Chapter 29: Ryoka 1/2

AN: Hey everyone, back with another update. Not much to say for this Author's Note after leaving such a long one last Chapter.

Anyways, as always, thanks for your continued support!

Vocabulary Terms:

*Baka (Bakamono) = Fool/Idiot

*Onii-sama = Big Brother

*Obasan = Aunt

*Chappy = Most popular soul candy with a cutesy personality and depicted as a bunny.

*Ryoka = Traveling Evil(s)/ outsiders not associated with the Seireitei

*Senzaikyu = Palace of Penitence/Repentance Palace

*Sekkiseki =Spirit reducing stone, a special mineral with properties that allows it to repel all reiryoku.

*Shakonmaku = Soul-Warding Membrane. A large spherical barrier surrounding the Seireitei that vaporizes any reishi that tries to pass through the barrier.

*Sokyoku = Twinned Punishment. A giant halberd currently sealed on the Sokyoku Hill and used to execute nefarious criminals of the Soul Society.

Reading the story:

-Scene change: "888"

-Rated M Scene: "XXX"

-Hello, how are you? (Someone in their own thoughts)

-Hello how are you? (Zanpakuto Spirit speaking in a Shinigami's mind)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 29

Kishin yawned and walked out of the bathroom with only a towel draped around his waist after taking a morning shower. His arm rose in the air as he stretched his back a bit. His head slightly moved from one side to the other as he loosened his stiff muscles. His hair was still a bit damp and left hanging down his head flowing slightly past his shoulders. He made his way over to the bed and smiled at Rukia who was still asleep beneath the covers. Her attire consisted of a simple underwear with a large white t-shirt that belonged to him. The lotus flower necklace that he gave her was still laced around her neck. Her soft breathing filled his ears as he neared ever closer. A warm fuzzy feeling attacked his heart and butterflies fluttered in the pit of his stomach.

I don't think I'll ever get over how cute and beautiful she is.

He sat at the edge of the bed causing it to dip down beneath his weight as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. His action caused her to stir awake.

"Kishin?" She groggily inquired.

He smirked and softly brushed the side of her cheeks. "Morning sleepy head."

She pouted and rubbed her eyes to clear her vision as she took in the sight of him. "Hmpf. Are you saying I'm lazy?"

Kishin just let out a light chuckle. "Hahaha, what's wrong with that? It's only been about two weeks so you've still got more than 5 months of punishment to serve. It's okay to take this time and sleep all you want. I'll take care of you. Promise."

Rukia pouted again and sat up in bed whilst crossing her arms. "I'm not a useless person. I'll pull my own weight around here thank you very much."

Kishin gave her a curious glance and simply replied, "Sure sure, but you don't have much weight to pull around."

Whack!

"Ow!" He rubbed his head where she had hit him. She blushed at his teasing remark and glared daggers at him. "I-I eat a lot okay!"

Muah!

He quickly pecked her on the cheek leaving a wet kiss mark on her face before walking over to the closet to get dressed. "Senpai, while I don't mind you sleeping as much as you want, I think that it's best for you to get up. It's better for you to be up and about stretching and using your muscles. If you rest too much then you'll get stiff."

"I don't think I'll ever grow stiff with you around…" She whispered near inaudibly.

Kishin widened his eyes and immediately understood the underlying meaning in her words. A large grin formed on his lips as he tied his hakama around his waist. "On second thought, I change my mind. Just lay in bed. I'll make sure to stretch you out every night. Full body. With me around I promise you'll get more than the daily recommended exercise." A playful glint flashed in the depths of his eyes as he imagined their sweaty bodies rubbing and grinding together deep into the night.

Rukia's face flushed crimson red at his comment so she threw one of the fluffy pillows on the bed at him.

Fwump!

A dull sound echoed from the pillow hitting his back. "B-Bakamono! I'm more likely to be super sore the next day…"

"Hahaha, don't be like that Rukia." He turned around still shirtless and pressed her down into the mattress planting light airy kisses along her jawline. His left hand slipped beneath her shirt and rested over her smooth cute bellybutton. "Tell me you don't like it when you feel me inside here."

