OwO

-Use Bleach When Required-

Juu: The Third Lesson

Loyalty isn't grey. It's black and white. You're either completely loyal, or not loyal at all.

- Sharnay

Sanae had watched. She had stood there and watched with Urahara as Byakuya beat Ichigo to a pulp. Ichigo had put up a good fight, but in the end he had been no match for the captain. There had been a few times where Sanae had wanted to jump in and stop the horrible fight. She held herself back partly because she couldn't risk anyone finding out who she really was and plus, Urahara kept giving her pointed stares.

He has to learn, he had told her.

The Quincy, Ishida, had also been there. He had tried to protect Rukia but had been cut down quickly by Renji also. Urahara had patched him up at the scene and he had gone on his way. It took both Urahara and Sanae to lift Ichigo and drag him back to the shop.

Which was where Sanae now was. She hadn't left, and she hadn't disappeared. She let Ichigo rest in her own bedroom too. She and Urahara had placed him down on her futon to bandage him up. Sanae told her old friend that she would sit with him and watch over him. When her back was turned, Urahara gave her a small smile and left the room.

She had fallen asleep sometime during the night, passed out on the mats next to the futon. She kept having the same dream that night, she kept witnessing Ichigo getting sliced through the shoulder and falling to the ground. Other times it was she in his place, Byakuya telling her that she was being executed for the murder of her squad members.

She woke up around dawn, her back felt horrible from sleeping on the hard mats. She rubbed her eyes forcefully, digging her fingers in to pick out the rheum. She glanced over to her right, seeing Ichigo's chest rise and fall at a steady pace. The sheet was tucked in under his arms so she couldn't see his very toned and muscled chest. Urahara didn't miss the chance last night to tease her about her red face as they had removed Ichigo's shirt to bandage him up. Sanae shook her head from the thoughts; she had more important things to worry about other than the aesthetically pleasing Ichigo.

Her eyes drifted to his upper shoulder once again. She felt guilty that she had stood by and done nothing to stop him from getting injured, but she knew it had been a learning lesson for the boy. In the end he would grow stronger from what had happened last night. Sanae felt a twinge in her own shoulder, her hand shot to the place as she rubbed it tenderly, remembering her own wound that had once been there.

Sometime in the last 500 years

"Why does this always happen to me?" Sanae grumbled, leaning heavily on her uninjured side as Unohana healed her right shoulder. Unohana giggled quietly, her glowing hands shaking slightly.

"Because you're rash," she said. Sanae's head whipped round as her eyes narrowed at the captain. "Or so I've heard."

Sanae sighed heavily on the medical bed. She placed her hand under her chin and hunched over, waiting for the healing to be done with. "It's not my fault that my squad is so slow. What was I supposed to do? I reached the Hollow first, I could take it out quickly."

"And what you didn't count on was three more showing up while you were still alone," Unohana told her with a pointed look. Sanae rolled her eyes.

"I put up a good fight though, even after that stupid Hollow took a chunk out of my shoulder."

Unohana chuckled under her breath. Sanae finally sat there quietly as she let Unohana heal her. That was until they could hear a familiar voice from down the hallway.

"Ahh, is my little Sanae-chan alright? I hope the Hollow's didn't go for that pretty face of hers."

There was a timid reply that Sanae couldn't make out, but that wasn't the problem. She shook her head wildly. "No! No! Don't let him in here!" It was too late. The door to the room opened and Kyoraku came sauntering in, a little seated officer behind him.

"Sanae-chan!" Kyoraku said cheerfully with his arms wide open.

"Get out!" Sanae barked back. She jerked her body and in doing so, she caused herself to move her injured shoulder. A hiss came out from behind her teeth as Unohana clicked her tongue at her.

Kyoraku laughed at her and walked around the bed to lounge against it casually. "You say that but you secretly love having me near you."

