Kyiv let out one tired breath as he walked towards the palace of governance. After that near disaster with Bazz-B and Stark. While also going over the entire conversation with Jurgram in the arena.

'You have done well, Kive Jager, ' The Grandmaster commented as he overlooked the arena. 'For if you haven't intervened with that fight at the last minute. Bazzard would have almost certainly would have lost his life, and we may have lost a powerful alley in the form of Stark'

Kyiv then bowed. 'You are too kind, sir.'

Unfortunately, due to Bazzard's display of recklessness, lack of discipline, and unwillingness to swallow his pride. He proved himself to be utterly unworthy of the position of the regional commander...' Jurgram then turns to face the black-haired man. 'Which is why I deem you as his replacement

Jager then stuttered a bit before regaining his composure. 'Sir. The position of the regional commander is a supreme form of command that only the most experienced sternrriter in leadership can be assigned to,' he explained as he placed both his hands behind his back. 'And Bazzard Black, for all of his faults, is among the most experience of all Quincy. With at least over a thousand years of service under his belt, while I barely have more than a hundred.'

Haschwalth then raised his eyebrows a bit. 'True. However, experience alone is not the deciding factor in everything. As the regional commander is also determined by the sternrriter's ability to lead, reason, organize and choose the best course of action to secure victory in battle and war' he narrowed his eyes on Kyiv. 'Traits that you excelled at shorty after taking over Jerome's position all those years ago

The young man then went silent as he avoided the grandmaster's gaze. 'I only applied what he taught me.'

'And you applied it well,' Jurgram responded evenly, and then upon seeing his subordinate's worried expression, the grandmaster let out a tired huff.

'Kyiv Jager...' the grandmaster addressed, which caused the stenrriter to look up. 'I can understand...the troubling circumstances that caused your leave of absence, but if you want to serve and protect the holy kingdom, you will need to put such troubles behind you' he then turned his back on the young man. 'For the Quincy need all the moral and support they can get. If they are to have a chance to win this war against the Hollows, he turns to face Kyiv. 'Do you understand?'

The sternrriter then stood silent for a few seconds and then nodded. 'Yes, sir, I understand.'

Jargam then softens his expression. 'Good, but given that you were called in at the last minute and haven't been in the military for over five years...I will instead assign the position of regional commander to Uryu Ishida for the time being.'

The Kyiv looked surprised but none then less nodded in gratitude.

Yet the grandmaster shot one more stern look. 'However, I expect you to fulfill that position eventually, Jager, if you wish to continue being a sternrriter.'

After that, Hashwalth ordered him back to his usual living quarters within the silver-city or, in this case, his previous captain's quarters, to prepare for the invasion tomorrow.

Kyiv continued to think about the grandmaster's offer as dozens of thoughts raced through his head. Such as whenever or not he should accept the position. If the rest of the stenrrriers would respect his authority, especially from people like Bazz-B, or perhaps he should stop being a sternrriter if it involved more...killing.

And yet...he also knew that if he did nothing and completely cut himself out of order. Then it would just leave himself powerless to protect anyone from the hollow hoards or even himself.

It was an impossible decision that had dreaded consequences on either side.

However, as Kyiv continued to ponder, he recognized Ichigo Kurosaki was also walking down the street.

'Oh hey there!' the shinigami called out to the sternrriter, and at first, Jager thought he was talking to someone else until the orange-haired teen walked right in front of him.

'Hey, I said they aren't you going to respond?' Ichigo said irritably. Which then made Kyiv pause in fear.

'S-Sorry,' Jager stuttered. 'I just didn't think that our Savior Kurosaki Ichigo would be addressing someone like me...'

Ichigo then looked at Quincy weirdly. 'Savior really?' he sighed in annoyance. 'That is what everyone is calling me? I know I promise to protect them and everything, but I draw the line of them worshiping me like some sort of messiah.'

The Kyive then looked surprised at the remark before tiring and failing to suppress a smirk. 'Oh, believe me. From personal experience, it can get a lot worse.'

The shinigami then eyed him skeptically. 'Really?'

'At least the people don't call you that publicly; if you build enough of reputation here and long enough, they will practically be bowing to you for every direction you look and address you as my lord, each they or you try to talk to them.'

Ichigo then gave a dreaded face. 'Alright, you got me. That does sound worse.'

'Indeed,' Kyiv agreed and then turned towards the shinigami. 'Anyway, why exactly did you call out to me?'

the teen then suddenly readjusted himself. 'Oh yeah, I wanted to see if you were doing alright, after how Bazz-B treated you when you saved his life.'

Kyiv then went silent upon hearing that.