She shuddered at his touch and his teasing dark voice. The memories of their carnal nights together flooded her thoughts causing her to quiver beneath him. Her breathing grew rapid causing a mischievous smile to form on Kishin's lips. He gave her one long and deep passionate kiss before standing back up and completed dressing himself in his shihakusho. Rukia just laid on the bed sprawled out on her back huffing and panting with her eyes closed. She mentally cursed Kishin for leaving her in that state of physical lust. After a few minutes of her lying there she finally managed to return to reality and sat back up with a grumpy glare in her eyes.

"And where are you going today?" She asked with a slightly unhappy undertone.

Kishin just smirked and poked her forehead. "Don't be like that. I promise to make it up to you. I didn't mean to tease you like that."

"Hmpf. You totally did." She replied unbelievingly.

"Hahaha, c'mon senp-" he didn't finish his sentence as a thought came to him. He turned around and stared at her scrunched up face which only accentuated her cuteness. It was like watching a bunny bare its non-existent fangs at him. "Senpai...say the word and I'll take you right now."

"Eh? Ah...w-wait-" she noted the hungry desirous look in his eyes and pulled the blanket up to cover her face. "I'm fine now Kishin! Ahem, are you seri-"

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Kishin and Rukia were both thrown out of their thoughts and turned to look out the window at the same time. Both of them furrowed their brow in contemplation. Rukia broke the silence first as she questioned, "Is that...is that the warning bell? Someone is actually invading the Seireitei?"

Kishin let out a sigh and strapped his Zanpakuto to his waist.

So it begins. Yushiro, I'm counting on you.

Rukia turned to see Kishin standing in silence and raised her eyebrow both curiously and concernedly. "Kishin, what's going on?"

He shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the bedroom. "If I'm not wrong then it must be Ichigo."

Rukia's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. "W-WHAT?! What do you mean it's Ichigo?" She hopped out of bed and immediately started dressing herself in her shihakusho while continuing her line of questioning, "What makes you say that? Why would he be here? How would he even know how to get here? Wait! Don't tell me it was Urahara who helped him? Who the heck is that Urahara person really? After all the work that we went through to keep him alive he decides to offer his life up to the Soul Society? What is he thinking?! I'm gonn-"

Huff. Huff. Huff. Huff.

She huffed and puffed in anxiousness and worry as Kishin cut her off by placing his hand over her mouth. His lips curled into an amused smile. "Senpai. Take it easy there okay? Just trust me. I won't let Hinamori get executed and I already made some plans to help out Ichigo."

Rukia took a good minute to get her breathing under control before a look of confusion and astonishment flashed in her eyes. "W-Wait...you are really going to help stop Hinamori's execution? And you already made plans to help out Ichigo? Then...that night on the day you rescued me, you and Urahara-san were talking. It didn't make sense to me but something really is happening isn't it?"

Kishin nodded and patted her head reassuringly. "Yes. That's why, don't worry too much. You only need to trust me. Senpai, I need to get going because there are things I need to take care of. You are still technically under house arrest so you can't go anywhere. Stay here and don't leave, but keep your Zanpakuto on you just in case alright? And call me if something happens."

Rukia gritted her teeth feeling completely useless. She wanted to help, but she couldn't argue with Kishin's reasoning. She let out a drawn out sigh and clenched her hands into fists unwillingly. "A-Alright. Fine. I'll stay here for now. But if something bad is happening then don't expect me to just sit tight like a statue."

Kishin nodded. "Alright, fine."

Rukia was a bit taken aback as she thought Kishin was going to fight her more on that point, but he instead readily agreed.

Kishin just smirked and poked her nose. "I wish I could tie you up to the bed."

She pouted and crossed her arms. "You're being a bit extreme aren't you?"

He simply gave her a quick wink. "Love you."

Fwish!

A burst of wind breezed in the room as he blurred into the distance before Rukia could reply. She tried to keep a grumpy face, but her feelings betrayed her and so she let out a sigh of defeat. "Haaah...love you too...be careful, Kishin."

Kishin made his way into the midst of Seireitei and took note of the giant Sekkiseki walls that had already fallen down from the sky preventing anyone on the outside from entering. His gaze turned towards the western gate in the far distance knowing that the cause of everything was due to Ichigo and his entourage making a fuss in that direction.