"I'd rather gouge my own eyes out," Sanae narrowed her eyes down at her long time friend. Kyoraku grinned down at her.

"I'm waiting…"

Sanae rolled her eyes at him. The two locked gazes for a moment before they both delved into laughter. Kyoraku placed his hand on Sanae's head and ruffled her hair. "What would we do without Unohana-Taicho, hmm?"

"I'd still have a bite mark in my shoulder and you'd be dead, probably—more than likely," Sanae smirked over at the male Captain. Kyoraku shrugged, he wasn't going to deny it either way.

A knock at the door drew all of their attention. It opened slowly and all were surprised to see a head of white hair and a frail body entering the room. "Ukitake!" Sanae exclaimed in surprise. Unohana herself greeted the sickly Captain with concern in her voice.

"Ukitake, you shouldn't be up and around like this."

Ukitake wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief. "I apologize, Unohana-Taicho. I wanted to make sure Sanae-chan was ok."

Sanae whirled round to Kyoraku, "You told him? I didn't want him to know!"

Kyoraku gave her a bewildered look. "I didn't tell him. He must have found out on his own."

"Oh no no," Ukitake waved his hand. "One of your squad mates came and found me, he knows how close we all are."

Sanae gave him an unimpressed look. "Um, who?"

Ukitake beckoned to someone who had still been standing outside of the room. "Come in. I'm sure she'll thank you now."

Sanae and Kyoraku both leaned back on the bed, trying to get a good look at the person who had snitched on her. Sanae leant so far back that a shooting pain suddenly went up her arm and to her shoulder. She flinched, looking at Unohana for a moment to see the disapproving look on her kind face. As she looked back she could finally see the person who had entered the room.

He was tall, with black hair that looked messy but was probably neat. His face was strong and angular, but he was still so young looking. Sanae recognized him; he was from the same squad as her.

Ukitake smiled over at him. "Thank you again, Shiba Isshin."

Sanae grinned. That day had been the start of a wonderful friendship between herself and Isshin. Of course she had known that Isshin had returned to the human world, Urahara had told her the moment he had met Masaki. By then Sanae had already been gone from Soul Society for over a hundred years. She had thought it best to not reach out to Isshin; he had long thought her gone or dead. She wouldn't ruin his life by dropping back in.

But hadn't she done that anyway? She wasn't meddling with Isshin's life, but his son's. She had known who Ichigo was from way before she had run into him on that fateful night. And things had escalated when Ichigo had brought her back to his house. She had been so sure that Isshin would've recognized her, even if she weren't in her real form. But he had turned a blind eye to her.

That day, she hadn't known whether to be relieved or hurt that a friend that she had known so long ago hadn't recognized her. But she couldn't blame him. Sanae only had herself to blame.

Ichigo stirred on the futon. Sanae pushed her own depressing thoughts away as she focused on the injured boy. Ichigo fidgeted on the futon before his tawny coloured eyes opened slowly. Sanae watched as he blinked a few times, probably coming to terms that he was still alive and not in fact dead. His eyes gazed around the room; she could see the confusion on his face as he tried to place where he was. His gaze finally found her. Sanae was sitting with her legs tucked under her knees, her hands folded on her lap as she waited for him to speak first. Ichigo's eyes narrowed for a split second before he rolled his head away.

"You again. Thought you left."

Ouch. Well, she deserved and expected that. To be fair she had expected him to give her the cold shoulder for how they left things.

Sanae didn't let his grumpy tone affect her too much. "I was going to. Had my bags packed and everything." Sanae even attempted a smirk. Ichigo continued to stare at the ceiling. Sanae sighed and scooted closer to the futon. "I want to apologize to you."

That got his attention. Ichigo rolled back over and pushed himself up so that he was sitting up. It took him a few seconds as he winced as he exerted himself.

"The other day," Sanae started. "I said some horrible things to you when I shouldn't have. And…" Sanae took a deep breath. "And you were right."

