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"Rukia" – Normal Speech

'Ichigo' – Thoughts

*Kaien-dono* - Zanpakutō speech/thoughts

"Bankai!" – Spiritual Technique

Chapter 28: Innocence Lost

Several Minutes Previously

Secret Underground Training Room, Urahara Shōten

"Ugaaah!"

"Hgnk!"

"Gaaah! Will you just stop that already!" roared out a supremely irritated Deathberry as he recovered from Shihōin Yoruichi once more kicking him into the wall/ceiling/floor of the training ground.

"Man kid, it's like you have completely forgotten the basic of Hohō that I managed to beat into your skull back in the Seireitei." the Shunshin said, glaring down at the boy and completely ignoring his squalling.

"Why are you and Kirika so obsessed with making me learn this crud?" Ichigo snapped back as he dusted himself off, his Shihakushō utterly filthy from all the rock and ground that he'd shattered with his body. "Is this still about that Aizen guy?"

"Yes, Ichigo, this is about 'that Aizen guy'." Yoruichi responded in an annoyed deadpan. Internally, she wondered just how this boy could so easily brush aside someone who had nearly bisected him like a side of beef. "You know, the guy who experimented on your adopted little sister for three years when she was still a child, and who almost killed her when she was five?"

Judging from the sudden narrowing of his eyes, the kid hadn't missed the rather obvious attempt to get him angry. She'd forgotten that the orange-haired punk was actually pretty used to people trying to get under his skin like that. Meh.

"Yeah, but he hasn't even made a move since he disappeared, so why is it so urgent that I learn all of this?" Ichigo fired back, making Yoruichi let out a sigh at the boy's bull-headed stupidity. The kid really didn't seem to get what was going on; well, it was past time to burst his little bubble.

"Alright kid, let me ask you a quick question…how long do humans tend to live for these days?" she asked.

Ichigo blinked at the apparent non sequitur, but responded quickly enough. "Er…it varies a lot, but in Japan, I think its about eight-five years old on average." he offered, trying to figure out just what the Soul Reaper woman was getting at with this. "Why?"

"Eighty-five, huh?" Yoruichi smiled in a very not-nice manner. "Kid, do you have any idea how short a time span that is a for a Soul? Your friend, Kuchiki Rukia, is over a hundred and fifty years old, and she is roughly your age-equivalent by the Soul Society's standards; a fifteen-year-old human just starting to fully mature. The fact that a few weeks have passed since Aizen left the Seireitei and Soul Society for Hueco Mundo is like the blink of an eye for us. It literally means nothing when our normal ways of measuring time are involved."

Stalking forward slowly, yet utterly inexorably, the Shunshin kept her eyes firmly locked on the stubborn boy she was training. "Aizen Sōsuke has been planning and preparing for the events that set up that battle in front of the Hakutōmon for two centuries. He used the ossified nature of the Goteijūsantai and the Seireitei as a whole to make sure that they couldn't counter his plan by making it happen quickly and decisively, but that is only comparatively speaking for a society where normal procedures take place over decades if not centuries. Aizen is a Soul that is at least two or three centuries old, and his view of time is vastly different from what you are used to. That is why he hasn't caused any problems or even shown his face since he vanished; he is preparing his next move for who-knows-what goal and who-can-even-comprehend reasons. It won't happen fast, it could be weeks, it could be months, it could even be years before it occurs, but it will come and you can be sure that you and Kirika won't be ignored. So, while we have the time and space, I am going to make sure that you brats can actually put up a decent fight against that bastard this time."

"Give me a break, I'd only just managed to learn Bankai back then!" the orange-haired boy responded with a scowl.

"Uh-huh. That, and the fact that he completely out-classed, out-thought, and out-fought you in every single way." Yoruichi responded dryly, utterly shredding Ichigo's defence. "But that actually leads to another point that Kirika-chan and I have been trying to beat into your skull, boy; you are a human, right here and now, but you are in no way immortal. In the fullness of time, whether it come months, years, or decades from now; you are going to die. In other words, in time you will cease to exist as a Human and will become a Soul, which will put you solely under the jurisdiction of the Soul Society. Something you won't know is that gaining spiritual powers tend to extend the human lifespan a bit, normally adding a good twenty years or so to their normal expectancy. So, let's assume that you live your life to the fullest extent that a human can and die at the ripe old age of a hundred-and-twenty-five. Which, I will reiterate, is barely considered a significant amount of time for Soul Society, especially to Souls like the Sōtaichō who have lived for multiple millennia. Can you understand just how little a mere century means to someone like him?"

