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"Rukia" – Normal Speech

'Ichigo' – Thoughts

*Kaien-dono* - Zanpakutō speech/thoughts

"Bankai!" – Spiritual Technique

Chapter 30: Shunkō: Himoto

Later That Day

Rooftop, Karakura Highschool

"Man, what the heck has gotten Ichigo so pissed?" Asano Keigo 'whispered' (Read: practically shouted) to Mizuiro. Sure enough, the Deathberry had an almost palpable aura of anger and frustration roiling off of him, along with a glower that seemed to promise death to anyone that didn't know him well (and let the ones who did know him know that he was very much not in the mood for any bullshit right now) seemingly carved into his face.

Seriously, just trying to get close to him made you feel like there was some kind of unseen pressure filling the air trying to crush you or something!

"Why don't you just ask him yourself, Asano-san?" the dark-haired self-proclaimed lover of older women suggested blandly to his 'friend' as he calmly ate his own bentō.

"WHY MIZUIRO, WHY!? WE'RE FRIENDS AREN'T WE?!" the brown-haired boy wailed. He might not be the brightest bulb around but he wasn't that stupid!

Rukia subtly drove her elbow into Ichigo's side and before hissing directly into his ear. "Ichigo! Control your damned Reiryoku! You're going to start attracting Hollows soon if you don't throttle it!"

Grunting a bit before heaving out a sigh, the scowling boy tried to follow Yoruichi's advice when it came to actually controlling his Reiryoku. Much to his annoyance, it actually worked; the pressure in the air quickly dissipating to the point that it was barely noticeable. That damned werecat woman was going to be utterly insufferable if she ever heard about this…

"Ichigo, you do realize that Kirika is avoiding you precisely because she knew you would react exactly like this, right?" the petite Soul Reaper admonished him softly with a roll of her eyes. "You have no one to blame for this mess other than your own stupidly predictable reactions to things."

Ichigo's scowl deepened slightly at that, but he really couldn't offer any response since she was telling the truth. Just yesterday, two of his little sisters had been attacked by the Bount, with the youngest nearly being killed. That had, in turn, sent the eldest of his three younger sisters into something akin to a berserk rage, to the point that she had even turned her Zanpakutō against him of all people!

How in the heck had she even managed to do that!? Kirika had never been able to send him flying like that before, and it was not an experience that he was eager to ever see repeated.

That wasn't what was bothering him the most though (even if it was bothering him more than a bit). If he was being honest, when he had found out what had nearly happened to Yuzu a very angry, very feral part of his mind had wanted to find a way to revive the two Bount brats just so he could strangle the life out of both of them himself. So yeah, he could get Kirika's murder rage, on some level at least…

But Kirika's self-control was almost a legend in and of itself in Karakura. Nothing had managed to really shake her in years, so seeing her acting so clearly unhinged had caused his protective instinct, that always ran naturally high when his sisters were involved, to go into overdrive. Sadly, Kirika had obviously seen his reaction coming a mile away and had promptly fled to the Urahara Shōten under the guise of a new training program in order to avoid him. Even fucking Goat Face was apparently in on it, since he had called in and told the school that Kirika had caught a bug and wouldn't be in for at least a few days.

Kurosaki Ichigo had always tried to live up to the meaning of his name (not 'strawberry' dammit!), that being 'First Guardian.' His first instinct in any situation was to protect, which was most often expressed via the use of gratuitous amounts of violence against whatever was threatening what he had decided needed protecting. He wasn't good at sorting things out with words or feelings, he would be the first to admit that. Nevertheless, it still hurt that Kirika was still keeping so much from him.

No only that, but she was trying distance herself from him more and more recently, rejecting his protection. Was what Yoruichi said true? Was Kirika really resigned to her own death? Was she really willing to sell her life just to…not even kill but just inconvenience that Aizen bastard? The kind of single-minded hatred that kind of mindset hinted at honestly scared Ichigo more than he'd care to admit.

