question Wildfire just then, "what the fucking he—"

He paused—feeling something warm against the back of his neck.

Wildfire, who he was looking at, was still. He was finally seeing her expression for how it truly looked. The tousled hair, the frightened look, the tension in her posture.

There was something jabbing into his left hip. He assumed it was a blade but how he prayed for it to be a crochet stick belonging to his elder admirer, Sensei Kyōraku, who just enjoyed getting a rise out of him with pranks like these but Wildfire's face had said it all.

Catching a waft of that gust which had been puffed against his neck, Raiden was surprised his insides didn't rush his breakfast from seven days ago through his mouth.

That odor was distinct.

The object jabbing into his left hip was not a blade but a key.

"Get in." He heard her say into his left ear. The sternness from her voice gave him no room to protest. Slowly, he put his arms up and went into the jail cell that had been unlocked.

If there was one elder he couldn't handle, more than Sensei Kyōraku, it was this one and if she had anything to do with the body he just saw, he feared her too much to protest until he was safe and away.

Coincidentally, that was a jail cell.

He released his frustration once the jail cell was locked and he was free from her close presence.

"What the fuck is my crime?!" He yelled at her.

The elder pursed her lips, holding the key tightly in her hand beneath her saggy breasts. "Besides attempting to release a convicted criminal from her cell, unauthorized?"

"Bull-shit. If you wanna lock somebody up," Raiden pointed his finger to the dead division member on the rolly chair, "what the fuck about—"

"Or," she stepped closer to the bars, "giving her the key."

Raiden's shoulders sank immediately.

---

It didn't come to a surprise when Naohira's brow blade wrapped around her left ankle and yanked her back with a terrifying force she knew only belonged to second-rank, Sensei-leveled sheatsu.

Mint green.

When her body flew towards Naohira's back, Rukia leaped backwards in the air, leaping over her with a force which broke the chain and had her flip down to slide a few metres backwards.

She was back to where she had been standing before. Rukia's mouth glittered with cool reishi which formed her assassin mask on. Naohira did the same but straightened her posture as her cut chain dangled near her wrist.

"Hmph," Rukia could already see the smirk beneath her mask despite only seeing her eyes.

"I will not let you leave." The words were said aggressively, all the bitterness came to Naohira's eyes as she casually leaned her head left and right. Her left hand tossed something that was being flipped, it came out to be a butterfly blade.

That's when it hit Rukia that she was missing one crucial thing.

Sheatsu.

Her sensory skills were good. Good enough to know that it was there, hear the sounds from there and sometimes if she squinted perhaps see it for a second.

Though sometimes it was very faint, it was still enough for her to know that it was around her.

If this battle had been about sight, she would have easily had the upper hand but this was about combat with an opponent who was holding the second highest ranking of sheatsu overall. That yank alone could've torn her leg off if Naohira had allowed for it. The only thing Rukia had on her besides her natural strength was her reiatsu and...her hand-to-hand combat skill, Judan.

Her blades existed but they could easily be countered by the force of Naohira's blade alone. Her strength placed her at such a high advantage that Rukia knew her chances of living were so rare she'd have to die and come back again and that was a chance she never liked taking because she knew there would have to be an end, at least in her current state, to this miraculous capability.

Rukia didn't know what to do.

Her pride and her rationality were at war with each other.

Despite her own advantage of experience, level and speed, there was one thing she was missing and it was the utmost significant part to any part of a battle being the kind of strength to rival Sensei-leveled sheatsu.

The most she could do was tire her out by playing defense.

Rukia sucked in a breath as Naohira lightly chuckled. She walked slowly while her cut chain connected to the handle of the butterfly blade and she spun it around with her left hand in speed.

"I'm quite interested in what you can do in that state of yours." Naohira's heels clicked with each step forward.

She tilted her head. "By the looks of it you're without your strength. Tell me how you plan on leaving a mark on me before I cut you."

"Blades and sheatsu are your strength, Naohira. Preying on me when you know I'm without one of the two shows a level of desperation I've never seen."

She watched Naohira's eyes grow stone cold.

"I guess this is your only chance." Rukia said, obviously boiling her blood more, "after all, it seems that when things return back to normal, you'll be unable to."

She stopped spinning the chain and gripped the handle of the blade. "You don't know me."

"Oh, but I do." Rukia insisted. "I can see beyond your sheatsu, Naohira. You've got the second best rank, your level of Judan is amazing—level 8 nearing 9, butterfly blades, sai, fly clips, glaives and all."

"Your point?"

Rukia avoided it. "Your wind capability though is interesting. You don't rely on it a lot and I can see why, your Judan skills are incredible and with your strength, there's no need to waste time in channeling it."

"You're starting to become a bore. Would you mind telling me how any of this relates to your situation now?"

"It means that I know your skills well, Naohira and you know mine. Coming at me now when I'm at a disadvantage is just your way of finally releasing your hatred for me when you know you can win."

"Oh, finally," she chuckled, "we're getting somewhere. I know nothing more truer than what you just said. I do not care for what he thinks, if that's what your concern is, because we all know that you can't die. The satisfaction of at least killing you once will be enough."

"It won't." Rukia assured. "It'll never be enough. This is just your only opportunity to have me dead."

"And maybe buried." She added in delight. "As acting Head Commander, I have no choice but to handle you the way he would."

"Oh? And how's that?" Rukia inquired. "Blades aren't usually are thing."

She already knew there was a scowl beneath her mask at her response.

"I meant in our mindsets. He would want to torture you until you give in as would I. Except, my submission requires your death."

She stopped before aiming her blade at her. "I will stop at nothing now to have you submit to me, I could care less about the absence of sheatsu. That is your problem, not mine. If you had any sense, you wouldn't go anywhere without it but instead, you hail the Kuchiki name or 'stain', I should say, and thus think that you're untouchable because—"

"I have more experience than you." Rukia finished.

Rukia straightened her posture, flicking out her fan-blade though she didn't intend on using it. "I'm faster on my foot, I have speed. If anything, the only thing you wield higher than me at this moment is strength and even then, that is your only oxygen tank otherwise,—"

"I'm dead." Naohira finished in a flat tone. "Too bad you have all that for nothing."

She held her blade near her face. "Now die."

She sped towards her in the air with a speed that Rukia was fortunately faster than—enough to disappear from her path and have her spear through nothing.

Defense was the card she'd have to play now.

Though she was less fearful of it as she regained her footing—her confidence, that is. There were some things in this world that she didn't have a shred of doubt about.

---

Past

The appearance of the grey hued hall struck Ichigo in amazement as he entered. It was massive. Details, the colour of a nectarine's skin, were etched into the walls though remained hidden considering the shades of grey background which made up the room.

The ceiling was far away. The grand windows, the kind with a circle top and a connected rectangle with vertical bars of black, were an indication of the height. Ichigo couldn't believe that height was supposed to reflect the depth of the well.

The place was huge.

He'd never been into a palace before.

Every time he went to the Kuchiki manor, and those moments were rare, he only got a glimpse of what the place truly looked like. The gardens alone told him that the rest of the manor was a place to envy.

The ones he saw in films and shows looked like this but they were never real. Not until now...and this was only a testing hall as the teacher-like assassin had said and yet all that he would imagine in one now was here in this room.

To his left, the corner of his eyes spotted a neon orange light which was glowing from another room. He couldn't see what it led into except the darker, flowery pumpkin-like wallpaper which was pasted onto the wall. Beside that, there was a long table which eventually continued and formed an upside down 'L' to him stacked with desserts of all kinds on stands which were decorated with patterns, fruit and flower art. To his right, he spotted large fog-like cylinders that were huge. There were three and inside of the lower cut was where the kids were going in to stand.