Ichigo gulped, the idea honestly a bit intimidating to him. "A-And?"

"And, you stubborn little meathead of a fool, when that time comes, you will no longer be able to hide behind your 'I'm human' excuse." the former head of the Shihōin Clan scowled back at him. "Right now, the Goteijūsantai has been giving you a considerable amount of leeway precisely because you are human, leeway that will likely cease to exist utterly when you become a Soul. At that point, you will be expected to fully follow and embrace the laws, traditions and all the other things that come with existence as a Soul, as a Soul Reaper, and as a Zanpakutō-holder. That is why Kirika-chan has been trying to teach you all the little things like etiquette and basic rules that your former dumbass teacher Kisuke didn't care enough to pass on. She is trying to help you stop acting like a goddamned tourist in the Soul Society and actually gain some respect among the beings that are going to have a very big influence on your afterlife outside of your damned ability to hit things hard with your sword!"

"Why are you making it sound as if I act like Kenpachi!? Kirika didn't act all that different!" the Substitute Soul Reaper protested, blushing indignantly. Honestly, he was a bit embarrassed that he hadn't even considered most of this before. Like most people, Ichigo tended to not think about his own mortality on a day-to-day basis, and learning about the actual afterlife ahead of time hadn't changed that.

"Because, as far as the majority of the Goteijūsantai is concerned, you do act just like him!" Yoruichi snapped out in frustration, really wishing she could get her hands on one of those 'clue-by-fours' she'd heard of recently, just so she could beat this stubborn brat over the head with it. "You constantly flout the law about unsealed Zanpakutō with your Zangetsu; you utterly ignore all forms of etiquette whenever you interact with a member of the Four Great Houses; you grab someone else's Zanpakutō without thinking twice, and you let your Reiatsu flare out without even trying to control it!"

Ichigo flinched. "Alright, yeah. Kirika has already mentioned the first and last ones to me a couple times. But seriously, it's like I'm trying to stop the tides at times." He defended. "That stuff just goes and does whatever it wants!"

"Haaaah…because you're not supposed to control it, Ichigo." Yoruichi sighed out. Gods, she was being forced to teach him the basics of the basics now! Seriously, if they had the time, she'd consider just enrolling him at the Shinōreijutsuin for a few years so he could be taught from the ground up just to make sure that the crazy little bastard didn't accidentally blow himself up or something, but there was no way that Aizen was going to give them that much time. "You're supposed to guide it. Trying to force 'control' onto Reiryoku is like trying to mould water with your bare hands, it just doesn't work; especially when you're dealing with the sheer amount that you have. You have the guide it, show it where to flow, how strongly it should move, and entice it to respond to your will rather than your emotions. Just so you know, that is one of the most basic lessons that Soul Reaper learn in their first weeks at the Shinōreijutsuin, the Soul Reaper Academy. It is considered to be the first baby steps to learning any of the Soul Reaper arts."

That particularly barb hit a sore spot. Ichigo had always prided himself on being a good student in spite of his delinquent-like appearance, so implying that he wasn't even attempting effort at his studies was a particularly effective goad. Yoruichi made a quick mental note of that for the future.

"Another thing that you need to practice is Jinzen, sword meditation." she added. "Communing with your Zanpakutō will both strengthen your bond and help you better influence your Reiatsu."

"Would that even help me at this point? I've already reached Bankai." Ichigo asked, honestly curious.