"Sorry?" Ichigo said cheekily, holding his hand up to cup his ear. "Didn't hear that."

Sanae rolled her eyes at him. "I'm sorry, you were right about me!" Ichigo leaned back, dropping his hand. He had a giant grin on his face. Sanae glared at him. "Get that smile off your face before I punch you were you got stabbed."

Ichigo suddenly looked down at his battered and bruised body. His hands moved over his bandaged chest. "Oh yeah, what the hell happened? I thought for sure I was dead—felt like I was dead."

"You came very close to it," Sanae told him. "You're lucky to be alive. It was thanks to Urahara's healing abilities that you're still here."

"Urahara?" Ichigo asked, looking around the room.

"This is his shop. You're currently sleeping on my futon," Sanae smirked as she sat back on her butt and crossed her legs. Ichigo looked down at the futon and then back at the sapphire eyed girl.

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that."

"Couldn't leave you bleeding out on the sidewalk, could I?" Sanae said with a smirk. Ichigo's brows furrowed together.

"You were there?"

Sanae thought carefully on what to say. "Urahara and I got there just as the Captain was leaving—with Rukia."

Sanae saw the confusion on Ichigo's face. "Captain?"

She sighed heavily. "There's a lot you don't know about this world, Ichigo. I know I didn't tell you much about me—and I am sorry for that—"

"Doesn't matter," Ichigo cut her off. He stared at her intently as Sanae tried to process what he meant. "I'm not going to force you to tell me everything. If you don't want to that's fine with me." The carrot top crossed his arms.

Sanae was speechless, it took her a moment to process what Ichigo had just said. She smiled at him but tried to hide it as she shied away. Ichigo glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

The door opened suddenly and Urahara came sauntering his way into the room. Ichigo and Sanae both turned to look at him as the stripy hat wearing shop owner grinned at Ichigo. "I see you're up and about. How are you feeling, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo nodded, "Fine. Thanks."

Urahara grinned. "That's good news. We'll need you fit and strong to go and save Rukia." Ichigo's jaw dropped in shock as he stared at Urahara. Sanae was unperturbed at the statement.

"How do you expect me to do that?" Ichigo exclaimed. "I couldn't save her from those two! She left to go back to Soul Society!" Ichigo clenched his fists on top of the white sheet that covered his lower body. "I don't even know how to get there. I wouldn't be able to save her!"

Sanae watched as Ichigo looked helplessly at his hands. She could understand his pain and frustration better than anyone right now. Which made her feel horrible for not telling him to forget about Rukia and not to go to Soul Society. But she needed him to, for her. She needed answers. For a split second Sanae and Urahara locked gazes. Urahara knew of her plans and the worst part was that he hadn't tried to dissuade her from doing what she wanted to do.

"Do you really believe that?" Urahara asked Ichigo. The teen froze. "There is a way to get to Soul Society."

Ichigo shot up, his wounds forgotten about as he enclosed in on Urahara's personal space. "How? Tell me how?"

Urahara grinned innocently. "Of course I will, but there is one condition."

Ichigo frowned in confusion, "Condition?"

Urahara raised his index finger and waggled it in front of the carrot tops face. "Yes, all that I ask is for the next ten days that you study how to fight with me."

Sanae watched from her position on the floor as Ichigo tried to protest the condition, stating that Rukia needed to be saved right this instant. Urahara proceeded to floor the teenager and show him the difference in their powers right this moment. Once Ichigo was finally able to comprehend what needed to be done. Urahara sent him on his way home, telling him that his training would begin after school tomorrow. He would be able to say his goodbyes to his friends for summer vacation.

X

Sanae stood in the doorway to the kitchen, her arms folded and a concentrated look on her face. She was gnawing on her thumbnail.

"The last time I saw such a focused look on your face had to be about four hundred years ago," Yoruichi stated teasingly. The cat strolled into the kitchen and jumped up onto the table.

