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.

36. The Noble Gazette

Pre-Note

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

Little Pronunciation Notes.

I imagined Asa as eye-sa.

I imagined Ira as ear-ra.

---

The Noble Gazette

Present

"Wildy."

He called for her despite knowing he wouldn't get a response. After ten uncomfortable naps he was starting to get bored and everybody else was too busy handling the mess he had left behind outside.

After playing with whatever he had on him and attempting to use kido, which he already knew was neutralized in here, to occupy his mind with something, he had reached his limit.

He tried calling one of the guards outside earlier but the place seemed deserted. It only meant things had gotten really bad. His mind fell on Rukia and wondered how things were going down there, were the Gotei 13 out?

"Wildy." He tried again while curling some string around his fingers. "Ohhhh Wildy?"

No response.

"Wild-a-dabble-ding-dong?" He called sweetly with a smile. She wasn't even looking at him to see.

"Wild-a-rama-doo?"

"Wild-a-Wild-a-Wild-fire?" He was running out of things to say.

"Wildfire." He addressed her more sternly.

In a final attempt, he cleared his throat, channeling the perfect tone to go extra deep, "Wildy-doo. This—this is Mother Hen calling. I repeat this is Mother Hen calling—" he made noise with his mouth to mimic static—"I repeat. Mother Hen to Wildy-doo, incoming. Do you read me, Wildy-doo? Can you hear me? Repeat. Now over."

He cupped his hands and made static noise into them. He swished louder and even made siren noises.

"Wee-whoo-wee-whoo-wee-whoo…"

He went on and on but it looked like she wasn't even going to tell him to 'shut the fuck up'. She at least had to tell him that!

So the more annoying he became.

The noises got louder, he continued to call her by the alias 'Wildy-doo' and speak as though they were across the Soul Society on walkie-talkies.

"Wee-woo-wee-woo—Wildy-doo, this is Mother Hen! I repeat, this Mother Hen. Mother Hen to Wildy-doo, do you read me? Over. We are in a state of emergency, I repeat, this is Mother Hen, Mother Hen to Wildy-doo—wee-woo-wee-woo-wee-woo—"

He pulled up the sharp end of his cloak and started spinning it around. His high pitched song of a siren continued as his eyes wandered, "wee-woo-wee-woo-wee-woo-wee-woo-wee—"

She was staring at something. Her shoulders rose slowly and body faced him.

He couldn't recognize her expression.

He followed her gaze to something standing above him. Considering how he was laid out near the prison bars with his weight on one shoulder, it wasn't until he cranked his neck all the way upwards did he see—

"CAPTAIN?"

He immediately shot up in excitement, tears of joy filled his eyes.

He cheered! He thanked the skies! The spirits of the Okasakes! He was finally fucking free!

"Oh man, oh man, you don't know how glad I am to see ya!"

The prison door slid open on its own and Raiden jumped out.

As he did, the Captain turned. Raiden was about to dance before he heard—

"Emph!"

He spun around. The bars had closed before she had gone out. Her two hands clutched onto the bars of the prison doors tightly.

She wasn't looking at him but at Captain who had now walked out. Raiden took a few glances at the door and her.

He wasn't going to just leave her here….

"I'll talk to him." Raiden assured her before running out the doors to catch up with him.

He was right. The whole prison hall was empty—not even guards were here. Seeing that the Captain had stopped, Raiden mustered up the courage to appeal to him about Wildfire but was interrupted by the man himself.

"There is an alternative sentence that you may serve if you agree to its conditions." He said.

"What?" Raiden asked, taken aback. He was still going to uphold the charges?! "Look—I'm sorry, okay? I just got pissed at Renji so I came down to bust Wildfire out which—" he paused to dramatically emphasize how much he knew it was wrong, "—I know wasn't the right thing to do 'cause she was gonna open her trap about you-know-who! But I learned my lesson LITERALLY two minutes after getting caught by—"

He gasped. "Hey, hold the fuck on! I didn't steal that fucking key, who else you think would jump at the chance to do any-fucking-thing for Wildfire?! That woman's a liar! She knows I didn't do it!"

"The Seireitei is without an emergency defense. What is left there are division members. To serve an alternative sentence would mean to become their defense until the Gotei 13 is restored."

Raiden was pissed. He felt the anger burgeon all over again. Why the fuck would he, a quincy, go and defend a bunch of shitty soul reapers?!

"Oh, you know I ain't doing that fucking shit." He was dead serious. Why should he of all people lay down his life for shitty imitations who executed more than half of his people?

The Captain slightly turned but he wasn't in the mood to be intimidated by no one.

"Sorry," he wasn't actually sorry but to be a bit kind he said it nonchalantly, "I'm not gonna fucking die for soul reapers. I admit what I did was a shit thing to do but if you want to punish me then keep me in a fucking cell. I'm not dying for soul reapers and I'm not gonna go to the Seireitei to defend the Gotei 13's pieces of shit! You should've told me the deal right in front of Wildfire instead of bringin' me out here like I would even fucking agree to that."

"Seriously Captain, get a clue! I'm really not here to be anyone's shit scraper!" He exclaimed before turning around. "You got Renji, now, don't ya? Ask him. I'm sure he'd love to bask in that assassin glory shit over there while I'm being fucking confined in a cell for having some type of a heart!"

He walked off.

Fuck this soul reaper shit.

"Gureta is back."

Raiden's shoe grazed against the rocks of the floor. What the fuck?

His eyes were already wide when he spun around to look at the Captain again who he could now fully see from his left view.

He closed his eyes, "she is a soul shadow."

What the fuck? That was all Raiden could think about. He paced back and forth in his head. His body refused to rid itself of the shock.

"You're fucking serious…?" Raiden asked.

His mouth ran loose. "What the fuck?"

"W-What happened? Did she get Ruk—fuck! I mean you-know-who? Does she know? What the fuck happened wasn't she purified?" His babbling intensified to release the stress. "Her ol'Oky had her the whole time?! This is fucking insane! Now he's got her back on that voodoo shit too! The whole reason she even became a fucking soul shadow is—What the actual fuck?! What do we do?!"

"She is stationed in the Seireitei." Captain informed him slowly. "The remaining division members will likely be her prey."

Raiden's eyes trembled for him.

"These are not imitations or dolls created for the Gotei 13."

Raiden swallowed, "you mean this is the real shit, he's finally bringin' out his squad. But wait—"

He stopped, he said the words in his head before he could say them out loud. "Oh no…"

The alert ran through him before he went pale. "You don't think…Sensei…as in…former Head Commander of the Soul Society Sensei is back?!"

"It is likely," the Captain slowly confirmed one of his worst fears had come to life, "that he too remained a slave after death."

His shoulders sank. This was fucking serious.

"Where's Ruk—" he closed his eyes before he exploded, "fuck! Where's you-know-who?"

"At the palace." He answered.

"If she's still fucking there then why is he releasing his fucking minions? Why's Sensei Okasake Gureta's shadow loose?!"

Upon meeting the Captain's sharp stare again, he realized, "oh she pissed him off? She's been pissing him off her entire life and now he decides to fucking bust?!"

"The Seireitei will be destroyed." Raiden swallowed nervously. "If it is with defense, it might live."

He tapped his foot as he looked around and thought about this seriously. If the guy's minions were being shot out anywhere then property rights and location didn't really fucking matter anymore. Considering it was the real deal, Seireitei or no Seireitei…

Raiden wet his lips and walked right into the room where his cell was.

Wildfire was no longer near the bars; instead, she was sniffing and crying in the corner.

Raiden opened his mouth to call on her but he met her eyes red with fury. "Shut the fuck up, Arigawa."

"Damn!" She slammed the prison cell doors hard.

She paced back and forth like she was crazy—hand on her hips, mascara running down, strands of her hair sticking to her forehead.

"Lo—"

"Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck up, Arigawa?! I'm not gonna ask you the fuck again!" She was pointing her finger viciously at him.

But the worst was yet to come. Something dark swallowed her eyes as she shifted her gaze to something, someone, who was standing near the doorway.

"And fuck you too!"

Raiden's eyes popped wide, his teeth immediately clenched, Wildfire was fucking crazy but going after Captain?! She actually wanted to die now.

"Both of you!" She spat as tears ran down her face. "God I wish everyone fucking knew! It's all about Rukia, innit?! Well I should let ya know Captain that if the Kuchiki clan's willing to break the law for Rukia then they're not the fucking law-abiding citizens they make out to be! Including you! Dead or alive!"

"WILDFI—" she was fucking insane! This was not a man he or anyone else for that matter would ever go after dead or alive!

"Privileged pieces of shit! Pretendin' y'all are all law abiding saints! If anything all of you should be in here for breakin' the law as many times you've had for little miss Kuchiki!"

"Wildfire!" Raiden called.

"Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck up, Arigawa? You looked me dead in the eyes and lied you fucking prick!"

"Look—I know but could you just listen for a sec—"

"To what?" She jerked back. "How Captain's gonna let you loose 'cause ~miss Rukia~ is in danger and we all have to fall to her feet 'cause she's allegedly a saint? She's a liar! A traitor! An unholy bitch!" Raiden tried to get a word in but she wasn't letting him speak. "Or you're gonna tell me I'm shit at handling my emotions and that I'm the real problem here for wanting to expose the fucking trut—"

"Ira, he's letting us go!" Raiden screamed which silenced her immediately. "We're still servin' our damn sentence but we're doin' it over at the Seireitei 'cause ol'Oky's latest squad just dropped, alright? He's sendin' us over there to defend our land!"

It took her some time to get it before the prison door slid to the left.

She was free to go now.

Almost apologetic, she looked behind Raiden's shoulder to the doorway to utter an apology but the Captain was gone.

---

"We shouldn't be doing this." Ingrim said to Cang Du who drew a rectangle onto the 8th Division's brick wall with something red hot and sizzling.

He ignored him.

Ingrim lit a cigarette and observed the wide sub-hall they were in. It was empty. He only heard echoes of soul shadows and the clangor of blades.

It was freezing. Even the pattern of emerald mosaics which covered the arch of the ceiling had frost on them. They looked as though they were about to crack.

"We should be out there ya know…" he said. It was only fitting that the screams of an officer outside the mosaic wall were heard soon after.

"It's only gonna take two minutes. Sensei Kyōraku's got a lil'room here that might tell us what the hell she knows about this in writing."

"Even if she's in on whatever is going on up there, she's not that sloppy."

The chunk he cut out suddenly fell back and previewed a room, a lair of some kind.

Cang Du scoffed.

"'Course I know she ain't sloppy. She's in everyone's business, a woman like that always appears clean. She's got to, to maintain her relationships with people."

Ingrim watched Cang Du bend and squeeze himself into the room.

"Then why we here?" Ingrim asked. "If anything, I could just have a drink with her, no biggie."

Cang Du bent down and looked up at him with an arched brow. "'Cause you wouldn't get anything but drunk."

Ingrim paused and shrugged in agreement, "that's probably true."

"Abarai's still stickin' with his story." Cang Du said as he rummaged through the room while Ingrim stood guard. "And now with that whole chandelier thing, everybody's suddenly acting like it never existed."

"It was a pretty brave thing to do." Ingrim admitted which immediately got Cang Du to bend down through the frame and glare. "Not gonna lie like you are."

"Sounds like you're ready to forgive him." Cang Du resumed his hunting.

Ingrim couldn't deny that. Renji was his friend after all. Seeing that he had already made amends with a few others made him ready to do it himself.

He cleared his throat, "whatever his reason, he's not gonna tell us if we keep hunting him like this. We drilled him a bunch of times and he didn't say a thing."

"I don't actually give a fuck." He heard Cang Du say following the shuffling of papers. "Chillin' in the Inklin mountains, no sign of any dramatic injury, returning now of all times? It doesn't make sense."

"Didn't say he wasn't lying." Ingrim muttered. "We got to think of that thing too."

"I'm not gonna buy that shit either." Cang Du said. "Would've served as a better excuse though, instead of lying about some injury."

Ingrim agreed.

