It was warm. Hot. Too hot.

Her skin felt warm and sticky, fit to burst. There was a buzzing beneath it, almost painful as it made her abdomen throb in time with her heartbeat.

The darkness around her felt hot, breathing down her neck and suffocating her in thick humid heat. Sounds went in and out of her ears like water.

She could feel something soft draped over her, too warm for the sticky heat. The reiatsu washing over her in droves didn't help one bit.

Her face scrunches when the heat sears hotter around her abdomen. A hiss escapes Rukia's mouth unbidden before it breaks into a small whimper.

She makes the mistake by turning, nearly causing her to fall back into unconsciousness from the white hot agony pulsing in her abdomen and stomach. She bites her lip with a choked cry and presses a hand against the right side of her abdomen.

Rukia breathes out shakily, blinking open her eyes rapidly. Tears blurred her vision and made the soft light in whatever room she was in smear into a dark orange blob. Rukia slowly breathes in and brings her other hand up to roughly wipe away the tears.

"Fuck!" Rukia lets the curse leave her lips, forgoing her noblewoman mask for the need to vocalize some of her silent agony. She lightens the pressure against her abdomen, wincing at the sharper stab of pain before it eases back into a constant throb.

Rukia sighs heavily when the pain from turning finally eases. She blinks her eyes open once more, the light no longer smeared across her vision, and she glances down at her hand. She lifts it fully off of her abdomen and stares at the slight smudge of blood against her palm.

The stifling hot air suffocating her leaves as a chill goes down her spine. Something clicks in her mind and the memories overflow.

Those boys, the Hollow—the ambush.

Rukia bites her cheek until it bleeds and sits up as fast as she can, ignoring the burning agony. The blanket draped over her falls haphazardly while she pulls open her torn up shihakushō. Bandages are wrapped around her entire torso, starting from her hips and going all the way to below her sarashi wrap. Blood seeped through the bandages, but at a slow trickle. Much slower than she expected for having a hole clawed through her side.

Rukia releases the kosode and lets her hands relax on her lap. She breathes in slowly, deeply, letting her diaphragm put pressure on her aching stomach. The slow increase of pain brings her more clarity.

The room was traditional and appeared dead and soulless with its lack of decoration and personality. The only thing amiss is the long strip of white silk sitting crumpled next to Rukia's futon. There was a sewing kit underneath it and multiple broken sewing needles were thrown around in a small circle.

Where is she? Where are the boys?

"How could he use kaidō? How was he dressed in—" Rukia's thoughts are interrupted when she hears a loud shout from somewhere outside the mysterious room she was in.

There is silence, then a murmur before a muffled screech echoes through the rice paper shoji doors. Rukia jumps at the sudden noise and the sound of some kind of crash.

What just happened? Has a Hollow attacked someone? She can sense... something. But, it doesn't feel like a Hollow. Is the pain messing with her senses?

Rukia glances back down at her side and stares at the blood seeping through her bandages. She clenches her jaw before she pushes the blanket off of her legs. A hissed whine leaves her mouth when she stubbornly forces her body to stand on her knees.

Nothing is familiar and her injury hurts like a bitch, but isn't killing her like she thought it would. She didn't recall that teenager healing her completely. Not after he had been attacked.

Attacked! That boy had been attacked! And his soul—

"You shouldn't be moving around so recklessly." Rukia whips around, her hand reaching for her hip. Her side spasms and she falls back onto the futon. Blood rushes in her ears and stars fill her eyes as she gasps for air.

She doesn't hear the heavy sigh nor the muffled footsteps. There's a soft touch on her shoulder blade before she's forced onto her back.

There's an auburn blur above Rukia before she clenches her eyes shut at the agony. Pinpricks press into her side and cut the bandages, lightly scratching her skin. Rukia whines quietly when her side throbs in pain once the bandages loosen.

"You've torn your wounds open," The low voice murmurs before the pinpricks disappear. "I'll clean them up before replacing the bandages. Stay still, please."