Sanae narrowed her eyes at the black cat. "Ha ha. Very funny."

"What you thinking about?" Yoruichi asked her. She started licking her paws. Sanae sighed, she moved into the kitchen and dropped into the chair.

"I don't know. Anything…everything…I don't know how I feel—going back there after all this time."

"It's a dumbass move, I'll give you that." Sanae rolled her eyes at the 'helpful' feline. "You and I both know. The Seireitei will be in an uproar once they discover that it's been infiltrated. That gives you the cover to search for the answers you've been dying for."

Sanae sighed. "But what if there's nothing for me to find? What if everything I thought was a lie was true?"

Yoruichi stared her down. "Then you'll know the truth." Sanae held her gaze for a few more moments before looking away and out of the window into the darkness.

"Hado #78: Zangerin!" Sanae spun, her arms bent at the elbows but her index and middle fingers pointed. A force of blue energy released from the tips of her fingers and blasting outwards in a horizontal line. The reiatsu sliced into the large boulder. Sanae caught her breath and straightened her posture, staring at the damage. She ground her teeth together in annoyance. Two hundred years ago, she would've been able to level the boulder and everything else behind it. Now it had barely cut through.

"Give yourself more credit." A voice said from behind her. Sanae turned to look over her shoulder. Yoruichi sat on a nearby rock, her tail swishing slowly. "You haven't been practicing in over two-hundred years, you're bound to be a bit rusty."

Sanae faced away from her. "I didn't ask for you to be my instructor." She didn't mean to be rude to her old friend, considering her lack of power, Sanae was more annoyed at herself than Yoruichi.

"Try doing the incantation," Yoruichi offered.

Sanae narrowed her eyes. "I can do it without it!" She snapped back aggressively. She heard the low baritone chuckle from the feline.

"I know you can, but as I said. It's been a long time since you truly practiced. Try it with the incantation."

"I don't need to," Sanae said stubbornly. She was going to prove to her that she could be powerful once again. All she needed to do was do some more warm ups.

"Suit yourself." Yoruichi said. Sanae could imagine the shrug of her shoulders when she said that. "I'm off to train those friends of the ginger brat."

That caught her attention. Sanae turned and watched Yoruichi slide down off the rock and walk towards the ladder of Urahara's underground compound. "Wait, who?"

Yoruichi paused to look over her shoulder, "You know, the Mexican boy and that girl…the one with the really perky—"

"Orihime," Sanae said, cutting off the cat. "I know who they are."

Yoruichi barked out a laugh, "Course you do. See you later, Sanae!"

Sanae watched the feline stroll off to the exit. Once Yoruichi was gone Sanae finally faced another boulder. This was one that she hadn't used a Kido spell on yet. Sanae took a deep breath, readying her stance as she shouted: "Hado #78: Zangerin!"

She did the exact same movements as reiatsu shot out of her fingers. She watched as the same thing happened like before. The reiatsu sliced into the boulder but didn't go all the way through.

"Dammit," she hissed. Slouching over and catching her breath. Sanae grit her teeth again and thought about Yoruichi's words. Why was it so hard to admit that she had grown weak over two centuries. It was bound to happen. Honestly she shouldn't be so surprised at it.

Her stubbornness faded as Sanae made her stance once again. She blew out air from her mouth harshly as she shut her eyes. She thought about the incantation, about her studies back at the academy. She had been top of the class. She wasn't about to let that slide!

"In a world of one colour. All Heaven and Earth. Flowered white obliterate. Come; see the true flowers of this painted world! Hado #78: Zangerin!"

It all happened instantaneously. One second Sanae was spinning on the spot, the next second she was thrown through the air and onto her back. She had felt the explosion of reiatsu as it shook the underground compound. Sanae held the back of her head as she sat up gingerly. She couldn't see through the thick dust that had kicked up from her Kido spell. Once it started to clear a giant grin spread across her face. She whooped for joy at what she saw.