Ichigo then looked concerned over to Kyiv. 'So are you?'

the sternrriter then kept his mouth close for a few more moments before an idea came to his head. 'Yeah, Um...if it is not too much to ask. Do you mind walking with me to my house? It's not far from the palace of governance.

Upon hearing that, the teen shrugged. 'Sure, I already completed my training with Uryu for today, so I have the rest of the evening off.'

Ichigo and Kyiv began walking together across the streets while the sun started to set over the horizon.

'Anyway, what exactly do you want to talk about? Ichigo asked, and Kyiv made a cough before answering.

'Well, first of all, Ichigo, I just want to say...thank you.'

Ichigo then raised his eyebrows. 'Huh?'

'For saving Ms. Bamabettia from Grimmjow. If it weren't for you, not only would she have died, but her very soul would have been gone forever' he then turned to face Ichigo and smiled at him. 'And for that, I am eternally grateful.'

The shingmai then stood in an awarded silence before answering. 'So Bambietta, is she like...your friend or something?

The Kyiv then blushed a great shade of red. 'You can say that she is someone I care greatly about.'

'Really?' Ichigo said as a flash of quilt overcame. 'Still, I wish I could have saved her sooner.'

The stenrrinter then shook his head. 'You don't need to blame yourself for that, most Quincy are lucky enough not to have their souls destroyed by hollows when they fight in a raid, and I am glad that Bamabettia is one of those lucky ones'

The shingmai then smiled. 'Is that so? tell me, how exactly did you meet exactly?'

Kyiv's face then once again flashed red.

'Oh uh...' he said hesitatingly. 'I rather not go into details about it.'

Ichigo then snickered as they looked at Knife's reaction. 'Heh, what did you two accidentally kiss or something?'

The Kyiv then blushed even harder.

'Ummm...it was a bit more than that,' he said meekly, which then caused Ichigo to eye him suspiciously.

Until he suddenly realized what the sternrriter was implying.

'Wait...' Ichigo said slowly as a blush formed on his face. ' Did you and her...?'

The Kyiv then sighs. 'It wasn't like it was anything serious; I mean, Ms. Bambietta also had a habit of relieving frustration by taking out on men...' he then blushed. Usually handsome young men. Or at least that was what Candice said to me.'

The stenrriter then chuckled as he remembered his first meeting with the explosive women. 'One day, she called me up in the hallway and asked me to come to her room, and then she cut me in half.'

Ichigo then gawked, and Quincy immediately retracted his statement. 'My clothes, I mean, and then after we did our...businesses, she sent me on my way, and that was that.'

The shingmai then looked at the blacked-haired boy in disbelief. 'And she...did that nearly every guy she fancy?'

Kyiv then slowly nodded. 'Yeah, at first I thought she had a thing for me...until I learn otherwise,' he said as he flash-back to time when she saw Bambietta with another soldat. While quickly dismissing him.

Ichigo then frowns. 'Then...' he said hesitantly. 'How did you two become friends?'

Jager then remains silent, letting out a deep breath before smiling. 'Well...that's the thing Ichigo...for the longest time, I thought women like Bambietta would never be interested in me. That I was just another fling for her to be used and discarded.'

The man then closed his eyes for a moment in regret and then opened them back up. 'However, without me even noticing, I was slowly winning her over by climbing up the ranks of the sternrriter order, winning victors for my squadron, and becoming stronger and stronger by the day, while still being kind and humble to everyone around me,' he then flashed back to the time. He saved her from being overwhelmed by a hollow hoard...' only to brush her off the very moment she decided to talk to me again' he then laughed. 'All because I still thought...she still only saw me as another fling to her.'

Ichigo then looked at the man in sympathy. 'But you two were able to make up, right?'

Kyiv shrugged and nodded. 'We did on that account...but we another falling out which involved...' his eyes narrowed. 'more complexities with the war itself.'

The shinigami then frowns. 'Complexities like what?'

Jager then looked uncomfortable as they struggled to find the correct words without revealing too much. 'Kurosaki...' he said while staring directly at Ichigo. 'Have...you ever been in a fight or war. In which you thought what you were doing was right and believed in it without fault?'

The teen then eyed Kyiv in confusion and concern. 'What do you mean?'

The man then shook his hands. 'Like...you know that what your enemy did was wrong, evil even, and it burned you with hatred. That you seek nothing more than their deaths to make them pay for committing such evil and prevent them from spreading more of it' the young then let out a deep breath as his voice began to tremble. 'Only to turn out...you end up becoming no less evil than them?'

Ichigo then remained silent for a few moments as he took at what the sternrriter said to him and, after several long moments past, answered him.

'I...can't exactly say I ever been in a situation where I saw myself as the good guy or those I fight against as the bad guys. I'm far too cynical and have too much heart to believe in something like that.' He then stared out over the setting sun in the distance. 'However...after some inner reflection of myself and those that I fought against and killed...' he then remembered his conversation with Yhwach. 'I couldn't help but wonder if I would have done anything differently if placed in the same circumstances as my enemies or those I judge harshly.'