'I need to talk to her.' he determined as the group packed up their lunch and began to make their way back to the classroom. 'But if I get protective of her, she's just going to pull away even more. This is so frustrating! Grrr…'

To not act protective of someone he cared for was an alien thing for Ichigo, as alien as actually acting relaxed and informal would be to Kuchiki Byakuya. It went against his very nature, and Ichigo was not used to actually needing to go against the instinctive urge to protect that he had built most of his life and personality around. Something was going to have to change though, as he was not about to let his sister charge head-first into the darkness and perish, let alone allow her hate turn her into something that he or the twins wouldn't be able to recognize.

Ultimately, he decided to ask Rukia for advice once school was out. Much as he hated to admit it, she probably had a better insight into Kirika's emotions right now than he did. As easily annoyed and combative as Ichigo could be, he had only ever felt real hatred toward one being in his life. And something told him that his hatred for Grand Fisher, the monstrous Hollow that had murdered his mother, would still fall short of just what Kirika felt towards Aizen Sōsuke.

'At least she's training with Yoruichi, rather than Hat'n'Clogs.' he let himself feel a bit of relief. That weird bastard of a shopkeeper was way too fond of the school of hard knocks for his liking. Surely the werecat would be gentler with Kirika than she was with him, right?

The Next Day

Underground Training Area, Urahara Shōten

KABANG!

"Gah!" Kirika grunted as she was, once more, sent flying by her own attempts at Shunkō blowing up in her face. She tumbled through the air for a moment before slamming back-first into a random boulder. "Gahk!"

As she fell limply to the ground, she was silently grateful that her Soul form was far more resilient to damage than a normal human's body. As her student just lay there for a moment, Yoruichi looked on in puzzlement from her perch atop another nearby boulder.

'That is…bizarre.' the purple-haired woman thought as she gazed at her latest apprentice thoughtfully.

Shunkō, the Flash War Cry, was the highest form of Hakuda, at least in her own opinion. By rapidly building up a pressurized surge of Kidō magic in the arms and legs, it allowed for enhanced physical abilities as well as the ability to fire off powerful surges of Kidō energy without the need of a chant. The initial base form of the technique was a form of pale yellow-white lightning that covered the body, but research and her own experience had shown that every person had a particular element that the sudden surges of Demon Magic that were accumulated to perform the technique would naturally shift towards once they had developed and strengthened their usage of the technique to a sufficient level.

Yoruichi's had resulted in the lightning aspect becoming more and more pronounced as she built up her Shunkō, but her dear Little Bee, Soi-Fon, had instead manifested something similar to wind currents forming around her. The current head of the Shihōin Clan, and her younger brother, Yūshirō's had actually expressed itself in a rather strange form of combustion. All three had started with the same base stage and their Shunkō had shifted to match their unique elemental affinities as they grew and progressed with the technique, but Kirika…

"Hey Tessai, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" she asked without even looking away from Kirika as she rose to her feet once more and began trying to form the basic state of Shunkō as she'd been instructed. Kirika had, as always, proven herself to be a quick study and had picked up the technique even faster than even Yūshirō had, getting to the point that she could convert her Reiryoku into the raw form of Demon Magic needed to fuel Shunkō in less than a day.

This made the fact that she had already blown herself up fifteen times while trying to move on to the next step even more puzzling.

"Mmm." the bespectacled man nodded, looking absolutely fascinated at what he was seeing. "Her Kidō is rejecting the shift into lighting. Violently rejecting it, at that."

BANG!

"Sonofa-!"

As if to punctuate his words, Kirika was once more sent flying yet again as her own Kidō violently rejected her attempt to convert it.

"Hm." the Shunshin frowned in thought. While yes, blowing yourself up wasn't exactly unheard of when one was learning to use Shunkō (the gods only knew how many times she'd blown herself up when she had first been developing the technique), most of it usually came AFTER you formed the Kidō into the initial stage coating and then lost control of it. Usually, after a couple of attempts at getting the forming and channelling of hyper-condensed Demon Magic under control, there shouldn't be any more blow-ups until the trainee was ready to start learning how to control and regulate their output in order to learn to mitigate or manage their strength, something that even Yoruichi was STILL having trouble doing, even after two centuries of training and perfecting the technique she'd invented.

