Shattered Bonds and Steeled Resolves: A Bleach Alternate Story

by Greivous166

A loving couple murdered; one of them who's human bonds have been destroyed by Aizen using the Hogyoku, the other sent to the Soul Society in one of the lower districts of Rukongai. We follow our unfortunate soul as he joins the 13 Court Guard Squads on his personal mission of revenge. (Note: Will be using anime terms unless unavailable.) M for language, violence, sexual content.

54. Honor and Integrity

Hello friends and readers, Greivous166 here… somewhat, lmao. Just in case you missed my Author's Note (now removed), I was involved in a car accident back in July. Without going into details again, and to keep the point of this short, my writing abilities were… kinda limited. Very limited. That is why it has taken me FOREVER to FINALLY get the next chapter posted. I said it in the A/N, and I'll say it once more; I honestly can't thank you all, the readers, enough for all of your patience with me in getting these chapters posted.

After I did post the A/N, I told myself that I was going to try and get the next chapter ready, proof-read, and posted for you all by the New Year. By some miracle, I was able to succeed and get everything done by New Years. Happy New Years, by the way. Another quick note, ever since I posted the A/N, I've had at least ten of you offer me well wishes, condolences, and the such. To those few, thanks a million. Your support is beyond appreciated. Seriously.

With that said, I will end any notes or otherwise here and let you all get straight to the reason why you're here; to say 'To hell with this guy, get on with the story!' Lmao. Please enjoy the reading my friends.

(A/N: There are references and uses of kidō techniques in this chapter that are not a part of the Bleach anime or manga. These kidō spells are the creation of 'draconichero18' from DeviantArt, and credit for it goes to him. The names and descriptions of these kidōs are used with the creator's permission.)

(I DO NOT OWN BLEACH, ITS CHARACTERS, NAMES, LOCATIONS, OR STORY! THAT HONOR BELONGS SOLELY TO TITE KUBO AND HIS TEAM! ONLY THE OC, AND RANDOM NAMES NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOKS OR ANIME ARE MY OWN!)

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Chapter 107

(Honor and Integrity)

Las Noches, Top of the Quatro Espada's Palace, With Renji

The sound of explosive collisions filled the air, all of which the result of a large, skeletal snake as it was sent to and fro like a whip at its owner's opponent. Rudbornn continued to dodge the lumbering weapon with relative ease through the use of sonído. After every attempt, the Arrancar would reappear before Renji with his lightning bolt-like weapon in an attack of his own. Said attacks consisted only of simple slashing or stabbing motions and nothing else. This led the soul reaper to believe that the weird soldier-growing his branches were doing was the only real ability the Arrancar had, but he wasn't foolish enough to not expect any surprises.

At least he didn't have to worry about the countless soldiers his opponent was making, that duty fell to his partner, Uryū. Every now and then Renji would sneak a glance at the Quincy to check how he was fairing against the hoard, and so far, the teen seemed to be managing quite well. Now that they had agreed not to hold back anymore, Uryū was having no trouble in dealing with the grown soldiers. In a flurry of his spirit arrows, the soldiers fell by the dozens; but with every one he took down, another was swiftly grown from Rudbornn's branches to replace it. It was a true war of attrition.

The buzz of sonído drew Renji's attention back to his own fight and he whipped his sword arm up, dragging the bone-like whip along and blocking Rudbornn's slash attack. With a flick of his wrist and downward motion of his arm, Renji sent his Bankai at the Arrancar yet again. With another buzz, his opponent easily dodged the attack.

That was something else Renji noticed quickly about his fight. While his Bankai was powerful, it was also quite large and tended to be somewhat slow in attacking compared to its Shikai version. That was all well and good for larger and/or slower-moving targets, for but someone as nimble as Rudbornn, the weapon's size and speed was working against him. He could control how the snake's head moved for the most part, but the rest of the weapon between there and the hilt was still controlled like a typical whip. The snake's head was too slow to keep up with Rudbornn, and the whip portion required planning and preparation to use against him.

Put simply, his weapon and fighting style were poorly suited for fighting against someone like Rudbornn. What was worse, he didn't have the reliable use of kidō to help him out like Rukia or Timothy did. It was common knowledge… and the base for many jokes… amongst his friends and fellow officers that the red-head simply sucked at kidō. His spells were just as likely to explode in his face as they were to hit the target. If he tried to use kidō now against Rudbornn, chances were that it would only work against him.

With a buzz, Rudbornn expertly avoided another of Renji's fruitless attacks, now standing to the Lieutenant's left. With a twirl and flex of his arm, Renji whipped a portion of his zanpakutō at the man. Bending his knees, Rudbornn leaped over the bone weapon towards Renji, 'sword' held high for a downward slash. With a yank of his hilt, the soul reaper sent the large snake's head to intercept the man, who only vanished with a buzz again.

Renji furrowed his brows with a growl of annoyance. "Damn it… Hold still, you bastard!" he snarled in anger with another twirl of his weapon.

"Now why would I do that?" Rudbornn questioned, now up in the air a few meters above the Lieutenant. He swiftly floated off to the side to avoid another charge from the snake's head, followed by a drop back down to the ground to dodge a follow-up attack from the whip portion of the Bankai. "Do you honestly expect me to make defeating me easy for you?"

Seeing both of his attacks avoided so easily, Renji growled louder in his throat. "Shut up, you! I'm just getting started!" he yelled back, whipping his zanpakutō at the Arrancar again.

Rudbornn leaped into the air again just as the snake head crashed in the ground where he stood. "If this is a sign of your true power, then I am not impressed." he mocked calmly, shifting to the side again when the whip came at him.

His temper growing, Renji raised his arm up high and twirled it above his head. The entire length of his weapon rose up and circled above Rudbornn and took on a reddish glow before each of the segments broke apart from each other, held together by a strand of red spirit energy. "Try this! Higa Zekkō!" he yelled and swung down.

With his swing, the tendrils of energy holding the segments together vanished, and each of the weapon's 'vertebrae' were sent shooting back down at the Arrancar like a meteor shower. The entire area where Rudbornn floated became a deadly barrage of beach ball-sized projectiles, each crashing into the ground in violent explosions of dust and debris. When the last ones had finally landed, Renji pulled back on his hilt. With the movement, each of the segments, now partially buried in the ground, took on the same reddish hue from before and pulled themselves from the ground. One by one, the segments returned to the man's hilt, building back up into its previous, whip-like shape.

Renji smirked at the dust cloud and carnage before him, even though inside he was a bit worried. Higa Zekkō was one of his zanpakutō's special abilities, and was the only 'fast attack' besides his Hikotsu Taihō that he had, and was perfect against Rudbornn. However, using the attack came with a price. Unlike the Shikai version of the attack, which could only be used once and always resulted in the destruction of his zanpakutō, basically a last resort, the Bankai version was faster, more powerful, and could be used multiple times. After the attack was finished, the segments could be called back and rejoined from the hilt to reform the completed weapon. But, while the segments were much sturdier in the weapon's Bankai form, it did not guarantee that all of the segments would survive the attack. Just from a quick glance Renji could tell that he had lost four segments during that last attack, segments that could only be recovered after a day or two of rest.

But the price was worth it. Those four segments only accounted for a little less than a tenth of the zanpakutō's total length. Sure, it reduced his weapon's reach by a few meters, but it wasn't anything detrimental. With another yank of his hilt, Renji pulled the weapon back, the 'coils' of his snake-like weapon looping loosely around him on the ground while the snake's head hovered over his left shoulder.

"How was that for power, Rudbornn?" he snarked at the dust cloud.

"That was an impressive technique." the Arrancar responded.

Renji's eyes widened in shock when he heard the voice coming, not from the dust cloud, but instead from behind. Twisting his body around to look over his shoulder, he nearly gasped when he saw Rudbornn standing a short distance away behind him, completely unharmed. "What… How the hell…?"

"I will admit, I did not expect for your weapon to detach itself in such a manner and then use those detached pieces against me. It is truly an interesting and effective attack. However…" Rudbornn turned his gaze downward to the coiled length of the Lieutenant's weapon around him, as if inspecting it. "It seems that this attack of yours is not without cost, if the missing pieces from its length are any indication. If I am assuming correctly, the more you use this technique, the less effective your Bankai becomes. Obviously, an attack that must be used wisely." he observed, returning his gaze back to Renji.

Growling through his teeth, Renji snapped his body around fully and twirled his arm, bringing his weapon's coiled length off the ground to form a vortex above him. "I've had enough out of you, so die!" he yelled, sending the snake head at his opponent.

The Arrancar scoffed under his breath and shook his head. "I am growing quite bored with this." he said to himself before vanishing via sonído to avoid the large snake head yet again.

A second buzz hit Renji's ears before his shoulder screamed at him in pain. After a grunt of pain, the Lieutenant swung his free arm around in an attempt to backhand his opponent, but Rudbornn simply lept away and out of range of the counterattack. Cursing to himself in a growl, Renji twisted his wrist and sent his Bankai for another attack.

Time after time, the soul reaper sent his weapon, and partner, after the elusive Arrancar, and time after time his attacks were easily dodged and countered. And as Rudbornn's patience began to wear thin from the monotony of the Lieutenant's attacks, his counterattacks grew higher in intensity, growing from attacks easily blocked, to light hits, to more severe ones. After another slow, and easily avoidable attack from the overly-large and cumbersome Bankai, Rudbornn buzzed past the attack and appeared right in front of Renji with a downward slash.