The boulder had been sliced clean in two. The strike was jagged and choppy, but she had done it nonetheless. Parts of other rock formations hadn't been safe from her attack either. Which explained the copious amount of dust in the air.

"YOU STILL ALIVE DOWN THERE?" A shout came from above.

Sanae laughed to herself. She pushed herself up and onto her feet just as Urahara came falling through the entrance and making his way over to her. Urahara gazed around at the destruction that she had just caused.

"My my, looks like your strength is returning."

Sanae scoffed, "You think? I didn't expect it to blow me away like that."

Urahara tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Well, it does make sense. You've been keeping your reiatsu levels under control for so long now. As Yoruichi said, you're bound to be a bit rusty. Doing a high level Kido spell like that after nearly three hundred years wouldn't be as effective. Using the incantation sort of kicked your reiatsu back into gear again."

"Are you comparing me to a car?" Sanae asked, slightly offended.

"Maybe."

Sanae rolled her eyes at the shopkeeper. She wanted to be annoyed that it had taken her to resort to using an incantation for a Kido spell that she mastered within a week, but she couldn't anymore. She had done it, incantation and all.

"Try it now. Without the incantation." Urahara told her. Sanae glanced over at him, unsure whether she wanted to go through the humiliation again if it failed. From the look that Urahara was giving her, he didn't think that she would.

"Hado #78: Zangerin!"

"See you guys later!" Ichigo called over his shoulder. Keigo was crying out to him to change his mind about not going on vacation with him. Ichigo just smirked and waved his hand dismissively at his friend. School was over, for now. Now, Ichigo had bigger fish to fry. His training would be starting. He was going to get stronger; he was going to save Rukia.

"You're so deep in thought that you don't even notice me standing here. And I thought we were friends."

Her playful voice caught him off guard for a moment. Ichigo stopped and turned back around. Sanae was leaning up against the limestone wall. She wore a pair of denim shorts and a red tank top. She pushed off the wall and walked up to him.

"Friends, huh?" Ichigo questioned. Sanae rolled her eyes at him. "You shouldn't be seen around this close to the school. The teachers were all wondering where you had disappeared too."

"Not really the top of my priority list right now. What is—is getting you all trained up to save Kuchiki-san." A switch seemed to have turned on inside the teenager as he fell into step with Sanae as they began in the direction of the shop. They both walked peacefully in the setting sun before Ichigo spoke.

"Hey, can I ask a question?"

Sanae glanced over at the taller boy. He was avoiding her gaze, probably worried that she might not hold up her end of the bargain that she said she would yesterday. "Sure."

"Why did…everyone forget Rukia?"

Sanae sighed, "That's what happens when you go back to Soul Society."

"Yeah…but why? She was here…and now everyone has forgotten about her. It's like she never existed."

Sanae tried to think about how she could word it nicely. "She was never meant to belong here." Ichigo finally looked at her. "It's true!" Sanae defended. "Rukia's job was to track and destroy Hollows, she was never meant to interact with the Human world. It's a failsafe so that if a human—like yourself—ever saw her, when she left there would be no trace of her. Thus the safety and knowledge of Soul Society remains hidden."

Ichigo was silent for a long while after that. Sanae hoped that she hadn't hurt his feelings too badly. He couldn't be in too much turmoil before Urahara got his hands on him.

"You're wrong, you know?" Ichigo suddenly said. Stopping in the middle of the path. Sanae walked on a few more steps before she realized and halted herself, turning to look back at Ichigo. "Rukia…she does belong here."

Sanae frowned. "Why are you doing this for her? Why go so far for someone you barely know?"

Ichigo held her gaze. "Because she changed my life. And I owe it to her. She saved my life and that of my family. Its time I returned the favour." Sanae turned away to hide the hurt on her face. Was this true loyalty? She thought sadly. Risking ones life for another? Never leaving someone you care about behind. If that was true then Sanae herself didn't have loyalty.