"It's probably because of that, isn't it?" she mused aloud, her mind focusing on the one point of difference that separated Kirika from herself, Soi-Fon and Yūshirō.

"Indeed." the former Grand Chief of the Kidō Corps agreed with a sage nod. "I can see no other reason why Kirika-kun would be having so much trouble at this particular juncture."

"Right, best fix it then." Yoruichi nodded, getting up. "Yo, Kirika! Time to take five, we need to brainstorm for a bit!"

The redheaded girl nodded, dusting herself off from her latest crash landing before trotting over to her two sensei. She was dressed in a keisen uniform not too dissimilar to the one that Soi-Fon wore that exposed her back and shoulders. Of course, it also exposed a good deal more of herself, since Kirika was a good deal bustier than Soi-Fon, albeit not as much as it did for Yoruichi herself.

"I don't get why this step is giving me so much trouble." the girl grumbled despondently as she grabbed an offered bottle of water from Tessai with a quick nod of thanks.

"The answer is rather simple if you think on it, Kirika-kun; you literally cannot learn the first stage of the Shunkō." the man informed her bluntly.

"Huh?" Kirika gave the larger man a bleary blink.

"Most Souls possess Reiryoku that is not strongly aligned with any particular nature, Kirika-chan." Yoruichi elaborated. "That's why the entire first stage of learning Shunkō, the base state that all practitioners learn, involves slightly shifting your Reiryoku into Demon Magic that has a slight lightning alignment to give it more form and direction. Most users will then start to naturally shift that alignment towards their personal preferences or inherent attunement naturally as they progress further. You, on the other hand, possess a powerful natural affinity for Fire Kidō, and I am seriously considering kicking my own ass for not realizing that that could cause a problem with you learning Shunkō. Your Reiryoku is naturally aligned with and drawn toward Fire, so when you begin shifting it into raw Demon Magic, that alignment will naturally remain. So, when the basic Shunkō technique tries to shift that alignment slightly towards lightning, it is met with an already powerful alignment to a different element, creating a violent reaction as the shift destabilizes your Demon Magic. Now, we've got two real options going forward. First, we could put things on pause for a month or two and I can custom redesign the base exercises to work with Fire Demon Magic rather than lightning, but I think we both can agree that that would be a bit of a waste of time. So that leaves option number two, we test and see what happens if you immediately move to the Second Stage, where your natural alignment will actually be a strength."

"Wha-!?" the redhead's eyes bulged outward in shock. "But…but I've already managed to blow myself up at least a dozen times on just the First Stage! Won't skipping right to the Second Stage just make things worse?"

"Sixteen times to be exact, and no." the older Soul Reaper woman answered with a shake of her head. "The Second Stage is basically no different from the first, only it stops using the lightning conversion as a 'crutch' to help direct and control the raw Demon Magic that you'll have flowing through your limbs. Originally, developing into the Second Stage is meant to be a natural progression allow you to build up and strengthen the alignment that the student hopes to develop into their personal Shunkō technique, but since you already have a strong natural alignment with Fire, that shouldn't be necessary. Go on and give it a try."

Seeing her apprentice still looking uncertain, Yoruichi realized something. It wasn't just Kirika's self-control that had taken a hit after poor Yuzu had nearly been killed on her watch; both that and her subsequent loss of control had also done more than a bit of damage to Kirika's self-confidence.

Reaching out, she gently laid a comforting hand on her pseudo-daughter's shoulder before gripping it slightly as she looked into Kirika's eyes and gave the younger Soul a firm nod, silently reaffirming her belief in her. Kirika held her gaze for a moment longer before her face hardened in resolve and she offered her mentor a nod before stepping off to a safe distance.