Renji's eyes went wide with a pained hiss as the lightning bolt-shaped weapon slashed him from shoulder to hip. Blood spewed from the wound as the Lieutenant was knocked off his feet to land on his rear. The man's Bankai reacted violently in shakes and spasms as its momentum from its partner's movements was lost and crashed onto the ground, now a useless heap. With a painful gasp, Renji clutched his free arm to his chest and hissed further from the movement as Rudbornn walked up and came to a stop only feet away.

"Disappointing." The Arrancar chastised, earning a deadly glare from Renji. "I will grant you that your Bankai does indeed possess an admirable amount of power; however, that power is only at its greatest effect when it is faced against a single opponent, one that is not as well versed in high-speed movements as I. When I first faced against you, I had expected that you would have been aware of your Bankai's weakness and, had trained and developed measures to overcome that weakness. It would seem that I was mistaken. It appears that you have focused the majority of your training into improving the raw power of your Bankai, and ignored everything else that makes a Bankai a truly devastating weapon." he scolded.

The Lieutenant grit his teeth, and with a yell, swung his weapon out at Rudbornn. Rudbornn jumped back several feet and watched as the man got back up to his feet. "You… shut the hell… up." Renji growled in anger. "You have no idea… what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" the Arrancar questioned. "I may not be as well versed in terms of how a soul reaper's zanpakutō works as you are, but that matters little. Shikai… Bankai… Resurrección… The method of power is of no consequence. What matters is how one trains to use that power, to make that power their own, to master it. That is where you have failed, and why you are unable to defeat me one-on-one. That power, that Bankai, is not yet truly your own, because you have not yet mastered it. You have not mastered your own power, whereas I have, and therefore cannot be defeated by you."

Renji flinched internally at the Arrancar's words. "It is said, one must train for ten years after learning Bankai in order to control it completely." his Captain, Byakuya Kuchiki's, voice sounded in his head. "Renji, you are not ready to use your Bankai in battle." The memory of the stoic noble's words struck a chord in Renji's mind.

When Ichigo and his friends had invaded the Soul Society to save his childhood friend, Rukia, Renji struggled to gain that last bit of experience he needed to finally achieve Bankai. When he had finally done it, finally acquired his long-awaited Bankai, the first thing he did was challenge his superior, Byakuya Kuchiki, to prove he was now better and stronger than the Captain. While he was able to surprise the Captain with his sudden increase in power, he was still defeated in the end; not because his Bankai was weak, something that Byakuya himself had admitted personally, but because Renji simply lacked the training and experience to use such a powerful and destructive weapon.

After the battle to save Rukia from the staged execution, Renji realized that his Captain was right, that he needed to train to use his Bankai effectively. Over the next month, the Lieutenant trained endlessly to improve his control over his Bankai, making it even more powerful. But once again, the increase in power blinded him to other aspects of battle. He kept his focus on improving his zanpakutō's strengths, failing to improve on its weaknesses as well. A grave mistake that he was paying the price for now with the Arrancar before him. He now realized that, with his current level of training… he was no match for someone like Rudbornn Chelute. The Arrancar was too fast for him to use his Bankai as intended, with brute force.

With a glare at the released Arrancar, Renji twirled his weapon around until it was now coiled around him, the snake's head hissing loudly at his opponent. "I may not be fully trained to use my Bankai, but you're badly mistaken if you think that I'm through yet!" he roared.

Raising his sword arm, Renji began to twirl his weapon around and around. Reacting to his movements, Hihiō Zabimaru's snake head began to circle around its partner only a meter or so from center. The zanpakutō's coils layered one over the other until Renji was completely hidden from sight and progressed higher until the Lieutenant was encased in a tight dome five meters high. When the dome was complete, the snake's head now perched on top of the dome and spinning in place, the entire length of the weapon began to take on a deep-red hue of condensed spirit energy.

Rudbornn watched the entire thing with a hint of amusement and excitement before he heard the Lieutenant's voice speak out from inside the dome. "You think that I'm done for, Rudbornn? Well, why don't you try this on for size?" he taunted, then the red hue of the dome grew even brighter. "Hikotsu Hōgeki!" the man called out, throwing his sword arm out towards Rudbornn.

With a thundering hiss, Hihiō Zabimaru's jaw opened wide, revealing a glowing mass of red spirit energy before it exploded outward in a powerful, condensed beam. The beam of spirit energy moved with the head, cutting circles into the ground around the dome and expanding outwards with each pass. Simultaneously, the coils of the dome grew to their brightest before suddenly exploding outward in all directions. Each and every individual segment of Hihiō Zabimaru's coils became something akin to the fragmentation of a hand grenade.

The odd attack and the speed of it actually caught Rudbornn off guard, and left him unable to use sonído in time to avoid it. Not like he could, seeing as how the attack was sent in every possible direction, instead of a single point. Raising his zanpakutō, the Arrancar tried to block the incoming attack, barely managing to deflect an incoming segment. But that only left him open for the rotating beam of energy. The beam struck him, not once, or twice, but three times in rapid succession; and with a loud, pained grunt, the man was sent flying.

After over one hundred rotations, the beam from Hihiō Zabimaru's mouth finally weakened and dissipated to nothing as the head's rotation slowed down to a standstill. When the head finally stopped spinning, it gave out one last hiss before its yellow eyes dulled, leaving hollow sockets, and dropped to the ground with a crash at Renji's side. Sparing a moment to look around, Renji observed the chaos and raw destruction his zanpakutō's newest ability left behind. Turning back towards his opponent, he saw that Rudbornn was lying prone on the ground several meters away. Slowly, the Lieutenant started walking towards the downed Arrancar.

"I told you I wasn't done yet." he mocked under his breath. "Hikotsu Hōgeki. By drawing Hihiō Zabimaru's coils tightly into a small dome, the spirit energy coursing through them condenses and grows in intensity. Doing so serves three purposes; it allows me to channel and store even more of my spirit energy into the coils, it provides an impenetrable shield against outside attacks, and forms a barrier for me to extrude and contain even more of my spiritual pressure, creating a highly pressurized container. Once everything is ready, the spirit energy that keeps Hihiō Zabimaru's segments connected is removed. With nothing to hold the segments together, the pressure from inside the dome forces the segments out in all directions at an amazing speed, turning them into dozens of projectiles. At the same time, all of the spirit energy that was gathered in Hihiō Zabimaru's mouth is released in a condensed beam, instead of a single blast of energy. The head spins in place atop the dome and the beam hits anything and everything around it."

Suddenly, Hihiō Zabimaru's snake head and all of the surrounding segments began to dissipate into red spirit energy before collecting back into the hilt of his zanpakutō, the blade reverting back into its sealed form. Renji came to a stop a few meters away from his downed opponent and looked down at his reverted blade, speaking to himself in a quiet voice. "Unfortunately, the ability drains Zabimaru of all his spirit energy, and most of mine as well. Meaning that this ability is one of those 'last resort' types of attacks." he grumbled, turning back to the Arrancar. "Even someone as fast as you had no chance of avoiding Hikotsu Hōgeki's area-wide attack."

"... I see."

Renji's eyes went wide and he quickly shunpoed back to avoid a counterattack. "What the… No… No way. There's… no way he could've…"

To his shock and horror, Rudbornn slowly pushed himself up to his knees, and stood back up before brushing his arms free of debris. Renji's horror grew even more when he saw that, for the exception of burned clothing and the blood stains of minor wounds, the Arrancar was relatively unscathed. Rudbornn continued to brush himself off as he continued to speak. "I must admit that I had not expected an attack of that magnitude. Truly, the potency and destructiveness of such an attack cannot be ignored, nor taken lightly. If it were anyone but myself, or the Espadas, your attack would have easily defeated, if not killed, your opponents. However…"

Rudbornn finished dusting himself off and stared right into Renji's shocked eyes. "While your attack did do damage to me, it was not enough to render me unable to fight."

Renji could feel his world crashing down. Originally, he and Uryū had wanted to avoid going all out on their fights to save energy for when they came across one of the Espada. But, sadly, an opponent like Rudbornn Chelute required them to use their full power. Even so, Renji had hoped to save Hikotsu Hōgeki as his 'trump card' against the Espada. He was not foolish enough to think that his newest ability would be enough to defeat an Espada, but at the very least it should have been enough to defeat someone like Rudbornn. If he couldn't even do that…

"His attack may not have been able to defeat you…" a voice broke him from his thoughts, and the pair turned to see Uryū standing a short distance away with a deadly, yet calculated look on his face. The teen reached up to readjust his glasses higher along his nose. "But it was able to put you in the perfect place."

Before Rudbornn could inquire as to what the Quincy was talking about, the Arrancar suddenly found himself encased in a large, pentagon-shaped barrier. Rudbornn's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing in fury and glancing around him. "What is the meaning of this?! What have you done, Quincy?!" he growled.

"It is a barrier." the teen answered, then glared at the Arrancar. Uryū started walking towards the perimeter of the barrier. "This is Sprenger. By placing all five of my Seele Schneider into the shape of a pentagon, I create a space necessary for a powerful barrier, known as Sprenger. Once it is activated, anyone trapped inside will find themselves unable to leave, just like you. However…" He then reached into his jacket pocket. "Sprenger is not only a barrier… it is also a weapon." he concluded as he pulled out a tiny, cylindrical vial. "And this… is a Gintō. It is a container that stores some of a Quincy's spirit energy. When that spirit energy is added to Sprenger, the barrier will explode, killing everything contained within."

Rudbornn's eyes behind his mask widened a fraction before narrowing in fury again. "You damned Quincy. And here I was, under the impression that your race was an honorable one. I give the two of you the chance to engage me in an honorable fight of one-on-one, and here you are, showing how dishonorable you are by interfering with me and the Lieutenant's fight." he seethed.