Cang Du climbed out of the hole. "This whole soul reaper protection thing got me thinking about the way they're moving—they're hiding something, big."

"Or stalling."

"For what? Info from the past ain't just gonna fall from the sky."

"Maybe they found something, through Abarai, with info, that's why he got immunity or something." Ingrim assumed.

"They could've said that easily but didn't, he could've told us about it too but didn't." Cang Du placed the chunk of wall back in its place. "The longer we wait, shit like what's happening to you right now is gonna keep happening."

"You don't have to forgive him if I do." Ingrim blew smoke out. "I just miss the guy that's all."

"Enough to build a secret shrine to him?"

Ingrim jerked back, surprised. He quickly relaxed his features and smirked, "why? You feelin' a lil' you know…"

Cang Du, unphased, closed his eyes, "Sensei Kyōraku's got a whole shrine dedicated to Arigawa in there that I'm sure he doesn't know about."

"Not like she ever hid her feelings for him." Ingrim said as the piece of the wall merged back into its place.

"Yeah well, after this, I think we should convince him to get a restraining order 'caus—"

"Well hello, Secretary of States, what brings you here?"

Oh no.

Cang Du's shoulders shot up. Fuck. His wide eyes met Ingrim's who stood like a mirror in front of him, mimicking the same look.

Fuck.

"Will I not get a reply today?" She asked sweetly. Ingrim watched her slightly tilt to get a glimpse of Cang Du. "That's too bad."

Cang Du slowly spun around to face her. "Sensei Kyōraku."

"10th Division members are out in that shadow storm while you're in here doing…" her eyes averted to the wall beside them which had thankfully gotten rid of the lines in time.

"We were just leaving." Ingrim said. She knew what they—Cang Du—had done.

"Well shouldn't we have a drink?" She kindly asked, an officer screaming for their life outside followed.

"Would be up for it any other day but today." Ingrim apologized.

"We're gettin' him off alcohol." Cang Du announced, "we're heading back outside with our division."

She tilted her head. "And they are…?"

They actually had no idea where their division was exactly.

"Outside." They nervously replied.

"Oh," she pouted, "where?"

Cang Du leaned back in discomfort. "Well, they should be outside protecting our barracks like we planned. If they went far out I'll—"

"You'll?" She inquired.

"We'll take care of it." Ingrim answered.

"Oh Butcher, you certainly become much more daring when you're off alcohol." She complimented with a little smile. "Too bad Secretary of State Cang Du is your division's sourpuss or you and I could've been friends."

Ingrim observed something obscure Sensei Kyōraku's playful eyes as she watched Cang Du and moved close. Her old face was still smiling but inside Ingrim knew that both of them had struck a nerve.

Behind that slight smile and seemingly infatuated eyes was rage.

They had crossed the line.

---

Past

There was a routine now.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays Rukia stayed in the Rukongai District. Every other day she was in the Seireitei until sundown. Weekends were for one of the two but she mostly spent it here in Inuzuri.

Her district practically owned a farm! And it seemed that she was determined to build one in other districts as well. On top of that, she also taught classes in the Seireitei and was in the process of addressing age-old complaints from normal Rukongaiers.

In a short time, she had become incredibly busy. The old creeper in a kid only took up a small portion of her day, she had a fully packed schedule! He started to realize, overtime, that she minimized her lunches with Renji, Raiden and her new friend, Wildfire to make time to do her work.

Evidently, she was easing into the whole Okasake affiliate thing quite easily considering how much time she spent conversing with noble personnels for her work and running her classes with the students aware of her Okasake relation.

They all knew her as a symbol of the Okasakes, she was their representative in a way despite not carrying their last name.

Nobles addressed her so kindly and knocked antlers to exchange some words with her when there was a crowd. Ichigo found it interesting how her non-noble heritage didn't seem to bother any of them—her sheatsu was literally gold and her being good at it all only intensified their sometimes subtle, sometimes embolden craze over her.

Rukia seemed to fit in quite perfectly. It was amazing to see her return to her district after all that like it never even happened. Rukongai Rukia and Okasake affiliate Rukia operated on the same planet but appeared vastly different in appearance and cadence.

How she managed to stay all dolled up and perfect to the nobles only to come back to her district and fall back into her informalities and her 'un-noble' behaviour was impressive.

She never yearned for that type of life and even if she did, she deserved it after everything she went through.

Months passed by and the thing was no more than a small part of her life actually. So much more of it belonged to playing Okasake affiliate and being the Rukongai's hero. It was in this light that Ichigo realized why the concern for the heir had died down.

He wasn't even in the picture.

She dealt with the toddler for a few hours and then went right back to her normal life.

Sensei Okasake Hiroshima finally appeared the way Rukia and Ukitake had described him to be. He was strict, tough and incredibly revered.

Sensei Okasake Hiroshima was like steel. He appeared cold and hard, his voice rough and brittle and tolerance very small.

The Gotei 13 finally got to see the Okasakes in their element—the godly element, the noble element, the 'we created the universe and we oversee the Soul Society' element.

And man were they something.

They had hundreds of people working directly for them. Assassins swished in and out, guards or servants or officers in different formal wear would tend to them in and out, they had scholars and other nobles who were practically on their knees every time they came by.

Ichigo's first taste of noblehood and divinity was honestly the most extreme experience he had in his life.

The Okasakes were busy people too. Back to back meetings, lunches with chancellors, consultations with ministers, scheduled classes, appointments with other people he had no clue about, squad meetings, underground training centre check-ins.

He was running mad seeing it all unfold but he was glad that the Head Captain was thoroughly unpacking it all to fill in all the gaps and holes and answer all the questions.

On top of the Okasakes' work life, their manor was huge and filled with workers who maintained the space from the designer rooms to the fancy gardens.

Rukia only worked in the general room but her room was next door and she traversed many times around the manor while making conversation with the workers or tending to other Okasake business.

Sensei Okasake Hirosuke's sister-in-law, the tall, mean, crazy, god enthusiast old lady who went by Minister Asa tended to be around. According to her, she didn't like breathing the same air as soul reapers but stuck around the manor a lot.

Ichigo thought the woman was strange considering that she belonged to the Asa clan and the Cho clan by birth but didn't bother lounging around there as she did with here.

The Chancellor Fujii guy they had encountered in present time was barely around. They never saw him, he would come in once and awhile but besides that, he was practically invisible.

There were other frequent visitors.

For one, the manor was like the second community centre for volunteers considering how many kids came in and out of it and were served fruits and drinks.

The name 'Major Haru' finally had a face to it. He was a pretty calm guy, tall, broad. He was the assassin-quincy running the 6th Division on behalf of the Kuchiki family. He belonged to the Haruyoshi clan and was a half-noble.

He was, to no surprise, well-acquainted with the Kuchiki family and the Okasake clan.

Midnight blue hair, brighter blue eyes, some stubble on his face. Here, he was also the leader of some specialized quincy unit too.

Ichigo liked him the moment he came in.

Another Major that the nobles of the Gotei 13 easily identified was this serious woman named Major Li Shira.

Her hair was short and styled into a bob, her eyes were green like emeralds, she even wore gold earrings with emeralds too.

Ukitake shared a few things about her that didn't come to much of a surprise to Ichigo. Apparently she was well known in the noble community for having the highest number of divorces amongst nobles.

None of the divorces were due to her husbands' deaths though, Ukitake had them all thinking the number had surpassed ten when really, it had just been four.

Nobles were really dramatic.

Anyways, she didn't talk much but she seemed to be well acquainted with Byakuya's father which garnered a particular reaction from some Gotei 13 members who seemed to know that there was some history.

Ichigo didn't ask. All that didn't even matter now.

They'd also had finally met another Minister who was not old and was not Byakuya's grandfather or the evil god lady.

Shuhei, Kon, Ikkaku and Izuru immediately fell in love with her, drooling over the woman like teenagers. When Ichigo thought of himself he realized that he was almost out of his boyhood days. Meanwhile these guys would probably be the equivalent of thirty if not late twenties in human world age acting like lovesick puppies.

Her name was Minister Pembi.

She had a sort of cute but mature look to her.

Fire red hair, way brighter than Renji's, with dark roots, bright honey gold eyes and some freckles that were practically unnoticeable unless you were up close.

She wore the skirt assassin uniform which had a low, personalized V-neck, allowing the strapless lavender crop top she wore under it to slightly show. She also wore twin stone necklaces, one with a small ruby and the other of a purple moonstone.

Something about her facial features reminded him of Bambi, the animated character, leading him to believe that she might be a shapeshifter type.

Apparently she came from a long line of Ministers so her role was guaranteed from birth.

Other small visitors included Minister Asa's little grand niece named Asa Suika, some Secretary of State called Cem, a flashy character named Deen 'Jerru 'Jer' Jerruam and a guy who was literally half centaur named Karro.

Immediately upon seeing him Kenpachi set himself out on the mission to fight him. He was huge and frankly, very intimidating.

That group of three often had lunch at the manor's lawn and the flashy guy was hardly a perfect match for a lunch date. Both the Secretary of State and Major of the 11th Division were serious guys and yet, they came from time to time together.

As all the relations settled in, there was one particular presence that he was now getting used to seeing.

Byakuya's father.

At first, his appearances were frequent and he worked on that corner desk in the general study diagonal to Rukia. Once she came in, she often opened some key cabinets and pulled out a key for him—handing it to him every time she entered the room.

They still didn't know what it opened but it seemed to be a routine that was done without asking.

Eventually, Byakuya's father was officially put on leave due to his medical problems which, honestly, didn't show.

The words of the younger Byakuya in present time about his father being known for hiding his illness and its symptoms was an understatement.

He was extremely good at masking it.

He became a very permanent face in the manor in that same spot following his temporary leave. It made it easier to get used to seeing him and Rukia in the same space 'cause it happened so frequently.

It was no longer weird.

Or that weird.

Byakuya could finally look at them with two eyes so that was a positive sign that it appeared normal now.

---

Present

Sensei Kyōraku had ordered them to both enter her private lair the way they had entered in it in the first place.

Once they were in, Ingrim observed the place for himself. The first thing he caught sight of was that shrine to Arigawa with a frame of red lace and hearts.

She twisted her lips before her eyes fluttered up and examined her own room.

"See anything you like?" She asked, her tone was still cordial which made the entire thing less intimidating.

"Look, I'll get straight to the point." Cang Du said sternly. "We weren't trying to steal from you or invade your privacy, we were trying to find out why you guys keep protectin' old Abarai."

"Ah," she craned her neck to observe the ceiling, "I really should add a chandelier here to brighten the room. It seems as though you cannot see my face because if you could, you'd see that," the smile came off, so did the crinkles near her eyes, "I don't care."

Cang Du swallowed, "the higher ups know something."

"What we did was wrong." Ingrim admitted. "But it's not right that we're not allowed to pursue this."

"Trapped in the Inklin Mountains is a shit story and we all know it. Abarai says he got this great big injury which kept him back for months and no one came to find him. That's bullshit." Cang Du said. "And I don't care if he cut off a few chains from a light, that doesn't mean there isn't somethin' fishy about this whole thing."

"My ward serves you how?" She demanded an answer.

"I'm," Cang Du emphasized, "the one who thought we should chase after you since you were into stalling the whole thing too. We know your reputation, you wouldn't be fine with glossing over a story like this unless you knew something."

"I'm responsible too." Ingrim said, not willing to let Cang Du take the fall all by himself. "I should've stopped him but let him go on anyway. I actually wanted to forgive Abarai despite not believing him."

"Fools." She spat, residual spit sprinkled on both of them.

"Indecent voyagers." She insulted, both had never seen her this serious. The nosy, sweet old lady was dearly missed.

"Major Ira was confined for breaking and entering." She informed them, they had no clue. "Seems that you two are no different."

They could hear more screams from outside. Ingrim looked down, ashamed.

A high pitched chuckle followed shortly, "in that horrendous cloud outside…you had the audacity to—" she chuckled again.

Cang Du looked down.