I wonder how things went...did Ichigo fight Jidanbo? Did they encounter Gin? Did Ichigo really come here with his Human friends?

Kishin narrowed his eyes, remaining still in silence for a few long minutes before he dashed out to the secret underground training area beneath the Sokyoku Hill where he had asked Yushiro to bring Ichigo and the others. He arrived unhindered and took a seat on the flat surface of a giant rock formation simply waiting.

"Hopefully everything goes well. So far it seems that Aizen has planned things to go exactly as I recalled the events of the future, however he's using Hinamori as a pawn this time instead of Rukia."

He laid down on his back relaxedly and flipped open his denreishinki that currently tracked and monitored Rukia's status.

She really stayed put and didn't secretly leave.

A smile found its way to his lips. "I know you wanted to join in the fray senpai, but not just yet."

He frowned as he thought more about Aizen wondering what his next move would be. "Since I had Yushiro intervene they shouldn't need to use Kukaku's cannonball to break through the Shakonmaku surrounding the Seireitei. Now the question is, does Aizen know that I'm the one pulling the strings behind the scenes and messing with his little game and how is he going to react…"

He furrowed his brow and let out a sigh as he simply continued waiting. An hour passed. Four hours passed. Evening came and turned into night. Kishin frowned at how long it was taking and was just about to sit up and leave when he felt a few reiatsu presences enter the training ground.

Oh? This is definitely Yushiro's reiatsu. Mmmm...Yoruichi's with him, so is Ichigo huh? There's four others…

It was then he heard in the distance Ichigo's voice. "Oi, uhhh...Yushiro right? Look, I still have no clue what or who you're talking about. And this place...it looks really familiar. It looks like hat 'n clog's underground training area. Also, you keep saying that Yoruichi is your sister, but no matter how you look at it Yoruichi is a cat. Not only that but isn't Yoruichi a male cat? But maaaan, thanks for your help. Without you we wouldn't have gotten into the city."

Yushiro simply ignored Ichigo's comments and waved his hand in the air shouting aloud, "Kishiiiiin! We're here!"

Everyone by Yushiro's side plugged their ears at his loud voice.

Yoruichi, who was still in her cat form and held in Yushiro's arms, widened her eyes in shock. "E-Eh? Kishin? That's who you're taking us to meet?"

Yushiro amiably nodded. "That's right. This was all Kishin's plan."

"Kishin? Who's that?" Ichigo curiously asked.

It was then that they stopped before a giant rock and all looked up. At first they saw nothing, but then Kishin sat up and revealed himself to everyone down below.

"Yo. What took so long?" He asked as he jumped down.

Thud!

A little dust cloud rose around his feet as he landed on the ground in front of everyone. Yushiro just beamed and held out Yoruichi in front of him as he excitedly replied, "You didn't lie! You were telling the truth! Big sis was with the Ryoka! Hahahaha! This is awesome! I got to see my sister again!"

He then rubbed his cheeks against Yoruichi's cat face causing Yoruichi to give a helpless look at Kishin. "You! How could you tell Yushiro about me? And how did you know where we'd be?"

Kishin just smirked and lightly patted Yoruichi's head. "This is what you get for being in your cat form. You can't outrun Yushiro in that visage. And it wasn't hard to guess where you'd be. The western district is Urahara's base of operations." He then looked at everyone else taking in their looks. He already knew Ichigo. He was the orange headed spiky haired one wearing a black Shinigami shihakusho with a red string wrapped diagonally across his chest. He stood at about 178cm tall with a lean somewhat muscular build. He had peach colored skin and brown eyes and was about 15 years old in age. His facial features bore a striking resemblance to that of Shiba Kaien.

Next to Ichigo was a man with glasses with chin length dark blue hair that fell on either side of his face. His build was quite lean and slender and he stood at an average height of 175cm tall. He was fair skinned and blue-eyed also seeming to be around the age of 15. Kishin knew that this person was Ishida Uryu. He had seen Ishida through the spy cams he had hidden in Karakura Town during Rukia's stay there. Ishida wore white Quincy style clothes looking almost like a priest. A blue line ran down the middle of his clothes and a white and blue striped glove was worn on his right hand.