Uryū raised a questioning brow at him. "Funny, I don't recall either Renji or myself stating that we agreed to your terms. You made that assumption on your own, Rudbornn. And besides…" His brows dropped into a deep, angry scowl. "How can you claim that you Arrancars are honorable, when you go and kidnap an innocent girl and murder her so she can be used against her friends. That is not honorable, that is an unspeakable crime… One that you will now suffer punishment for."

With that, Uryū tipped his hand with the Gintō in his fingers. As he did, a small amount of bluish liquid fell from the inside of the small capsule and fell towards the ground. Rudbornn watched in fear as the liquid dropped onto a long, metallic object that was stuck into the ground. Upon quick inspection, he noticed that there were four other, similar objects surrounding him at the other four cardinal points of the barrier. When the liquid touched the object, the intensity of the barrier increased by several times until it reached such an intensity that the world, in Rudbornn's eyes, seemed to just… explode. Which was exactly what happened. With a fearful and painful yell, the interior of the barrier exploded, destroying everything contained within.

Including Rudbornn Chelute.

"Damn you, Quincyyyy!" was all the teen and Lieutenant heard over the sound of the explosion before the Arrancar's voice was silenced forever.

The explosion raged for a few moments more before it concluded. Once it did, the walls of the barrier fell away, and the five Seele Schneider forming its perimeter extinguished and fell onto the ground in place. Readjusting his glasses once more, Uryū huffed in contempt and reached down to pick up the Seele Schneider at his feet. "To think that he thought we would grant him and his cohorts something like honor when most of them have no honor themselves. Truly pathetic." he scorned, sheathing the weapon into one of the five slots at his hip. Turning his gaze, he looked Renji over for a moment before raising a brow. "You alright over there, Renji?" he inquired.

The Lieutenant snorted with a roll of the eyes. "What? Didn't think I could handle myself?" he teased.

The teen raised a brow in response. "Do you honestly expect me to answer that?"

Renji scowled right back in a growl. "Oh, shut up, Uryū. Not like you were a lot of help. Don't think I didn't notice how quickly you took out all of that bastard's soldier things. You got just about all of em in the blink of an eye. And what the hell was that, by the way? I thought you could only fire an arrow or two at a time?" he questioned.

"Unlike my previous bow, Ginrei Kojaku allows me to make more effective use of my Quincy powers. One of those powers is Heilig Pfeil. Normally, you would be correct in that I can only fire a few arrows at a time; however, Heilig Pfeil allows me to fire a considerably vaster number of arrows. Up to twelve hundred at a time."

Renji's eyes went wide. "Oh, Kami. Wait a minute…" His eyes then narrowed in suspicion. "If that's the case, then why didn't you start off with that in the first place, Uryū? You could've saved us both all the damned hassle." He accused.

A smirk found its way to Uryū's lips. "Really, Renji? The answer to that should be obvious. Why reveal all your cards to your opponent when there are those more powerful than them that could learn from the fight and adjust to it? Don't they teach such basic things like that in your soul reaper schools?" he mocked.

The Lieutenant rolled his eyes with a scoff. "Whatever, asshole. So, now that we've dealt with him, what's the next move?"

Uryū sighed lightly and cupped his chin. "That's a good question. The problem we face now is that we're not the only ones who have run into trouble."

Renji narrowed his eyes in worry. "What do you mean?"

"Judging by what spiritual pressures I can feel, it seems Rukia and Chad have run into some powerful opponents themselves; not powerful enough to be Espada level, but not weak like those other Arrancar we've come across before Rudbornn. I'm guessing they are fighting what they call fracción. And, if I'm reading their signatures correctly, it would seem that Tim, Ichigo, and the female Arrancar with them have split up, with Ichigo and the Arrancar sticking together. Also…" He eyed Renji carefully in worry of his own. "Going by the strength of the spiritual pressure, it seems that Tim is fighting against an Espada, by himself."

The Lieutenant's eyes widened a bit. "That idiot is going up against an Espada, by himself?!"

"Not only that, but I recognize this spiritual pressure. Unless I'm mistaken, that spiritual pressure belongs to the Espada Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez; the one that invaded the world of the living when Orihime was taken, and the one that almost killed Tim that time."

Renji sighed in a groan while shaking his head. "What the hell is that idiot thinking?" he grumbled.

Uryū smirked with a scoff. "This is Tim we're talking about. When does he ever think things through?" he joked.

Renji snorted with a matching smirk. "Yeah, that's the thing, isn't it?"

"He doesn't." they spoke in unison, both snickering at the shared comment.

Their expressions then grew serious again. "Really though, what's our plan?" the Lieutenant asked.

"If what Rudbornn said was true, and that he was the 'head of security', we can probably rest assured that we no longer have constant eyes on us. As much as I'm sure you would hate to admit it, you need to rest a bit and recover your spirit energy after that last attack."

"I do hate to admit it." the man confirmed with a grumble.

Uryū nodded once. "We need to find a place to hide, at least for a little while, so you can get some of your strength back. While doing so, I can try and observe what's going on around us and we can better prepare for…"

The teen's eyes suddenly widened before dropping his arms to his sides and glaring at the ground. Renji, expecting anything at this point, gripped his zanpakutō tighter. "What's wrong?"

"Can you feel it?" the Quincy asked.

Renji looked down at the ground as well and narrowed his eyes in concentration. "Yeah… now that you mention it… I feel a new spiritual pressure." he confirmed.

Uryū nodded. "New, but… somehow… familiar. It almost feels like…"

"That feels like… Orihime's spiritual pressure." Renji said with shock. His eyes widened as they snapped to his partner. "We found her?!"

The Quincy hummed in thought for a second, then shook his head. "I don't know. Something feels… off about it. It feels like Orihime's, but also… not. There's something else there, something… more sinister."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't explain it. It almost feels… corrupted." the teen fretted.

"You think it could be another Arrancar? One that bastard Aizen made to try and fool us? I mean, he could be trying to lead us into a trap." the Lieutenant wondered.

Uryū shook his head. "No. This spiritual pressure doesn't feel artificial, like it was made. And it feels too… 'original' to be a copy of Orihime's. Something's not right here."

Renji raised a curious brow. "You think we should investigate, just to be sure? I mean, this is the best lead we've had so far; we can't exactly ignore it."

"You don't feel the other spiritual pressures?" the teen asked, raising his gaze back to the other man. "Ichigo and the Arrancar woman are both down there as well. In fact, they're about to run into the other spiritual pressure."

Renji turned his gaze back down to the ground. "I hate to admit it, but you're a little bit better at sensing spiritual pressures than I am. I can pick up two more spiritual pressures near that other one, but I can't quite tell who's it is. Damn this absorbing stone stuff." he grumbled. "So, Ichigo and Nel are down there with that other spiritual pressure?" he asked in confirmation.

The Quincy nodded once. "Yes. And whoever that spiritual pressure belongs to, that person is strong. Almost Espada level."

"Should we head down there and help em out?" Renji asked with a worried look.

"In your current condition, you would be more of a hindrance than actual help." Uryū warned carefully.

"Gee, thanks for the confidence, Uryū." Renji mumbled with slouched shoulders.

"I am merely speaking the truth. While powerful, that last attack drained you of nearly everything you had, and I doubt you could even release your Shikai right now." he stated, earning a growl from Renji. "I am not saying this to be cruel or condescending, merely pointing out the facts. You need to rest right now, Renji, as do I. So here is what we'll do; we'll find a place to hide and rest a bit. While doing so, I will keep an eye on Ichigo and the Arrancar woman's spiritual pressures. If I detect that they are in any immediate trouble, we will go and help them out." the teen offered.

While Renji scowled to himself, he heard the voices of his zanpakutō spirit within his inner world. "He does have a point, Renji. That attack used up everything we had. We need to rest a bit, or we'll just get ourselves killed." one half of his zanpakutō spirit advised.

"Yeah, the monkey's right. Besides, it's Ichigo we're talking about. Sure, the carrot-top's an idiot most times, but he's not some weakling. I mean, he did beat us afterall." the other half said in a pout, while the other growled under its breath about getting the teenage substitute back for such an embarrassment.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me." Renji snapped back. With a heavy sigh, the Lieutenant nodded. "Alright, fine. We'll find a place to rest up. But as soon as any of the others are in trouble, we head out and give em a hand. Agreed?"

Uryū nodding firmly. "Agreed. Let's go."

With that, they both disappeared through a wisp of shunpo and Hirenkyaku.

With Rukia

Quiet footsteps lightly echoed through the hallway as Rukia walked through the corridor, making her way back towards where she could feel Chad's spiritual pressure. All the while, she had her chin cupped in her hand as she contemplated what the female Arrancar had told her after her fight with the duo. Apparently, they, and the other Arrancar, were told not to interfere with her, or any of the others that came to Las Noches to rescue Orihime. And that left her quite worried.

Aizen was up to something. But what that something was, she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out. It made no sense. Why would the man let her, and her friends, simply waltz right into his base of operations and wander about without any interference? Just what was that man up to? Was this all just another one of his elaborate schemes? Did he have some use for Orihime besides trying to draw them all into his domain? What was his end goal in this regard? These were the questions that poured through the small soul reaper's mind as she continued down the hallway, feeling Chad's spiritual pressure getting closer with each step.

"Just what are you up to, Aizen?" she mumbled to herself as she rounded a corner.