Following the process, they would exit and pass through a section with a thin white rectangular border and turn left. Ichigo now saw how they scanned that red mark the assassin had been talking about. It was automatically marked near their inner ankle or wrist when they passed through.

He saw many go through it and exit out in a flash.

There was a block to the right which continued the corridor they had just come from. The lavender flare against the wall reminded him of the lavender hall the quincy said he had to go into specifically. There were already kids lined up against the wall with lavender wallpaper, waiting to be allowed into the purple room.

It was all so grand and busy. There were thousands of Rukongai kids here. There were four sets of lines. One on the side, leaning against the lavender wall connected to the corridor they had entered from, one near the rectangular borders or 'outlined doors', one near the dessert table and the one he saw Rukia and Renji in, the testing line which curved in a boomerang shape to the large cylinders.

He took a breath. Needing a moment to take it all in.

"It's so...pretty." Orihime said next to him. Her eyes were naturally the colour of the room. The glimmer which came to them as her neck craned left and right basically reflected the room itself.

"This is supposed to be a testing hall?" Rangiku remarked as Renji and Rukia were given brief instructions of what everything was.

"It's obvious they are more majestic than we are." Tōshirō said.

"All this glam and for what, though?" Ikkaku asked. "Don't you think this is a bit over the top?"

"This is actually Hiro-sensei's brand." Captain Ukitake said with his first laugh in awhile. "He quite likes structures like these."

"Old man's always reading into these sorts of things." Captain Kyōraku said. "To him, buildings and interior design are a work of art."

Captain Unohana hummed. "That's right. He is quite specific about how he likes them done."

"These designs are incredible, Captain." Isane remarked.

"Though why such an awful colour when the design work is so pretty?" Yumichika asked.

"It's meant to be the neutral room." Sui-Feng explained. "The general room in simple terms. You'll find that most rooms in the assassin realm reflect the colour of a stone. Grey would typically represent diamond for thunder and lightning however, those rooms are made differently than ones like these. These are the more simpler ones. In fact, knowing their structures, this is the least impressive of all."

"Kinda makes you wonder why our rooms look like shit." Shuhei muttered to Izuru's face.

"Yeah, I can't imagine those assassins coming into the Seireitei and seeing the shit we have." Izuru said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Look! There's so many sweets!" Yachiru cheered as Ōmaeda tried to get ahold of one though naturally, he couldn't even get a touch.

"Look, they're linin' up." Captain Hirako pointed out.

They moved closer to Rukia and Renji who were now in line.

"I can't believe you're actually doing this." Rukia said with her arms crossed. Just by walking in, she had felt astonished and then irritated shortly after.

This was a single room but it was worth more than enough to give back to people like her starving above. She was reminded of how much she hated the shinigami and the assassins for doing this to them.

It wasn't fair.

Renji didn't hesitate to grab a pile of honey pastries and gobble them all down in a single bite. The sign 'free to take' was enough to have him piling his plate while a masked waiter brought a new tray to refill.

She didn't take any. She was dying too but her anger filled her appetite to the rim. From her understanding, these piles and piles of desserts could easily be offered upstairs to the thousands of children who had never even gotten a bite of cake. The 'free to take' sign was mocking her because they had enough for hourly refills but not enough to freely hand out upstairs where everyone was dying.

She couldn't take a taste—she wouldn't. Though Renji chowing down beside her wasn't helping and the long line which curved wasn't making it any better either.

Why was she even here? She had no plans in 'testing' herself and falling in line with those who were privileged.

Renji was starting to frown at her, she realized it as soon as she took a glance and he was no longer chewing with crumbs left on his lips and cheeks.

"Wipe your mouth." Rukia said before letting her gaze wander again, up to the chandelier above her which wasn't on.

"I know you're mad." Renji said, she looked back at him and let him see it right through.

"Of course I'm mad, Renji—look at this! It's amazing, yes but it's also incredibly selfish and wrong. We've been living up there starving to death while they're here popping champagne and doing hourly refills."

"It's pretty sick that they do all this shit, Ruks I know but look," his tone got softer, "we're never gonna have an opportunity like this again. Why else are we down here? I know they don't give a fuck but just look around, Rukia. We're never gonna be able to change all this."

"I know that, of course I do." She used her whole head in her response. "But this just feels wrong, really wrong because we're participating in this. How can I enjoy it when I know that we wouldn't have to feel like we have to treasure this moment if they actually cared to let us in here regularly? Look at all this space."

She looked at the dessert table far behind Renji's neck. "Look at all that. They save the luxury for people like them," she gestured to the assassin guards, "people who they can use as their guards, shields, protectors while we're up there and get nothing."

She gritted her teeth. "Stupid nobles...and their money and their greed and what not. Can't believe there's actually people more concerned about who's better than who when both are no different. Shinigami, assassin, noble, it doesn't matter. They're all alike—they're all complicit."

Renji jerked his head forward. "Complicit?"

"It means that they participate in this idea that we deserve less than those with sheatsu or a strong reiatsu because we don't have that 'special quality'. Becoming a part of the system to survive is one thing but if you aren't using that privilege to help those in need then it makes you complicit."

"Yeah but Ruks you seem to be forge—"

"I just don't get why they do this to us. What's our crime, Renji? They act like we asked to fall from the sky or whatever—" her voice was unknowingly getting louder, "and end up here. If that woman hadn't told me I wasn't in Hell, I would've believed that's where I was—" Renji was starting to get a bit jittery as people were starting to stare at them in the line, "it's ridiculous. Look at everyone stuffing their mouths down here. They're all excited because they've never had the opportunity in their life to eat any of these sweets and why? It's because no one gives it to us because no one cares. The only reason they're pampering us is because we might be worthy to them if we pass their stupid test."

"Rukia..." Renji rushed to say with his hands up. He gestured for her to lower her voice with clenched teeth—waiting for the people around them to remove their stares. "Look, I know you're mad but please, let's just—"

She eyed him. "Don't say enjoy this because I won't. You can get tested, Renji. I have no reason to, nor do I want to."

"Okay, okay, fair," he agreed, hoping that would ease her mind. He took his two hands and put them on her shoulders, turning her to face him properly. "Look, I know this bothers you a lot and okay, maybe I shouldn't have brought you down here but I thought it would be a cool experience. I didn't mean to get you all riled up."

He removed his hands and Rukia felt a bit apologetic for being what Raiden would call a "buzz kill". She removed her folded arms and loosened her posture and expression.

"I'm sorry," she said with a small smile. "You're right, I'm sorry for getting all riled up. It just got a hold of me. Seeing all of this just...gets to me, that's all."

He grinned at her. "It's okay, I mean, I get it obviously but all we can do is cuss them when we're drunk and cheer when we get recognition. It's just what it is."

Rukia studied Renji for a few seconds before nodding her head. She folded her arms again as she looked around. "This is all pretty expensive and detailed. Wonder how long it took for the artist to make."

He followed her gaze as they were set above, past the chandelier and locked with the ceiling. There was art work up there of grey, red and cream.

"Amazing isn't it..." her eyes were glimmering, she knew it but her mouth fell at the sight of it. It was lovely. The blush on her cheeks grew pinker when she noticed Renji staring at her.

To diffuse the awkwardness, she shook her head. "Ah, I hate this. You're right—I wanna like it all, I wanna stare, I wanna taste. I wanna say this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been too but it all just feels so wrong."

With Rukia's eyes enchanted by the art, Renji glanced at the dessert table to his left. Spotting a cake-like thing, he was about to step out of line to get it before Rukia blurted, "I hate nobles."

Renji whipped around to see her grumbling again with her eyes still up at the ceiling's art.