"Kid, you don't stop talking to your friends just because they already consider you their friend, right?" Yoruichi asked, barely able to resist the urge to roll your eyes. "If anything, Jinzen will be particularly helpful for you since you haven't had time to really build a strong link to your Zanpakutō considering how rushed your training has been. A Zanpakutō is a part of you. They are born from us, exist with us, grow in power with us, and die with us; but they are still their own existences, linked but separate to our own. They have their own wants, needs, desires, and goals. They are their own souls and should be treated as such. I'm pretty sure that Manekineko would have quite a few sharp words waiting for me if I just tried to ignore for a few weeks or so."

Ichigo blinked, but before he could do more than open his mouth to respond, he was stopped as a new sensation washed over him. Yoruichi knew that because it washed over her at the same moment, and it was one she was intimately familiar with, unlike Ichigo. It was the sensation of someone using using Bakudō #77: Tenteikūra to connect with her.

Her heart suddenly seized as she heard Kirika-chan's voice suddenly speak; cold, hard, and full of an absolute and barely-controlled rage. Something had pushed her littlest apprentice to the absolute breaking point of fury.

"The Kurosaki Clinic has just been attacked by the Bount, specifically the water manipulating Dolls controlled by Ban and Hō." her third pupil's voice stated, the pure fury at having the sanctity of her home violated causing her voice to crack in spite of her control. "The Kurosaki Twins are scared, but unharmed. Yuzu was almost drowned. I'm going to purge Ban and Hō from the world immediately. If you want to get here to stop me, please do so with all haste. Urahara, if you try to use the Kikanshinki on my sisters, so help me I will end you with extreme prejudice, consequences be damned!"

The message then ended abruptly as soon as Kirika finished transmitting the message she had wanted to, and it certainly wasn't the verbal contents. It was very much a cry for help. Her pupil was on the verge of giving into her rage and killing the twin brothers for their acts against her adoptive sisters, and she wasn't sure she was capable of controlling herself, so she had sent out a call for help. Yoruichi narrowed her eyes as she vanished in a blur of Shunpo-enhanced speed, with Ichigo inches from her heels, the boy's own roiling Reiatsu easily revealing that he was likely just as angry as his sister…except, he wasn't. At least not in the same way.

There was anger far worse than the hot and burning rage that Ichigo was currently experiencing. That kind might burn hot, but it died and faded away quickly she knew. The very worst type of anger was the type that burned low and cold, that didn't completely overwhelm you all at once. It was the kind of anger that a person forged into a weapon, the type that she knew that Kurosaki Kirika had carried within her for years and that she had worked to harness and turn into a weapon to help her better fight against Aizen.

The rooftops of Kamakura Town were little more than a blur beneath her as she zipped across the (comparatively) short distance between the Urahara Shōten and the Kurosaki Clinic. She was dimly aware as she continued to move, via her own spiritual senses, that aside from herself and Ichigo, there were several more sources of Reiryoku converging on the same location. She quickly identified Rukia, Chad, Orihime, Renji, and even Ishida and Sōma Yoshino. As she had half-expected, Kisuke was very conspicuous in his absence. He had been working within his sealed lab for most of the day with Tessai, who would be quite upset when he realized that he'd missed his pupil's call for help.

That man was such an old softy.

As she closed in on the location, her wealth of combat experience allowed her to take in the scene in an instant. The Kurosaki Twins were safely held inside a glowing inverted pyramid, Bakudō #73: Tozanshō, while on a building opposite of the clinic, a gigantic moving mass of water was surrounding the extremely terrified Bount twins, Ban and Hō, as Kirika unleashed a furious barrage of Shakkahō blasts onto the quickly diminishing water, murder clearly on her mind.

Even as Yoruichi leapt towards the roof, Kirika finally grew tired of her targets' cowering defence and simply stabbed the blade of Nejibana's Sealed Form into the mass of water before she started shouting. "Rakurai! Raimei! Ten kara ochiru! Hadō #11, Tsuzuri Raiden! (Lightning Strikes! Peals of Thunder! Fall from Heaven! Way of Destruction Number Eleven, Bound Lightning!)"

"Oh shit, a full incantation Tsuzuri Raiden!" Yoruichi cursed aloud. Without using an incantation, as it was normally used by those who mastered it, that Hadō usually only created enough energy to generate a minor shock; maybe dealing minor damage but primarily being used to momentarily lock a target into place for a follow-up. With a full incantation like that, and with such a large push of Reiryoku being put behind it, it was likely to be more than enough to completely vaporize the bottle-cap cores that controlled the water Dolls.