She was suddenly broken from her thoughts when she collided with a soft wall. Backing up a step, she looked up to see none other than Chad standing before her. The teen obviously had some large bruises and cuts from his fight, as well as seemingly tired, but for the most part, appeared to be unscathed, which brought relief to Rukia. To be honest, ever since leaving him alone with the Arrancar woman to deal with the other two, she feared for him. Honestly, with him being a human, she didn't expect him to be able to handle her on his own. Boy, was she glad he proved her wrong. Indeed, Chad was much stronger than he appeared. She couldn't help but reminisce that time he and her fought against a hollow named 'Shrieker', a sadistic hollow that had used the soul of a young boy, trapped in the body of a cockatiel, to help him kill humans so he could eat their souls. Working together, she and him, and eventually Ichigo as well, were able to defeat and send the murdering hollow to hell. That was when Rukia had learned to not so easily dismiss the ability, and more importantly, the determination of humans, especially a human like Chad.

"Oh, Chad! I'm glad you're okay." she said with a sigh of relief, her body visibly relaxing.

"Rukia." the large teen said back with a nod. "You won your fight?" he asked in his monotone voice.

The woman grinned and crossed her arms. "Come on now, Chad. Who do you think I am?" She questioned in humor. "A Kuchiki? Defeated by the likes of those two? That'll be the day. They gave me a run for my money, sure, but they still lost in the end. What about you? I take it you beat that third Arrancar?" she inquired.

Chad nodded once and shifted his right shoulder as if in evidence, that seemed to have a large bundle draped over it. Upon closer inspection, Rukia was a bit shocked to see that the bundle was actually the third Arrancar woman, Mila Rose. The woman was clearly unconscious, and hung limply off the giant's shoulder. Upon closer examination, Rukia could see that the woman not gotten away from the fight unscathed. Like Chad, she had multiple bruises all over her body, and was sporting a pretty, black eye. Looking down, she saw that Chad had the woman's sealed zanpakutō in his grasp by the scabbard. Comparing the two, Chad had obviously come out as the better of the two, but that still begged the question as to why the teen was even carrying her in the first place.

"Uh, Chad… why do you have her slung on your shoulder?" she asked in confusion, head tilted.

The teen was silent for a moment before answering. "She was hurt badly. I couldn't leave her behind." he answered simply, as if it made perfect sense.

Which it didn't, only adding to Rukia's confusion. "Ooo… kayyy. I mean… yeah, she has some injuries, but… nothing she wouldn't recover from. So… why are you carrying her with you? You could have just put her in an empty room and left her there. Her injuries are not life-threatening, you know." she pointed out.

Again, it took a moment for the teen to answer. "I didn't want to abandon her. She may be an Arrancar, but she is still a woman. It's rude to treat women like that." he answered, again, like the answer made sense.

Rukia sighed and rubbed her temples. She liked Chad, and he was a sweetheart deep down behind that massive exterior of his, but that sweet-heartedness would one day prove to be his undoing. But now that begged the question: what the hell were they supposed to do with the woman now? Leaving her here in the hallway was definitely a 'no'. Chad would likely have a problem with leaving her in a nearby empty room, as he just stated. So what else was there? Surely, he didn't think it was a good idea to keep hauling her around with them while they continued their search for Orihime… Did he? No. Surely not.

"Okay, so… what are you planning to do with her then?" she asked hesitantly, fearing the answer.

Once more, it took the teen a moment to answer. "We take her with us."

Yeah… he did. This did not bode well. Sure, she was perfectly harmless now, while she was unconscious, but what would happen once she woke up?

"Chad…" Rukia took a moment to arrange her words politely. "Listen… I… I don't think that… that's a good idea. You… You do realize that she's very likely to attack us again once she wakes up… right?" she asked carefully.

Yet again, Chad took a moment to answer. "Maybe." he answered simply.

That always bugged her, Chad's simple, but yet… 'simple', answers. Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep herself calm. "Look, Chad… I get that you probably feel responsible for her injuries, and even a little bit sorry for her, but let's be frank here… she's a risk to our mission to rescue Orihime. When she wakes up, you and I both know she's very likely to attack us. Yeah, the two of us could most likely beat her again, but that would just be a waste of valuable spirit energy; spirit energy we simply can't afford right now. You understand?" she asked carefully, trying not to offend him.

Chad thought about it for a moment, and Rukia could swear she could hear the metaphorical ticks of a clock's second hand ticking by as he thought about his answer. Finally, he turned to her with an answer. "You're right. But we can't just abandon her. It's not right."

Rukia groaned internally, and it took the help of her zanpakutō spirit, Sode no Shirayuki, to help her keep her patience with the teen. "Chad…" She took a deep, calming breath as she crossed her arms and gave him a serious stare. "Chad, she can not come with us. She is the enemy. Now, I get that we cannot kill her. I get that you feel sorry for what you had to do to her. Battles don't just leave physical scars; they leave emotional ones as well. I know you might feel you have to atone for what you were forced to do to her. But the thing is we can't risk her being around us, even now. Even if she didn't outright fight us when she wakes up, she could still let the enemy know about our actions. The simple fact is that it is way too risky to keep her around. Do you understand?" she asked in a pleading voice.

It surprised her when he answered immediately. "We can't just leave her. I know what you're saying, Rukia, and I understand. But you have to understand that, with Arrancars, strength and power is everything. Mila Rose is too weak right now to defend herself. She could easily be targeted by another Arrancar and killed for her weakness… because of me." He then took a moment to choose his next words without offending his friend. "Until Mila Rose wakes up, and is able to defend herself, I will protect her. If you can't agree to that…"

The teen lowered his head, as if in shame. "Then we must part ways… at least for now."

His words shocked her, but also didn't. She somewhat expected him to have this kind of demeanor towards the woman, that was just Chad at his core, always caring for others; but did she expect him to go to such an extent? To willingly split them up in order to save the life of an enemy? With a heavy sigh, she nodded internally. Yes… yes she did.

With another sigh, she slapped a hand to her face, dragging it down with a groan. "Okay… fine. She can come with us. But!" She pointed a finger at his face. "But, only under one condition." she hissed and the teen nodded for her to continue. "When she wakes up, if she tries anything, and I mean anything, I will end her. Understood?" she said in her firmest tone.

Without hesitation, Chad nodded. "I understand." he confirmed.

Rukia narrowed her eyes at him for a moment to make sure he understood before nodding back. "Good. Sooo… what was your plan after you defeated her? I was coming back to give you a hand if you needed it, but you obviously didn't. So, what now?" she asked, still keeping a watchful eye on the Arrancar woman.

Chad thought about it for a moment before answering. "I think I felt Uryū and Renji's spiritual pressures fighting against another's above us… maybe on the roof..? I'm guessing they are having a fight of their own up there."

The woman nodded once. "Yeah, I felt it too. Whoever it is, they're strong, but I think those two can handle him by themselves. He's not Espada level, so they should be okay. I lost track of Ichigo, Tim, and Nel some time ago, so I don't think they're in the same palace anymore."

The teen nodded. "I agree. But…"

Rukia raised a brow at him. "But… what?" she pressed.

Chad actually frowned. "Ever since I won against Mila Rose… I've felt something. Something… wrong."

"Wrong?" she wondered aloud, mentally agreeing with him. Soon after her fight with Apacci and Sung-Sun, she was starting to feel an odd, evil presence as well. "Let me guess, it feels strangely familiar, but evil as well?"

The man nodded firmly. "Yeah. Like I should know who the person is, but… not, at the same time. I can't explain it."

"Don't worry, Chad, I've felt it too. Whoever, or whatever it is, I think we should steer clear of it. It obviously has a high amount of spiritual pressure, and I seriously doubt the two of us could handle it." she warned.

Rukia could see the teen was fretting internally. "But… I think I felt Ichigo's pressure down there as well. Him and Nel's."

The woman snorted with a roll of the eyes. "Oh please, you and I both know that idiot could easily handle whoever that is on his own. Right?" she questioned. Though, internally… she was beginning to panic herself as well. Whoever this spiritual pressure belonged to, was very strong indeed. 'Ichigo… please be careful.' she prayed.

After a moment, Chad nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Ichigo can handle it with Nel. I'm sure they'll be fine." he assured. But Rukia could see the matching hesitancy in his eyes and voice as well.

Both of them were praying for Ichigo and Nel's safety at that point.

9th District, East Rukongai, Thousand Falls, 30 Minutes Later

The 9th district of Eastern Rukongai, known to the inhabitants as 'Thousand Falls', was one of the wealthier districts. It was so named due to the slightly mountainous terrain, and many rivers that flowed through the area, creating, ironic enough, nearly a thousand tiny waterfalls.

It was in the wooded part of the district, near one of these falls, that Shunsui Kyōraku appeared from out of shunpo. The stoic Captain took a moment to look and listen to the area around him. Hearing nothing besides the flowing waters and local wildlife, he let out a brief sigh of relief.

"Oh boy. Old man Yama's gonna have my head for this one. I hope he doesn't scold Jūshirō too badly. Hell, Nanao would probably give me an even harder time than the old man for leaving her behind." he relented with a dropped head.

"And who said you… you were leaving… me behind… Captain?" a familiar voice asked.

Instantly recognizing the voice, Shunsui snapped his head over to see a panting Nanao leaning against a tree, trying to catch her breath.

"Nanao? What are you doing here?" he asked in actual surprise.

She clutched her chest as she continued to fight for breath, scowling at him. "I keep… keep forgetting… how fast you… you are… Captain."

He turned to face her fully, tucking his arms into his sleeves and giving her a, surprisingly, firm look. "This is not the time, Nanao. Why are you here?"

Managing to take a deep breath, she let it out slowly. "I forgot my squad documents back in the archives, so I was on my way back to retrieve them. That was when I saw you and Captain Kuchiki speaking to each other. I… I apologize, but… my curiosity got the better of me... so I listened in on your conversation." she admitted with a shameful blush.