"All because a dear friend of yours returned unexpectedly with an unusual story." She could only titter.

Ingrim would've never believed that Minister Asa and Sensei Kyōraku were close but judging by how she acted here, they probably were.

Her behaviour now felt…familiar.

"He's not my friend." Cang Du immediately said. "He's Ingrim's. I'm after him 'cause I think he's hiding something big."

"Bigger than that monstrosity outside?" She asked, the angelic delicate voice of hers had returned.

No, Ingrim answered mentally.

"Yes." Cang Du said which surprised him. "He's a part of this whole thing just as much as any of this shit happening now."

He took a bold step forward which made Ingrim nervous, "what does he have? On you? The higher ups? Why'd you all wipe his slate clean that quickly?"

"Oh," she observed him, her crochet sticks came out and jabbed him in the stomach, "you're very bold today, Secretary of State Cang Du. I would have never imagined you were so…brave."

Her fingers slightly danced on his shoulder and gently slid down.

Sensei Kyōraku closed the gap between herself and Cang Du which made Ingrim blush upon seeing it. He didn't know what was going on.

"I," he caught a glimpse of her face arching a brow, drilling her eyes up at Cang Du. "dare you…to…"

"Cang Du! Ingrim!" A voice interrupted her from the doorway which had been less than a metre beside the rectangle square they had cut.

Ingrim immediately turned to the source. "Renji?"

"What the hell you doin' here?" He asked them. "3rd Seat Inabe wanted me to tell ya—"

Ingrim shifted his eyes numerous times to the position of Sensei Kyōraku and Cang Du for him to get a clue. Renji stilled, apologetic.

"Oh fuck, sorry." Renji put his arms up in surrender. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

Ingrim watched Sensei Kyōraku fully turn to Renji at the doorway with a smile.

"Oh," she moved away from Cang Du, "you caused no trouble."

Renji resumed staring at Ingrim before walking in.

"Report on what you were told to say." Sensei Kyōraku ordered kindly.

"Uh…yeah sure. 3rd Seat Inabe wanted me to tell ya he's moving your division to the south side of the Rukongai District. Soul shadows are huddling up in certain places to avoid the light." Renji informed them.

"Could've just sent a hell butterfly." Cang Du rudely responded, "why'd he send you?"

Renji flashed an uneasy smile, "saw me, that's all."

Ingrim stepped in front of Cang Du, resting his right hand on his shoulder, "thanks, Renji. We," he looked at Cang Du, "should get going."

This was their ticket out.

"I'll lead ya out." Renji offered. Ingrim smiled, Cang Du did not. He closed his eyes.

"We'll…" Ingrim's eyes averted to Sensei Kyōraku, "…talk another time."

The old woman shot him a fierce look, a wicked grin matched wicked eyes.

"Sure." She shrugged.

Ingrim could only uncomfortably move away with Cang Du as Renji led them out the room. Once they were a considerable distance away, Renji stopped and turned.

"Thanks." Ingrim said with a smile. He knew he came in there for them.

Renji was glad he got the intention, "no problem."

Ingrim stuck his hand out and Renji shook it.

"Was that whole thing with our division bullshit?" Cang Du asked with his eyes closed.

"Nah, I sent them down there. We got them clutterin' up now that most of those hot spots are gone. What the hell were you doin' over there anyway? Inabe told me you dipped."

Ingrim didn't know what to say. Cang Du, on the other hand, pushed forward, ready to accuse him again but Ingrim stopped him.

"Care to join us now that you're off the hook?" Cang Du's eyes flung open at Ingrim's proposal who was now smiling with his fang teeth on display.

Renji's eyes practically glittered.

"Hay-hey!" His arms, now wide, saw Ingrim rush into them.

Cang Du could only roll his eyes at the sight before they parted.

"When this thing's over, how about a drink?" Ingrim asked him.

"Great!" Renji leaned back in excitement, "we can gather up the whole posse and—"

A loud sound akin to someone biting into an apple was heard next to them. Followed by the loud cracking was wind which practically attacked their eyesight by the dust it brought in and cold air.

The whole side of the barracks had been eaten out, they could see the night sky.

Alert shrilled through them as they caught sight of the thing peering down at them.

A soul shadow disguised as a woman floated above them with a nasty smile and mint green outlining its body.

Instinctively, they all grabbed onto their respective weapons as it dipped down towards them.

"Take cover!"

---

Past

There was supposed to be some prestigious gathering that the Okasakes were hosting tonight. The manor had been busy all day with workers preparing.

Apparently, it was gonna be held at North Center Hall which Sui-Feng mentioned had burnt down some time in the future.

The lavish event was to begin at eight sharp. Rukia opened the shōji of the general study on an unusual day—a Tuesday.

She wasn't even supposed to be here.

###

Upon sliding open the doors, she greeted the Lieutenant as usual and slid open one of the little key storages to retrieve his key.

"He's not here?" Rukia asked him as she approached his desk to hand him the key.

Tonight the Okasakes were holding a formal gathering. It was her first time being at the manor at night which brought a new visual experience to her.

Candles added a certain shine to the citrine-based room that made it ten times prettier. The warmth of it was amplified against the pitch black of the outdoors.

On her way here, the manor had looked extra shiny amid all the honeycomb shaped flower lights and other bulbs which illuminated each part of the pathways, verandas and gardens.

"Godfather?" He asked, surprised before his eyes wandered to his right.

Sensei Okasake suddenly appeared in a flash.

"Good, you're here." Sensei said upon seeing her. He had his hands atop his cane which he didn't actually need or use. His assassin fit looked darker than usual. Clean and new.

"Oh no…" Rukia crossed her arms.

"Oh yes." He replied.

The dread reached her face first, "I'm going?!"

She shot a look at the Lieutenant before looking back at Sensei diagonal to her.

"It is a part of the deal." Sensei casually said, "your arrangement," he reminded her.

Rukia could only sneer. Geez! She hated these things. All she did was occasionally smile, be stiff and mock nobles, though they didn't know she was doing it, when she conversed with them.

"Do I have to?" She was whining but those things were so…

"A part of the deal." He replied sternly to which Rukia could only sigh in defeat.

Behind her, she heard a maid who often tended to her call, "hime-sama!"

("'Princess'?" Lieutenant Hisagi asked.

"Not like they actually got an heir, might as well treat the one person who's keepin' up the clan's dignity as one in the meanwhile." Ichigo said.)

She had one of the Okasake heirlooms in her hands. Rukia grumbled as she took it and put it on.

It was a thin headband in zigzags. The band was practically invisible once she put it atop her head.

She leaned forward, "happy?"

"Plenty." He replied before looking at the Lieutenant. "Will you not come?"

The Lieutenant shook his head, "I would rather stay here."

"Are you sure?" Sensei asked him. The Lieutenant nodded his head with a slight smile.

"I am not feeling well." He affirmed. "Father will likely be there in my place."

Following that, Sensei glanced at her and they both walked out the doors—heading towards North Center Hall.

###

The environment didn't change. Instead, a slot to the right of them faded into the luxurious North Center Hall with thousands of guests, traditional music and a tall arrangement of balconies which framed the area.

Orihime, Isane, Momo and Rangiku walked towards it, now on one of the balconies, as they peered down to see all the baby blues, cyans, periwinkles, rose pinks and mint colours which made up the fabrics of expensive kimonos.

Hair ornaments adorned each and every one of their heads. And if not, there were brooches and pins.

Ichigo walked with Kon on his shoulder and peered down. He didn't get why the slot for Byakuya's father was open when he was just doing some paperwork but left it at that.

"Nee-san's over there!" Kon pointed out. From their view she looked like an ant.

The Okasakes, not only being the hosts but the Head Commanders, sat a few levels above the main floor on big designer chairs. The little creep stood next to his father, observing the crowd with a smirk while Rukia stood next to her Sensei Okasake.

She had her mask on.

As time went on, she was eventually allowed to leave their side. She merely wandered and faked a smile when others greeted her, he could tell how much she hated these things.

Yachiru got excited and jumped all the way down to the main floor to try and touch her but of course, she would never be able to feel her. Eventually, she got tired of poking and tried to nab one of the sweets which slipped right through her.

Hours seemingly passed and the Gotei 13 had split up, exploring the place that they were unable to feel.

Ichigo stood on the main floor now as a performer came onto dance. He recognized no one. The little creep was still next to his father observing the grounds and Rukia was just killing time by walking all over the place.

To his right, the slot where Byakuya's father was at work was still open.

"Ichigo." Kon called.

"What?"

He whispered, "let's go see what he's working on."

Ichigo immediately smacked him.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!"

"I'm not gonna go look at some boring paperwork. It's probably for the Kuchiki family, it's got nothin' to do with us." Ichigo said.

"So why can we still see him?!" Kon asked.

Ichigo shrugged, "how the hell should I know?"

Kon glanced at the former Lieutenant Kuchiki. He became curious.

"Well I'm gonna go look!" Kon hopped off his shoulder and ran off to the other side.

Ichigo froze before the realization sunk in and he scrambled after him. "WAIT!"

Upon entering the other side, Kon attempted to walk behind the low table. Ichigo barely managed to reach in time to pull him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DO—"

"Kurosaki Ichigo." A stern voice called behind them that immediately installed terror in both of them.

Slowly, Ichigo, who was bent down with his left hand barely clasping the nape of the plushie, and Kon, who was just a centimetre away from the table, turned around.

Their teeth chattered at the sight of Byakuya. Ichigo immediately stood straight.

"I-I swear! We're weren't doin' anything! I was just tryna catch him before he—"

"Roger." Another deep voice called, now behind them, they looked to Byakuya's father who had seemingly summoned the snake, Roger.

It came out of a white portal diagonal to them.

"What's going on?" Tōshirō asked from the other side. Other Gotei 13 members, no matter their location, immediately were able to pour into the side they were on.

Byakuya's father was looking at some binder they couldn't see.

Upon Roger's arrival, he spoke, "get Rukia."

Ichigo arched a brow at the request.

"Rukia-sama?" Roger repeated before dipping its tail into a portal. Rukia came out, seconds later, with the serpent's tail wrapped around her waist.

"Roger?" She called. "What are you—"

"Here."

###

Rukia glanced at the Lieutenant.

She approached his desk, "what's wrong?"

He handed her two small photographs. She stared at them.

Oh boy.

"They are there tonight." He informed her.

Rukia stared at the photographs of one redhead girl and black haired girl.

"Observe them." He ordered. "The child to your left is the youngest daughter of the Lady of the Hoshina clan and the other is the granddaughter of the Head of the Mibu clan."

("Are they investigating the heir's obsessions?" Uryū asked, looming over Rukia's shoulder to catch a glimpse of the photos.)

"Gee," Rukia said, "now we're signing me up for the princess protection program."

She made sure to emphasize her sarcasm.

"That crown on your head begs to differ."

Rukia looked up at him.

How nice of him to relish in her discontentment when it came to being the newly referred Okasake princess.

She pulled off her head band. "Well, at least I have an excuse not to wear it for the rest of the night. I'm on duty."

She placed the headband into a lacquer box.

"What am I looking for?" She asked.

"Anything out of the ordinary." The Lieutenant replied.

Okay, he needed to do better than that. "Such as?"

"Anything abnormal." He reworded which was not in any way descriptive.

"What's the noble definition of abnormality?" Rukia questioned.

He brought out another photograph and slipped it in front of the two she had been holding. There was a newspaper clipping attached.

"The youngest daughter of the Hoshina clan reportedly killed a cat this morning."

Rukia arched a brow. A cat? Granted, that wasn't normal but was that seriously something to be that concerned about. Most of these children were spoiled brats. If something they viewed 'beneath them' did something they didn't like, she was certain they'd do anything to harm them.

She scanned the black and white picture, "looks like a possum did it. What's the big deal?"

"It was her pet." He clarified. "A dear one."

Rukia still thought it was the work of a possum but went with it. "And the other one?"

"Scratches herself, in her dreams."

Rukia shot him a look, "well that definitely wasn't on the front page of the Noble Gazette I hope."