"Imagine having all this at their doorstep and they still find a way to have no heart." Rukia said. "I really can't believe this is their life—they get to pick and choose who can live and who doesn't. I read about those noble homes—not all are shinigamis or assassins but they sure have a lot to be ashamed about, not that they care, if they're leaving us like this. Probably don't even know there's a Rukongai if we're being honest. Their entire world is within the Seireitei or the Capital—that's all they know, nothing else."

"—Ah! Never mind," she corrected herself, "they probably do remember us when it's time to flaunt their ego and remember that we're 'below' them and all that."

Renji opened his mouth though she cut him off again without knowing. "Can't believe they're good at stupid art too. That painting up there was made by an Adachi. We'll never be able to afford one of those in our lifetime."

"It brings me back to why I hate all of this, why even being here feels like betrayal." She met his eyes. "We'll never be able to enjoy any of this in our lifetime and it isn't even our fault. Even if we tried, the only way to have access to all this privilege is if we're gifted and join one of the two regimes. There's no other job or sort of thing we could do to remain unscathed from those 'superior' regimes."

Her anger was starting to boil and pop off again as Renji's teeth clenched in a state of panic.

"It's so funny." Renji raised his two hands again to calm her down but she kept going.

"A-Ah, Rukia—"

"They do that thing where you have no way out and you sort of just have to choose if you have a strong amount of reiatsu or sheatsu. You can work towards being one of them since it's your only method of getting a better life and getting the heck out but it's also like betraying how you lived as a poor kid. You can't be angry at the regimes for doing what they do because they're also your only true method to survive. If you do, you're a hypocrite. It's all so sick and twisted. It makes me hate this place even more because why should I join a regime that doesn't care about me until I provide some use? This is the afterlife—I'm not supposed to be prepped to apply for a full time job, I'm supposed to be at peace. What kind of afterlife has a class system which decides who gets accessibility to what?"

"—Rukia," Renji called as a warning. "Settle do—"

"Just think of those noble shinigamis or assassins or both. They have access to this great amount of wealth all because their clans are supposed to have 'noble blood'—whatever the heck that means—blood is blood, there's nothing special like gold in it. What makes them so great? What makes them so high and mighty to get all that land and nice houses and food and what not? I don't think we ask for too much here. We just ask to live a bit decently here and we can't even get that!"

"Rukia, wait—"

"They're even worse to me then the rest of those complicit shinigami and assassins because you know what, Renji? They have a truckload of wealth at their fingertips for absolutely no reason and do nothing to help the disadvantaged. Imagine if one of those five noble homes actually took the time to build homes in the Rukongai or at least pay to have food given to each child here. It would hardly cause a dent in their pool of wealth. It's pathetic that they look down on us for something we can't control and do nothing about it all because we're filth and don't matter and our existence is what keeps them in control and superior."

Rukia scoffed. "Stupid nobles. This whole place is noble-led, it's no wonder we suffer so much—they don't care about us. We're nothing to them. I don't know why a huge fire can't happen—" Renji pressed his teeth harder as he felt the stares of the pairs behind them and in front of them as she spoke, fully aware of something that Rukia was yet to notice while she was talking, "—and burn all of those noble houses down to the core."

"Yeah, you see—" with slit eyes, a wide grin with teeth and a hand behind his head, Renji carefully tried to think of a way to remind her of what she was missing, "—I hate to be the bad guy here Rukia but aren't you kinda, sorta friends? I guess you could say or at least, seeing or talking to a Captain that's uh, a noble and uh, a shinigami and uh, an assassin and uh, I'm pretty sure from one of those uh, five great noble clans that you're talkin' about who uh, live in that area and uh, who's house your asking to be burnt down?"

Rukia glared at him.

"That doesn't count." Rukia muttered. "I'm starting to regret it all now."

Renji fixed his expression. He had a feeling that deep down she didn't really mean it. "C'mon, Rukia—didn't you say the Captain was different to you? I know you're a bit mad but don't take it all out on—"

She glared at him again, he shut up.

"I'm a hypocrite is what you're trying to tell me, Renji—I know. It's hard to believe that I even talk to a noble let alone know one. It's not that I'm taking out my anger on him but in many ways, I have the right too. This all here is so pretty and great and wonderful but people like us can only dream about them because of people like him who are noble-shinigamis or assassins. Take a look at how everyone here is dying to have sheatsu just so they can have access to all these perks. We were doing it just upstairs a day ago. It's so sad that we have to be desperate like this." Rukia said. "I just wish all of these beautiful things that I want to see and enjoy weren't so attached to the nobles who have them built. Maybe then I'd actually try to stand here and enjoy it than be angry."

After a moment of silence, Renji caught her attention again with a serious tone. "Do you want to leave?"

Rukia turned to him and again, found herself loosening her expression though it sounded forced. "No, no, stay. I'm sure it would be a great experience for you to have your sheatsu tested."

"Look, it's not that big of a deal. I don't really think I have it besides—"

"No, no we shouldn't waste the opportunity." She was still angry but... "like Raiden said, it's better that way. If you have sheatsu you could..."

"Rukia." It sounded like he was reprimanding her but it became difficult to hold a face when she closed her eyes and sighed—opening them in defeat.

"You get what I mean. I told you you were right and admitted that I'm a hypocrite within a day. While we're here, we should at least know something for sure so we never have to talk about this again." Rukia said. "By the looks of it, Raiden will be enough if kids who get tested have access to all this."

Renji looked back at the dessert table just then. "Are you sure you don't wanna try anything?"

She shook her head, "no, it's alright. I just wish there was a waiting room or something where I could sit while you wait in this long line."

She observed her surroundings to find one but found none.

"If your feet hurt, you could sit against there." Renji pointed out to the block that was near the outlined white scanners.

Rukia glanced at it before looking at the line. "I'll stand and keep you company for awhile. When you're close to getting tested I'll sit."

He smirked as they stood side by side and moved a few centimetres ahead in line. They watched the process in silence as it happened.

Three kids would go up through a thin rectangular silver scanner and then onto the podium where the three cylinders were. They'd enter the cylinder and they'd either light up or didn't within seconds once the sheatsu censor came on. It would always make a bust sound when activated so it was easy to tell without looking at how many times a kid was found amongst the three.

The ones who had it would be directed around the white rectangular censors and enter a room that was carved in that block which, from a distance, glowed yellow.

Rukia hoped this went by quickly. She was starving and the longer she stood in line, the more her stomach was succumbing to the delightful smells which came from hot pastries being refilled hourly or at least, every time they ran out. Renji couldn't resist it and filled his stomach with a couple more while offering Rukia to try some but her stubbornness remained.

She just had to deny and run upstairs and grill her fish when this was all over. She couldn't succumb to those delightful smells even if it killed her.

---

Present

Naohira whipped past her. There was enough hatred, stamina and reluctance coursing within her to stop herself from trying again. The most Rukia could do and had been doing was swiftly avoiding the attacks.

Rukia forgot what it felt like to fight against a sword. It was freeing in a sense. It was just her and the wind. It reminded her of how much she liked the concept of Judan even more so than swords. Relying on natural elements meant that it was less about the clashes of steel and more about your own relationship with the gifts these natural elements bore.

She flew with the wind.

Avoiding Naohira's quick attacks was not easy. The cool wind soon became hot and heavy. Like honey on a palm, the back of her neck grew sticky and wet. An odor was starting to wander as it did.

If she had sheatsu on her, she'd slip a moment of her concentration to activate her reiatsu to cool her skin though in her condition, she had no choice but to do without it.