"I see. So… I take it that you heard everything?" he asked.

She gave him a firm nod. "Yes, Captain. And I'm aware that Captain Kuchiki is likely pursuing you as we speak."

He raised a brow at her. "And are you aware that he believes me to be a traitor now? And that, by simply being here right now, he could see you as a traitor as well? 'Guilty by association' as they say?" he questioned.

Nanao gave another nod. "I am, Captain. I don't know what the reason you went to the world of the living is, but I know that you are not a traitor. Can't you just go to the Head Captain and explain everything? I'm sure he would quickly dismiss you as a traitor."

Shunsui sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't think that's gonna work this time, my little Nanao. I'm afraid I can't reveal the true reason for my visit to the living world. At least, not yet. Hell, I don't even have all the details yet."

"I see. So, what do you intend to do, Captain?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and turned his gaze away. "Guess it's off to hiding, for now at least. I'm sure ol Kisuke might be able to give me a hand with that."

"Give 'us' a hand, Captain." Nanao corrected.

The man chuckled and shook his head in humor. "I don't think that's a good idea, little Nanao. Afterall, someone's gotta stay here and look after the squad, right? Not like you don't do that anyway. I certainly haven't done much in that regard. I never told you this, but you would do really well as a Captain for the squad." He said with honesty.

Honesty that served little purpose as Nanao narrowed her eyes. "If you think you're going to just up and leave me behind, Captain, you might want to think again." She hissed.

He gave her a sly smirk. "What? Afraid you might lose me? I didn't know you had those kinds of feelings for me, sweet Nanao." he teased.

She at least had the decency to blush before gaining an evil glare. "D… Don't be absurd, Captain! I'm just going so I can make sure you don't get into trouble! Like you have a tendency to do!" she defended.

"You're bluuusshhing~." he teased further, pointing a finger at her face.

She almost squealed as she flinched. "I… I am not! You're seeing things, Captain!" she yelled, balling her fists at her side.

Shunsui laughed before holding his hands up in surrender. "Alright alright. No need to get all upset, my little Nanao." he soothed.

The woman growled in anger and annoyance. "Can we just please get moving, Captain? I doubt it will take long for Captain Kuchiki to catch up with us." she pleaded.

He sighed and crossed his arms again. "Gotta admit though, your shunpo has gotten much better over the years to beat out Byakuya. So, you're really that set on going with me?" he asked, earning a firm nod from her.

"Yes, I am." she confirmed, secretly enthused by his praise of her skills in shunpo.

He sighed again with slumped shoulders. "Can't be helped, I guess. Let's go then."

She nodded again. "Yes, Captain."

"Oh, and by the way, you can forget the 'Captain' bit. I can probably guarantee that, come morning, I'll no longer be a Captain. Just call me Shunsui. Alright?"

Her blush came back as she turned her head. "I… I can't do that. You'll always be my Captain."

He sighed again and shook his head with an amused grin. "Alright then. Then as your Captain, I order you to address me as 'Shunsui'."

Nanao's gaze snapped back to him in shock. "C… Captain…"

"Nanaoooo…"

She sighed in defeat. "Y… Yes… Shunsui."

He smiled at her and nodded. "That's better. Now, ready to get outta here?"

She only nodded in answer. Accepting it, he turned and drew his longer zanpakutō of the two. Holding it up, he stuck it forward into the air in front of them, a portion of the blade vanishing in thin air. Twisting the hilt a quarter turn to the right before twisting back, he was surprised when the senkaimon refused to appear.

He raised a brow before pulling his blade back. "Well, that's not good."

Nanao peeked around him to look at the air before them. "Something wrong, Ca… I mean… Shunsui?"

Confirming his suspicion, he attempted to open the senkaimon again, resulting in another failure. "Oh boy." he said, sheathing his zanpakutō. "It seems we're stuck here, my little Nanao."

She sighed and shook her head. "Captain Kuchiki must have had all of the senkaimon locked down. So, what's our next plan?" she asked.

"Surrendering would be a good one." a familiar voice, one that they did not want to hear at that moment, answered.

Nanao flinched in fear at the sound of the voice, but Shunsui only turned and smiled. "Well now, if it isn't our little assassin. What brings you all the way out here, Captain Suí-Fēng?"

Sure enough, a short distance away, the short and petite Captain of Squad 2, and Commander of the Stealth Force, Suí-Fēng, stood with a dark scowl of contempt on her face. Above her, and all around them, hiding in the trees, were dozens upon dozens of members of the Stealth Force, their hands resting on the hilts of their zanpakutōs.

Suí-Fēng glared at Shunsui in anger. "I have to admit, out of all the traitors in the soul society, I never expected you to be one of them, Captain Kyōraku." she seethed.

Shunsui crossed his arms into his sleeves and gave her a teasing smile. "Well, that's all a matter of opinion. Do you think I'm a traitor, Captain Suí-Fēng?"

She gritted her teeth in a snarl. Even long before she had become a Captain, she had always despised the man's carefree attitude. "What I think is irrelevant. Your actions speak for themselves."

"Is that so? I had no idea a quick trip to the world of the living would cause me to be pegged as a traitor. I can only imagine what you'd think of me if my trip had taken me to Hueco Mundo instead. Wouldn't surprise me if you thought of me as the root to all evil." he joked.

Nanao turned to him in worry. "Ca… Shunsui, this isn't the time for your stupid jokes." She warned in a silent whisper.

He sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I guess you're right." he relented.

"Surrender peacefully, and we won't have to make this worse than it has already become, Captain Kyōraku." another familiar voice spoke.

Smiling, Shunsui turned behind him to see Byakuya standing there. "Well, hey there, Byakuya. Took you long enough to get here. What kept ya?" he teased.

The stoic 6th Squad Captain scoffed lowly in his throat. "I had already been here for some time. I was merely waiting for Captain Suí-Fēng to lend me her assistance in detaining you. If there is any at fault here, it is the two of you for failing to notice my presence before now."

Shunsui tipped his head down, lifting a hand to the brim of his hat with a grin. "Is that what you really believe, Byakuya? If you want the truth, I was actually aware of your presence the instant you arrived, only seconds after my little Nanao here. It seems my beautiful Lieutenant here has managed to surpass you, huh? I mean, she did leave after you did and get here before you did." He teased/congratulated.

That surprised the lieutenant and she turned to her superior, or rather 'former' superior, with a look of shock and an ever-growing blush. "Wait… you mean he's… been here all this time, Ca…. Shunsui?!" she asked in shock, still embarrassed by her Captain's complements.

The man shrugged a shoulder. "Afraid so.

Byakuya turned and narrowed his eyes at the woman. "As for you…" he started, getting her attention. "Based upon what I have seen thus far, I cannot tell if your actions are based upon your loyalty to you Captain, or to someone else. Therefore, you will also be coming with us for questioning. Depending on your answers, you may be released without further disruptions."

Nanao shook her head at him with a firm glare. "No… You've got it all wrong! My Captain is not a traitor! What reason would he have to turn against the Soul Society? Please forgive my forwardness, Captain Kuchiki, but… but you are all mistaken. Have none of you ever considered that maybe this is what Aizen wants?" she questioned. "Don't you think that it would make sense for our enemy to try and disrupt us in any way possible? Just look at all the communication problems Squad 12 has been having. I've even read recent reports that our own squad members are starting to turn on one another, thinking each other as traitors, just as you are now with the Cap… with Shunsui."

The Squad 6 Captain raised a brow at her sudden correction of addressment of her Captain to that of a more… familiar demeanor, but chose to ignore it by closing his eyes and nodding once. "Though the words you speak are true, you seem to forget that Captain Kyōraku was not forced, or coerced, into making an unannounced, and unnecessary, visit to the World of the Living. Even you can agree such actions can be deemed questionable, considering the circumstances."

She lowered her head a bit and took a breath. "Yes, I agree that… that Shunsui's visit may seem suspicious. But…" She raised her head back to the stoic Captain. "But I know he must have his reasons. And that he must also have a reason for keeping those reasons a secret from others."

"In case you forgot the situation we're in, we don't have the luxury of being able to keep secrets, Lieutenant." Suí-Fēng seethed through her teeth, her patience wearing thin. "Secrets are what led us into this mess in the first place. Now, enough talking." She turned her angry glare back towards Shunsui. "You are coming with us, either willingly… or by force." she threatened.

Byakuya reopened his eyes and gave Shunsui a calm, almost pleading look. "This is your last chance, Captain Kyōraku. Tell us the reason for your visit to the World of the Living."

The two sides stood there in silence, staring at one another for a few moments. Finally, Shunsui let out a quiet sigh and tipped his head down further. "Oh boy. With both Byakuya and Suí-Fēng, along with the Stealth Force on us, it doesn't look like things are going to go all that smoothly, Nanao. Looks like we got a fight on our hands." he whispered to the woman.

The Lieutenant glanced around them at the numerous Stealth Force members perched in the trees, their hands all resting on their weapons and ready for battle. Turning her gaze back to the two Captains facing them, she saw that Suí-Fēng also had a hand on her weapon, poised to strike at any second, while Byakuya continued to keep a calm demeanor.

She was forced to agree with a reluctant nod. "I agree. I'm sorry, but… I just don't see any way out of this, Captain." She whispered back in sorrow.

His lip turned up in a small grin. "I wonder how many times I'll have to remind you to call me Shunsui." he teased.

Her cheeks turned a reddish hue as she turned away. "S… Sorry, it's a habit. You know that." she scolded quietly.