"I overheard it this morning at the archive centre." He admitted.

Rukia studied the photos.

"Lieutenant," she called quietly, "you said…" her voice was barely above a whisper, "these people were random. How can you be sure they're temporary ones?"

("So they are investigating temporary obsessions." Tōshirō said.

"This is probably how they learnt about the thing's behaviours and common patterns of hypnosis." Kensei said.

"Well we sure got lucky." Shinji said.

"Better than having to wait for present Lieutenant Kuchiki to spill the beans on all the things the thing can do. Seeing it all here will kill time in half." Lieutenant Hisagi said.

"Well it's not like we didn't know much before." Isane argued. "From the drawings to the hypnosis to the mind and dream control. It was laid out pretty clear to us then."

"I guess but not like the way it is now." Ikkaku said.)

"I have a feeling." He explained. "It would be wise to monitor as many of them as possible to know."

("They're acting upon strange instances that could potentially be linked to the heir." Uryū said.)

Rukia nodded her head in agreement before shoving the photos into her pocket.

"Fine. A cat killer and a dream scratcher, just great." Rukia looked to Roger, "you coming?"

"A-Ah! Yes, Rukia-sama!"

###

Rukia had spent the remainder of the gathering monitoring both noble girls she had been assigned.

The one who had killed her cat did nothing but sit and stare. She looked sad but couldn't show it. Despite forcing a smile at times, Rukia could tell she was disturbed.

Nobles loved to gossip and by the looks of it, her making the papers was enough to warrant negative reactions upon seeing her.

The one who scratched herself in her dreams was the complete opposite. Frivolous and like every other normal noble girl she had come to meet and observe while being here.

Though, when Rukia lingered around the area and was greeted by her family, she took note of the kimono sleeves she wore which practically hid her entire arm.

It made her wonder how bad it was.

She didn't have time to make conversation with them to try and catch a glimpse as the clans were starting to depart and the gathering had come to an end.

As the masses left the hall, Rukia walked behind the Hoshina clan and kept tabs on the alleged cat killer.

Then, she flash-stepped and observed the dream scratcher.

The cat killer concerned her more.

Before they got to their manors, Rukia drew herself into the shield of any tree she could find and stared. While she didn't detect any dark miasma that could potentially link their behaviours to the heir, the only way to actually tell would be to see them in person.

She returned back to the manor. Upon arrival, she saw Sensei in the room cast a disapproving look, "your crown?"

Rukia smiled innocently, "I was on duty."

His eyes shifted to the Lieutenant who just shrugged.

Sensei closed his eyes. "You both are a menace."

###

The next evening the Lieutenant and her had split up. He had more suspicions about others so they divided up the work.

The questions were very simple, so was the idea.

Upon arriving at her assigned clan's manor, she'd go in and be greeted by the staff and a member of the family who would apologize for whatever reason she had come for, to which Rukia would smile and say it's 'no problem'. They'd offer her tea or invite her to dinner and she'd kindly decline and ask for whomever the matter concerned.

Upon meeting them, she'd loosely follow the criteria laid out and examine whether it was the thing's doing or if it was just something that happened normally.

She would then either fix it herself or recommend someone to the person's maid or assistant or the Head themselves.

At the start of the evening, she went to four different clans—she left the cat killer for last.

In each case, there was no sign of the heir's demonic abilities taking control of them. She had recommended what she could to the person in charge and went on her way.

She was now in front of the Hoshina manor. Upon entering, the guards bowed to her as she did and an elder of the Hoshina greeted her and led her in.

There was a single cushion in the middle of the great white room for her and the elder who would sit across from it.

Upon kneeling into the cushion, tea was brought to her before she could say a thing. The elder immediately bowed and apologized like all the other ones did and said he was 'embarrassed' by her, the cat killer's, unusual deed.

Rukia comforted him by telling him 'not to worry' and that she was here to help. With gratitude, a maid came and led her into the cat killer's room to the left.

Once the doors parted, the cat killer bowed but not without expressing her shock at her appearance.

"S-Sensei?" She had called before Rukia told the maid she didn't need her assistance and then, they were left alone.

Her room was messy for a noble.

Silks of pinks, sheets of sky blues and pearly white rugs and clothes were everywhere. Images of her cat were scattered all over the floor, including a shrine that had photos above her bed.

She felt minorly bad for dubbing the girl 'cat killer' after seeing all the photos she did.

She sniffed a few times before wiping her face. "It's embarrassing, is it not?"

She covered her face with her hands.

"Walk me through what happened." Rukia kindly said.

The girl looked down, evidently about to cry again.

"W-Well," she blew her nose, "…Willow and I were playing before she went to sleep. I wasn't tired yet so I just read until I was. When I woke up—"

She stopped and let the tears flow down. "I-I was outside, at the entrance, I was kneeling in front of…Willow and I-I had blood all over my lap and on my h-hands! Fukisubo," her personal maid, "found me with great uncle with blood on my mouth and Willow was…Willow was…"

She sobbed.

"I'm sorry." Rukia said gently, "do you….have any memory of dreaming that night?"

The cat killer swallowed, "no…"

"How about within the last few days?"

"Nothing comes to mind."

"Hmm…do you like to draw?" Rukia asked her.

"I can't draw."

Rukia softly smiled, "I asked if you liked to draw, not if you could draw."

"I have a sketchbook my mother gifted to me days ago but I don't use it." She replied.

"Can I see it?" Rukia asked.

"Why?" She questioned. "It's empty…"

Rukia put her hand out, "let me see."

The girl adamantly stood up and went to retrieve her large sketchbook.

"Here, but you won't find anything."

Rukia opened the sketchbook. It was empty.

"And you've never drawn before?"

"I'm not good at it." She answered and though Rukia didn't get the correlation, she decided not to correct her about it.

"My u-uncle says that I might have a medical problem." She quietly said. "They brought in a psychologist to examine me that same day and well…"

"What did she say?"

"She spoke to my mother." She replied. "And she told me that I may have done it in my sleep."

Rukia was quiet for a moment. If she did do it in her sleep then it was likely that it was it that had done it to her but…

The image of the cat came to mind. She was so sure that it had been the work of some possum which had attacked it causing it to subsequently die from its injuries.

It was at that moment a knock came on the door and inside came a beautiful young woman who Rukia knew was the Lady of the Hoshina clan.

"Everything alright in here?" She asked.

"Mother!" The cat killer exclaimed with tears falling from her eyes.

"Settle down." She instructed, "Sensei has come all this way to help you. The least you could do is stop crying."

"It's fine." Rukia said, "I know Willow meant a lot to her."

"She did." The Lady of the Hoshina clan straightened her back when she addressed her, in a very weird way—Rukia didn't know what it was that particularly irked her.

"But mother—"

"Settle down."

Rukia didn't like how harsh she was but couldn't intervene. After all, this wasn't in the Rukongai District—she was carrying the weight of the Okasakes' nobility when she was here.

The cat killer sat in defeat and wiped her tears. The Lady of the Hoshina clan then addressed her, "is there anything I could do to be of help?"

She watched the Lady sniff.

"Actually, there is." Rukia replied, "would it be alright if we could see the spot where Willow passed?"

The mother cleared her throat. "Why, yes of course—that should also get rid of that um, garlicky scent, of yours…"

Rukia arched a brow.

She had brought a small sample of garlic oil for the gardener to put around in case it was a possum that had killed the cat.

It was sealed.

"I'm terribly allergic." She explained but there was no way she'd be able to smell that from all the way there.

"Garlic?" The cat killer asked. "I don't smell anything, you," she addressed her, "smell very sweet."

Gee, thanks!

'Nobles', Rukia internally grumbled.

"Anyways—let me show you where we found her."

Rukia and the cat killer stood up and followed the peculiar Lady outside into the gardens to the exact spot in which Willow had passed.

"There." The mother pointed to the dry patch of ground. The cat killer immediately collapsed on her knees and started bawling.

Rukia examined the spot before looking back to the mother who was still bothered by the garlic smell.

Taking a bold chance, she took out the garlic oil from her pocket and it immediately repulsed her.

"Sensei!" The cat killer screamed out. "What are you doing? My mother is allergic—"

She had to act upon her instincts. It didn't matter if she was putting herself in the position to disgrace the Okasakes but more importantly, embarrass herself. If her intuition was wrong here, she'd probably end up on the front page of the Noble Gazette and ninety-nine percent of the people who conversed with her regularly would shun and avoid her.

Nonetheless, she had to take the chance. She opened the garlic oil and threw it at the mother who immediately broke out into the creature—a possum soul shadow and it was huge.

("That's one giant possum." Captain Hirako commented.)

The cat killer fell back and screamed as the thing grew tall and stood up on its two legs instead of four.

"You wench!" It cursed.

It dived towards them, the cat killer scrambled back and yelled. Rukia's fan blade from her foot sliced the thing in half.

Bones scattered and fell while the spirit of the mother disappeared into the clouds.

("What's garlic got to do with possums?" Ikkaku asked.

"Got it from her encyclopedia of natural remedies she learnt from the Rukongai." Ichigo lazily replied.

This was nothing new to him.

Uryū pushed up his glasses, "she is quite creative with them."

Orihime giggled, "Kuchiki-san should star in one of those survival shows in our world."

"It was because of her I got rid of that woodpecker outside my office." Captain Ukitake quietly admitted.)

Upon registering what had occurred in a matter of seconds, the cat killer started to cry.

The elder who had greeted her upon her arrival started to approach them in the distance.

###

When she arrived back into the general study, the Lieutenant was still not back from his trip.

She leaned against a piano that had been brought into the room for whatever reason and recorded her discoveries into her quotebook.

(Upon seeing the piano, Ichigo immediately remembered the piano she had in her room at the Kuchiki manor. Was it the same one? How'd she even get it there?)

Minutes later, the Lieutenant walked through the doors.

"You are already here." He acknowledged before walking to his desk. "I am quite slow."

"Any luck?" She asked him as she closed her book.

"None." He replied as he sat down in front of his desk. "The daughter of the Hoshina clan…"

Rukia shook her head, "it was a possum, like I said. Turns out the Lady of the Hoshina clan passed away two weeks ago. It was accidental—she got dizzy and fell down the bridge in the garden. She turned into a soul shadow—a possum one—that same night and well, guess she couldn't resist the urge to attack the cat and well…they recovered her body from the marsh a few hours ago. It framed the daughter by stating she did it in her sleep. It'll probably make the front page."

"That is most unfortunate." He replied before opening his folder.

Rukia approached his desk, "none of these things so far have been his fault. I'm starting to think we're being a bit too obvious."

He met her eyes. "There is no other way to do this."

"He wants us to find out." Rukia argued. "And chasing after Noble Gazette reports doesn't seem to be the way to do it."

(Ichigo liked their relationship. It seemed casual enough to reflect the interactions between a Captain and Lieutenant. He was thankful that she was able to have that.

Byakuya's grandfather was not around anymore so really, it was like he took his place in the meanwhile.)

"It." He corrected her. "And the granddaughter of the Mibu clan's Head was what I had overheard."

"Exactly!" Rukia earned his stare again. "We need to stop being less…I don't know…ready to jump at any abnormal thing that happens here in nobleville. Besides, we still have the Rukongai District which is huge and probably has lots of examples of people he's targeted. We should expand our scope and act more on our intuition than news reports."

"All those other obsessions…" Rukia leaned forward, "not all of them are nobles, most are from the Rukongai District. If we're trying to prevent him from bothering anyone else we need to do exactly what you were doing to find all those people before. I'm sure everything wasn't so wide out and in the open for you to get it then and it won't be now."

("That's two hundred and fifty three people." Izuru pointed out.

"He's got the most experience if you ask me." Shinji said.)

"Monitoring the Rukongai District is too difficult of a task." He reasoned. "We are not looking for a single obsession, we are looking for temporary ones."

"And he knows that, don't you think?" Rukia asked. "I mean, obviously he knows what you and now, I, have been up too. There's no way he's going to make this easy. Excluding the Rukongai District is wrong."