The attacks she was avoiding were far from simple to take even a moment of her attention away. Naohira naturally alternated between the sneaky butterfly blades and long, masterful kicks and twists and turns that were all so fast beads of sweat slipped past the sides of her face to avoid them.

She was always early enough to avoid them. Her lack of energy was obviously due to her being without sheatsu. That physical strength and stamina was beyond necessary to endure a sequence as long as this of hand to hand combat.

The dance of the blades between her fingers would come and go. Naohira wasn't tired or sweaty because of that precious gift. Her smile was evident as she did her flips and kicks knowing that she could go on for hours and days just taunting her with this never-ending chase because she was born with natural strength which was beyond anything reiatsu conceived in the body.

Nonetheless, Rukia didn't let her situation place her in such a desperate place where she'd call for a ceasefire. She was still ahead of her. Her timing was quite early considering how she was only running on reiatsu.

She remained calm and collected as Naohira indulged in the glory of it all—knowing that she could go on for almost an eternity without water because of this strength.

Rukia figured she needed to make her frustrated though that in itself was risky.

She would either call it a day or would finally utilize her sheatsu to the extent in which it could rip her body apart at the hold of her.

Rukia saw an open opportunity to part and slide back amid her jumps and flips to dodge Naohira's long legs or blades or nails.

When they parted, Naohira panting heavily stunned her. She hadn't noticed that she was sweating so much until they did.

A few of the lights of the lavish hall had been broken but none of the central ones which allowed Naohira's face to glisten like that.

Unlike before, she was slouching. It looked like her feet were uneven as she slightly leaned forward. In one hand, her butterfly blade was clutched and in the other, a simple butchering knife. Both were on the verge of slipping out her wet hand but were linked to her chain in case they did.

Rukia realized just then that perhaps she used her ability of lapis lazuli being wind to give off that illusion. She'd save her breath and pants for later so that her opponent would be convinced that she was not losing any energy to continue.

The best part of an assassin mask was that it did little to show most of your face—up till your nose. Naohira's sharp and cunning eyes didn't give any indication of her frustration and exhaustion but the beads of sweat which now rolled down her face and the loud pants did.

Rukia had managed to wear her down in the past hour of their cat and mouse chase.

She was impressed with herself but also exhausted.

This ability to hold off her expressions of exhaustion was interesting to her. The wind would steal her breath—preserve it so that it looked like she was breathing normally even though her heart would be pumping wildly. The wind would also dry her skin temporarily with whatever kind of breeze she needed to hold off the sweat until she was ready to let it rain.

The bangs which framed Naohira's face were now soaking wet.

Rukia took this as an opportunity to move in.

"You haven't used your sheatsu yet to transfer some energy into you." Rukia observed, her own chest giving away her exhaustion too. "By now, you could've easily called it to revitalize you and clean your face of those lines and sweat."

Naohira just glared at her, still panting heavily. Considering she didn't immediately respond, Rukia figured that perhaps she couldn't because she was out of breath.

Her suspicion was confirmed moments later when Naohira charged against her. This time whipping out a longer blade before leaping in front of her to deliver a cut past her right shoulder and down.

Rukia flash-stepped away in time as Naohira's blade went flying into the wall behind her and left damage which had it break entirely. Rukia was able to take a glance and noticed that it showed the staircase she was supposed to go through.

It was shaped like a spiral and twisted enough to resemble the shape of DNA. The staircase she had been entering was that of plum purple—his purple. The whole room reflected the shade. It meant that if she had taken that staircase down, she'd be led to some place interesting.

It seemed that all the staircases here were of that same shade.

It inspired her to use Naohira's exhaustion to her advantage. The next time they parted, Naohira would have to be near the verge of collapse. Her own legs would cripple for her. So much that even if she called on her own strength to replenish her, she'd still be too out of breath to chase after her if she went away.

"Drop the knife!" Rukia ordered which had Naohira, surprisingly, freeze in her place. "Drop the blade."

Eliminating Naohira's blades would allow her to focus on just one thing and that was her ability of Judan. It would cut her own exhaustion in half.

Rukia flicked out her fan-blade in her hand and then closed it as a demonstration though she hadn't been using it.

Naohira's expression was so blank beneath her mask, for a moment Rukia thought she didn't hear her but then, she dropped the blades—both immediately. There was no pause before she leaped like a viper, so quick Rukia almost didn't make it fully and punched the ground where she had stood.

The whole hall quaked at the contact. Her force rumbled through the grounds and shook the remainder of all the paintings that had been put up.

The beautiful hall she had roamed through an hour ago was on the verge of being destroyed. Somewhere down the hall, the sound of the floor breaking indicated that perhaps there would be no hall left after she was done wearing out Naohira.

Rukia felt her insides shriek forward for her as Naohira was somehow faster than she was before. Her kicks were somehow different from before. She looked more hungry and animalistic as she continued to attack her—attacks Rukia were now barely avoiding.

It seemed that Naohira was at her last.

Rukia took it as an opportunity or rather, took it to herself to mimic that level of desperation and free herself from Lieutenant Kuchiki for good.

Now, it was truly time to dance.

---

From the 13th Division's large balcony, Rukia flipped down and bounced on a few buildings before hitting the ground.

The section she had landed in was deserted. There was nothing but the familiar ice glossed everywhere, the wind and artifacts of death in the form of frozen corpses now.

For the first time since being here, Rukia shivered.

Her chest got heavy at the sight of bodies with holes where their hearts were supposed to be, the fright frozen on their faces and the pattern of lines which glistened on them.

The sight of them reminded her of many things. She thought of how their reishi would be used to incite more darkness in the heart, she thought of the sacrifices made to corrupt it and then she thought of herself, responsible for that very heart.

She noticed how most of the hearts yanked out were also missing.

What he planned on doing with those, Rukia couldn't know.

When she looked to the moon, she saw it was still frozen and glossed with ice. She sighed. Thinking of the moonstone in that instant as well—her stone now, her own special ability.

But she also thought of the Soul King Palace. The one that resided there, the one she had heard about several times but never questioned its whereabouts or existence. It hadn't mattered to her anyways. She saw it as a special building but nothing more and now here she was in the future to know that the Soul King Palace had resided up there.

That's where he'd disappear too and torment her. All along, his eyes had been up there.

Rukia's attention then shifted to the most awe-striking thing in the sky and that was the structure she was responsible for. The chandeliers which hung from left to right. Some were noticeably bigger in size but nonetheless, they were all connected by these chains being hers and the pure light.

The light which had birthed the Soul Society.

Their presence had successfully been able to live after death and now they were here up in the skies as one of the most beautiful structures she had ever seen—more beautiful than any arrangement of chandeliers she had seen in any noble home, gathering hall or party.

Even at the Capital.

And yet its existence was meant to shield the above which she feared the most. That thick cloud of black still loomed there. She was starting to see faces of those soul shadows, their growls were becoming loud and clear. She had no idea how the shinigami had not spoken about this yet.

She had seen a few marvel at the sight outside but it seemed that perhaps this was old news to them or perhaps they couldn't see.

Rukia didn't care to know.

It didn't matter as long as those creatures never sprung loose. Soul shadows had sheatsu. Their bones alone were poisonous. The shinigami didn't know how to handle that.

She made a mental note to tell the older her to send a light up again with a chain. Looking at the structure made her feel queasy considering she could hear the voices inside.

How she wished she didn't feel like this but it made her sick to her stomach that it had come to this.

What was worse was that she was starting to become a part of the future timeline. The grey spots were still dotted on her face, even reaching parts of her hand.

Rukia didn't know how much she could take of this. Staying in that red rocked dimension seemed to only enclose her in walls and considering that she didn't know much, she needed to make use of this time as well.

And there came the hunch that something was coming.