"Who—" Rukia hisses through her teeth, trying to bear through the pain.

"Kurosaki Masaki. The mother of those idiotic boys who confronted you," The voice speaks again, a bit of a harder edge to their tone. "When I felt captain-level reiatsu appear, I immediately came here."

Rukia rapidly blinks the tears out of her eyes. "C-captain-level?"

The auburn color enters her vision once more, falling past thin shoulders in waves. Amber eyes with slitted pupils stared down at her with a narrowed glare, almost like they were judging her. A soft smile grows on the woman's face before she tilts her head.

"I never thought there were captains as kind as Isshin and Kisuke-san. I hope the captains who came to check on you are as open-minded as they are kind," Masaki adds softly before she holds up a wet rag.

Rukia's eyes immediately catch onto the sharp nails the human—or is she something else—woman had. The pinpricks.

"Please bear with me. I'll try to be gentle, Shinigami-san."

"...Ru–kia..." Rukia winces before breathing in deeply. "My name—Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia."

"Nice to meet you, Rukia-chan!" Masaki states cheerfully, her pupils dilating more than what's natural, but Rukia doesn't pay it any attention. She's more focused on easing as much pain as possible by not moving.

Rukia clenches her eyes shut with a hiss when the rag is gently pressed against her side. It immediately starts to sting, making a whine rip from out of her throat. She feels long fingers run through her hair, lightly petting her as if to comfort her.

"Shh. I know. I know. Just a little bit longer, Rukia-chan," Masaki speaks softly while she lightly dabs the length of the mostly healed wound with the rag. Rukia bites her lip as the woman lightly drags the rag across the wound before finally lifting it up.

A heavy sigh leaves Rukia's nose before she reaches a hand down to touch the skin. Masaki clicks her tongue and gently grabs the Shinigami's wrist before it could make contact with the disinfected skin.

"Don't touch it, Rukia-chan. You'll give yourself an infection." Masaki releases Rukia's wrist after giving her warning and places the hand beneath Rukia's back. Rukia instinctively flinches when she's easily lifted from the futon, but Masaki clicks her tongue again.

"Relax. I need to dress your wound," Masaki says with a stern tone.

Rukia opens her eyes when she feels a familiar reiatsu wash over her. She tilts her head back and watches as a blonde man wearing a bucket hat pauses at the opened shoji doors. Standing behind him is—

"U-Ukitake-taichō?!" Rukia exclaims with wide eyes. She tries to turn her body, but Masaki presses a sharp nail against her back.

"Stay still!"

"Masaki-san... when did you get here?" The blonde man with a bucket hat asks almost cautiously. There's some kind of crash behind him before something shoves its way into the room.

Sunset orange hair and a white outfit—stained with blood?!

"You!" Rukia exclaims again, this time fully turning. Masaki growls quietly before she moves her hand to hold the Shinigami down.

"Mom?! W-when did you get here?!" The boy that kicked her asks with wide eyes and a wide, nervous smile. "And it's good to see you not bleeding out, Shinigami."

"I came here the moment the Shinigami captains entered the Living World, Ichigo," Masaki says in a sweet tone that makes Rukia shiver. "Though, I was already getting ready to head here when I felt your reiatsu spike."

The boy's expression was almost comical with how white it became. Rukia would laugh if she wasn't in so much pain.

"Rukia, how are you feeling?" Ukitake-taichō asks with a worried frown. He walks deeper into the room, glancing at the woman wrapping Rukia's torso with new bandages, and sits in a seiza.

Rukia tries to smile, but Masaki pulls at the bandages a bit too tightly and she gasps in pain instead. She shakes her hand in a so-so motion.

"Please be gentle, Miss. I don't want Kuchiki-san's injuries to get any worse before I have checked them over," Unohana-taichō's warning cuts through like a sharp blade.