("I wonder how they came to work on this." Tōshirō said. "If Kuchiki was the one who discovered all those others, I wonder what more there was left to look for in understanding the heir's tricks. He said they needed a cure."

"Well Rukia probably decided to give a helpin' hand, that's all." Ichigo said. "She cares about the Okasakes' reputation now and knowing what the hell that thing is, she isn't just gonna stand around when she could be doin' something about it."

Tōshirō stared at him apathetically with his left eye, "I am aware, Kurosaki."

Ichigo with crossed arms leaned forward. "Oh, then why'd you ask?"

"I am referring to why they chose to work on finding temporary obsessions to fix and perhaps learn more of its behavioural patterns as opposed to finding a cure. Kuchiki already knows how the heir works, nothing of what those temporary people go through is something they are unaware of."

"Well you're not suggestin' they just leave them there, amirite?" Shinji asked him.

"Well," Tōshirō gulped, "no but—"

"Maybe someone else got the job." Rangiku said. "He doesn't like them working together. It'd probably be a lot harder for them to do both at the same time. And if Lieutenant Kuchiki's been doing this for as long as he has, he probably has other people working on the case."

"Considering all he's done, I'm sure you're right." Captain Ukitake said.)

"We would not be able to look after it."

"But I'm there." Rukia made sure to emphasize. "Every day. Weird behavior is the norm which makes it easier to mess around because there's no authority over there, nobody to actually point out that there's something strange going on. It's considered normal there so no one really gets checked out."

"Villagers also don't know their serial number. They're just people with no 'real' or 'formally recognized' identity, just a name and a birthdate—literally." Rukia added.

He was contemplating. Rukia figured she made a good argument, enough for him to permit her to pay more attention to the Rukongai District.

He closed his binder. "If we are to do this then we cannot do anything conspicuous. If we are to act upon intuition, we must find a reason to pursue others unless it will be peculiar."

"Well you have pretty good instincts." Rukia pointed out. "And I'm pretty decent. I don't think we're going to find anyone that easily but at least we aren't going by the news and are actually attempting to find real—more accurate—cases."

The Lieutenant narrowed his eyes. "That means nothing will change in our approach either."

Rukia immediately got confused before he explained himself.

"It knows our pattern. It knows what I have been searching for and believes you are being instructed to follow the same path too." That's true…"We will still have to act on news reports to avoid any suspicion."

"Fine…" Rukia muttered before sluggishly turning around, "guess I gotta start reading the Noble Gazette."

###

A week had gone by and Rukia and Byakuya's father were yet to find someone exhibiting odd behaviour due to the heir.

They still checked on other noble clans but there was no problem that couldn't be fixed. The Lady of the Hoshina clan being a soul shadow was the most peculiar reason they had witnessed yet.

Rukia did her miniature observations when she was in the Rukongai District but there was still nothing to particularly act on.

The investigation seemed to hit a dead end.

The next name on Byakuya's father's list only confirmed that it had.

Before they knew it, they were in the Shihōin manor.

They watched the usual unfold.

Byakuya's father was greeted by the Shihōin elders who welcomed him and did their offerings.

"I have to come to see Yūshirō." Byakuya's father announced.

Yūshirō, Yoruichi's little brother, was no more than a small toddler, sitting on a white blanket in the middle of the hall.

"There is something wrong with him." Byakuya's father declared, which immediately confused the elders.

Prior to this, Ichigo had watched him go into other clans and say the exact same thing to which they would always agree that there was. The Shihōin elders being uncertain also confused him.

"What do you mean?" An elder stepped up. "He's fine."

"Are you certain?" Byakuya's father asked before he glanced at Yūshirō playing on the ground. As the elders responded, he approached him, "you are well?"

The toddler looked up at him with innocent wide eyes, "h-hi, Lieutenant Kuchiki!"

There was a big ball of red yarn in his hands.

"Y-Yes! A-choo!" The ball of yarn went flying.

"What's the matter?" One of the elder asked him.

"I do not understand." It seemed that he was speaking more to himself. "There must be something wrong with him."

That comment alone garnered an odd reaction from the elder bunch.

"Do not misunderstand." He said quickly. "It is just…strange."

For him to be wrong, Ichigo figured. After all, every house he'd been to did have a problem going on so it made sense that his intuition here being wrong bothered him.

He looked to Yūshirō again, "you are sure that nothing strange has happened to you?"

The little toddler just nodded his head.

He addressed a maid, "nothing unusual about his sleep patterns or behaviour?"

"No, I'm sorry." She responded.

"I see." He looked to the elders, "I did not mean to intrude."

He was about to move but he got dizzy and stopped. His hand went to his head and the elders immediately urged him to sit down—to which he knelt onto a cushion placed in front of him as a maid brought water.

"Just a second."

A portal was made to his left and Rukia came out in confusion.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"It seems that there is nothing wrong with Yūshirō." He replied.

Rukia turned to the toddler who erupted in glee.

She bent down a little to greet him. "Hi, Yūshirō!"

"Hi, S-Sensei!"

She then addressed the elders, "Pardon the intrusion."

"You are never intruding." One of the elders said. "Both of you are never."

Perks of being nobles from the four great noble clans, Ichigo thought.

"About Yūshirō…" Rukia started to say.

"There is nothing wrong with him."

"Hmm…" Rukia said before looking at Yūshirō who had crawled to get this ball of yarn back. "There's really nothing wrong?"

"A….A…n-no, Sensei! I've been fin—a-choo!" The ball of yarn went flying again.

Rukia straightened her back and turned to Byakuya's father, "I think he just has an allergy."

"I suppose you are right though," he paused. "If not a sudden change in behaviour or anything psychologically responsible, at least an odd deficiency or defect would have sufficed."

As Byakuya's father responded, Ichigo watched one of the elders stomp hurriedly to Yūshirō on the floor. A doctor came running and even a maid.

"A cat being allergic to yarn is a defect." The hysterical elder claimed.

"Oops…" Rukia muttered before apologetically squatting down to Yūshirō. "You probably would've been able to keep that one down for years."

"H-Huh?" He replied as he was lifted off the ground.

She turned back to Byakuya's father. "Guess that solves that problem."

They walked out amid the chaos they were partially responsible for and into the evening sunset. There was a general walkway with benches of pitch pine and outdoor white vases packed with pink hydrangeas and other flowers.

At the closest bench, Byakuya's father touched the handle, applying pressure onto it to hold himself up before he sat.

"It is this medication." He explained, closing his eyes. "It tends to make me…lightheaded is all."

This was the first time Ichigo had ever seen him show a sign of his illness.

"We should take a break." Rukia said, standing diagonal to him. "Just a small one, until we can find better leads."

He opened his eyes, "you and father are alike. I say there is a side effect to my medication and you both see me as crippled."

"I'm not calling it off 'cause I think you're crippled, Lieutenant, I'm calling it off 'cause in the past few weeks we've gotten nowhere." Rukia explained. "But if you want to stand up and walk in a straight line from here to that tree, go right ahead, I can bet you you're getting nowhere."

Ichigo saw right through Rukia's sarcasm. She was also considering his illness when she proposed the break.

"I'm not saying we should call it off entirely. You can still look—be suspicious all you want—but going door to door to solve people's problems is just giving us attention we don't need."

Rukia glanced at the newspaper stand and went to pull the latest issue of the Noble Gazette.

"There's been nothing newsworthy for us this whole week." Rukia grumbled as she looked through the paper.

"And the Rukongai District?" He asked her.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." She replied. "Roger's been scoping out the Seireitei but he's got nothing to say so far so we really are in the clear for now when you exclude Sensei."

"I see." He sighed though his reluctance showed the moment he looked to the ground.

Rukia sighed the moment she noticed it. "Look, if you still want to go door to door, you're welcome to do so. I just think it's pointless."

"I will wait for the week to pass like we agreed." He replied. There was still some adamancy to do so in his tone but it seemed as though he surrendered.

"I'm not stopping you." Rukia said. "It's a suggestion." She clarified. "You know your health better than anybody else, if you can do it, do it."

"I will rest." He assured her. "We resume in a week."

###

Rukia took a break off of her community service hours for the week as well so she was back to tending her garden or now miniature farm.

Today it seemed that most of the community was preserving fish to help make one big meal for dinner.

There were a bunch of children in the river catching fish while big pots were out with people playing sports in the field nearby and others picking from the plants. It felt almost like watching people prepare for some huge community picnic.

Rukia had really brought most of these people together over a little garden. The teamwork of the informal alliance continued to breathe more and more life into the Rukongai District than before.

She really was their saviour.

The clouds above them looked dark, enough to indicate rain which made Ichigo notice how completely inconsistent the weather seemed to be in the Soul Society.

When they were in the noble houses, it hardly ever rained. The people practically basked in perpetual sunlight while the Rukongai District always had this grey tone that was always forecasting thunder and lightning.

Rukia was bent down, covering the ends of her kimono in dust as she cut, with that same pocket knife she owned, green onions into small bits into a basket.

There was a small table in front of her and a woman there who seemed to be selling off the chopped vegetables.

What started off as a normal day, was back to being another unusual day when the sovereign of the spider species appeared.

###

She felt the familiar presence of the teller approach the booth. Looking up, she couldn't deny how peculiar it was having the woman who wore nothing but that amongst all these people around.

"What can I get for you today?" The woman who was running the booth asked the teller but little did she know, that woman never—or rarely—spoke.

Somehow she felt her eyes beneath that veil staring at her. Moments later, she lifted up her right hand—Rukia noticed how sharp her nails were just then, there was a fuzz surrounding it like the kind on peaches.

She pointed to something behind her—the long white radishes soaking in a barrel behind her.

"Radish?" The woman asked the teller who remained silent.

"I'll handle it." Rukia told her, standing up and picking two. She wiped them clean and then put them in a wooden container for the teller.

She placed it on the table. The teller stared at her for awhile before handing her the money that was awfully crumbled and at the verge of ripping.

Then she just walked away without taking her radish. A kid then ran up and took it from the table, heading in the direction of the teller.

("You think she's monitoring her or something?" Rangiku asked. "For the heir?"

"She did take a week off, no?" Shuhei said as they disappeared.

"But it's not like he can't do that without her being here." Isane said.)

###

Just an hour before dinner was to start, someone saw a mackerel in the river easing into the forest which immediately got some villagers excited to check it out.

Adding a mackerel to the menu excited them enough to delay dinner. Everyone was spread out, guarding each aspect of the river in hopes of finding it.

The sun was about to fully set, the entire Rukongai District was swallowed by a moody dark blue hue with shots of fire being lit to light up the space in which everyone would eat.

The fields and the forests had no fire. The rosy darkness was swallowing them slowly.

Rukia, Choda and two other kids she didn't know were amongst it—near the river which eased into one part of the forest.

Choda slapped his arm upon getting a mosquito bite. "Little fuckers are everywhere."

"I told you to use lavender oil." Rukia chastised, annoyed at his whining, "they keep you from getting them."

("Not this shit again." Ichigo scoffed. "It's like the same interaction, two hundred years back."

"What the hell you talkin' about, Ichigo?" Shinji asked.

"It's the same convo we had back in the human world when she was stayin' over." Ichigo explained before grumbling, "lavender oil…")

"Got anything else to lecture me about?" Choda sneered, bent into the river.

"Shit—On my fucking neck?!" He squeaked soon after.

Rukia began to list all the remedies she could think of, "cinnamon oil, thyme oil, soybean oil, citronella—"

(Ichigo lifted his arms up and down, "same fucking thing, literally!"

"And Nee-san was right!" Kon screamed.)

Choda cursed, "you fucking know-it-all."

"Suite yourself." Rukia sang as she peered into the river. She could hardly see a thing, taking a thin piece of wood, she sneakily lit it on fire with her finger to get a better view.

("That's that the SAME FUCKING THING SHE SAID TO ME?" Ichigo squeaked.

"We get it, Ichigo." Ikkaku said.)