She was a coward through and through.

"Lets go. Urahara is waiting for us." Sanae said gruffly as she led the two of them. Ichigo stayed a few paces behind her the entire way.

"EH? WHAT'S THIS? A HUGE CAVERN BENEATH THE SHOP?" Urahara bellowed. Sanae stood to the left of Urahara with Ichigo on his right. Ururu was next to Sanae, Jinta and Tessai next to Ichigo.

"You don't have to shout, I'm pretty damn surprised," Ichigo grumbled. Urahara giggled playfully.

"Just ignore him," Sanae told Ichigo. "He did the same thing to me when he first showed me this. He's a sucker for attention."

Urahara hung his head, "Sanae-san. Always so cold to me," he mumbled sadly. Ichigo sighed loudly.

"Whatever, let's just get this training thing going."

"As you wish," Urahara said, his voice turning serious. Urahara suddenly raised his cane and poked it right through Ichigo's forehead. His soul flew out of his body as the clump of flesh crumpled to the floor.

"I'll take care of the body until you guys are done," Sanae said lazily as she grabbed Ichigo's limp arm and started dragging him along the floor.

"Oi!" Ichigo yelled once he saw what she was doing. "Be careful with that!"

"Well loose a few pounds!" Sanae retorted. Grunting as she hoisted the empty vessel onto the sun chair that was conveniently set up with an umbrella covering it. Ichigo didn't have time to yell at Sanae anymore at the mistreatment of his body as Urahara was forcing him into fighting the small dark haired child.

X

Sanae filled up her glass of lemonade with the jug that she had fetched earlier. She made herself comfortable on the second sun chair and took a deep drink from her cup. After that she whipped out her reflective mirror and held it up against her stomach, enjoying the light on her face.

That was until: "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SUNBATHING?"

Sanae opened one eye, looking over to where Ichigo was currently running and glaring daggers at her. Sanae laughed at the scene of the teenager running away from the child.

"Just waiting until you give up and die. It will surely make my life a lot easier!"

"THERE ISN'T EVEN ANY SUN DOWN HERE! WE'RE UNDERGROUND! THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!"

"Look out, Kurosaki-san!" Sanae sang.

Ichigo gave a girlish yelp and dodged another one of Ururu's combos. Sanae smirked to herself and relaxed back against the chair, closing her eyes once again. She remained like that for a while until she felt a presence near her.

"You should be a little bit more supportive, Sanae-sama." Tessai said politely, hovering over her. Sanae dropped the mirror and stared passed Tessai.

"Oh Tessai. Ichigo just hit Ururu."

"Hm?" Tessai turned. "Oh!" And he darted off just as Sanae heard an almighty boom.

Sanae arose when the ground started to rumble. It was the end of the third day, mere minutes away from Ichigo turning into a Hollow. She could hear Tessai shouting from down in the hole that he needed to end Ichigo as he was transforming. Sanae hurried over to Urahara, Jinta and Ururu, who were all peering down into the hole.

"Urahara!" Sanae said in alarm as the shopkeeper looked over his shoulder, concern written all over his face. From above, Sanae watched a thick black box descend into the hole. She knew that to be Tessai's strongest binding spell. Sanae leaned over the side of the hole.

"Ichigo! Don't you dare give up! Rukia needs you to save her you jackass!"

She didn't think that would get through to his clouded head, he was too far-gone. She could hear the bone chilling screams of pain coming from the ginger. All of sudden everything seemed to stop for a moment.

Sanae knew this was bad, as did Urahara apparently. Urahara grabbed Jinta while Sanae reached for Ururu. They pulled both of the children back just as a massive explosion came bursting up through the hole. Sanae shielded Ururu with her body as the little child clung onto Sanae for life. The force of the explosion was exceptionally strong, and if it hadn't of been for Sanae and Urahara's quick reflexes, the children probably would've perished.