Sure enough, the entirety of the Doll's form was lit up by the surge of yellow lightning the Kidō had generated before it violently detonated outwards, one of the twins falling screaming to the rooftop surface as it did so, Reiryoku erupting out of his body as he rapidly aged before their eyes, quickly turning from a pre-teen boy into a wizened mummy.

"Disgusting." Kirika spat out as she regarded the body that had once belonged to a being that had lived for hundred of years with an utterly dispassionate gaze, before mover her gaze to the terrified visage of the other twin who was still staring at his brother's corpse uncomprehendingly. "Now it is your turn. Please, don't even try to beg, and at least meet your end with some form of dignity, little Bount."

"Y-You…i-impudent…Soul Reaper…!" the Bount managed to spit out.

"Impudent, perhaps. But I am no Soul Reaper, I never graduated from the Shinōreijutsuin after all." the redheaded girl responded coldly as she approached, raising her own blade high. "No one is allowed to touch my family and come away unharmed. Not you and your brother, not Kariya, not Aizen, no one. I'm honestly not sure if the warped soul of a Bount will even enter the Wheel of Reincarnation, but if it does, pray that you never meet me again after I kill you. Otherwise, I will have to borrow Ishida and let one of his arrows end your existence once and for all!"

With that she swung, her blade aimed precisely to take the child-like Bount's head off in a single movement.

Ichigo flashed forward ahead of Yoruichi in a single instant, bringing his own blade up and around to vertically block Kirika's own strike.

"Damn it Kirika, what the hell!?" he shouted out, his arms starting to tremble slightly from the strain of holding off his younger sister's attack without releasing a backlash on her. "I get you're pissed, but have you completely lost it!?"

"…he tried to kill Yuzu!" Kirika growled back, her own arms trembling as she fought back, her Reiatsu rising in tune with her rage. "Get out of my way and let me finish this, Aniki! Giji Ryōdan! (Fake Bisection!)"

Nejibana's blade blazed with the blue fire of Reiryoku as Kirika flooded it with a large amount of her Spiritual Power before, in a manner that strangely enough seemed to copy what Ichigo himself had managed to do to Aizen in front of the Hakutōmon, she blasted him away. Judging by the look of shock on his face, honest and real shock, Ichigo hadn't expected his little sister to actually be able to attack him like that, let alone send him flying.

'I really need to pound it into that boy's head that Reiatsu isn't some form of absolute defence against attacks.' Yoruichi thought with a shake of her head. For the moment, however, her priority needed to be stopping her berserk apprentice before she did anything else she would regret. That stubborn girl had already lost sight of everything else in her desire to kill the Bount Twins, though that was perhaps not as much of a surprise as it should have been. After having the divide that still existed between herself and the likes of Aizen, Tōsen, and Ichimaru shoved into her face, suddenly having her own family threatened with the perpetrators conveniently placing themselves nearby, had caused Kirika's normally repressed vengeful urges and tightly controlled anger to slip their leash. All she could likely think about right now was hunting down and avenging her family's pain against those that had dared to harm them.

Thankfully, she had managed to keep some level of control over herself, as evidenced by the message she'd sent via Tenteikūra before she had fully lost herself.

Raising her right hand, already crackling with golden energy as the Kidō quickly took shape according to her will, "Bakugō #33 (Way of Binding Number Thirty-Three)…" Yoruichi incanted, swiping her hand quickly and efficiently in the shape of triangle, the last movement connecting the last and first points, which caused all three points to rapidly extend outward into golden, beak-like spikes. "…Shitotsu Sansen! (Beak-Piercing Triple Beam!)"

The three points instantly shot out like arrows to slam into Kirika and send her hurtling back to slam into the brick wall behind her, one piercing the redhead's midriff while the other two anchored each one of her arms at either side of her. The young Soul looked back at her wildly, but Yoruichi simply crossed the distance between them before she could even open her mouth and rested her hand over her distraught pseudo-daughter's face before chanting again. "Suna no idō. Nemurenuyoru. Yume no nai nemuri ni izanae. Bakudō #55, Inemuri. (Shifting sands. Sleepless nights. Be invited into a dreamless sleep. Way of Binding Number Fifty-Five, Forced Slumber.)"