"I-I'm fine, Unohana-taichō!" Rukia states quickly, hoping to ease some of her ire before the human woman could be a target for it. "I moved—it ripped my injury open. She's only—"

"Now, now, Rukia-chan. Thank you for coming to my defense, but you shouldn't talk unless you absolutely have to. The Hollow tore through part of your diaphragm," Masaki interrupts kindly despite her hand still keeping Rukia still. She glances back up and focuses on the expert healer.

"I understand your worry and your suspicion, completely. But please be assured, Shinigami-san, I know what I'm doing. I run a medical clinic with my husband after all!" She exclaims with a bright smile showing off her sharp incisors.

"You are—Shiba-taichō married someone?!" Rukia blinks at the exclamation. Shiba-taichō? Who is he talking about?

There's a stall in the air before Masaki tilts her head. "Pardon me, what did you just say?"

The boy with the sunset orange hair winces before huffing loudly. The other boy, appearing from behind the blonde man with the bucket hat, pushes up his glasses with a scoff.

"He decided that Ichigo and I needed saving and barged into the front room with the Shinigami captains still here. Don't worry, Mother. The dragons are teaching him a lesson," The boy wearing the glasses states indifferently. Masaki blinks once before her mouth thins.

"Before you go blaming one of us, I did try to get the dragons to hide before the Shinigami captains came!" The orange-haired teenager exclaims with a hand raised before the auburn-haired woman could say anything.

"Dragons? What dragons? W-what—" Rukia cuts herself off with a small whine when Masaki tightens the bandages one more time.

"We'll discuss all this later. You still wish to check over your Shinigami, yes?" Masaki says calmly.

Unohana-taichō slowly nods her head before gliding into the room. She silently sits next to Ukitake-taichō and holds out her hands.

"Kurosaki-kun, can you tell me what happened?" She asks softly, glancing over at the orange-haired teenager as her hands start to glow green. He nods his head before he walks over to sit next to his mother.

"It all started with me and Uryū finishing up our patrol..."

Masaki watches her son wave his hands animatedly as he rambles on about meeting the Shinigami girl—well, rambling on about kicking her off some power lines because she wasn't paying any attention. Honestly, Masaki doesn't know where her sons get their rudeness from. Definitely not from her. She's blunt, not rude—most of the time—so, they didn't get it from her.

Her eyes glance towards the highly amused Kisuke and stare into sharp silver eyes. She tilts her head slightly before glancing back towards her eldest son, focusing on his blood-stained and shredded coat he still had on. Kisuke fans himself with his index finger pressed against the front of the fan.

"—trusted Uryū to take care of the Hollows while I healed the Shinigami. We didn't expect the last Hollow to attack me from behind," Ichigo finishes with a small frown. He glances towards Masaki, but she simply shakes her head. They should both try and keep some secrets close to their chests.

"Don't downplay it, you idiot. It nearly ripped your spine in half. And it forced your soul out of your body," Uryū states with a dark scowl. Masaki's fingers twitch before she turns to face her son.

"What happened?" She hisses quietly, hoping for Ichigo's sake that it was simply one of Uryū's sarcastic jokes. Ichigo's paling complexion and his gaze averting to his lap tells her everything she needs to know.

"It—how am I meant to stop an ambush when I'm trying to keep someone alive?! At least we now know that my soul can handle the sudden separation without being completely destabilized!" Ichigo exclaims defensively.

"What do you mean, not completely destabilized?" Masaki asks again with a sharper edge to her voice.

"His soul wasn't quite ready for such a... sudden separation," Kisuke interjects calmly as he snaps his fan closed. "There was some damage, but nothing I couldn't stabilize long enough for Ichigo's soul to fix itself."

Masaki narrows her eyes before she sighs quietly. She gives Ichigo a sharp look, but lets it go for now.

"Ichigo would still be unconscious if Zangetsu was worried..." Masaki faces the Shinigami captains with another sigh. "I have to deal with this first."