Kirika closed her eyes and focused. This was something that she want…no something that she absolutely NEEDED, now more than ever. Power, power that only a small handful of souls in the entire Soul Society were truly knowledgeable about. Shunkō, a technique that had only had four practitioners in its entire, relatively brief, existence. A power that was not intrinsically native to Shinigami like the Zanpakutō's various manifestations of Shikai and Bankai, that was not was an ancient and long-recorded art like many of the high-level Kidō spells, nor was it anywhere close to being the same as the advanced techniques used in Hohō, Hakuda, and Zanjutsu. Shunkō was a unique ability, one born from fusing elements of Kidō and Hakuda in a way no one had ever thought possible before, and, if one was looking at it from purely technical standpoint, it was a technique that was still its experimental stages, one that could pose a danger to its user if practised incorrectly.

In a world where Aizen had managed to predict and control almost every variable, a technique like Shunkō could be just the trump card she needed, especially if her Kidō Affinity allowed her to reach a higher level of proficiency with it far more quickly than anyone could expect.

'Convert the Reiryoku into Demon Magic…rapidly gather it into the limbs…and then compress it within…' she mentally chanted the process in her mind. The compression of the Demon Magic, the raw energy that was formed from Reiryoku when it was used to power Kidō spells, was the key to the immense amounts of raw power that Shunkō could release. It reinforced the limbs of the user when channelled within them, allowing them to strike harder and faster as well as accelerating their movements and the spiritual pressure generated from keeping it so tightly compressed even acted as a shield, protecting the user from both the attacks of their enemies and the blowback from their own greatly enhanced attacks. There was only one truly effective counter to it, the Hanki (Reverse Demon), an extremely advanced and complicated technique that countered and nullified opposing Reiryoku by hitting them with an attack of perfectly equal and opposite energy and speed.

Yes, perfectly opposite. When mastered, it was a technique that could neutralize any form of Reiryoku manipulation, even basic movement and enhancement techniques. There were only three people in all of Soul Society that had the immense level of technical experience and mastery in both Kidō and Hakuda needed to perform that technique: Yoruichi, Unohana Retsu, and the Captain Commander, Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryūsai.

Granted, Shunkō on its own wasn't going to be enough to kill Aizen. It probably wouldn't be enough to even seriously injure him. Likely, once he managed to directly observe its use for a few moments, he'd be capable of deconstructing it and finding some innate flaw or weakness that even Yoruichi herself couldn't perceive.

That was the problem with fighting a sociopathic genius like Aizen, very few things could keep them off-balance for long.

But it didn't have to work for long. All it had to do was focus his attention on her for just a few seconds, just long enough to give someone else the time they needed to land a true killing blow on him.

Kirika's resolve, already high, peaked with that crystallization of purpose, and the Reiryoku she was channelling surged in response to her Soul's resolve.

Yoruichi and Tessai were both almost blown back by the force of the sudden surge of Reiryoku that their young apprentice was somehow suddenly managing to channel even as she was suddenly engulfed in a great column of fire. The heat surged and beat down on the two Shinigami like the rays of the midday sun, and the air itself seemed to be rapidly drying out as they both drew in surprised breaths.

'This is utterly insane. Even Yūshirō's Shunkō: Bakuen Musō (Flash War Cry: Peerless Explosive Flame) can't produce flames as hot as this…' the Flash Goddess thought, eyes narrowed before they widened slightly as she noticed something. 'Wait, the colours of the flame, they're…they're changing!?'

Indeed, the bright reddish-orange flames were rapidly changing colour, giving way to a deep jade green, a darker shade than her apprentice's eyes. As they did so, the column itself seemed to shrink and withdraw without losing any of its heat or intensity. After a few moment, Kurosaki Kirika was revealed standing in the midst of a burning pyre, her arms coated in jade green flames that seemed almost like armour and a pair of wing-like masses of jade fire springing from atop her shoulders, the last embers of orange-red fire being completely consumed by the jade green flames within them.

Then her apprentice's pale jade eyes snapped open in a glare just as fierce and as intense as the mini-inferno that raged around her. When she spoke a second later, her words echoed slightly throughout the otherwise-silent training ground.

"Shunkō: Himoto! (Flash War Cry: Fire Origin!)" Kirika announced calmly.