In her half-mad state, Kirika couldn't summon up the will to resist the pacifying Kidō. "Don't…let him…escape…!" she managed to force out before she was forced into a deep sleep that would last until someone else released her from it or eight hours had passed.

"You can count on it, Kirika-chan." the Shunshin promised gently as she undid Shitotsu Sansen and set the slumbering girl down, before turning her attention back to the damned Bount that had caused this mess, just in time to see him drop off the roof. Little bastard was quick on his feet if nothing else.

"Guhl!" the child-who-was-not-a-child screamed, causing the other water Doll to erupt from a nearby drain and enshroud its Master in a protective shroud of water.

Yoruichi's lips curled slightly in derision as she absently sauntered over to the edge of the roof. Did this idiotic child really think that she was any less capable than the young Soul she had taken as her pupil? She could kill this little gnat just as easily as Kirika-chan had ended his brother without even needing to resort to even a low-level Hadō; she was fully capable of simply punching through the water and piercing his skull with her fingertips without even damaging her nails.

Instead, she reached out an open hand towards the still-fleeing Bount before clenching it as she spoke. "Bakudō #63, Sajō Sabaku! (Way of Binding Number Sixty-Three, Locking Bondage Stripes!)"

She actually felt the drain on her Reiryoku as she cast that particular Bakudō; it was a surprisingly potent spell for one in the lower sixties. A chain formed of pure yellow energy manifested around her before shooting forward at Hō; piercing through his Doll's watery body as if it wasn't even there before coiling around him, binding him from shoulders to ankles in a convoluted knot of chains.

"Wha-!?" the bratling could only let out a confused squawk before he fell forward, flat onto his face. He immediately began to try and fight his way out of his bindings, but the chain did not give so much as a millimetre.

"Sajō Sabaku is not something that can be broken with mere strength, physical or otherwise, Bount." the purple-haired werecat scoffed as she leapt down, landing less than an arm's length away from the Doll's edge. "Call off your Doll, Hō. Or do you believe that my apprentice is the only one here who knows that electrical Hadō that she just used to destroy your brother's Doll? Or any other spell that could wipe it and you from this realm?"

She forcefully ignored the fact that the Kurosaki twins were currently staring at her.

"Y-You…!" the pint-sized Bount looked at her in fear.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai." she incanted simply, pointing a single finger skyward. A massive bolt of pale white lighting erupted from her extended index finger and streamed upward into the sky for a brief moment before she ended the spell and redirected the finger toward the bound and cowering Bount. "Last chance. Surrender. Now."

The only reason she was putting this much effort into keeping the not-kid alive right now was because he could lead them to the Bount's hideout. Oh, and to spare the Kurosaki twins from any more trauma than they had already experienced tonight.

Ichigo landed next to her, scowling down at Hō with all the protective menace that an overprotective big brother could project; his powerful Reiatsu surging wildly and making the small Bount shiver even harder. "I can't believe that Kirika actually hit me like that!" he groused out.

"Is it that she actually hit you, or that she was able to hit you so hard without hurting herself?" Yoruichi asked absently, her golden-yellow eyes still locked firmly on Hō.

"Both." the boy responded with an irritated scowl. "I thought that Reiatsu was supposed to act like armour?"

"It does, but there is no such thing as an impenetrable armour, bucko. Remember that your sister managed to hit Aizen and actually wounded the bastard." she reminded him absently. "She did that by overloading her Shikai's tip with as much Reiryoku as it could handle. I suspect that she used that idea as the basis to create that Zanjutsu technique that she just used on you. It managed to knock you for quite the loop without any backlash on her. The fact that Kirika-chan is also fast approaching the level of a Captain helps with that as well, so the gap between you two is quite a bit smaller than you seem to think."