"After Ichigo had... left his body, he told me to bring the Shinigami here. Urahara went to go get Ichigo in case he went through another Soul Suicide and left the healing to Tsukabishi-san," Uryū continues, taking over the storytelling. "I stayed with the Shinigami in case anything changed. Until I felt you two enter Karakura Town."

"Well, it certainly healed as much as it can be. Kuchiki-san, you must rest and restore your reiatsu reserves before I can heal the injury completely. A full day should do it," The captain looking over Rukia's injuries speaks calmly, lowering her hands to her lap once they stop glowing.

"Thank you, Unohana-taichō," Rukia speaks quietly, barely able to keep her eyes open. The pain must be taking a lot out of her.

"How did those Hollows ambush you in the first place?" Masaki asks, focusing on her sons. She made sure that was the first thing all of her children knew. She had it ingrained in their heads to the point of instinctively controlling it as they sleep.

Ichigo clenches his fists, bunching up the blood-soaked military jacket. Uryū's expression turns to stone once his mask is put in place.

"We didn't sense them," Uryū states simply, making Masaki tense.

"You didn't—"

"We didn't," Ichigo reiterates, staring blankly at his left.

Masaki feels a growl rise up from her throat. She swallows it back down, but her back instinctively rolls. Her wings want to be free.

Calm yourself, Masaki. We are in the company of enemies.

"Not enemies. Just... strangers. Powerful strangers," Masaki corrects the dragon housed inside of her. She takes in a deep breath before slowly releasing it.

"We'll figure out how those Hollows went past your senses later. Right now, the both of you are in desperate need of a shower and some sleep," She speaks up quietly, glancing at both of her sons. She won't accept anything other than a yes to her strong suggestion.

Ichigo glances up with a scowl. "But, what about—"

"I will deal with this mess," Masaki interrupts sternly. She sighs quietly before lifting her hands to grab Ichigo's face. She leans forward, bending his head down, and kisses his forehead.

"When did he get so tall?"

"Go on. Back injuries are the slowest to heal. Rest. I'll handle this," The auburn-haired woman speaks softly with a smile. Ichigo presses his face in his mother's hands with a small sigh, closing his eyes. He nods quietly with a small smile before he stands up.

"Cleopatra! Can you come here?!" Ichigo calls out loudly.

"What are you doing?" Uryū asks with a raised eyebrow. Masaki reaches over before he can stand and kisses his temple.

"Mom's not gonna do all this discussing when the Shinigami needs rest. Cleopatra will watch over her for them." Ichigo shrugs before the white amphithere appears out of the window.

"Oh, wow!" The white-haired captain gasps out in awe. Cleopatra turns her head towards him before huffing with a head turn before she flies through the window and towards Ichigo.

"Thank you for watching over Ophelia and Hamlet while they dealt with Oyaji. I know you did such a good job!" Ichigo gushes with a hand raised towards Cleopatra. "Think you can watch over this Shinigami for the night? And let these new people know if anything happens?"

Cleopatra huffs even as she presses her head against Ichigo's hand. She lifts it a second later with a ruffle of her wings.

Ichigo pouts and crosses his arms. "All of you are so spoiled. I'll have creepy geta-bōshi go get two highland cows tomorrow morning."

"I don't think I ever agreed to go all the way to Scotland again," Kisuke states with a lazy wave of his fan.

"Tough fucking luck~!" Ichigo retorts in a sing-song tone.

Cleopatra turns her head and stares at Ichigo for a long moment. She trills quietly with her head raised and settles her serpentine body onto the floor next to the already unconscious Shinigami.

"Thank you, Cleopatra! Alright, Uryū! Let's go. The blood in my hair is going to be a bitch to clean out and you need to help me," Ichigo states with a bright smile, making Uryū snort.

"Like actual hell I'm going to help you. I had to deal with the Shinigami captains—by my-damn-self! You owe me," Uryū retorts sharply as he stands up.