Then, like a puppet with its strings suddenly cut, the redheaded Soul collapsed to the ground, the flames surrounding her guttering out and fading from her body in an instant, leaving her skin utterly unblemished by their presence.

"Ara, ara." Urahara whistled from his position next the to the ladder that lead into and out of the training room, a few beads of sweat running down his brow as he watched his two old friends move to attend to their now unconscious pupil. "That…that is quite the dangerous technique that Kirika-chan just created. If I hadn't dialled up the flame resistance Kidō built into this room, there'd likely be a hole in the ceiling leading all the way back up to the shop and then some."

The former Captain still hadn't completely recovered for the verbal evisceration that Yoruichi had subjected him to while Kirika had been forced into a deep sleep by the Inemuri Kidō. In all of their years together, both before and after their exile, he had rarely seen Yoruichi truly lose her temper as she had during those few hours between Kirika falling asleep and her reawakening.

"If I didn't know any better Kisuke, I'd start to think that you were angry that Kirika-chan is trying to make some aspect of your precious plan moot."

That particular statement, offered just before she had left to stand watch over Kirika in the wee hours of the morning, had cut the deepest and had forced the enigmatic scientist to actually pause for a bit.

Was he truly angry about that damaged young Soul coming along out of nowhere and throwing a wrench into the plan he had been building for so long, simply because he hadn't accounted for the inclusion of one overly rambunctious tomboy of a girl? Were his constant suspicions of her involvement with Aizen truly nothing more than unfounded paranoia built upon a desire to keep an unknown from further disrupting his carefully laid-out plan? His first instinct was to deny the very idea…but also to justify himself by pointing out just how many factors could be put at risk if he was forced to tweak, adjust, change, and outright scrap some aspect of his grand plan for Ichigo and Aizen just to include that stubbornly assertive little girl.

Kisuke had spent a long time over the past day doing nothing but soul searching (and no, he hadn't relied on a Kidō for that) and found that while Yoruichi wasn't entirely correct in her accusations, neither was she entirely wrong. He would have to resolve his plainly mixed and factitious feeling in regards to Kurosaki Kirika rather quickly, as it was that or have a permanent wedge driven between himself and the two closest friends that he'd had in his life, which would be entirely unacceptable for reasons beyond just his plans.

Later That Day

Ichinose Maki's Room, Bount Mansion

In the time since he had left the Goteijūsantai and the Soul Society as a whole, Ichinose Maki hadn't doubted that his path was a righteous one, just like the one that Captain Kenpachi Kiganjō had walked. His purpose was as pure as the light born from his Zanpakutō.

And yet now, doubt had begun to gnaw at him. The twins, Ban and Hō, were dead, both cut down in combat, and yet he felt no sense of loss. When he pondered why, the answer had been obvious. The two foul little Bounts had been cut down while attempting to murder innocent, human children that lacked both the knowledge and the ability to even know they were in danger, let alone protect themselves.

No, the only regret he had regarding the deaths of those two was that they had not died by his own sword. Allowing such foul ones to exist in his presence had been a disgrace upon his own ideal of honour.

He had watched as that young redheaded girl had killed Hō with an almost effortless ease, and had retreated before he had felt Ban's death not long afterwards. He had been mesmerized by the sheer righteous fury that the young Soul had exuded in her wrath. The anger, the pure, unadulterated fury of a mother bear that was defending her cubs, had been palpable in her Reiatsu.

And why should the girl not feel rage and fury? He had been given the understanding that Ban and Hō had been ordered to attack the spiritually aware members of the little alliance that were protecting Ishida Uryū and Sōma Yoshino and interfering with Kariya-sama's plans, and yet the attack that the two Bount had attempted was one that was beneath contempt, failure or not. To attack those who could not even raise their hands in their own defence was something he could not allow to stand.

Ichinose was silent as he continued to clean the fūingata of his Zanpakutō, a practice that had long become a form of meditation for him whenever he was confused or uncertain. The simple task always helped him centre himself and brought about a sense of contentment and singularity of purpose, and right now he needed that more than anything.