The Kyiv then gave Ichigo a questionable look. 'So you...don't think it is wrong to sympathize with your enemies...or question your reasons to fight against them?'

The Shinigami then let out a breath. 'One should always question the reason for why they fight if they don't have an answer for it. Otherwise, their resolve falters, and they won't be able to win.'

Then sternritter narrowed his eyebrows. 'Win?'

'Fighting for survival is meaningless; fighting for fighting's sake is meaningless. Unless you win, you won't be able to change anything, or worse, they ended up winning something they never really wanted in the first place,' Ichigo explained as he stared directly at Kyiv, who looked at him in awe. 'Tell me do you want to win this war? Do you think that winning it is worth it?

Kyiv then stood silent at first unable to speak or even think after what the shingmai said. But a moment later, he suddenly remembered what his captain said to him when confronting the Arrancars.

'Do not weep for your enemy, for they will not want your pity, do back away from your enemy for they despise cowardice, and if you shout out your intentions to said enemy be sure to back them up, or they will punish you for your deception. That is code we warriors of the great stone mountains live by! the ape-like man boasted as he stared into Kyiv's eyes. 'A code that shall be forever be passed down so long as one of us lives, fights, and serves his majesty and his kingdom' he then cuts his right wrist with a knife and raises it to the young soldat. 'Do you swear by this vow Kyiv Jager of Graymarch?'

The young man then nodded and bowed his head while silting his wrist and touching the bloody wrist of his captain. 'Solemnly, I swear!'

The beast of a man then smirked. 'Then be sure to carry out that vow to the end of your days'

As the flashback ended, Kyiv then stared back at Ichigo. Then he bowed and smiled.

'It would...seem that I have to thank you twice over this same day, Ichigo Kurosaki the Quincy said as he began to walk away. 'However, I think our conversation will have to end since this is my street.'

Ichigo then stood silent and then returned the smile.

'Welcome to help.'

Meanwhile, a massive black tower skyscraper within the black city seemingly blended into the night sky yet stood high above all structures. Within lay a meeting room with a large round table that held all the directors of Xcuation.

Orihime Inoue, the director of the medical division, was dressed in her business attire.

Riruka Dokugamine, the director of architecture and labor, still has her gray fur coat and hat.

Giriko Kutsuzawa, the director of employment and resources, dressed in a builder out.

Yasutora Sado, the director of Security. Who sports a black dress upon up dresses suit and redshirt.

Then there were the other directors of Xcuation that stood on the other side of the table.

Moe Shishigawara, the director of finance and treasury. Who sported a pair of glasses, a rock vest, pants and shirt, and priced earrings.

Jackie Tristen is the director of the division of punishment and discipline. She was wearing a black leather top and pants.

Shūkurō Tsukishima, director of the intelligence and integration division. Who was dressed in a white shirt with pants connected by suspenders?

Yukio Hans Vorarlberna, director of the technology and transport division dressed in a black coat, played a video game on a hand-held device.

And the standing front of the table stood a woman who had far greater power than any of them combined.

Aura Michibane, head-chair-women of Xcution itself.

While standing on the other side of the table at the very back was Keigo Asano.

Aura then smiled at the field agent. 'So Mr. Asano...have you decided on taking your promotion yet?' she asked, and Keigo nodded.

'I have been thinking about it for a long time...and with the hollow invasion coming up right around the corner, I decided that it was now or never.'

Giriko then turns to face the teen. 'You are aware that by accepting this promotion. You will be taking a great amount of responsibility in leading this company and undergo a process that could make you a potential danger to you and everyone around you should you lose control over your new-found power.'

Keigo nodded. 'I know...and you guys always wanted me to step up because of my abilities and skills...but I guess I was too much of a wimp to take it' he narrowed his eyes. 'But now, if I want to save my friends and the lives of the innocent, I am willing to take any power and strength I can get my hands on!'

Aura then looked at Keigo for a moment and smiled. 'Well, let us begin the process at once' she then snapped her fingers, and immediately a digital portal appeared, and out of it came a tall man with black hair gelled to the back of his head save for several strains that came down over his face and carrying a massive two-handed broadsword over his shoulders and stared at the would-be director,

For he was Kūgo Ginjō, the director of the military guard, and like Aura, he wielded a plantain X emblem.

'Alright, you brat,' Kugo said gruffly. 'Time to turn your sorry ass into a man!'

With this chapter finished, The Soul Society Intermission arc is over. The next one is the Invasion and Infiltration arc. Which likely be the longest arc in the entire story so far.

So until then, see you soon.