Instinctively, she flipped her fan-blade out with her right hand before the presence she detected even got in front of her.

Grudgingly, she felt fear. She now knew who she was. A demi-spider, the sovereign of the spider species. It shook her to the core to even have her in front of her—even if it was metres away.

What did she want?

The sovereign remained turned to her side. Rukia could only see a small glimpse of her left cheek and chin.

"Your brother," she spoke flatly, "he's with me."

Jūshirmai?

"Why?" Rukia thought it was best to cut to the chase, avoiding how flat and bored the sovereign sounded.

She had forced herself to come here to tell.

"I needed his help." She sounded as if it wasn't a big deal that she needed it, almost as if he had been obligated to do it and any concern over it was embarrassingly overdramatic.

"Wh—"

"I have kids."

Rukia internally grimaced at the thought of a bunch of miniature spiders crawling around. She didn't want to think too much of this woman's 'kids'. It helped that the woman didn't seem to care about the fact either though she did connect the dots of Jūshirmai being a doctor and the woman's 'kids' immediately.

They did have a soul looking form.

"He helped?"

"Of course."

"Let me see him. Where is he?"

"That won't be necessary, he's home."

"Home as in?"

"With me. Those kids require his assistance. Until then, I'll keep him until you're ready." Her left hand raised up to take out a cigarette Rukia hadn't noticed she'd been smoking.

But wait.

"Give him to me. You can find another doctor."

"You're speaking to me as if I'm the one you should be worried about." She tapped the ends of her cigarette before putting it back in casually.

She didn't care for anything she was saying. Rukia was no longer sure why she would even come. She was no longer Okasake Jūshirmai's ally, right? What was so strongly holding her by the throat to come see her and tell her all this? Even cut her trip in half?

"I don't suppose you know who put up all these sheets. The ones for the Rukongai are almost done."

Rukia's forehead crimped. Was she saying that she did it? But why?

"Why?" Rukia asked her. "Why would you help the Seireitei and now, the Rukongai?"

"That 4th Division Major did her stuff too."

Major Shira? That was nothing new but this woman in front of her was entirely different.

"I'd like to know why you'd have this sudden generosity towards me as if you haven't been a part of his ploy before, as if you haven't been watching me ever since I was a kid in the human world. What do you people want from me? What do you want from me?"

"You already know what's rare." She pointed out in a lower tone.

Rukia's shoulders sank, unsatisfied by what the woman was alluding to. "That isn't it. That doesn't explain anything, nothing at all. What do you want? What are you so into me for? I don't get it. Were you paid to watch me?"

"No."

That was it.

That was all she said.

"Okay and?" Rukia waited for more info but the woman didn't continue. "What's your interest in me? What reason could you have possibly had to become his eyes? Why would you want me to contaminate the heart more than him?"

She casually shrugged, "perhaps I was bored."

Bored?

"You expect me to believe that you did all that staring because you were bored?" Rukia scoffed in disbelief. "Do you have that much spare time?"

"It's easy when you have nothing to live for."

That was probably the most meaningful thing she had ever heard the sovereign say.

"I don't believe you."

"As expected."

Rukia cockled a brow.

"That stubbornness is you. There's nothing else you know better."

"Give me an answer." Rukia said. "I want an answer, a real one. I'm tired of it, just let me know, whose side are you on?"

"No one."

"His." Rukia corrected for her.

"No one." The sovereign said. "I'm not careless enough to align myself with men."

Rukia felt like that jab was specifically meant for her.

"Are you talking about me?" Rukia asked. "Is that your purpose? To use my failure in life to uplift your own?"

"Hardly, we are one."

Rukia's shoulders shot up, tensed. The sovereign must've sensed it a bit because her head moved further left. She could actually catch a glimpse of her left eye.

"One?" Rukia inquired. "One with you? You're a spider."

"And?"

"You can't expect me to believe that you cling onto me because I remind you of yourself."

"It is more accurate than it is impossible."

"You're responsible for it, you know." Her phobia. "You're the reason I hate it so much, can't stand it, can't look at it, can't...like anything associated with it."

"Something I'm proud of." She informed her in a monotone.

"You—"

"It was natural for it all to come down to this."

"Come down to what?"

"Your fears."

"I will not fall victim to you." Rukia said in disgust. She unknowingly stepped back as she said it.

"You already have." She said. "That fear is enough to keep you clenched onto me."

"I will not live with you controlling my heart."

"I'm past controlling it, I'm inside it. That disgust you feel so passionately is mutual."

"How can you say that when you cling onto what you hate?" Rukia asked. "If what you say is true, you feel disgust towards me because I somehow remind me of you. Why cling onto me? Why not set me free?"

"We're beyond that, we're bonded." The cigarette went into her mouth again. Rukia hated how uncaring she sounded.

None of it sounded like a big deal but it was.

Who gave this woman the right to become so a part of her life based on some similarity she was yet to understand or know?

"How?"

"Bonded in a way that cannot be erased." Rukia swallowed when she saw that familiar red tint glance at her behind the veils, staring at her.

"I won't stand for it. I'm tired of your eyes, I'd like to be set free."

For the first time, she heard some emotion in that dead voice. It came out as a grimace, "good luck."

"Why?"

The woman waited.

"Why are you so convinced," Rukia lifted up the open fan blade in her right hand, "that I would spare you if given the opportunity to set myself free?"

She saw it then. The red eye she could see grew stiff.

"You'll find it hard fighting me," her eye averted to some place else, "when your present version has an alliance with me which she needs."

Rukia didn't change her stance but it was evidently out of shock.

Alliance?

"Don't kid me with this nonsense. An alliance with you?"

"Your brother stays with me." The sovereign said. "He'll stay with me until I'm done with him and he'll be set free. You'll find that the older you won't care to know I was with him for long."

Why? Rukia wanted to question though she was scared of the answer.

She found that the sovereign was observing her again from head to toe.

"It's a matter of necessity. I'll keep him with me so do what you need to do now."

What? Rukia wanted to ask. How'd that woman know she had other plans?

"Those soul shadows are lurking nearby."

Any more words and the woman looked like she'd die from boredom. Rukia could tell she wanted to get out of here but why even come?

"I find it funny how uninterested you sound when you talk to me. What's the point if you don't even care?"

"I told you the feeling was fairly mutual if not entirely even." The sovereign said. "You can bet my anklets I loathe the thought of speaking with you."

"I know no one who can be so disgusted and yet so attached."

"You'd have better eyes if you knew about your present self."

Rukia noticed she was getting pieces of her present self's story as they progressed.

"What do you know about it?"

"I could care less so I've got nothing to tell."

"Spare me." Rukia said. "You know about me, probably more than anyone if you spent 365 days a year eyeing me for whatever reason."

"I hate your guts." She said it so blandly, Rukia couldn't take it seriously. "Don't speak to me so lowly."

Rukia couldn't help but scoff again.

"You're a half breed noble." She spat, Rukia was intrigued by this new found emotion in her tone. There was evidently...disgust. "Your position might be worth something but that attitude you're showing is compromising your true origin."

"Half-breed?"

"You become more ungrateful by the minute." She scowled. "Thinking your 'life' would be better if you were with your own."

Rukia didn't know where it was all coming from but clearly she had hit a nerve.

"And what of me thinking that? I never said I was ungrateful."

"Ungratefully ending up as a half breed in two clans is your specialty. You have them charmed but not me."

Charmed? Rukia was starting to think of everyone who naturally seemed to think she had done some hypnosis sequence to gain favor with noble people. One being her own 'brother'.

"It's ridiculous that you accuse me this way." Rukia said.

"It's in your cadence, it's in your tone, it's in your speech, it's in your walk, it's in your presence."