The two Shikigami acting as if he didn't even matter was more than Hō's fragile pride could take, letting rage momentarily overcome his fear. "Don't you bastards…dare ignore me!" he screamed out, sending a fusillade of water bullets from Guhl's body at the two. The majority of the bullets slammed directly into the two…and did absolutely nothing other than soak their clothes in a bit of water, the attack utterly unable to do anything against the Reiatsu both were producing.

"Alright, so I doubt that this shi…guy's holding back any Reiryoku right now, so why can't his attacks do anything?" Ichigo asked irritably, correcting his language when he remembered his sisters' presence.

"Because, compared to someone like Kirika-chan, let alone the two of us, he is simply that much weaker." Yoruichi responded absently as she raised a single finger and pointed a finger at the bound Bount. A full Eishōhaki Byakurai, far smaller than the one she'd fired toward the sky, flew from her finger and enveloped the Doll and Bount, causing both to writhe in pain. It wasn't enough to kill either of them or even destroy the bottle-cap, not with how little power she had put into the Hadō.

"Guhl!" Hō suddenly shouted as his greatly diminished Doll started to wrap itself around him. "Wait, what are you-!? NO!"

"Crud, the Doll is turning on him." Yoruichi cursed. Unlike Zanpakutō, Dolls were fully capable of turning against their Masters if they were ever hurt badly enough or their Masters showed a weakness they could exploit. Both would apply in this circumstance. "Ichigo, get in front of the twins and block their sight! Neither of them will want to see what's about to happen."

Ichigo gave a single nod before he Shunpo'd in front of the twins, blocking their view of Hō as his own Doll set upon him, draining away his soul. By the time it was over, everyone else had arrived on the scene.

"That was…oh god, Hō!" Sōma Yoshino blanched as she caught stared at the desiccated corpse of the child-like Bount. Being devoured by your own Doll was a fate worse than death for one of their kind. "Guhl turned on him and devoured his soul!"

"Wait, your Dolls are actually capable of doing that?" Renji asked in disbelief, jaw dropping slightly as the female Bount just nodded.

"There is some flaw in our bond, either due to our own nature or some in the way that our Dolls are formed, that renders the usual inability for Zanpakutō to truly harm their wielders null and void." Yoshino answered, before looking around. "Where's Ban? Those two are never far apart."

"Dead. Kirika-chan managed to kill him by destroying Gunther's Core right as Ichigo and I arrived on the scene." Yoruichi answered with a shrug, only slightly annoyed by the recent turn of events. "The girl would have killed this brat as well if Ichigo and I hadn't stepped in. I suppose that it didn't matter in the end; apparently being dismissed and then damaged so badly by a half-assed Byakurai was more than enough to make it turn on its Master. Your Dolls seem to be quite the whimsical servants."

Turning around, she quickly and silently undid the Tozanshō that was protecting the twins. "For now, we need to get rid of these two mummies, fetch Kirika-chan down from the roof over there, and see about comforting and explaining things to our own set of twins."

Said twins were already clinging tightly to Ichigo, Yuzu was openly crying and Karin seemed to be doing her best to hold them back.

"Ichigo looks to have the last part well in hand for now, we'll deal with the rest of it." the werecat let out a sigh. "Chad, go grab Kirika's Gigai and take it inside. Sōma, I don't suppose the Bount have any funerary rite's you'll want to perform for these two?"

"No, nothing like that." the woman responded with a sad shake of her head. "If we did, they were lost long, long ago. Before I was even born."

"Okay then. Rukia, go and use a fire Kidō to dispose of the body that's up there." Yoruichi jerked her head towards the rooftop opposite of the clinic. "While she is taking care of that, Yoshino I want you to bring Kirika-chan down here and into the house. She's under the effects of Inemuri, so unless you try and mess with it, she won't wake up. I'll deal with this one."

Yoshino gave the corpse that had once been one of her people one last look before sighing and nodding. Neither Ban nor Hō had been particularly likeable people. They had both been arrogant and sadistic little bastards that cared for little but each other and who had enjoyed using both their great intellects and their Dolls to attack humans as they pleased. Still, they had been her people and had honestly cared deeply for each other. She turned away silently as Yoruichi raised a single hand, not wanting to see the body of one of her fellow Bount being destroyed so utterly.