'Kariya-sama is a righteous man.' he reminded himself firmly. 'Ban and Hō acted far beyond his orders, and Kariya-sama said as much when he learned what happened. Those little monsters enjoyed toying with the weak far too much and were too reliant on their little ambush tricks; they never even tried to learn how fight against anyone who could actually stand against them on an even footing. You would think that after what had occurred during their first encounter with the local forces that they would have realized how dangerous they could be and been more cautious in their approach.'

Despite his focus and conviction, a part of Ichinose's mind still constantly went back to the form of that young redheaded Soul with her pale jade eyes as she stalked towards Ban and Hō. Her Reiryoku had been immense, perhaps equalling his own or that of Gō Koga, and in the previous encounter she had shown a degree of skill with Hohō, Zanjutsu, and Kidō that was beyond impressive, particularly given how young her soul felt. Coupled with the ruthlessness that she had displayed on this occasion, and Ichinose knew that she would be a most troubling opponent to stand against. Certainly, more of a threat than that orange-haired boy who was all power with little skill to actually apply it.

Standing, he carefully sheathed Nijigasumi once more after a final inspection. A job worth doing was a job that was worth doing well, after all.

Mind now far more at ease and focused once more, Ichinose Maki left his room and headed to meet with Kariya-sama to receive new orders. On his way there, he crossed paths with Gō.

"Ichinose." the Bount second-in-command gave him a small nod of greeting before getting straight to the heart of the matter, as was the stoic man's wont. "You were there when the twins died, yet you didn't move to help them. Why?"

"The redheaded Soul Reaper, the one I do not recognize, she is a very dangerous combatant." the renegade Soul Reaper responded coolly. "As I am sure that your disciple Cain attest to."

"I faced her myself." Koga reminded him bluntly.

"At which time, she had little to no idea of what skills or capabilities that you possessed, as well as the fact that she was hindered by being forced to guard a weaker, wounded ally." Ichinose responded blandly. "Face her alone, now that she actually has a good idea of just what you and Dalk are capable of, and I think you will find that she is a great deal more dangerous than what you might have come to believe."

The stocky and muscular Bount regarded Ichinose for a moment. "You respect her as a fellow warrior." he stated at last. "At least enough not to underestimate her, your usual bias against your fellow Soul Reapers aside."

Blinking, the blue-haired renegade paused to think on that for a moment. "…perhaps so." he admitted with a slight nod. "But it matters not. Should she stand before me, I shall meet her blade to blade and vanquish her for Kariya-sama."

"Hm." Koga merely moved past Ichinose, before pausing. "Kurosaki Kirika. That is what she calls herself. You may want to remember it."

With that, the Bount headed out to see to his own tasks, leaving Ichinose Maki pondering the name of his new target.

"Kurosaki Kirika, is it?" he mused aloud. "Pray that you and I do not stand before each other in the battles to come, girl. For if we do, Nijigasumi was be your end."

Later

Office of the Sōtaichō, Squad 1 Barracks, Seireitei, Soul Society

The aged Captain-Commander regarded his two students from behind his desk. "So, you have finished your investigation into what exactly Aizen was up to while he held sole control of the Chūō Shijūroku Shitsu (Central Underground Parliament) compound?"

"To a point, sensei." Jūshirō answered tiredly. "From what we have been able to find, he had near complete and total run of the place for far longer than we initially believed due to the actual power of Kyōka Suigetsu's Shikai. Our best guess is that he gained total access within a few months of the Mass Hollowfication Incident; that means that we have over a hundred years worth of records that we need to pour over."

"One interesting thing to note, Yama-jii, is that he spent the overwhelmingly vast majority of his time in the Daireishokairō (Great Spirit Book Archive)." Shunsui put in. "Unfortunately, he also managed to lock the entire thing down tighter than a steel drum. We were just able to access the room itself a few days ago, but the access terminal is also locked down under even heavier warding. Nanao-chan is still working on it while we're here reporting to you, but we'll need more hands helping to figure out how to deactivate whatever tricks and traps that Aizen managed to set up on it. Preferably from someone who is not as morally bankrupt as Kurotsuchi."