Next to Ishida was a woman with waist length long flowing burnt orange colored hair. Like Ichigo she too had brown eyes. She was average in height standing at about 159cm tall with a slender but quite curvaceous build. She was fair skinned and had quite a prominent bust size as well. She seemed to be the same age as the others and had her hair tucked behind her ears held in place by blue colored hairpins on the side of her head. Kishin recalled her name as Inoue Orihime. Orihime was wearing a simple pink t-shirt and gray colored pants.

Standing in the back of the group were two men. One was extremely tall standing at a height of 197cm. They were just a bit older than the others, though they physically looked much older. They had a dark tan and somewhat short shaggy brown hair with brown eyes and they had a tattoo on their left shoulder that read love and death in italian. They were quite muscular and wore a gray tank top with a red stripe mark on the left side and black pants to match. Kishin recalled this person being named Sado Yasutora.

And last but not least, the final member of their entourage was a somewhat burly man who stood at 183cm in height. They had chin length black hair that was held back and mostly covered by a green colored bandanna. They were partially missing part of their left eyebrow and they wore a light tan shirt with a green vest over it with matching green pants. This person Kishin knew about as he had researched him when looking into the Great Noble Clans. This was Shiba Ganju, the younger brother of Shiba Kukaku and Shiba Kaien.

Finally after he finished noting who everyone was he couldn't help but wonder why Urahara and Yoruichi even let Sado and Orihime come. Their battle power wasn't anything significant. It was then the silence in the air was broken by Ichigo's voice. "Hm? AH! It's you!"

Kishin raised his eyebrow in curiosity and pointed to himself. "What about me?"

Ichigo frowned and immediately placed his hand on his Zanpakuto. "You're the one who took Rukia away! Where is she?!"

Yushiro immediately stepped in between them and glared at Ichigo. "If you attack my good brother then I'll take you out first."

Ichigo stared confusedly at Yushiro and then to Yoruichi. "Are you serious?! This is the guy who let those other guys take Momo away and no doubt he took Rukia away as well! We came here precisely to save them. I'm not just going to stand here and pretend that he wasn't involved!"

Before Kishin could make a move or say anything Yoruichi jumped out of Yushiro's arms to mediate the situation. "Hold on a second Ichigo. And Yushiro, you too. Stand down."

Yushiro pouted, but he could only listen to his older sister. Yoruichi let out a sigh and took a seat on the ground whilst wrapping her tail around herself. "Listen here Ichigo. Kishin is not our enemy. It's true that he took Rukia away, but there's no need to worry about her." She looked over her shoulder and up at Kishin before continuing, "Isn't that right? Kishin."

Kishin just smirked and leaned against the rock wall nearby. "You don't have to worry about Rukia. I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. She's fine and resting well back at my place. Her punishment was 6 months of house arrest. The problem here is Hinamori. There's only ten days left before her execution."

Ichigo frowned again, having a hard time believing Kishin's words. "I'm supposed to just believe this guy? I'll believe it with my eyes when I see Rukia."

Kishin furrowed his brow and took a step forward. "And what is she to you?"

"Huh?! You're asking me that? More like I should be the one asking YOU that. Why should I believe anything you say about Rukia?"

"You don't have to. And I don't need to explain myself to you."

"What's that?!"

Yoruichi let out a long sigh in frustration. "AHHH! Quiet! Both of you! Look, can we have a civil conversation. We need to figure out what's going on." She turned to Kishin and asked, "How did you know we were going to be at the western gate? And why did you have Yushiro bring us here?"

Kishin glared at Ichigo for a moment longer before turning his attention to Yoruichi. "How I know about the western precinct doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm helping in the rescue of Hinamori."

"Oh? Kisuke did say that you'd help. Care to fill us in on what your plan is?"

Kishin crossed his arms and stared Yoruichi in the eyes confusedly as he asked, "I would but...I'm curious. What exactly was YOUR plan? Just waltz into the Seireitei and one man army your way through?"

Yoruichi awkwardly coughed in guilt before she recomposed herself. "Ahaha...well things went a little off the rails at the start. We came through the Dangai using Kisuke's Senkaimon, but we were chased by the Kototsu. We entered a time tunnel that blasted us out earlier than our expected arrival time. This worked in our favor, but we ran into some trouble. We ran into Jidanbo, the west gate's guardian and had a scuffle with him. Afterwards we had a brief encounter with Ichimaru."