The man chuckled under his breath before turning serious again. "Listen, Nanao. I want you to go with them." He said, getting a look of shock from the woman.

"What?!"

His eyes rolled to meet hers. "Face it, Nanao, even if I was able to give you a chance to escape, even I won't be able to keep all of them from following you. You would just be captured later, and your situation even worse than it is now. The squad is going to need you in the coming days, and you can't exactly help them if you're locked up with me."

Nanao shook her head and glared at him. "I told you, the squad will be fine, C… Shunsui. We have competent officers that are more than capable of handling the day-to-day needs of the squad."

The smirk returned, but less playful. "I'm aware, and I agree that they know what they're doing. But you seem to be forgetting something."

"What's that?" she asked.

He turned his eyes to her in a firm stare. "After tonight, their Captain will be branded a traitor, and no matter how hard those two may try to keep that information from the others, we both know that word will still get out. What do you think will happen when others realize that the Captain of Squad 8 has 'turned traitor'?"

Her eyes widened after only a second of thought. "It will be just like with Squad 5." she whispered in realization.

The man hummed in agreement. "Yeah. There'll be even more discriminations, but now against our own squad as well. Why do you think the old man had ol Tetsuzaemon transferred to Squad 5 as the acting Captain in the first place?"

She blinked once. "I thought it was to help with their lack of good officers."

"Yeah, that's one reason, but not the main one. The real reason he was transferred was to help reduce the amount of discrimination against the squad. She's a good kid, and she knows what she's doing, but even if Lieutenant Hinamori was awake and able to do her duties as a Lieutenant, we both know that she can be a bit of a pushover at times."

Nanao dropped her head in shame and nodded. "Yes… sadly, I have to agree with you."

"Are you two done wasting our time?" Suí-Fēng snarled, her patience now gone.

Ignoring her, Nanao took a deep breath and glanced at the man next to her. "I agree that, soon, our squad will become a new target for all these discriminations, but you have to trust me when I say that our senior officers are more than capable of handling it. I know they can. That is why I feel safe leaving the squad in their hands until we return… Shunsui."

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Nanao…"

The woman shook her head at him. "No, Shunsui. You said it yourself that you are no longer my Captain, right? If that is the case, then… then you cannot order me not to stay with you. I am staying, and that is final." she said in a serious tone.

The man sighed heavily, but smiled at her. "You always were quite pushy, my little Nanao." he teased, giving her a playful smirk.

She snapped her gaze away with a blush. "S… Someone has to keep you from lazing around all day. Useless man." she grumbled under her breath.

Shunsui chuckled in humor, then turned serious as they both turned back to the pair across from them. "Sorry, Byakuya, buuuuut… it looks like we're both gonna have to decline. We do appreciate the offer though." he teased.

The stoic Captain stared into the playful one's eyes for a moment before finally lowering his gaze with a sigh. "So be it."

Nanao wasn't sure what exactly happened after that. The next thing she was able to perceive after the man's words was a reflection of light from the steel of a zanpakutō's blade as it passed only inches from the tip of her nose, cutting downwards in front of her. Out of her peripheral vision, she was just able to confirm that the blade that almost struck her belonged to Shunsui, the man's expression suddenly unreadable.

Before she could even react, Shunsui had maneuvered his second blade and swiftly made an upwards cut, but this time behind her. It was then that her ears finally registered the sounds of clashing metal where she turned just enough to catch the sight of Suí-Fēng's blade being deflected away from her. The shorter woman leaped back a bit after having her surprise attack thwarted, then bounded back in another attempt.

Her vision of the woman was suddenly blocked by a curtain of white as Shunsui stepped between the two of them, once again blocking the woman's attack. The man's playful smirk returned as he gazed down at the small woman in front of him. "Hey now, was that really necessary, Captain Suí-Fēng? Attacking someone who hasn't even drawn their sword seems a bit low, even for you." he teased/scolded.

The woman scoffed at him with a sneer. "A fitting punishment for a traitor. Men! Seize her!" she shouted.

In the blink of an eye, Nanao suddenly found herself surrounded on all sides by at least two, maybe three dozen Stealth Force members with their weapons drawn. Panicking, Nanao turned her gaze left and right, looking upon each of the men and women that had surrounded her, trying to discern the best course of action. Aside from her kidō, she was completely unarmed, meaning that the best she could do in this fight was support Shunsui and watch his back. She mentally scolded herself for not planning things better, being the tactician that she was.

While she did possess a zanpakutō, she never carried it. Like all students of the soul reaper academy within weeks of their initial induction, she had received an asauchi, a zanpakutō without zanpakutō's soul. Normally, within the first two to three years of the academy, the soul reaper would establish at least some form of communication with their zanpakutō spirit. However, unlike the others, Nanao was never able to communicate with her zanpakutō. Even now, as a Lieutenant, and years after graduating from the soul reaper academy, she still had no contact from her zanpakutō. Her teachers at the time, even Captain Kurotsuchi himself, under extensive supervision of course, were unable to determine the cause for her lack of communication with her zanpakutō spirit. It was as if her zanpakutō spirit wasn't even… there. In the end, she decided to forego her zanpakutō and focus all of her combat abilities on kidō.

As if time had suddenly unfroze itself, all of the Stealth Force fighters charged in at her, and her panic only grew. Not for fear of the odds, though they certainly did not help, but for fear of hurting her comrades. Even if they were only trying to stop her and Shunsui, possibly even harm them if needed, they were still allies, and the last thing she wanted to do was cause them harm.

They were now only meters from her, and unless she wanted to get captured, she was left with no choice. At the very least, she might be able to keep them at bay. Raising a hand up, she posed her fingers as if to grasp something.

"Haho #44, Kodai Sori!"

After her words, wreaths of fire left her fingertips and gathered above her in the form of a large, double-ended hammer with the handle forming itself in her grip. With a battle cry, she swung the blazing hammer down on the ground before her. The collision resulted in a powerful, outward explosion of fire and pressure, forcing many of the assaulting Stealth Force members back and off their feet, while the following earthquake tripped others or forced them to stop to keep their footing.

Not one of her best kidō spells, or more powerful, but it was at least enough to keep the pressure off her without causing needless injuries. Being a mid-level kidō without an incantation, the worst any of them would get were cuts, scrapes, perhaps even a few burns. Turning her gaze back to Shunsui, she was glad to see that her attack had not disrupted him in the least in his fight against Sei-Feng. She scolded herself again for not considering his proximity when using an area effect kidō spell.

Her reprieve was short-lived as the Stealth Force fighters quickly recovered and resumed their attack. Growling in frustration, Nanao turned her attention back to her assailants, holding her free arm out to the side.

"Hadō #60, Tsunami!" she chanted, slicing her hand through the air towards half of the attackers.

Starting at her feet and rising rapidly, a wall of water rose up from the ground until it was nearly twenty feet in height. Once at the desired height, the wall charged forward past her, a small portion splitting open for her body, then closing back after passing by. The wave rocketed forward, forcing the Stealth Force members in the way to halt their advance and move to avoid the attack.

As the wave continued on its path, Nanao turned around to face the other half of attackers behind her and again raised her hand up high. "Hadō #42, Seiginoya!"

From her fingertips, multiple small bolts of light-blue energy shot into the sky above them, each reshaping themselves into an arrow suspended in the air, pointing at the remaining Stealth Force members. Once all of the arrows had formed, Nanao dropped her arm with a flick of her wrist and released the arrows at her attackers. Like their comrades with the previous attack, they were forced to stop their attack to avoid the incoming one.

Before she could plan her next attack, Nanao was forced to dodge through shunpo when a trio of Stealth Force members appeared only feet away to her rear and ready to strike. Now her fight became a game of cat and mouse. When she would reappear after a dodge, a few Stealth Force members would appear immediately afterwards. A benefit to the Lieutenant was that, after decades of having to train to keep up with her Captain whenever he would disappear to slack off somewhere, her proficiency and speed with shunpo had improved considerably; meaning that she was easily faster than most of the Stealth Force members facing her.

However, such a benefit can be quickly outmatched when you are facing no less than twenty opponents who are no slouches themselves when it comes to shunpo. Being forced to continuously displace presented another problem for the Lieutenant; it greatly hampered her ability to use kidō, for two reasons. The first was that most kidō spells were ineffective at close range, otherwise the caster might get caught up in the spell as well. The second was that she couldn't get enough time to actually cast the spell, even without the incantation.

Reappearing after another dodge, Nanao was able to spare a quick glance to her former Captain to see how he was fairing against his own opponents. Not surprisingly, the man was actually doing quite well against his much shorter comrade. While Captain Suí-Fēng possessed incredible speed and agility, surpassed by only the former Captain Yoruichi, and obviously the Head Captain himself, it was no match against Shunsui's superior reflexes and experience. As the short woman continued to attack him like an angry hornet, he simply countered or dodged with ease and grace… as if he was simply playing with her.

The Lieutenant's observation was interrupted as she was forced yet again to flash away to avoid another attack, followed quickly by another. Through her movements, she at least was able to notice that, to her surprise and confusion, Captain Kuchiki remained standing where he was when she and Shunsui were first confronted. The man had a neutral and disinterested look on his face, even though his eyes were following their movements closely.

'Why is he just standing there?' she thought to herself, avoiding another attack through shunpo. Sparing another glance towards Shunsui and Captain Suí-Fēng, she was glad to see that the man was still holding quite well against the Stealth Force Commander. The woman now had her zanpakutō released to its Shikai state, the stinger-like weapon on her middle finger continuously thrusting forward to land a hit. Not that it mattered, Shunsui was just as easily avoiding her attacks as before she released. 'My Captain's is easily holding off Captain Suí-Fēng, and I know for a fact that he can keep this up for quite a long time at this rate. So… why is Captain Kuchiki just standing there? Is he… waiting for something?'