"We cannot allow Urahara back into the Soul Society." Yamamoto flatly denied, easily seeing where his two students were going with this. "In the absence of the Central 46, I may be in charge of the Seireitei under martial law, but I cannot undo any decision that were made by the Central 46 unless I can prove that the charges placed were indeed false. And while the accusations of Urahara Kisuke being involved in the conducting of Hollowfication experiments on his fellow Shinigami are undoubtedly false, he did create a Hōgyoku, which Aizen showed was indeed capable of such a feat with his use of his own. Similarly, Tsukabishi Tessai used forbidden Kidō to manipulate space and time, so his own exile remains justified."

"Genryūsai-sensei, we cannot risk Kurotsuchi gaining access to the records contained in the Daireishokairō." his white-haired student protested flatly. "What he did with the Quincies is only a small example of just what sort of immoral and depraved madness that man is capable of in the pursuit of his 'research.' With unrestricted access to the full history of the Soul Society, he could find information on who knows how many long forbidden experimental projects that made Project Spearhead and the Bount look like a child's game in comparison."

Grimacing slightly, the Sōtaichō was forced to agree. Kurotsuchi was a sociopath, to put the matter in the most mild of terms, and had absolutely no sense of moral fibre to speak of. His systematic capture and murder via experimentation of countless Quincy who had entered the Soul Society after the genocidal war that Yamato had led against them was unconscionable no matter how one put it. Not only had it been morally, ethically, and legally wrong, but it had also drastically weakened the Soul Society and the Goteijūsantai by denying them what could have easily amounted to a full squad, if not two or even more, of possible recruits, some of which could have easily grown quite capable if given the chance.

"Regardless, the next iteration of the Central 46 will not accept my overturning of any of their immediate predecessor's decisions without at least a certain amount of justifiable evidence." Yamamoto responded with a shake of his head. "I was able to overturn any and all of the directives made after their deaths as the direct actions of Aizen Sōsuke and have already instigated investigations into all of their more questionable decision made in the century since the trial of Urahara Kisuke, Tsukabishi Tessai, and Shihōin Yoruichi, but actually overturning the exile of those three is all-but impossible, since they undeniably did commit crimes against the Central 46."

"Yama-jii…" Kyōraku let out a sigh.

"Enough. It is what it is, there is nothing we can do to change it." the Sōtaichō stated firmly. "You shall just have to do as best as you can with what you have available. This is the highest priority for the both of you. You are permitted Lieutenant Ise Nanao as an aid, but that is it."

"Very well, Genryūsai-sensei." Jūshirō acquiesced with a sigh. "Have we received any more news from the World of the Living?"

"The Bount attempted to attack and murder the family of Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Kirika, and it is in the opinion of Shihōin Yoruichi that the Bount's main focus seems to be the capture of a renegade female Bount called called Sōma Yoshino, as well as the Quincy, Ishida Uryū; although the reasons why those two in particular are being targeted is still unknown." Yamamoto answered simply. "At present, most of the former Ryoka are training to become stronger and access more of their powers, while the more experienced ones, alongside Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia are attempting to hunt the Bount down to their home base, although they are only limited success so far."

"Sounds as if they could use some reinforcements." the flamboyant Kyōraku suggested slyly.

"Shihōin Yoruichi made the same suggestion and I have been debating the idea." the Captain-Commander admitted. "Whatever these Bount are up to, I feel it cannot bode well for Soul Society if they are allowed to complete it. Yet sending a large contingent to the World of the Living while we are still dealing with the aftermath of everything that occurred during the Ryoka Invasion is not something I am willing to authorize."

"Then how about sending a small, elite team then, Yama-jii?" Shunsui proposed with a grin. "A Captain, a Lieutenant, and a few Seated Officers should give the group enough muscle to deal with the issue without seriously impacting our available manpower if anything occurs. Might be a good idea to select them from those already know the Ryoka and can fight alongside them without making asses of themselves."