"I grew up with noble influences, what did you expect?"

"A half-breed to be born but not an ungrateful one."

"I am not ungrateful!" Rukia snapped. "How could I even begin to feel ungrateful?"

Then Rukia paused. Was it her thoughts of ending up in the Kuchiki clan? That animosity that she couldn't help but feel, which was having the sovereign scold her? She had overheard her feelings out loud just a while ago (AN: Lies By the Hour), it had to be that and yet she hadn't said a word in the two weeks in which she was with her.

"Your ungratefulness came when you tossed it away."

When she left the Okasake clan? That most evidently wasn't by choice.

"Tossed is inaccurate. Something went wrong and I'm sure you know what it is."

"I can tell you you're stupid and a waste but that won't get us anywhere, naturally." The sovereign spoke as if she was used to her being a disappointment.

"I'm guessing it won't. You hold all the answers under your thumb and yet you refuse to share."

"I simply don't care."

"You're a terrible liar. If that were true I'd—"

"You wouldn't be free." She interrupted. "I'd watch you for an eternity and would still find no reason to care."

"So what's all this? You helped put up the shield sheets and you spoke of an alliance between me and you now. What do you make of all that?"

"Necessity to live."

"You said you had nothing to live for."

"My reason isn't you. You shouldn't flatter yourself so boldly. I have bigger ambitions to live for and bigger reasons to get them. You're nothing more but a stepping stone and an ally by choice and obligation as am I."

"For someone who's so stupid and a waste, I sure am formidable enough for you to include me in your plans."

The sovereign seemed to mutter some grumbles under her breath. She agreed.

"Your rarity." The sovereign pointed out again. "Your...gift."

Admitting it was a gift in that disgusted tone made Rukia internally smirk.

"You got wits you don't use so use it. He'll be back."

And just like that, she disappeared.

Rukia, uncomfortably, took her assurance on Jūshirmai's condition as truthful and decided to pursue more of her interests now that she was out of that dimension and back here in this world to report back with better information.

Like that, she leaped into the air to bounce from building to building to find out what was new.

Rather than dwelling on her present life, she thought of revisiting her own. The one she remembered more than any other.

The Rukongai.

---

Past

It seemed like hours until they got near the silver scanners where Renji was to enter soon. By then, he was so stuffed he could barely move with a stomach ache that made her wonder if he could even last this long standing up.

She was glad they were almost there soon. The process was so quick, she had no idea why it was taking this long for everyone to pass through. The line seemed to be moving slower even though trios would go in and out at such a speed which made the line's immobility appear without reason.

The place was packed—even more so than before but the process was so quick, it just didn't make sense for people to be hanging around for this long afterwards. She'd assume that the assassins would have them kicked out by now but the place appeared to lack order despite the high and mighty assassin guards she saw near the doors and lined against the walls.

Her feet felt sore from standing on the hard polished floor of the hall. It made her contemplate sitting down again though one look at Renji, who looked like he was about to throw up, made her decide to stay just before he went in.

"There's a lotta kids 'round here, don't you think, Ukitake?" Ichigo said as he observed the mass crowd they were surrounded by.

They remained in the same space even though Rukia and Renji had moved further up by now. They were at a distance now which had them looking smaller than before. For some reason, the Head Captain refused to have them move in closer.

"Yes, they are also Hiro-sensei's charm." He responded.

Ichigo turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"Though Head Commander Okasake and his wife did not want children, they were very fond of those who weren't their own." Captain Unohana said.

"So what? They enjoyed runnin' a mini playground or 'community centre' for kids?" Captain Hirako asked. "Don't think half these kids are here to get tested. I mean the lines are long but the dessert line is somethin' else."

"Maybe that kid wasn't an illusion after all." Isane said. "Her words...she spoke of them having centres to feed them."

"Are you saying he feeds them purposely?" Uryū asked, looking specifically at Captain Unohana.

"Of course." Sui-Feng responded with her eyes closed.

"Then why the hell does nobody up there know about this shit too?" Ichigo asked them.

Orihime gasped. "It's like a secret food center!"

"Perhaps that child was a response to what Kuchiki had said about the assassins being selfish."

"I guess but it's still sort of...secretive like Orihime mentioned." Rangiku said.

"But why?" Shuhei asked. "Lieutenant Kuchiki's got a point about this. Why the fuck do we not know about it or have access to this shit if they're doin' all these refills?"

Ichigo smirked though he didn't say anything. Agreeing with Rukia all of a sudden?

"I know, if I knew they were runnin' these things, I would've snatched some myself. Those honey bun things Renji was eating earlier look pretty good." Izuru said.

"Why didn't you just say so, Izuru? I would've bought you some in the Seireitei." Rose said.

"Noble baked pastries seem to differ from normal ones." Shuhei said.

"Reminds me of back home." Ōmaeda said.

"Can you get to the fucking point, please?" Kensei asked behind him.

"R-Right, Captain!" Shuhei said. "Sorry uh—"

Tōshirō spoke for him. "Hisagi is trying to ask the same question Kuchiki is. If all this food is available down here, then I see no problem in distributing it upstairs than having these kids who find this place have the luxury to eat to their heart's content. It's obvious that most of these kids aren't here to get tested—some probably have but overall, I see more chewing."

"In other words, they shouldn't have to descend 20 fucking metres down just to get somethin' to chow on." Ichigo summarized. "Besides, it's all desserts. None of this can be healthy enough for those kids to be eatin' regularly."

"How'd you think they find this place, anyways?" Ikkaku asked. "Kid Renji had a hunch 'cause of that quincy guy but everybody else?"

"It sounds more of a secret thing like the organization." Momo said. "You hear things from the streets and then you follow. That's how everyone gets their information here."

"She's right, the talk from the streets is how you ensure survival." Rangiku said. "That's how Lieutenant Kuchiki knew which markets had the most to sell. You hear the talk and then you walk."

"I remember that when I lived here but I don't remember hearin' about any assassin organization underground like this." Ikkaku explained. "Do you, Yumichika?"

"No, never!"

"Your memory could've been erased." Captain Kyōraku said. "It's more likely than it is a suspicion if you did ever know about it."

"With or without it, it's still weird. If it takes plunging down a well to get here than they're not actually feeding the kids who need it, they're—"

Shuhei cut his Captain off. "Feeding those who benefit them like Lieutenant Kuchiki said."

Ichigo glanced at Shuhei again as Kensei's stare grew colder.

"Did I tell you to fucking cut me off?"

Shuhei grew meek and suddenly taller as he straightened his posture. "Sorry, Captain!"

"What those kids go through is no walk in the park." Captain Hirako said.

"Nobody says that." Kensei interrupted.

"Their hardships are beyond anything I've ever thought about. Kuchiki-san speaks a lot of truth about this whole thing. It's not just her but everyone." Uryū said.

"Kuchiki-san just has it a bit harder because she's always being tested." Orihime sorrowfully said.

"Inoue-san's right. She's poor and hungry just like them but she also has these tests which are making it all harder. I understand why she has this sort of animosity towards nobles, shinigamis and assassins alike."

"Don't forget to include yourself, Ishida!" Ichigo reminded him.

Uryū clenched his fist becoming red hot at the mention. "She didn't mention quincies, Kurosaki, I was merely repeating what she said."

"Though, it's odd. Even the younger her here mentioned the same thing the younger one in the present mentioned when asked about the shinigami and assassins. And the younger her in the present has already made up her mind about not being the Okasake granddaughter even though she's an acquaintance. She doesn't care about the whole competition between shinigami and assassins at all." Rangiku said.

"Your point, Matsumoto?" Tōshirō asked beside her.