Choda still didn't know what she truly did in the Seireitei…many of the Rukongai children were yet to truly know of her new position…responsibility…'friends'…and she wanted to keep it that way.

Being too friendly with nobility would go against everything she stood for and they wouldn't understand it—at least not her reasoning for being so kind to the people over there.

"I think we should leave it." One of the kids who came with them said.

"Yeah I'm hungry!" The other one said.

"Get goin' then." Choda grumbled as he threw a rock into the river.

Rukia gave them a reassuring smile, "it's fine. Go on ahead! Even if we do find it, they'll probably play tug-a-war to see who gets to eat it."

As the two kids ran away, Rukia observed the calm water. They probably weren't going to find that mackerel.

"Ah—shit." Choda said as he slapped the side of his neck.

"Just go get the lavender oil!" Rukia said.

("There's gotta be somethin to this—" Kon interrupted Ichigo by smacking him in the face. "Hey! What the—")

"Fine!" He yelled, Rukia rolled her eyes. "I'll be back."

Choda ran off to their river space, leaving her alone in the blue darkness of the field and the small torch she had lit.

Minutes went by and the crickets began to sing. A wave of calm took hold of the area. There was something very light, peaceful and yet oddly terrifying about being alone here, so close to the forest.

It was just her in the dark and the music of the crickets. Whatever noise was being made from the villagers couldn't be heard from where she was.

It was as if she had transcended into a different world. She had become unusually transfixed with the river despite reasoning that the mackerel would not be here. She stared at her reflection.

A heavy feeling soon took over her—it became difficult to breathe. The moment she caught sight of the source she gasped and the torch plunged into the river.

She turned, now staring at a face she could barely see in the midnight blue haze.

Unlike his usual smirky, easy-going self, he was stone serious this time. Rukia hadn't seen him in this form for awhile, suddenly it felt like she was meeting him again for the very first time.

"What?" She forced a stern tone. He had caught her off guard and quite frankly, got her a little spooked but of course, she would never admit to that.

He didn't reply.

"What?" Rukia asked again. This time when he didn't respond, she attempted to move past him but he stopped her.

From behind his back he pulled a large mackerel and forced her to hold it.

"You—"

Wordlessly he walked away, headed in the direction of the tall torches of fire, clutter of people and the long table for their feast.

###

Rukia swung the mackerel on the table and some villagers, by default, separated into two groups.

The tug-of-war match ensued while the heir mixed into the crowd and found a seat on the edge of the bench. Thinking that she should avoid him completely, she went off to find Renji and her friends.

(Ichigo was starting to notice how much the heir preferred to irritate them in silence. It was his favourite playing card. Though he didn't always do much, he did something with his presence alone.)

They were seated on the far end and had saved her spot.

Raiden immediately hovered over the table to ask, "what's your ol'Oky doing here?"

Rukia grumbled as she put some rice into her mouth. Raiden's new 'nickname' for the heir was a jab that she personally hated though it was entirely her fault.

She did tell her friends despite being told that the heir's true identity was a secret.

After all, she needed someone her age to talk about this stuff, considering how weird it actually was. And by now, she guessed Sensei already knew she spilled the beans because Raiden began calling the heir 'ol'Oky' the moment she told him.

Rukia shrugged. "I don't know."

Renji, seated across from her, stared at him. "He's eating."

Oda took a glance, "…that's the Okasake heir?"

Raiden wheezed, "looks like your old man missed ya, Rukia."

"Would you sit down and shut up?" Rukia asked, agitated. Now why did she have to have that thought of him missing her in her head now? Stupid Raiden.

"What's he doing here?" Koda asked, diagonal to her.

"He got the mackerel." Rukia confessed.

"You mean the same mackerel you got Billy and Raynard's group fightin' over now?" Raiden asked.

"Yup."

"RUKIA."

"What?"

"What if he poisoned that shit?" Raiden said, "they might as well be fighting over who gets to die!"

"Oh, now you're concerned." Rukia said before eyeing his feet. They were pressed onto the rim of the table, just a centimetre away from his plate. "Put your foot down."

"Sure!" He ecstatically agreed before his tone shifted to an irritated one, "your highness."

Rukia glared.

He was seated.

"When you're done," he alluded to Rukia's food, "get your ol'Oky to skedaddle," he opened his mouth wide and dumped some food in, "he's kinda ruinin' the whole mood."

"Gee!" She sarcastically remarked as he made a mess, "if only it was that simple."

"He looks lonely." Wildfire suddenly commented which immediately had all of them stare at her, appalled by the sudden concern.

"What…?" She asked upon their stares.

"Oh now what the fuck…" Raiden commented.

"I was just observing…" she said, "like you" she looked at Renji, "were Abarai two seconds ago."

When they didn't respond, she put her napkin down, "I'm not saying for him to come over here, geez."

"Good," Raiden threw this napkin over his empty bowls. "I ain't dinin' with Rukia's creepy old man."

Rukia groaned, "he's not my creepy old man, he's generally a creepy old man."

"Right," Raiden sarcastically remarked before shoving his elbow into Renji's side, "you want anything? I'm going in for seconds."

Renji was fixated on the heir.

"—huh? Oh nah, I still got—"

"Eat your fucking food, Abarai, he's gonna leave if we keep starin' at him." Raiden scolded as he walked over the bench. "He wants this one's," he referred to her, "attention."

"I'm never gonna be able to finish my food in peace, now am I?" Rukia questioned before she sipped some soup.

"A couple of guys are talkin' to him now." Uzi observed from his seat. "They probably recognize him."

"What a joke!" Raiden yelled in amusement with his tray in his hand. "To think they don't know it turns into a fucking toddler during the day."

"Don't think that'll matter." Rukia mumbled as she ate. She felt Raiden's stare on her before he moved away.

###

At least an hour and a half had gone by. Everyone was starting to clean up, dividing the work between rinsing dishes and pots.

Some of the younger kids were still playing tag around the area as they packed up.

The little creep had entranced a whole pool of people to him. Kids, adults, teens surrounded him, attending to his every whim. He relished in their glittery eyes and attention as he spoke about heroic stories of himself which was obviously his way of getting Rukia's attention.

Naturally she never gave it though. She was huddled between the other Rukongai kids her age cleaning up the dishes.

It was disturbing to watch how easily he could control them. He had two teenagers bending to wash his feet, two others who were practically leaning into him completely smitten and others who practically did anything he said.

Three were even barking like dogs which confused a whole lot of people who weren't entranced.

It was obvious Rukia hadn't explained to her friends that the heir was capable of compulsion like that either because they couldn't stop commenting on how stupid the villagers were acting because he was the heir of the Okasake clan.

The night went on with more and more of them falling into him. The dishes were almost cleaned, Rukia stood near the water pipe in front of a shed doing the last ones.

"Last call!" She shouted as she rubbed the last plate.

The heir approached her. On cue, everyone looked. There was a wave of absolute silence which came over them, even Wildfire, Renji, Raiden and the three others were under it though they seemed uncertain why they were so transfixed.

"You feel that…Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime said.

The entire district was dead silent.

There was something…pulsing…beating within them. A sinister feeling crept atop their shoulders and followed the curve from it to their necks and up into their ears.

What the hell was that?

Rukia wasn't paying attention and raised her right hand to retrieve any last dish. The heir brought his up to her hand and the moment she touched the other end, she gasped and looked up.

She immediately noticed how everyone was staring at her. Even men who had passed out on the floor shot up with their eyes wide as though they had been awake.

Her hand fell from the dish which the heir purposely let loose.

It fell and cracked, everyone woke up. The silence was shattered and incoherent chatter began as though nothing had happened.

The kids resumed their games, friend groups resumed their chats, the teens and adults helping with clean up were back to normal too.

Rukia, obviously disturbed or rather, confused by the heir who Ichigo knew was probably grinning, resumed her attention to the water pipe. It was easy to see how bothered she was but Ichigo couldn't blame her.

The heir bent very close to her. He saw how tense she got when he did. His hand waved above the scattered bowl and pieced it together. He brought it back up and held it near her neck.

She took it without looking at him and he moved past her, heading into the pathway of the market.

"Oh, Rukia~" he called.

When she looked to her left, he was staring back at her. Once again, everyone had gotten silent—they froze and stared at her.

With that signature grin, he spun around and headed into the vacant street.

The chatter resumed all over again.

###

The next day came and he was still there. All the people he had entranced yesterday were still following him around today.

They were building sheds.

It seemed as though he was forcing them to work without food or water but any time someone pointed it out they joined the others.

Fortunately it was never sunny in the Rukongai District so it wasn't as bad as it could've been in terms of heat.

Rukia was avoiding any area the heir was at constantly. She only stayed amongst her friends or the other faces she was familiar with in the garden fields.

When she got to be alone near a tree—watering some plants—he came behind her. He was obviously very determined to get a rise out of her.

"Need any help?" He asked her.

She didn't respond.

"Ah," he leaned against the bark of the tree and took out a cigarette. When he lit it, he took it out of his mouth and offered it to her.

Upon seeing it, she shook her head.

"Why not?" The man inside him asked.

"I don't smoke." Rukia mumbled as she continued watering.

"Then try it." He raised his hand with the cigarette closer to her face.

She pushed his hand away, "no."

"Try it."

"No."

"Come on," he pressed, "you look like you need it."

"No."

"Oh?" He put a hand into his pocket. "Why not?"

Rukia finally showed him a side of her face. "I don't want it."

He put it back into his mouth and stared at her.

"You aren't going to ask?"

She busied herself with removing weeds. Even when she stood up, she didn't respond to him.

He looked ahead at some villagers maintaining the field ahead.

"Really?"

He took a glimpse at her—she was back to picking weeds.

He blew out smoke as he observed her.

"Your unwillingness to speak means I've done something wrong." The fake innocence masked his tone. He wanted something out of her but she wasn't giving it to him. "It can't be jealousy nor can it be displeasure…"

What did he want her to say?

"Or—"

When she stood up, he grabbed her so forcibly, it shocked her—their faces moved so close that Ichigo thought they kissed!

("Now what the—" he stopped the moment he realized he was wrong, awkwardly blushing in hopes that no one had noticed before resuming his attention to them.)

"Is it perhaps because I've come into your territory, meddling myself into your business—" his haughty voice viciously attacked her, "—made a name for myself in this place you call home, disrupted your way of living so much you're disturbed, the same way you've been shoving your head into mine?"

The guttural quality to his voice towards the end was new. He was pissed and it seemed the usual changes which happened to people's voices when they aged was finally seeping through.

"Does it bother you?" He jerked her body towards him, "does it?" And again. "Should I become the hypocritical sensation you are? Meander my way into your life just," and again, "—to" and again, "become" and again, "an ally," he shook her ferociously, "of the Kuchiki family?"

("He really doesn't like the Kuchiki family." Ikkaku said.

Everyone looked at him at once as if it wasn't already obvious.

"He hates the thought of them working together more than anything." Rangiku said. "I mean, it's not like he had a problem with her being there before. He wanted her to discover her powers and use them."

"He's upset she didn't end up listening to him." Tōshirō said. "He had spoken to her with the very intent of having her trust him and believe that he was disliked because he was not a noble. He had even shown disapproval with her being friends with the older Kuchiki. Now that she's helping Kuchiki with this investigation…")

When he let her loose, she stumbled back. The bang in between her eyes was a few places off its usual spot.

She fixed her bang. "You're mad that I'm trying to get rid of you."

He straightened his back.

"You're mad that I'm helping Lieutenant Kuchiki figure you out by looking for people you've messed with."

He got quiet.

"There's no ally ship." She assured him sternly. "You just don't want me working against you."

("Working against him is one thing but joining hands with another Kuchiki…" Uryū said.

"Got him more pissed." Shuhei finished for him.

"I would not believe he would be this infuriated with her or at all for that matter if she was in fact, doing research." Captain Ukitake said. "I believe it is Sojun's presence which bothers him. If she was acting alone, it would do nothing more but amuse him.")

She bent down to pick up the weeds she had dropped near his foot.