Ignoring his student's rather crude wording, Kyōraku had indeed hit upon the very idea that Yamamoto himself ad been considering. "And who among the Seated Officers would you consider for such a task?"

"Well, two of Squad 11's Officers, Third Seat Madarame Ikkaku and Fifth Seat Ayasegawa Yumichika, would be my first suggestions." Jūshirō offered amicably. "Both of them sided with the Ryoka at the end of that entire mess, and likely left on some of the best footing with them afterwards. Another good choice might be Co-Third Seat Yamada Hanatarō of Squad 4, but I doubt that Unohana-taichō will permit that."

"Mmm." Yamamoto considered the first two, as Jūshirō was quite correct that Unohana Retsu would not allow her division to be separated out in dribs and drabs. Both of the mentioned members of Squad 11 were easily capable of being counted as a Lieutenant Rank in terms of raw power and ability, and they indeed had left on some of the best terms with the young Ryoka when everything was resolved.

"And you doubtlessly already have some suggestion to which Captain and Lieutenant should be sent as well, don't you?" the older Soul Reaper prodded Kyōraku, who smiled.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku." he responded simply. "Out of all of the Captains, Hitsugaya-taichō is the youngest and the most mentally flexible, so he should be able to adapt quickly to working with the Ryoka. He is also strong-minded and independent enough to make his own decisions in the field as they come up, as seen by his tracking down of Aizen in the Chūō Shijūroku Shitsu before his big appearance at the Hakutōmon. Rangiku-fukutaichō, on the other hand, is easily the most laid-back and easy to get along with Lieutenant among our current ranks and she has plenty of experience working with her fellow officers. Like her Captain, she is also mentally flexible and unlike to hold any kind of grudge against the former Ryoka."

"Hmm. Yes, I can see your points on all of your suggestions so far. I shall consider the matter more deeply tonight and make a final decision tomorrow." Yamamoto nodded, which was basically him agreeing to their suggestion without argument. The delay would mostly be for appearance's sake. Letting the various Noble Families know just how implicitly he trusted Jūshirō and Shunsui's opinions would be a most foolish thing to do, after all.

"Well then, I suppose we had best get back and relieve Nanao-chan." Shunsui offered with a sigh. Beating his head against a fancy 'computer' contraption, as any modern Soul from the World of the Living would likely call the Daireishokairō, was by no means his idea of a good time, but the rules regarding who was and wasn't allowed so much as being near the Daireishokairō were completely ironclad. No one below the rank of Lieutenant was allowed to even enter the room that contained it, and they were only allowed access on an as-needs basis, normally requiring the endorsement of at least one member of the Central 46 to gain access.

"Genryūsai-sensei." Jūshirō bowed politely before departing, Shunsui lazily waving as he followed his friend.

"Those two brats will never change." the Sōtaichō muttered as he turned his head to look out of the window and thought about the recent happenings. The Ryoka, he knew, did not see the actions of Tōsen, Ichimaru and Aizen as those among the Goteijūsantai did. To Yamamoto and the other Captains and Lieutenants, this was a betrayal by colleagues, brothers, comrades, mentors…young Hinamori Momo was still having a hard time coming to terms with Aizen's betrayal, even more so than the rest of the higher-ranking Seated Officers of Squad 5.

Tōsen, always so resolved to see justice done. Ichimaru, unconventional and maverick, but oh-so clever. Aizen, affable and supportive…were the faces they had shown simple deceptions, as Kurosaki Kirika asserted, or were there kernels of the men they had pretended to be hidden within their façades? Aizen, as the ringleader, was beyond saving, but perhaps there was still some hope for Tōsen and Ichimaru…perhaps. Captains didn't exactly grow on trees, and leaving any of the Squads short of an actual Captain was not something he would prefer to do, as it implied weakness on the part of the Goteijūsantai.

Feeling every one of his two thousand years of age, Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryūsai sat and brooded on how much change had occurred inside such a short frame of time.

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Next Chapter: Reinforcements from the Seireitei: Koga Gō Strikes!

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