"Like you said earlier, I nearly got bisected, and my back is still trying to repair itself." Ichigo scowls with his arms crossed, not backing down.

"Well, that's your own fault! You should have been paying better attention. You are, after all, the worst with reiatsu control out of the four of us."

Ichigo growls at the factual insult before marching out of the room. "You didn't sense the Hollow either! And both of us are the worst compared to Yuzu!"

"Do not lump me in with you! I would have easily dodged its attack if I was healing the Shinigami!" Uryū follows after his older brother with a sneer.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh! You fucking—"

"Boys," Masaki calls out in a warning tone. Silence immediately follows after, making her smile.

"Now then! We should let Rukia-chan rest. Kisuke-san, I don't suppose you can start some tea?" She continues brightly with a clap of her hands. "I'll show the captains to the other room."

"Mah, Masaki-san. Ordering me in my own shop? I feel hurt!" Kisuke exclaims with a hand over his heart.

"You will feel more than hurt once we finish having this discussion with the Shinigami. Of course, you'll have a headstart. I have to deal with Isshin first, after all!" Masaki states cheerfully, making the exiled Shinigami pause all movements.

Kisuke stands and gives Masaki an exaggerated bow. "I think I have some sencha in the kitchen. I'll be back momentarily."

"Thank you, Kisuke-san!" The auburn-haired woman turns towards the Shinigami with her hands clasped in her lap. "I'll show you to the other room, Shinigami-san."

The healer glances towards Cleopatra with a wariness beneath her soft expression. Masaki only smiles.

"Cleopatra is one of our most protective dragons. I promise she'll come find us if Rukia-chan's condition worsens," Masaki assures the captains.

"Thank you, but that isn't what I'm worried about," The black-haired captain says calmly.

Masaki's fingers twitch before she hums quietly. "Past sins, on both sides, should stay dead in my opinion. Rukia-chan would have been killed the moment Ichigo and Uryū sensed her if I did give a fuck about the sins of our races."

Silence fills the room as the stand-off continues. Masaki and the healer continue to stare at each other before the white-haired captain sighs quietly.

"Unohana-taichō, I don't believe Shiba-taichō would marry someone who would do harm to Shinigami. Besides, all three Quincy—and even Urahara—have been nothing, but hospitable towards us," He speaks up, making the other captain turn to stare at him. His face twitches, hiding a flinch, but he doesn't back down.

How interesting. Is she the more dangerous out of the two of them? Hiding behind a mask of gentility...

"If it makes you feel any better about this situation, I... lost my Quincy powers almost six years ago," Masaki mentions with a small shrug of her shoulders. And she gained more powers, but these Shinigami don't need to know about that right now.

"Lost? As in...?"

"A Hollow had attacked Ichigo. I lost them in order to protect my son," Masaki summarizes with a sharp smile.

There is a long moment of silence before the healer finally sighs quietly. She closes her eyes and silently stands up.

"Lead the way, Shiba-san."

"Ah—it's Kurosaki." Masaki stands up as well, giving the Shinigami a small bow. "Kurosaki Masaki. It's nice to meet you, Shinigami-san."

"Did you not marry Shiba-taichō?" The white-haired captain questions with his eyebrows raised.

"Isshin married into my family name," Masaki answers with a bright smile, still smug about her victory over Isshin even after almost 17 years.

"I wonder how you can manage him. Yamamoto-sōtaichō was hardly able to keep Shiba-taichō under control," The healer states with a smile.

"Isshin and I have a sincere understanding of each other. My dear husband won't do anything to undermine that understanding. Though, he needs some... reminders every once in a while," Masaki explains simply. "Let's get going!Kisuke-san will wonder where we are. The other room is just down the hall."

"Thank you... Kurosaki-san," The white-haired captain says sincerely.

Masaki giggles and waves her hand. "Call me Masaki! Even though it's been a long time, you're still friends with Isshin, aren't you?"