"Considering her feelings now, what makes us think she changed her mind about all of this? Seeing her now makes me think that even the present her, the one we know as Lieutenant Kuchiki, still feels the same animosity." She explained. "Despite being acquainted with them, I don't think she ever changed her mind about how she felt about us and them but when the opportunity came, like she mentioned before, in order to survive, she had to take the shot."

"Part of me agrees but doubts that, Matsumoto."

She bent down. "Why?"

"Because I don't think Kuchiki is as simple to agree to be an acquaintance, considering her feelings now, to survive." Tōshirō said. "She seems to have her mind set on doing it on her own."

"But she already sorta does feel like a hypocrite." Shuhei reminded them, "because of Captain Kuchiki."

Feeling the stare of the current 6th Division Captain at the side of his neck he jumped to clarify. "I-I mean, she feels like she's becoming too friendly with the organization through talking with him like she feels we do when we join them. We become 'too-friendly', 'too-willing' and all of a sudden we're linked to justifying their crimes."

"I do see her point when it comes to communicating with us though I also see her reluctance to deem us all bad even though," Captain Ukitake peeked at the Head Captain from the corner of his left eye before continuing, "the organization we work for is responsible for many wrong things that we're yet to take responsibility for."

"Well, you can certainly start now, Ukitake." Ichigo said. "You can start by taking care of these kids. Maybe then you wouldn't feel so hypocritical when preaching about saving lives and kids when the whole society leaves them starving."

Something struck him just then in a flash. It was a memory which resurfaced, a conversation between him and Rukia about what it meant to her to have a noble identity.

With the conversation renewed in his brain, he remembered where her heart was when it came to her and nobility. It was the one of the reasons he understood her heart in entirety.

She would never fall victim to the ways of their life because she had lived a life before it which she would always remember.

Her heart would never waver from that. The shinigami and assassins were just as accountable for her position and becoming one of the two never changed that mentality.

Being an Okasake acquaintance would especially not change a thing.

"Can you believe Raiden's gonna become an assassin?"

"I guess." He mumbled though his attention seemed to be elsewhere—Rukia assumed it was his stomach again as he was still using her for support to stand up with his back bent as if he was experiencing the worst pain in his life. "Fuck, I don't feel so good."

"Maybe you shouldn't have shoved tens of thousands of those honey bun things down your throat." She chided before looking around. "Do they have any water around here?"

"That won't help." He responded before groaning.

"I was looking for myself and besides, it's not like leaning on me is going to give you much help."

"I'm dying here, Ruks—bear with me."

"I already am." She groaned before noticing a clock. She could read time but having the ability to know what time it actually was for the first time was interesting. According to the clock, it was around 6 o'clock.

Rukia remembered leaving their space upstairs around afternoon or at least, she had assumed it was nearing afternoon considering the height of the sun and the activity of the market.

Had they really been here that long?

Rukia wondered if Raiden had come back. Was he looking for them? Uzi would've probably told him that they fell down the well but would he know?

"You think Raiden's looking for us?"

"Ah, geez—I don't know, Rukia. Didn't he have class shit today or something?"

"It's around six. Shouldn't he be done by now?"

"He didn't tell me anything about his classes so how should I know? He probably got out early if it's a bunch of introductory shit." Renji said. "Though even if he got out, doubt he'll come lookin' for us soon. He's probably out there with his fancy-shmansy quincy friends right now."

Rukia snorted. "You sound so jealous."

He grumbled a bit while she continued, "you don't think he'd come looking for us to tell us all about his first experience with royalty?"

"No." He brooded.

"Renji." Rukia called in a reprimanding tone. "You act like he'll forget about us just because he's training to be an assassin-quincy."

"I didn't say that but I also don't think we should avoid that thought before the time comes."

"What do you mean? Or...why?"

"C'mon Ruks, Raiden's fucking amazing but he also can't stay in the same fucking place for too long. He's always runnin' around, that's why he never stayed with me and the others before we met you. Even now, he just disappears and randomly comes back a few days later like nothing ever happened. It's just his thing—so don't be surprised if he disappears for awhile too and then comes back and act like it was nothing."

Rukia took some time to ponder about this, realizing that there was a lot of truth to Raiden's random disappearances. He'd run off, come back and things would just continue as normal because it was natural. Rukia always thought that he did that because he was overly independent like her but it seemed that it was much more like a habit for him than it was for her.

"So basically we're not seeing him till like Wednesday." Rukia said before pointing at the calendar she was reading from.

"Probably, or longer. Who knows...I just hope that he'll share some of those treats when he gets them. After tastin' some of these, I don't think I can live without eating them."

"Renji," she called in a disapproving tone. "How can you talk about wanting to stuff your face again with all this stuff when your stomach is about to barf it all up anyway?"

"Was tryna relish the moment though the more I think of it, I can always come back." Renji said. Come back?

"I don't think you can if you've been tested, remember that whole red mark thing that assassin told us about? I find it hard to believe those assassins would allow people to come back here if they don't have sheatsu. It would be useless bodies taking up space for them."

"Yeah but when you think about it, it isn't entirely monitored. We could totally find our way back in here."

"Right, and then get butchered with a bunch of assassin knives."

"Think the ones lined up on their backs are called sai blades, Rukia."

"Whatever, same thing."

"Anyways, I still think we've got a shot."

"Renji, we have better luck finding cattle and bread and jam and rice and whatever in a random shed down south than we do coming back in here." Rukia said. "Even if we managed to slip in here a few times, we would eventually get caught and they'd probably slaughter us like they do lambs in the 44th District of the Rukongai even though we all know they have enough to share."

"Comin' in once and stealing a bunch of these in a box would still be enough to last us awhile if we manage it."

Rukia glanced at his stomach. "I find it hard to believe it'd last until noon. You'd probably swallow them down in one bite."

He scowled at her as she looked to the space where kids who walked through the white scanning station were headed. Unlike with the other rooms, that door they passed through didn't have any colourful light, it almost looked natural.

Rukia wondered if that was the exit out of here as they moved up a bit to the silver scanners.

"Sit down for a bit if you want." Renji said.

Rukia looked to her feet and then back up at him.

"I'm almost next so just take a rest."

Peeking at the spot where they had picked out earlier, Rukia bid him farewell, "I'll just be over there then. When you get in, I'll wait next to that opened door over there."

"Got it." He assured her as she moved out of line.

He watched her go as she disappeared into the crowd, thinking of how much he regretted telling her about Raiden's inability to stay, though he hadn't meant it in any malicious intent, he didn't want her expecting anything from a guy like Raiden who was pretty much in and out all the time.

He was their friend, of course but it didn't change the fact that this new assassin-quincy training would get the best of him and have him leave them again.

The last thing he wanted was her heart to be broken when he left them again for a long time.

He hoped that she didn't dwell on Raiden too much after she saw how he truly was when it came to sticking around. Although he stayed longer now that she was here, it didn't change that fact about him that Renji despised.

He hoped that later when she was relaxed he could bring the topic up again and clear the air. The last thing he wanted was for Raiden to break her heart.

---

Present

She couldn't see the alleged shield sheets the sovereign had helped put up. It was only Major Shira's involvement which convinced her that they were but would be ineffective until the top of the Rukongai was covered up.

Rukia ached to see the villages so empty. Not even a chip of fire was left outside to burn. There was no one outside, which meant that the desperation had become strong enough to make them unified again as they once were during her time.

Rukia observed how no animals were out either. The remnants of the villages were a few bodies smothered with snow, a dense smog of dirty white and the source of their well-being, the trees and plants, dead and covered.

The rivers were frozen too.