She couldn't put more thought into the matter since she was forced to flash away yet again. It presented another problem for her; she was starting to get tired, having already been nearly exhausted in the first place after chasing down Shunsui into the Rukongai. She wasn't yet at the point of breaking down, on the contrary, she could go for a little while still, but the question was for how long. Certainly not long at all if Captain Kuchiki got involved. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the two of them were in serious trouble at that moment.

Over on Shunsui's side of the spectrum, things were a little bit smoother for the calm and collected Captain of Squad 8. With only one of his twin zanpakutō now drawn, after sheathing the shorter of the two, he was having no trouble at all in dodging and countering his opponent. It certainly helps a fight when one knows their opponent and how they fight, and Shunsui had known Suí-Fēng for over two centuries; both her fighting style and personality, which was that of an impulsive and hot-tempered young woman. Easily predictable. The woman was already on edge before the fight began, and just simply dodging her attacks was making her even more so.

With a swing of his blade, Shunsui was easily able to deflect another stab attempt from the short woman, making her growl in frustration. "You've gotten better over the past few years, Captain Suí-Fēng." he commented teasingly, only serving to make the woman angrier.

She grit her teeth in her growing temper and made another stabbing attack. "Of course I have. Do you think I would just laze around like you?" she seethed, growling louder when her attack was avoided yet again.

The man chuckled with a grin. "Nooo, of course not. You are the Commander of the Stealth Force afterall. Wouldn't want to make the squad look bad, am I right?" he reflected, returning her attack with a swing of his blade.

The 2nd Squad Captain dodged that counter swiftly before returning on the offensive. "Ha. What would you know of making a squad look good? As much as I hate to admit it, your traitor of a Lieutenant was the one who did all the work, while you did nothing more than drink sake at all hours of the day."

Shunsui lept back from another attack and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I gotta give you that one. My little Nanao is quite the hard worker. She busts her butt off endlessly between having to take care of the squad and keeping me in check. Too bad the same can't be said about your own Lieutenant." he snarked.

She clenched her unarmed hand into a tight fist as she spat on the ground. "For once, we agree on something. Useless, fatass oaf. But we're not here to talk about my problems, we're here to settle the one you and that bitch of yours caused."

The man frowned slightly at the insult. "Hey now, there's no need to be so hostile against others like that, Suí-Fēng. If anything, you should be impressed by the amount of loyalty Nanao has, even if it was shown at the wrong time." he scolded lightly.

He brought his blade up to deflect a sudden attack from the woman, a scary-looking grin now on her face. "Me, impressed with a traitor? Don't make me laugh, Kyōraku. If it wasn't for the need to bring you both in alive for questioning, she would have been dead already. Former comrade or not."

With a thrust of his blade, Shunsui forced her back and decided to go on the offensive for a bit, charging after the woman as she landed. Raising his blade, he lazily swung down, having no intention to actually attack, but more to simply keep her on edge. "My, that's rather cold of you, Captain Suí-Fēng. Quite the opposite of your predecessor. Now, what do you think she would say to hear her pupil talking so heartlessly about her own allies?" he taunted after she blocked his attack with the armored brace-like portion of her zanpakutō on her forearm.

The mention of her predecessor and former superior, Yoruichi, which everyone in the Soul Society knew was a very sore subject for the short Captain, only served to make her anger turn into rage. With a loud snarl, she swung her leg around at the man's shoulder, who only leapt back in avoidance, and went back on the offensive again. "You shut your mouth, traitor!" she yelled, going into a flurry of rapid jabs with her stinger.

Stepping back and leaning side to side to avoid her attacks, Shunsui grinned down at her. "You seem quite defensive of Yoruichi, even though she was branded a traitor as well, if you recall."

"She was innocent! Unlike you!" she raged, her attacks becoming more desperate and wild in her fury. "The only thing Lady Yoruichi did wrong was leave me for that despicable man, Urahara! He is the traitor!"

Shunsui's grin fell into a stern look as he continued to avoid her attacks. "Now, you and everyone else here in the Soul Society all know that what happened with Kisuke was just another one of Aizen's schemes, Captain Suí-Fēng. In case you forgot, the Head Captain even gave both him, and Yoruichi, pardons for what happened." he reminded her.

"I don't care!" she yelled and leapt back a bit to glare hatefully at him. "And it doesn't matter right now. What matters is capturing you and finding out what schemes you've been plotting."

The man breathed out a sigh of slight annoyance and shook his head. "'Plotting', huh? You and Byakuya both make those claims, yet neither of you have shown any evidence to support them." he pointed out.

Her snarl turned into a snide grin. "Your refusal to answer our questions is proof enough." she stated, then her grin grew wider. "I was hoping to force you to give up and turn yourself in by defeating you, but as much as it annoys me to say it, it seems I can't do that without having to resort to methods I want to avoid. So, I guess I'll have to try something else. Captain Kuchiki!"

Shunsui's eyes widened slightly and turned to the Squad 6 Captain who was still standing on the sidelines. With a nod of understanding, the stoic Captain raised two fingers towards a still dodging Nanao. "Bakudō #61, Rikujōkōrō."

As he finished his chant, a familiar set of six yellow blades of energy surrounded the surprised Nanao briefly before stabbing forth and pinning her in place, unable to move. "What?!" she gasped, only to gasp again in pain when she felt a sudden stinging pain over her left shoulder blade.

Shunsui narrowed his eyes in worry when he turned to see his Lieutenant pinned in place with a smirking Suí-Fēng standing behind her on her left side; her zanpakutō stinger, with blood on the tip, Nanao's blood, poised to strike the woman again. Like all of the other Captains and Lieutenants, Shunsui knew of the two-hit killing ability of Suí-Fēng's zanpakutō, and he would be a fool to think that her stinger wasn't pointed at the exact same spot she had struck before. One more stab with that stinger, and Nanao would be killed.

He made a move to quickly dash forward and rescue his Lieutenant, until Byakuya spoke out. "Scatter, Senbonzakura." Shunsui was forced to stop as a flurry of pink petals formed a wall between him and the two women, preventing him from getting to Nanao quick enough to help her.

Shunsui spared a glance at Byakuya in annoyance before turning back to Suí-Fēng. "What do you think you're doing, Captain Suí-Fēng? Are you going to murder a Lieutenant of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads to try and force me to surrender?" he questioned carefully, trying to look past the fearful look on Nanao's face.

"Lieutenant Ise, by her actions and your own, is currently wanted for questioning under suspicion of being a traitor to the Soul Society." Byakuya stated, stepping forward towards the group as the numerous Stealth Force members took positions around their Captain and Nanao in a defensive perimeter behind the wall of petals. "As per wartime conditions, which, as you may recall, we are currently under, lethal force may be used in an attempt to capture anyone whom has been convicted or suspected as a traitor to the Soul Society. Unfortunately, this includes the use of said force upon one suspected traitor, to force the compliance of another for apprehension." he informed him as he came to a stop within the Stealth Force perimeter.

The noble spared a quick glance at Nanao before turning back to Shunsui, his eyes almost pleading with the man. "I did not wish to resort to such a dirty and underhanded tactic, Captain Kyōraku, but the truth of the matter is that, even should both Captain Suí-Fēng and myself engage you in battle together, there is still the chance you may defeat the both of us. The resulting conflict would also cause quite a disturbance that would draw the attention of any nearby squad members who are patrolling the district, and that would lead to rumors, which, as I had told you before, I wish to avoid at all costs."

He then closed his eyes and lowered his head a bit. "I will ask you one last time, Captain Kyōraku; please sheath your zanpakutō and come with us for questioning."

Shunsui shifted his gaze between Byakuya, Suí-Fēng, and Nanao, and it nearly broke him to see the look of fear in her eyes. Gazing into them intently, he could see the pleading look in her eyes, telling him, begging him, to leave her and escape, even though she still had no idea what was going on. He had to mentally chuckle to himself, since she should know by now that he wouldn't do such a thing.

"You know, I'm a bit curious about your tactic, Byakuya." he said, getting the man's attention. "You say that you're trying to avoid any rumors getting out that I might be a traitor, but I'm curious about one thing. What if I don't go with your plan, and you do kill my Lieutenant; how are you going to explain the sudden death of a well-respected Lieutenant, and the disappearance of that same squad's Captain? No matter how you look at it, at least one of us is going to be branded as a traitor, right? Seems to me that your plan relies solely on me surrendering." he pointed out.

Byakuya closed his eyes again and nodded once. "You are correct. Should you choose not to comply, this plan will fail, and regardless of whether or not Lieutenant Ise lives past this night, rumors will soon begin to spread. However, if you are indeed the man we have all come to believe you are, if you are truly innocent, you will not abandon Lieutenant Ise to a potential death, simply because she has shown her loyalty to you."

Shunsui lifted a hand to the brim of his hat, tipping it down to conceal his eyes from the others with a slight grin. "You know me so well, Byakuya. Guess you're right. Can't exactly just up and leave my little Nanao to your underhanded whims now, can I?" he joked, though internally he was panicking a little.

"Sh… Shunsui…" Nanao breathed out, getting his attention. "Don't give yourself up for me. I… I don't know why you secretly went to the World of the Living, but… I know you must have had a good reason for it, and a good reason for not telling anyone. Whatever it is, I know it must be important, so please, just leave." she pleaded.