She faces forward and misses the shock and surprise both captains give her.

"The Shinigami's fine. She's okay."

Ichigo stares up at the surface of the water. His lungs burn for air, but he ignores it.

"The Shinigami's fine. She's alive."

The blood flakes off of him and stains the water pink. His hair surrounds his head like a liquid sunset.

"She's alive and okay. She's healing."

Ichigo scrunches up his nose. Why does he care so much? Why is he so worried?

Is it because he watched her torso get shredded? Is it because he failed to heal her? Failed to protect her?

Ichigo finally sits up, taking a deep breath the moment his head breaches the water. The air stings his skin, pink from the heat of the water.

Thin lines run across his skin, pale and raised against the pink skin. They cross each other and loop around, forming a delicate lacework. It runs from his scalp and over his shoulders in flower-like designs before it transforms into an artwork of rivers and streams down his arms. The lines become branch-like and collect towards the middle and lower part of his back, still freshly stitched.

Ichigo lightly traces the lines across his arm with his fingers. He sighs softly before he closes his eyes.

"Something is still off." Ichigo tilts his head as he traces the nearly invisible sun stitched into the inside of his wrist. "Something is still off..."

Shadows curl around his neck, freezing to the touch. "The answers lie in others. Do not fret about it, Ichigo."

The teenager tilts his head back at Tensa's statement. He blinks slowly before he stands up from the bath, draining it before he steps out. He dries himself off before grabbing the yukata he stole from creepy geta-bōshi's closet. He's already walking out of the bathroom as he finishes tying to obi around his waist.

"—found him injured. He was bleeding out, actually, but it wasn't an attack from the strange Hollow," Masaki's voice is quiet, but hardened. "I could feel the residual reiatsu even though I had never met a Shinigami up until this point. He was attacked by a zanpakutō."

"What are you implying?" The healer captain, Unohana if Ichigo remembers correctly, speaks up in a stone-cold tone. It makes a shiver crawl up Ichigo's twinging spine, but he doesn't make a sound.

"I'm only telling you what I saw. I'm only telling you what happened to your Shinigami captain," Mom speaks simply, and Ichigo can see the shrug she gives the two captains.

"But, that can't be! That would mean—"

"It can't hurt to be aware of the possibility," Masaki interrupts the other captain, Joy Terror or something. There's a soft sigh, and Ichigo almost walks towards the room to comfort his mother, before there's some shuffling around.

"If this truly happened... why did Shiba-taichō not return? To be attacked by another—it would have been investigated thoroughly," Unohana-taichō asks calmly.

There's a loud snort, almost making Ichigo laugh himself. "Isshin, being the loveable fool that he is, decided he couldn't leave me to die by Soul Suicide. He sealed his own powers—becoming human essentially—to anchor the infection the strange Hollow caused inside of me."

"That..." Ichigo smiles at the loss of words the captains had.

When they finally told him the story of how they met, Ichigo was lost for words as well. How could he not be? It was such a romantic gesture; one of the most romantic gestures Ichigo has ever heard or read about.

"A strange Hollow..." Ichigo's smile disappears when he recalls the word to describe the Hollow who caused Mom and Oyaji to meet.

They never described the Hollow like that... they only said Hollow. Well, it had to have been different from a normal Hollow, or Ichigo wouldn't have a third of his soul be a Hollow. But... strange? What made it strange?

"I guess this enemy of creepy geta-bōshi's gonna be more of a problem for me than I realized." Ichigo pouts at the realization. It'll have to wait until summer break. He refuses to let himself or Uryū fall behind in class.

He sighs quietly and turns around, leaving the hallway. He's way too sore and tired to do anymore eavesdropping, or thinking.

Hey! I hope you all like the new chapter! I got it out within another month! Woo!

Anyways, I know there were just a lot of explanations and introductions in this chapter, but things should be picking up after. Or not. We'll see.

I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Bye.

WhovianWhoudini