He spat right next to her. The shot of spit just barely missed her hand. She stopped picking.

"You see that," he gestured to his pool spit, "the way you felt just now," he swung his arm to refer to it again, "is exactly what you've become."

She stood up.

"Corroborating the worst of the w—"

Rukia took her left hand and slammed the heir into the bark of the tree. The hit was hard, the moment he fell down—finally facing them as a group—Ichigo truly saw Rukia's strength for what it was.

"Holy shit!" Ikkaku said.

"What the fuck…" Shuhei said.

"That…" Izuru was speechless.

Kon screamed, "AHHHH LOOK WHAT NEE-SAN DID TO HIS FACE!"

"Holy fucking shit, Rukia…" Ichigo muttered to himself, a bit shocked at the sight of the heir's face.

"Now we're talkin', eh!" Ikkaku said.

Yachiru giggled.

The left side of the heir's face was completely soaked with blood. His skin had been grazed off—there was only the bone structure that was seemingly about to collapse. Blood droplets fell from them.

His eye socket was completely pressed in, his pupil pinched at the core, shriveled like a raisin. The teeth in his mouth to the left were no longer there. The left portion of his brain was completely busted from a single hit!

"I don't feel so good…" Orihime held her stomach. Isane held onto her shoulders for her to press her weight onto her.

The villagers in the field immediately stopped working. Gasps, people rushing against the grass to see the scene and commentary followed shortly.

"Holy fucking shit!" Raiden commented from afar. "That's our girl…"

Rukia tilted her head as she observed his body.

"Heard you could regenerate so I'm sure this isn't a big deal." She told him. "Get outta here and don't come back."

She made a sound and then spat on him.

"What are you doing?!" A woman shrieked as she pushed her out of the way.

More and more people encircled them near the tree which surprisingly hadn't fallen. He figured she knew her strength well enough to keep it from doing so while still being able to severely injure him.

A pandemonium broke out. Most of the villagers he had entranced knelt by his side—still incredibly shocked by his face.

Amid all the distress came a little boy Ichigo recognized as the one who had taken the radishes for the sovereign of the spider species. Ukitake had guessed that it was probably one of the younger spider shapeshifters who were like her servants.

In his hand he had some flower crown adorned with little white and purple flowers. Once he spotted Rukia, he quickly ran up to her and placed it on her head.

("Is that supposed to be some congratulations?" Shuhei asked.

"Congratulations for what?" Momo quietly asked.

"Passing a level of somethin'?" Shuhei answered.

"You think he wanted to get hit?" Rangiku asked.

"Well…not like that." Ichigo said.

"Considering it's the sovereign's worker he probably did." Shinji said.)

Taken aback she touched the crown first before looking for the person who had placed it on her but he disappeared into the crowd that was outraged by what she had done to the heir but were of course, too afraid to do anything to her.

###

Rukia, Renji and Raiden walked past the noble entrance.

The heir hadn't returned to their district after Rukia had slammed his face in so the rest of her week's break was spent in peace.

One by one the villagers had gone back to normal and that was the end of it. Ichigo wondered what babysitting the toddler heir would be like today. He obviously would take revenge on her here now that she was back in 'his territory'.

Upon entering the Okasake manor, they walked to the left of the house where some volunteers were chilling on the grass and talking. The self-serve fruit carts were out as well as drinks.

The gardens once again served as a place of relaxation for the other kids who were doing their hours. Rukia, who wasn't wearing her version of the assassin uniform with the Okasake gloves, had a lot of eyes on her but no one spoke.

Picking up some fruit kabob, she talked with Renji and Raiden for a few minutes before they all went their separate ways. Without drawing too much attention to herself, she stepped onto the veranda and opened the shōji closest to her.

She then went in and by the time she walked through the different corridors and rooms, they were back in the general study again.

When she came out from some narrow hallway, she was back in her regular assassin uniform with her long black gloves and rolled up sleeves.

She looked furious.

###

She had sped to the study in hopes of finding anyone to talk to about what she just saw. The moment she read it, the dread reached her face before she could even process.

The Lieutenant was fortunately there, as per usual, when she entered. The sharp morning sunlight lit the room up from the parted doors, though she could still see him in spite of considering his desk was much more behind the doors.

"Have you seen it?" Rukia asked him. It was rude to skip the introduction, especially considering they hadn't seen each other in a week, but she could care less about formalities at the moment.

He looked up at her, the blankness in his expression translated into confusion.

"The gazette. The Noble Gazette." Rukia specified.

"The—" he glanced down at his papers, "oh, no. I have been taking an extra hour of sleep following our 'break'. I am behind schedule." He explained.

Rukia temporarily forgot about how unnerved she was to arch her brow, "you really don't know what a break means, do you?"

"Anyways—" she quickly changed the subject before he could reply. "Front page. It's the cover story."

He opened the top of his desk on his left which had papers the maids usually brought and replaced each day for him. Upon pulling the paper out, he studied the front page.

Rukia already knew what it said.

He read the header out loud, "'Okasake Heir Rebuilds the Rukongai District: Giving Back to Poverty Striken Seventy-Eight.'"

He then read the sub-heading, "'The philanthropic act which saved thousands belonging to the district of the future Okasake princess.'"

"It visited your district." He reworded, "last week."

Putting the paper down, he appeared dismayed, "that is when you were supposed to return here."

By now she would've hoped he knew she wasn't going to run away every time she saw him.

"Last paragraph." Rukia instructed him to read.

He studied the bottom of the paper.

The heir called it a 'charitable cause', deeming the poverty of the district 'outrageously evil'. When asked about his choice of district, he claimed it withheld meaning.

"It is a place where my bride-to-be calls home."

Though the family is yet to confirm the details of this union, it is apparent that this gesture had been motivated by his future wife who has been a crusader for the Rukongai District's situation since her position as Sensei was formalized.

"Bride-to-be…" he repeated the words before looking at her.

("Oh no, this is where that whole marriage shit comes in." Shuhei said.

"He told her through a newspaper?" Isane asked.)

Rukia was about to comment but Sensei Okasake Hiroshima just had to appear to her left and the Lieutenant's right.

The toddler version of the thing was next to him.

"Oh." He paused. "Did you read the news? Such splendid work, I am sure you were proud, my dear to see our boy do something so charitable. It was your magic."

("Guess that answers that question." Shinji said.)

This giddy, old father version of him was starting to get real annoying.

When she didn't respond, he looked to the Lieutenant and then her. "Lighten up, it's gorgeous outside."

Rukia didn't want to bring up the whole 'bride-to-be' part until everyone else was here and Sensei was back to normal. After all, it could be nothing but talk. Just another way to get a rise out of her since the incident in the Rukongai District.

("She's not talkin' though." Ichigo pointed out.)

She made eye contact with the Lieutenant and gave a quick sign to drop the subject by shaking her head. It seemed as though he was about to mention it.

("Hm…think she stopped him 'cause she knew Sensei Okasake wasn't in his right mind." Uryū said.)

That worried her.

If he was concerned then…could it be true?

###

Back in her district, she and the villagers were reaping up the harvest crops and loading them into crates for the upcoming winter season.

Amongst them were her friends, of course, who ensured they'd have enough for themselves.

On her nineteenth round of retrieving the corn in crates, she moved around to stock them elsewhere with Choda, who was carrying one, behind her.

While walking, she caught sight of something peculiar to the far left of her. She halted her steps and stared.

Choda came crashing into her. "What the hell did you stop fo—"

He followed her gaze to the side of a huge shed. There was a girl. Red hair like Renji's that was long with two strands of it pulled back and clipped. The side of the shed was covered in an illustration of reds, golds and white.

Rukia became fixated on the girl who continued to colour in her drawings languidly. She could only see the back of her.

("What the…" Choda began to say, "is she drawing?! She should be pickin' up shit! Hey!" He called some people from afar. "Get that girl to start workin' eh—")

When she thought of the heir, it made her curious.

"Hold this," Rukia instructed, handing off her heavy crates to Choda.

"W-W-Wait! I can't take this! It's too heav—"

Rukia sped through the few people blocking the way until she was in front of the girl. She approached the back of her, unsure of what to say.

Her eyes fell on the drawing.

The girl drew eyes belonging to someone old with fire in them and a bunch of other things like an eagle. Outside of it was more fire but with other creatures accompanying it.

She stared at the artist. The bangs on her face shielded most of it from her view.

"Excuse me…" Rukia called.

The girl continued shading in one of her drawings.

"I…don't mean to interrupt you but…"

When she leaned closer she realized the girl wasn't even staring at the part she was shading in. Her eyes were gone—lost somewhere else beneath the drawing.

She called for her again. This time she put her hand on her shoulder and shook her a bit when she shouted, "—hey!"

She did it again.

A few shakes later, the girl's shoulders shot up and her crayon dropped. Startled, she slowly moved back—glaring at her in confusion. It didn't seem like she knew much of what happened to her and in the midst of adjusting to reality, she saw her as someone to beware of until it all made sense.

She sped off.

Rukia looked back at the drawing and felt something new.

This had to be him.

"You know her?" Rukia asked Renji who appeared behind her with a crate.

"Seen her around but I don't know her name." He replied. "Could probably ask those guys down at the deli. I've seen her enough times over there."

"Find her for me." Rukia said, "she might be someone…"

"I got it." Renji put the crate down.

He caught sight of the drawing. "—Holy shit—"

"I know." Rukia said. "It's…amazing."

"Didn't know we had that kinda talent here." He pulled his pants up. "Seventy-eighth sure has been special these days, huh."

"Right," she wanted to roll her eyes, "if that girl's one of them then my guess is that this entire district might as well be destined to experience all kinds of supernatural activity."

"'Cause of you." Renji pointed out. "All the other ones are probably scattered all over the Rukongai District. It kinda works in your favor if you got examples here."

Rukia agreed.

###

When Renji found the girl, he learnt her name was Sinna and that she had no recollection of drawing anything or even being approached by Rukia.

Being Renji he found that she opened up to him quickly after he told her that her problem might have something to do with an investigation happening at the moment. Almost everyone in the district knew he was an assassin trainee so it was no big deal.

She lived in the local orphanage.

Upon entering her space in the room, he noticed she had a bunch of scrolls that she claimed were blank and that she had never drawn on them but when Renji opened one up, he saw something pretty graphic.

When he returned with her to the shed, he led her inside with a few of her drawings to hand off.

The Lieutenant was there, with his back to them, seated. Upon seeing him, she had immediately quivered in fear—thinking that she was in trouble.

Renji walked her around him to the cushion in front of the Lieutenant where Rukia was standing behind but she couldn't see her.

From there, Renji brought out the drawings he had taken as an example for the Lieutenant to see them himself. Sinna, obviously nervous, stammered a lot when he asked what certain images meant to her.

"And what do eagles mean to you?" He asked her.

Towards the end of the inquiry, he explained to her that she was likely going through a psychological condition which was code for the thing and asked if she could have someone monitor her in her sleep.

"Is there…anyone who would be available to watch you?" He asked her, "relatives—"

He looked at Rukia behind her who was shaking her head. Renji didn't think the girl had any friends either.

Upon seeing that he stopped.

"Is…there not a person named Rukia here?" He asked her.

Rukia unknowingly clutched her fingers together.

Sinna said her first sentence without stammering, "yes but…we don't know each other."

"Ask her to help you." The Lieutenant said.

Sinna was hesitant to agree, "but I…don't know her. I barely see her nowadays."

"That should not matter."

Rukia bit her lip. She felt as though they were being too obvious now. The last thing she needed was rumors of her knowing a noble going around.

She was still hesitant. "I…don't think I should ask. Can't an officer watch me?"

"Why not?" He inquired which was starting to ring off as strange.

Sinna looked down, "It's just weird…" she then asked, "how…do you know of Rukia anyways?"

The Lieutenant glanced at them behind her.

"She is…a local girl around here." He replied. Rukia pointed to her left which was actually just a wall but she was referring to the corn fields right outside of here. Fortunately the Lieutenant got the memo. "The garden."