The two stared into each others' eyes for a moment, then his grin grew a bit wider. "Now, you honestly can't expect me to do something like that, my little Nanao. No, we're both going to get out of this." He turned his gaze back to Suí-Fēng, her stinger still ready for the killing blow, then on to Byakuya. "Although, how exactly I'm going to do that is a question in itself. Gotta admit, this is quite the pickle we're in." He chuckled under his breath and shrugged his shoulders.

"Then again…"

His grin turned into a smirk then. "It's not like we don't have any help in the matter."

Suí-Fēng narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. "What are you…"

"Oh? So, you knew I was there, did you?" a new voice spoke up from within the treeline. Everyone's eyes all snapped around, trying to find the owner of the voice. "I have to say, your perception skills have gotten better over the years, Shunsui."

The short Captain suddenly recognized the voice, but before she could react, a hand firmly grasped her wrist over the brace on her sword arm, holding it in place. Her eyes went wide and she snapped her gaze to the left to see none other than Yoruichi standing there next to her, holding her wrist tightly.

Shunsui chuckled and shrugged again. "What can I say? I admit that I'm somewhat of a nosey person, so it makes sense that I pay attention to what's going on around me. Right?" he teased.

The purple-haired woman smirked playfully at the man in response, but that grin turned into a deep scowl as she turned her eyes down to her former pupil. "Suí-Fēng… I have to say that I'm quite disappointed in you. I've always known that you were harsh, and can be overly strict at times, but I honestly never expected something like this from you; threatening to kill a defeated opponent in cold blood. One of your own allies no less. I thought I taught you better than that, but it seems I was wrong." she scolded, filling the shorter woman's heart with fear and shame.

"La… Lady… Yoruichi…" she tried to speak, but the words locked up in her throat when Yoruichi's gaze intensified, silencing her.

The taller woman then turned her scorn towards Byakuya, who managed to keep his emotionless demeanor intact. "As for you, Byakuya, something like this is most certainly out of character for you. You and I both know that that nonsense you spewed earlier about using a suspected traitor as a hostage and making death threats towards that hostage to force another to surrender is just that: a load of nonsense. We all know nothing like that exists in Soul Society's laws, and since I do keep tabs on things around here every now and then since Kisuke and I left, I know for certain nothing has been added that says otherwise."

Byakuya glared at her for a moment, then turned his gaze away. "That is true; however, there is nothing in the law that states such an action cannot be conducted. While I am not proud of such a method, considering whom the suspected party is, I deemed it necessary to utilize that method."

The woman scoffed at his words. "Old Ginrei would be ashamed of you if he were here right now, Byakuya." she said, shaking her head in disappointment.

He closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. The mention of his grandfather always had a tendency to test his temper. "While I do not condone my actions, I also do not regret the reasoning for them. I am willing to bring a modicum of shame to myself in order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the Soul Society, and that includes keeping the morale of the squad members from plummeting."

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes at him. "Such ambitions are indeed noble, Byakuya, but there are still some lines you shouldn't cross, and this is one of them."

"I have told you everything you need to know, Yoruichi Shihōin. With that aside, I must inform you, regardless of the circumstances, you are interfering with Soul Society matters, and impeding an arrest for a suspected criminal. Unless you wish to be included in the guilty party, I suggest you leave the area and return to your business immediately." he threatened.

She blinked once, then grinned widely. "Oh? Is that so? And tell me, Byakuya, just how exactly do you intend to capture me? The last time I checked, you were still unable to come even close to matching my speed. Our last bout when Ichigo and his friends paid a visit to the Soul Society proved that." she taunted.

The noble scoffed. "Your speed will matter little, if you are unable to even leave the Soul Society. Allow me to remind you that the use of all senkaimon have been disabled, thus preventing you or anyone else from leaving. I admit it may take some time, but eventually, you too will be captured."

Shunsui raised a brow at that. "You know, that brings up a good question, Yoruichi. Just how did you get here in the first place if travel to the World of the Living has been stopped?" he asked.

The woman smiled cheekily at him and winked. "Oh, I had a friend of mine open a backdoor for me. Speaking of which…"

The sound of shattering glass came to everyone's ears and they all turned to see that Byakuya's kidō holding Nanao in place had been shattered, and the woman now missing. Another thing that Suí-Fēng noticed was that Yoruichi was no longer standing next to her and holding her arm. The group then turned back to Shunsui, and eyes went wide when they saw the purple-haired woman was now standing next to the Squad 8 Captain, Nanao held to her side with an arm over the shoulder.

"I think it's about time for the three of us to be heading out." she finished.

With a ripping sound, the air behind the trio seemed to split apart, opening wide to reveal a dark abyss behind them; a garganta. Everyone's eyes went wide in shock and readied themselves for an impending attack; with a flick of his wrist, Byakuya withdrew his flower petal-shaped blades to hover in the air behind him. Everyone watched and waited for the attack to come, until they caught sight of a lone figure inside the abyss walking towards them.

Suí-Fēng narrowed her eyes and growled in fury while Byakuya sighed in annoyance when they recognized the person to be Kisuke Urahara. The shop owner stepped outside the black portal, his cane in one hand and using the other to tip his hat. "Well, hello there, everyone. I trust you all are doing fine on this nice and peaceful night?" he teased/greeted before turning to his partner. "I hope I'm not late."

The woman smiled and shook her head. "Nope. For once you're right on time, Kisuke."

His smile fell into a playful pout. "Aw, my dear Yoruichi, you wound me. Surely you know I'm quite dependable."

She simply shrugged a shoulder. "When you want to be. Any other times are a bit questionable."

The man's smile returned. "Surely you jest." he said, then turned to Kyōraku with a broad smile. "Hey, Shunsui. Long time, no see. I trust you've been doing alright for yourself." he greeted.

The Captain chuckled warmly. "Well, if it isn't ol Kisuke. I was wondering where you were hiding all this time. Yoruichi's still giving you a hard time I see."

The two shared a knowing laugh and the shop owner shrugged. "You know how she is. She's her own special bundle of spirited personality." he joked.

Said woman's grin fell to a scowl. "And just what is that supposed to mean, Kisuke?" she questioned.

The man was instantly on the defensive, holding up his hands in a placating manner. "Nothing! Nothing at all, my dear Yoruichi!" he assured, backing up a step in mock fear.

She huffed and stuck her nose up. "That's what I thought." she responded, but still matched the smile that came to Kisuke's face after the shared joke. "At any rate, I think it's about time for us to head on home so these two can go back to their duties." she said with a dismissive wave towards Suí-Fēng and Byakuya.

The Squad 6 Captain narrowed his eyes at the group. "You speak as if we will allow you to leave." he said as his petals took an aggressive position on his sides.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes and smirked at him. "Oh please, you and I both know you're not in a position to stop us, Byakuya." she mocked, making him growl in growing anger. "As for the sudden disappearance of both the Captain and Lieutenant of Squad 8, I think it would be best for you to go and have a chat with the Head Captain. Just tell him that Kisuke and I needed their help with something important. I'm sure he can come up with some sort of excuse to give the others about said disappearance." she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

She then turned her eyes back to Suí-Fēng, giving her a sour look and making her flinch in fear. "As for you, Suí-Fēng, you and I are gonna have a nice, long chat soon about your actions tonight. And I can assure you, this chat will not be pleasant." she warned.

Suí-Fēng swallowed deeply and nodded timidly. "Y… Of… Of course… Lady Yoruichi." she answered in a mumble.

Yoruichi nodded firmly and the group turned to leave through the dark portal. Byakuya narrowed his eyes again and flicked his wrist out at them. "You are not leaving." he stated as the wave of pink flower petals charged forward.

"Stop…" Suí-Fēng said in a low, but firm tone.

The petals halted their movements and the Squad 6 Captain turned his gaze to the short woman. "You would interfere?" he questioned.

With a low pulse of light, her stinger returned to its sealed blade form and she sheathed it in the scabbard on her lower back. "She is right, neither of us will be able to stop them from leaving. We would only be hurting ourselves in trying to do so." she said as the black portal before them snapped shut behind the group of four escapees. "Our efforts are better used in trying to prevent this incident from causing more harm than it already has."

With a signal of her fingers, the Stealth Force members surrounding them sheathed their weapons, offered a respectable bow, and vanished with multiple wisps of shunpo. She turned to leave as well, but then stopped. "Besides… I have a feeling that Kyōraku may not be a traitor as we had originally thought."

Presenting his hilt, Byakuya collected all of his petals into a resealed blade and sheathed it. "You trust them?" he questioned.

She was silent for a moment before turning to him in a side glance. "I trust Lady Yoruichi." she answered simply, then vanished.

Byakuya remained standing there alone for a few moments longer, looking up at the moon above, then took a deep breath. "Let us hope that trust is well placed." he said to himself, then vanished as well.

---

Well readers, I hope that this chapter met your standards. Granted, it didn't have much in the action department, mostly what some would call a 'filler', but I hope it at least met your expectations.

To put it all simply, this chapter is what some could consider a 'cool down' chapter; one that shows what's going on after a major battle, or, in this case, a series of battles. So, Rukia has met back up with Chad; Renji and Uryū have concluded their fight with Rudbornn (though, seriously, how did that guy, with his ability, not make it as a part of the Espada?); and we went further into the situation with Shunsui. Honestly? Things are starting to get hectic around here. And, just so you know, and this can't really be considered a spoiler, the battle of Karakura Town is going to be… considerably different than the Anime show. WAY different.

Once again, I honestly can't thank you readers enough for all the support and patience you all have given me. But now, and I hate to ask, but I would like to ask you all, the readers what your opinions are on this story so far. If you have anything to say, please, by all means, message me through PM, or even leave a review. Either works.

Thanks once again, and I hope you all had happy holidays.

Greivous166