"Hadō #53, Haien. (Way of Destruction Number Fifty-Three, Abolishing Flames.)" the dark-skinned woman intoned. A few minutes of crackling flames later, and the corpses of the twin Bounts Ban and Hō no longer existed.

Later

Living Room, Kurosaki Home

"Soul Reaper? That's what you're going with?" Karin, having managed to fully regain her composure, raised a single eyebrow at her older brother sceptically. He, Rukia and Yoruichi were all that remained of the so-called 'Substitute Group', the rest having returned to their homes after helping to clean up the damage caused by Guhl and Günther's attack in and around the Clinic.

"…you two really are siblings." Rukia offered blandly, sending an amused look toward the scowling from of the orange-haired substitute. "Isn't that the exact same attitude you gave me when we first met?"

"Shut it." Ichigo grumbled at the petite Soul Reaper's friendly needling, before quickly turning back to Karin. "I know how…weird it sounds, but it's truth. I'm a Soul Reaper; well technically I am a Substitute Soul Reaper. Rukia here is a fully legitimate Soul Reaper while Yoruichi is a former Soul Reaper."

The youngest daughter of the Kurosaki family just stared at him for a moment before letting out a breath. "Okay, fine, let's just go with the whole 'my brother is now a grim reaper' thing for a minute. What the hell was all that with those weird water monsters and the boys that were controlling them? And what happened with Kiri-nee!?"

"Those boys were member of a race of accidentally created, artificial beings that call themselves the Bount." Yoruichi put in simply. "They're soul-sucking vampires, basically, and they're up to something in Karakura Town. We're trying to figure out what and stop them, so it seems those two decided to target you two in retaliation while Ichigo was out. Fortunately, Kirika-chan was on the ball and was able to keep you both safe.

"Kiri-nee…she k-killed…one of them, didn't she?" Yuzu asked in a small voice. Unlike Karin, she was having trouble regaining her composure; she'd barely been able to look up since they got back in and was still crying a bit. "Why…why did she go that far?"

Ichigo looked at his youngest sister with a complicated expression on his face. Yuzu had always been rather similar to Orihime in some ways; a gentle, kind, and altogether non-combative girl. The fact that her ever-protective, gentle, and loving elder sister had killed something, had taken a life even if it wasn't technically a human one, with so little hesitation had clearly shaken her badly. He was about to speak up, but Yoruichi shook her head at him and moved forward to kneel in front of the young girl.

"Because this incident trigged a lot of old trauma that Kirika-chan has been keeping under wraps for most of her life." the purple-haired woman answered gently, causing Yuzu to quickly look up in confusion. Even Karin was starting at the werecat in confused shock.

"Trauma?" the blonde-haired Kurosaki asked.

"Kirika-chan…not long after she was born, she was stolen from her parents by an evil man." Yoruichi offered, deciding that neither girl was ready to hear everything just yet. "And until she was five, she was subjected to awful, terrible things, alongside a great many other people. She managed to get through it all thanks to those around her, and they were almost like a family…then that same evil man conducted one last awful, terrible thing on them, and the only one who survived it was Kirika-chan."

"Kiri-nee…!" the twins said, hearts in their mouths.

"Those memories of loss, of pain, of being helpless to save those she loved, have stayed buried in her for her whole life; festering so deeply that I don't think even she was able to realize just how badly they were affecting her." the werecat offered sadly. "Then a few weeks ago, while she and your brother were away, they managed to confront that same man and Kirika tried to avenge those she had lost, but sadly that man is an extremely powerful and dangerous Soul Reaper. Her best blow couldn't do more than inconvenience him. That seems to have brought a lot of her old trauma up closer to the surface, so when the two Bounts tried to kill the two of you, her old trauma fully triggered for the first time. What she did tonight is the fullest lengths that your sister is willing to go to protect those that she loves. Even if it made you fear her, even if it made you revile her, even if you will reject her for it, she can and will kill to protect the two of you from harm."

"Yoruichi-dono!" Rukia tried to protest the rather heavy hand that she was placing on the two pre-teens. The older Soul Reaper ignored her and instead took out a device from her pocket, one that both she and Ichigo quickly recognized.