Within the explosion, something else shot out. Jinta was the one to point it out. The beam of light hit the ceiling and bounced off the walls until it finally hit the ground in front of them.

"Oi, is that you?" Jinta called out. Sanae got to her feet with the others as she stared into the dust. She hoped to see Ichigo alive and not a Hollow, but she had her doubts. The dust started to settle, and through this two piercing red eyes glowed back at them. Sanae readied herself, her stance locking. The dust moved and Sanae could see what appeared to be Ichigo in a Shihakusho…and a Hollow mask. Sanae stared in wonder. So what was he then? Shinigami? Or Hollow?

He grabbed his Zanpakuto, and Sanae watched for his next movement. Instead of coming to strike them down, Ichigo hit the mask. Sanae watched as the white and red porcelain mask crumbled off his face, revealing a human Ichigo.

Sanae let go of the breath she didn't know she had been holding as Ichigo himself looked down at himself. Like he was unable to believe that he had survived.

"Congratulations!" Urahara chimed happily. "You were able to turn back into a Shinigami!"

Sanae could tell what was going to happen next.

"Well done, lesson two cleared!"

"Shut the hell up!" Ichigo growled. He appeared before Urahara and smacked him in the nose with his broken Zanpakuto. Urahara crumbled up on the floor in pain as Ichigo stood above him, fury written all over his face. For a moment Ichigo looked over at Sanae. The girl's mouth was parted in wonder. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. The orange haired boy smirked down at her then turned back to Urahara.

"I said that I would kill you when I got out of that hole!"

Urahara jumped up, his finger pointing in the air. "Well, with that attitude I suggest we go right on ahead into lesson three!"

"And what's it this time?" Ichigo grumbled, eager to knock Urahara's head around.

"Me."

It wasn't Urahara's voice that had spoken. Ichigo turned, his eyes wide. Sanae stood with her arms crossed and a coy smile.

"Lesson three. I'm teaching you how to fight, properly. Ready?"

Ichigo nodded. "Ready."

A/N

Hiiiiiiii! My sincerest apologies on my tardiness. I've been having some major writers block for this story it's driving me absolutely insane! It's like I want to write scenes that don't need to be written yet but then when I sit down to get them out of my head I just get sidetracked and do something else. Grr frustrating! Anyway finally this chapter has been written. I've had the beginning written for weeks, almost months but just couldn't get all the other stuff in. But I am really happy with how this chapter turned out. I hope it was funny where it needed to be and also serious. I had a lil giggle with Sanae sitting under the umbrella(literally me when i watch people exercising).

Also, the incantation was completely researched. I made it up from looking at Japanese poetry cause i read somewhere that Kubo's incantations may have taken inspiration from them. Hope I did it justice!

And yeah, Sanae is going to be training him! Don't worry, Urahara will have his shot afterwards. I just thought what Sanae has planned suited more before Urahara and Ichigo had their fight. And yes, I had Isshin and Sanae planned from the very beginning. it wasn't a spur of the moment thing. i'll be going into more depth of Sanae's past once we get more into the infiltration and rescue arcs.

Again sorry for taking so long, but I'm still here! Promise!

Nixxon Mysterio - Sounds bad but even I had to reread a few chapters before I wrote this chapter out. oopsie, that's what i get for taking so long I guess! But yeah, connection will be revealed during soul society arcs and i think you'll be surprised at what itll be. I know I'm keen, but kind of nervous at the same time lol. mmm about her knowing a bunch of the captains, you'll just have to see! I haven't been clear on her leaving soul society for a reason xD hahah you cracked me up at the end there talking about Urahara holding sanae back xD got a good old giggle out of me. Sorry for making you wait! Hope you enjoyed!

curlystruggle - I know and im sorry for taking so long! Thank you so much!

lizyeah2000 - Thank you! Sorry for taking ages!