"Oh…" Sinna quietly said before Renji stepped forward.

"I can help ya."

Sinna turned to him.

"I know her."

###

The girl named Sinna laid down with Rukia by her side. She had asked her string of questions about the whole thing from the investigation to what she knew about it and so forth which Rukia partially lied about to keep her relationship with the matter a secret.

She found it hard to sleep so Rukia left her alone until it did.

Hovering over her, the girl looked peaceful. Nothing unusual occurred for a long time but suddenly she jolted awake and started scrambling for anything—something—to draw.

Her eyes were completely lost again. She started fighting against Rukia to get a hold of anything to start drawing. She made noises of struggle—kicking her feet up to try and scratch something down onto the floor.

It was as though something had possessed her. Ichigo felt like he was watching a live exorcism occur.

"He must've made her dream something horrible." Isane said.

"Lieutenant Ise had to draw her own dreams out to forget them." Shuhei reminded them. "I guess the whole point is to dream and forget, like a cycle."

"That is how he maintains his hold. So long you continue to forget, it will repeat." Tōshirō said.

"And if you try to stop drawing, the torment of it all might kill you." Rangiku said.

"Like Gureta-san…" Captain Ukitake mentioned.

Sinna silently screamed against Rukia's grip which held her in place. She was fighting for her life to get loose.

Ichigo couldn't stand this.

Sinna panted heavily. It was quick too. Something was forcing her heart beat to go as fast as it was going. It was like she'd die if she didn't get to draw a thing.

Her bottom lip trembled as she murmured but words couldn't come out. Tears were trying to fall but it seemed as though they couldn't. They were being forced back.

The struggle ensued until Rukia sedated her.

###

"What's that?" Rukia asked Renji as they walked alongside the spider lily field.

He was holding some folded paper beneath his armpit.

"One of Sinna's." He said before unfolding it. "Thought it was pretty cool but it's kinda explicit. I think it's her mom."

Her head leaned just above his shoulder to get a glimpse. "Hm…those eagles keep showing up everywhere. I wonder what it means. I asked her about them but she said she didn't know a thing about eagles, she gave the same answer to the Lieutenant."

"Could be a soul shadow." Renji replied.

"Maybe…" she said. "Her mom might've been killed by one but she doesn't remember."

"Or they might mean somethin' else like I dunno, a symbol of something?" Renji hypothesized.

"It's hard to guess what though, considering she doesn't remember a thing." Rukia replied. "What do eagles even stand for?"

"Strength, willpower, sun, resilience," a new voice belonging to Raiden said behind them.

Rukia looked to him, "hey—"

His hand slid onto her waist and gently pulled her more to the left to squeeze into the middle.

"If you're lucky, it probably just means shit like that." He said.

"Well if it isn't the three musketeers." A voice belonging to Sensei Okasake greeted. They all three looked up and bowed upon seeing him with the cane he didn't need perfectly placed in the middle of his feet.

"Sensei."

"Arigawa." A voice said behind him, it was Major Haru. "I was hoping you could assist me today for your hours."

"Really?!" Raiden's eyes bulged in excitement. How he loved doing anything related to quincies. "Yes fucking sir!"

"Renji," Sensei addressed, "the Isshiki clan will not need your assistance today, you've been relocated to the kitchen today at the community centre."

"Oh that's just fucking great." Renji grumbled.

Raiden cackled. "Better not fuck up the food, Abarai."

"And you…" his eyes fell on her, "business as usual," he raised his right hand lazily in reference to the manor, "I will be out all day today. That boy is there, Cornel is around and anyone you need for assistance is where they will always be."

"How nice." Rukia remarked. "Just once I wish I could get another assignment."

"I fear its little 'act' for the papers has convinced the Ministers, even more so than before, that you are the cure for it." He replied.

Geez.

"Did Sensei mention anything to you about that whole 'bride-to-be' thing?" Rukia inquired.

"No, however, you should stay on your toes in the meanwhile. I reckon the injury you gave it has only made it more eager to be of a nuisance to you."

"Next time, Ruks," Raiden stepped ahead, "you should just put a knife in him, might as well teach the guy a lesson if he can fucking regenerate. No matter what you do now, you're still gonna piss him off somehow."

("He's gotta point." Ichigo said.)

"He hasn't shown that other face in awhile." Sensei Haru informed her before he departed. "Perhaps an even graver injury might make him absent altogether. You'd be able to take on other volunteer tasks that day."

"That's true…thanks, Haru!" Rukia said, he gave her a small smile as he walked.

The trio turned to each other.

"Guess I'll be seeing ya."

Raiden backed away in the direction Major Haru went as he said, "yeah, at lunch, I'll see ya."

Renji sighed, "this is gonna be the longest fucking volunteer day of my life."

"Don't forget to wear a hair net, Abarai!" Raiden yelled from afar.

Rukia giggled, "it won't be that bad, just tell them you prefer cleaning up instead!"

"Washing dishes?!" Renji yelled as he walked ahead, past the Okasake gates. "Guess it's better than cooking!"

In the intersection like a plus sign, they each went their own way.

"I suppose I should buy them matching hats." Sensei Okasake to himself as he walked away.

Upon entering the parted doors of the study, she greeted the Lieutenant and handed him his key.

"Here," in addition to the key she handed him a silver voice recorder, "a recording, of what Sinna dreamt—I didn't let her draw when she wanted to but now that she's said it, she probably did."

He took it from her, "I have tried to piece together her work with others though no correlation was found so she is distinctly a temporary one. These solely reflect her dreams."

("Correlation?" Tōshirō repeated.

"There might be a common pattern of images that appear." Mayuri guessed. "Which is precisely what they are looking for."

"Put together they might mean something." Captain Kyōraku said.

"But what?" Rangiku asked.)

"Renji picked up another one." She handed it to him. "He thinks it's her mother but she didn't mention any of that when she told me her dream."

"It was likely a part of another one. What was her behaviour like?"

"Exactly as you told me it'd be. The shaking, the fighting, the scrambling, the detachment. She was about to draw into the wood with her nails. I had to sedate her." Rukia informed him.

He looked up at her. "That is peculiar. I do not believe sedation would have worked in that case. What did you use?"

"Some passionflower herb extract and an Adachi sedative drug." She replied.

("They help each other this way…" Tōshirō realized. "Kuchiki's relationship with the heir, her abilities and her knowledge help the case. It is precisely why they might've found out more about the heir's tricks with her on board while attempting to solve that image puzzle Kurotsuchi spoke of."

"Uh…and not having other people experience the same shit." Shinji reminded him.)

He scribbled it down. "We will try it on another subject." He announced. "Prepare more of that extract in the meanwhile."

"Done." She spun around just as other Sensei and the thing as a toddler appeared.

"Oh, good—you're here." The smiley old father was back.

Rukia was thankful that she had a way out today—an excuse.

"I…have something to tell you." Rukia said with her hands nervous holding each other beneath her waist.

"Go on."

"I can only do three hours today. I have a shift later today, it's important."

"Oh," he discarded it as nothing. His hand swiftly moved down, "that's not a problem. Sojun is here, he'll do the rest."

"I cannot do anything hazardous to my health." He simply responded which naturally garnered an unfavourable response from Sensei.

"You are watching a boy," he made sure to emphasize, "a child. What harms and dangers will he expose you to?"

"You will hand it off to a maid." The Lieutenant said, barely taking a glimpse of the quiet toddler.

She hated that it looked cute sometimes…the clueless expression on the thing was adorable.

"A maid?" Sensei asked, appalled. "I will do no such thing." His tone bled with disdain. "You will do it when she's done."

("Why is the heir so determined to be watched by a Kuchiki?" Tōshirō asked.)

That was an order.

Once he spoke like that, she felt as though the real one was back.

When the Lieutenant resumed his work, unbothered, he turned to her, "he mentioned wanting to go to some waterfall to swim. Once you are done there, you can return here and hand him off to Sojun."

Swim?!

"…you mean like…swim-swim?" She asked to clarify.

"Yes, he even prepared his trunks." Trunks?! Rukia couldn't believe it. Her mortified face struck him immediately. "You are not going in with him though, you are welcome to. I'm sure you have plenty of experience with swimming in the Rukongai District."

The little devil ran up to her and squeezed her legs.

Sensei raised his shoulders, a jovial grin on his face. The blush stain and satisfaction on his face irked her. "I take it you two will have lots of fun. It is still very warm these days."

"We are in October." The Lieutenant pointed out. "She is better off taking it for a walk in the forest. The leaves are changing."

"Sojun." Sensei chastised harshly. The happy face was replaced in almost an instant! The way he called his name reminded her of how roughly the heir had cursed at her back in her district. Slowly, he gave him a warning with his eyes, "leave them alone."

("You know I think this is the heir's way of warnin' him, that's all." Ikkaku said.

"Or his way of settin' them up." Rangiku said. "Present Lieutenant Kuchiki and him," she clarified.)

Tension brewed. To diffuse it, Rukia said her goodbyes, "I'll—we—should get going then. I'll be back by noon."

Sensei returned his attention to them. "Ah, yes! Have fun!"

Rukia unknowingly glanced at the Lieutenant who was staring at her before she left.

###

The tension resumed the moment Rukia stepped foot outside with the little thing.

Sensei Okasake became serious again as he watched them leave. His left eye stared at Byakuya's father who had resumed doing his work.

"I will not tell you twice." He warned, his voice was low, "stay away. Stop sticking your foot in places they do not belong. You can tell Ginrei I said that as well."

"We haven't seen him in awhile." Ichigo pointed out.

"You're right, Ginrei-dono hasn't been here…there would be no point in mentioning him." Captain Ukitake said.

"It's about staying away from Kuchiki—to stop coercing her. He doesn't like her relationship with the older Kuchiki but he could not intercept it. I'm sure he has warned this Kuchiki before about his investigation but wasn't concerned until it started to affect her tolerance of him…"

"He got angry." Ichigo reworded. "The whole stunt he pulled in the Rukongai District was to warn her."

"And considering he couldn't get to her then, he figured he'd get to what he believes is the source of her inability to like him." Uryū said.

Sensei Okasake walked off.

###

When Rukia returned around noon, the heir was wrapped around her left leg like a koala, hair still soaked from his 'swimming session'.

Upon noticing her, "oh." He commented flatly as he scribbled something. "I thought you'd drown it for me."

Rukia was not in the mood. The little creep had been the most trouble it had ever been in those three hours than it ever had been since June.

"Next time." Rukia sweetly assured before she glared down at the irritable thing.

"Alright, we're here." She raised her left leg up. "Let go."

It didn't move.

She was about to blow.

"Hello. We're here, let go!"

She shook her left leg furiously. "He's right there, just go."

Her hands balled into fists.

She clenched her teeth. "Let. Go."

When it didn't, she threw her left leg up and had it fly to the Lieutenant's desk.

"See ya." Who cares about formalities? Rukia thought as she happily stormed off.

###

5:08 pm

Ichigo didn't understand the whole notion of the angle change considering that they were in the exact same setting watching Byakuya's father do the exact same thing he's been doing.

The only change was that the heir wasn't there.

A quick glance at the clock told him hours had gone by.

What was so important?

###

5:15pm

Rukia was suddenly pulled back into the general study through a portal from the Rukongai District, an act which shocked her—literally.

When she pushed against the wind that had sucked her in, she realized several things.

One, she was back in her assassin uniform and gloves.

Two, she had arrived beside the Lieutenant's desk who was still knelt in front of it.

Three, Sensei Okasake Hiroshima stood diagonal to them with the little toddler beside his foot. He was mad. The stone cold expression on his face was unforgiving.

Rukia got nervous immediately but tried to disguise it with innocent confusion.

"We can now begin our trial." He announced darkly.

Trial?!

"Trial for what…?" She looked to the Lieutenant for answers but she only saw the side of his face.

"Attempted murder." The moment he said those words, Rukia quietly gasped—completely shocked.

"Murder?!"

The Lieutenant was finally looking at her.

---

End Note

byaruki / tumblr