"This is a device called a 'Kikanshinki', it is a tool that Soul Reaper use to suppress and replace the memories of humans like the two of you when they see things that cannot be explained." she elaborated to the twins. "Kirika wanted the both of you to be left aware of this incident so you could understand and know of the threats that could come toward you, but I believe that the choice should be left to the pair of you. If this is used on you, you will forget everything that occurred this night from the moment that you were attacked, including this conversation. That would be the easier option for the both of you, and less traumatizing than being forced to remember nearly being killed in your own home."

"I…" Yuzu honestly looked torn, but Karin was scowling.

"How many times has this thing been used on us already?" she demanded, staring daggers at her brother.

"Just once as far as I know." he answered with a scowl on his face. "That time a truck rammed into our house; it was actually us being attacked by a giant ghost monster called a Hollow."

"Those are the things with the dark bodies and white masks? The ones that all have a hole in the middle of their chests?" the girl asked.

Ichigo blinked. "You…oh right, Chad mentioned that you helped him fight off that Shrieker guy that one time." the orange-haired boy frowned pointedly at his younger sister, who merely looked to one side at the silent admonishment.

"Can…can we help Kiri-nee?" Yuzu asked, drawing everyone's attention back to her again. "If we remember, can we help her? She protected us, even though she thought we might hate her for what she had to do…I don't want her to think we might hate her!"

"She won't." Rukia stated with a quick shake of head. "Kirika loves the two of you, and this oaf, fiercely. She'd know that if you chose to have your memories suppressed, it was because you felt you needed more time to come to terms with everything. She wouldn't judge you unfairly for it; if anything she'll likely be most upset at us just for giving you access to the Kikanshinki when she has already expressed her opinion on the matter quite firmly."

"Hah, yeah…she's going to try and Shunpo Tag the lot of us. Or try to at least." Yoruichi let out a small bark of amusement at the possible repercussions coming her way; while both Ichigo and Rukia, who were both far less skilled with the arts of Hohō than the Shunshin and her pupil just looked gloomy, accepting their impending doom.

To the twins, it was quickly becoming quite obvious that this older woman seemed to care deeply for their elder sister and that she knew Kirika quite well. The air of fondness in her tone and the astute way she predicted her reactions was just part of that. The two twins had their own sets of thoughts about what had happened over the past few hours.

Yuzu was still very much torn. She hated conflict; despite being used to her father and brother's 'rough-housing', and would far prefer to keep her distance from it, but…Kiri-nee had known that. She had killed, had known that going that far would upset Yuzu. The only Kurosaki to have inherited their mother's hair looked back on all the memories she had of Kirika gently chastising her for protesting the times she and Ichigo had gotten into fights in a new light. Had she believed that a day like today might eventually come?

'Still…Kiri-nee's been hurt, all this time, and she has kept it all inside.' the more emotionally mature twin thought sadly. That actually hurt more than the idea of Kirika killing someone. The three daughters of the Kurosaki Family were very close, and Yuzu had thought that she knew everything about her older sister…

For Karin, the fact that Kiri-nee had killed someone wasn't that much of a biggie. Well…okay…it was very much a biggie but not in a way that really bothered her. Those two 'Bount' creepos had tried to kill Yuzu, so as far as Karin was concerned, they had gotten just what was coming to them. No, what bothered Karin was all the secret keeping that seemed to be happening in their family. She had been there to help that Chad guy fight off one of those 'Hollow' monsters for crying out loud.

The twins exchanged a look that, for the two of them, said more than an entire conversation. In a moment Yuzu understood what Karin was thinking and Karin understood what Yuzu was thinking. The two had been together since before they took their first breaths and they knew each other better than most people knew themselves.

The choice had never been in question for them. Their beloved older sister, someone who had loved them unconditionally and had protected them from every threat imaginable, was hurting. There was no way in hell that either of them was going to turn their backs on her now.

Upstairs, in her own bed, Kurosaki Kirika cried in her sleep, nightmares of her past and present intermingling into one.

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Next Chapter: A Broken Heart Bleeds Destruction

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