She couldn't step down to see the condition of those alive and huddling inside the sheds despite temptation urging her to do so. It was too risky.

Even flying over was one.

She knew the assassins lurked nearby in their invisible disguise. It would take only one whiff of her to have her surrounded and discovered. The thought of visiting her own district turned her off at the sight.

She took precaution as she flew higher and passed over the 23rd District. She had a long way to go and discover and yet, her feet would have her stop here once she caught sight of them.

Bones.

The 24th District had more scattered among the streets. The 25th District was no different. The more she progressed overhead of the villages, she found more and more scattered until her feet would stop at the 44th District and her knees would buckle as she saw the unimaginable.

A swell of black, so large and prowling, shaped like a stretched out cloud hovered over the rest of the Rukongai. The sheds were lost to a thin shadowy haze while wails of terror could be heard past them.

She shivered as she heard them. She forgot how to breathe. The clink of metal could be heard, lights of all colours would spark and disappear.

Sheatsu.

Assassins were there. They were fighting.

Bursts and shouts of chaos continued. The commands would have her jump in her spot as they felt very near. What has this world become?

Her head shot up to the dangling chandelier. It was still as bright and fancy as ever, fending off a cloud much like the one she saw up close but larger which seemed to be getting closer and closer than ever to the chains.

Rukia's nervousness ballooned.

She stilled at the thought of this all crashing down. Whatever was ahead of her was challenging enough. She didn't want to imagine what would occur if this chandelier didn't light up anymore or rather, became too weak to protect them anymore.

None of those things up there could possibly leak out and join those soul shadows here.

Her heart quenched when she heard the cries of a woman and a tear so loud, water almost invaded her eyes again.

How badly she wanted to help. She most definitely could. It would be easy to rid them of this darkness temporarily but then she understood that perhaps there was something infinite to it which prevented Sensei Okasake and the others from resolving it in the way that they could.

She feared that she could not go in. Her journey had to end here. There was no doubt that attempting to flash-step and lurk the Capital would be walking straight into a death sentence.

Getting caught was the last thing on her mind.

Especially with that cranky Kuchiki heir, her capture would provide a great opportunity for him to arrogantly cry, 'I told you so', in that refined, composed manner he was trying to convince himself he had mastered but Rukia saw through it much like everyone else.

It encouraged her to retreat further and head back to the Seireitei one last time before heading out. Maybe seeing the Okasake Manor was worth a shot.

But her mind told her to contemplate and wait. Her internal deliberation would have her walk back above the villages she had passed. She now knew the bones were from soul shadows which she couldn't allow to rot there.

Being infected by a soul shadow bone was the worst. There was an antidote but it was pricey.

Rukia almost muttered curses at the Adachi clan for their sorcery. Fortunately there was still Urahara and little shops across which did sell the antidote cheaper but in their situation, no one was selling.

She hoped that the assassins underground still had enough stocked up considering the severity of this.

Approaching the igloo-like dome which guarded the Seireitei had her think that maybe she should have the shinigami provide some aid with distribution in secret but was cut off by the tincture of sheatsu which surrounded her.

Not one or two but five people ringed around her.

Something sunk in her throat as she recognized one from the corner of her eyes.

Friends of Jūshirmai.

The glint of a shard grew.

---

Past

"Where'd she go?" Ichigo asked as he noticed that Rukia had left Renji's side. He tried to spot her but the center was filled with a bunch of kids—her height didn't help.

"There," Tōshirō spotted. "I'm assuming she's going to sit down in that space Abarai had recommended earlier."

The space Renji had picked out earlier was still clear for her to sit down on even though it wasn't a proper chair, it had something. People would still be closely next to her while walking since she was almost sitting on the ground but it didn't matter considering how sore her legs were.

She almost tripped on a set of wires belonging to those cylinders that kids were being tested in while she walked across the room to the block. Her urgency to get to it quadrupled as her sudden movement seemed to pain her legs even more. She hoped to get back upstairs soon to heat some water and have her feet soaked in them as a form of relaxation after this. Parts of her body still felt sore from the fall she had taken earlier.

More than ever, she couldn't wait to return to her sweet home or rather, space upstairs in the Rukongai where her fish were a metre away and she was free to lie down and relax on the grass and under the trees.

"You really think she isn't gonna get tested?" Rangiku asked.

"We already know from the future her that she has no sheatsu. She can only sense—there is nothing to confirm."

"Then why the hell we here?" Kenpachi asked.

"We've been through this before." Sui-Feng grumbled in annoyance. "She doesn't have it."

"If Captain Sui-Feng's saying it we got no reason to question it." Shuhei said. "She's the only one with info now, remember?"

"Would you all shut the fuck up? We get it, move on." Ichigo said. "Didn't we all agree that was part of her abnormality? We saw it. She can sense it but doesn't have it."

"I swear, y'all talk about the same thing twenty-four times and still find a way to forget it." Ikkaku grumbled.

"Well it isn't our fault we're being bombarded with information that we never knew because we were never fucking taught it." Kensei said.

The block was getting closer and closer to her. She almost wanted to run to it and spread her legs out to stretch but that thought alone was squashed the moment her nose collided with something hard.

She rubbed her nose.

"Uryū still has his list." Sado said. His first sentence in a long while.

"If we have it all down then why the fuck are y'all repeating it so much?" Kenpachi asked.

Glass?

Rukia stopped.

Her right hand flew to touch it but was met with a force which blasted below her.

"Perhaps most of you—" a heavy rumble vibrated at a strength which shook the entire ground of the hall. Mayuri's words had been cut by it as everyone looked to the source of the pressure.

Akin to how the world had rattled when that bomb, set up by the quincy, had exploded in the Seireitei months before, all their bodies shook at a frequency which ushered shock into their veins. Pieces of the ceiling fell in large chunks, causing havoc as tiny feet ran left and right with gasps and screams but most importantly, shock.

The chandelier lights came on.

That familiar chill near her feet was rushing upwards, she was out of air. It came out of nowhere like an avalanche at such a pace which drew the tips of her hair and kimono up. She scrambled to push it down but it fell by itself to cover her knees.

Chunks and bits of the ceiling she had been admiring earlier fell next to her as she began to hear her heart beat at such a fast rate it scared her.

"H-Huh?" Her neck craned upwards to see more fall with dust. Without reason, she felt a powerful wind being stuffed, against her will, into her mouth.

"Wha..."

"U-Uh..."

"No way in hell..."

"Kuchiki…"

"What in the..."

"It's...not..."

"Fascinating..."

"O-Oh…my...god."

"Well, that's something."

"What the fuck is happening?"

"Oh no…"

Ichigo was silenced.

The air coming from everyone's mouth was truly enough to reflect much of how he was feeling in the moment because truthfully, he couldn't utter a word.

"W-Wo-Woah!" She shrieked as she tried to maintain her balance though it was hard considering that she couldn't move. The ground was starting to crack in chunks, pushing some parts upwards and some downwards as if a mole was transporting underground.

Hearing the wails and gasps in the background did not help with her own panicking. Rukia rushed to place her left hand on the invisible wall to maintain her balance before she saw the glint of the chandelier being reflected in what she could finally see was glass.

Kon's mouth dropped so low it hit the ground. His body refused to move as he replayed the events so slowly in his head as if it was not occurring in front of his own eyes.

Gasps and inaudible stutters continued to come out as they watched the impossible become possible in mere seconds of searching.

There was a hole.

The imagery it was reflecting stole her away from the thought as she saw the ruins of behind, the faces of horror and shock but most importantly, her.

Her hands were lit up.

And the source of it was Rukia.

Ichigo gulped.

---

End Note

Next Thursday: Sundown Searches & Discoveries.

byaruki / tumblr.