Kishin had an unperturbed look on his face as he had already expected those turn of events to happen. "What happened after?"

Yoruichi turned to face Yushiro and continued, "Well, we treated Jidanbo's injuries and were taken in by the elder of the Rukon district. That's where we met Ganju and soon after, Yushiro found us. I was going to take everyone to Kukaku, but Yushiro told us about some sort of plan and insisted that he help sneak us inside Seireitei. We still ended up seeing Kukaku, but in the end I decided that our best bet was to have Yushiro sneak us in. Using Kukaku's cannonball method would be too flashy."

Kishin nodded in agreement. "Well, say that you made it into the Seireitei, what then? You all would have been fish on a chopping block."

Ichigo frowned and retorted, "What's that?! You underestimating us?"

Kishin simply waved his hand dismissing Ichigo's comment. "I'm not underestimating you all. Rather, I'm stating a fact." He then pointed to Orihime and said, "I can tell from your aura that you don't have what it takes to fight." He pointed to Sado right after and said, "The amount of reiryoku you possess is too little to be of any use here. There are thousands of Shinigami in the Seireitei and 13 Lieutenants. Not to mention the 13 Captains. You'll only end up dead." He then pointed to Ganju after and said, "Your strength isn't that great either. None of you stand a chance at saving Hinamori."

Ishida furrowed his brow and took a step forward. "Oh? Then what about Kurosaki and I?"

Kishin shook his head. "You're a quincy huh?"

"Wha-? How did you know?" Ishida warily asked.

Kishin just shrugged. "From my interaction with Yoruichi, you should have been able to guess that I'm acquainted with Urahara. I know who all of you are already. I really don't get why that guy let all of you come here."

Yoruichi quickly interjected before another heated argument could start up. "Let's! Just all calm down. What's done is done. They are here. So, Kishin. I realize that our plan wasn't great, but we had to work with what he had with the time given to us. What about you? Since you knew we were coming and had Yushiro bring us here I reckon you have a better plan?"

Kishin took a moment to recollect his thoughts before nodding. "I do. Leave the saving to Toshiro, Yushiro, and Kinji. We'll wait until the day of the execution to save her when she's brought out of the Senzaikyu."

Ichigo widened his eyes in shock and anger. "WHAT?! NO! Why should we wait until the very last moment? It could be too late then! We should save her before then!"

Yoruichi held up a paw to stop anyone else from voicing dissent before she continued, "I reckon there is a reason why you want to wait until the last moment?"

Once again Kishin nodded. "That's right. Several reasons. It's only 10 days until her execution. The Sokyoku will be released, but Yushiro and Kinji will destroy the Sokyoku using the Shihoin Shield."

Yoruichi's eyes widened in realization. "The Shihoin Shield?! But that was given to Ukitake."

"That's right. I've enlisted the help of Captain Ukitake and Captain Kyoraku."

"AH?! Even Ukitake and Kyoraku are helping?"

"They are. So you see my plan is better than your half-assed run amok in the Seireitei plan. Anyways, the real reason why we need to wait until the last moment has to do with Aizen."

Yoruichi frowned at the mention of Aizen's name. "And why's that?"

"I already know what Urahara-san did. Aizen wants to use the Sokyoku to obtain the Hogyoku. You know that don't you?"

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes before letting out a sigh. "So you know about that...I see."

Ichigo and the others tilted their head in confusion as Ichigo inquired, "Know about what? Who is this Toshiro, Kinji, Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Aizen person you guys are talking about? What the hell is the Hogyoku? What the hell is the Sokyoku? What the hell is going on here?"

Kishin crossed his arms and stared at Yoruichi. "I see you and Urahara really didn't tell them anything. Well, I suppose they don't really need to know since it'll just distract them."

Before anyone could comment, Yoruichi put up her paw and said, "It's fine. Everyone. There's no need to concern yourself with these matters just yet. It'll only confuse all of you more. Right now your only concern needs to be the rescue of Hinamori." She then turned to look back at Kishin and asked, "Your plan wouldn't happen to include us in it would it?"

Kishin took a moment to glance at Ichigo and the others before letting out a sigh. "Unfortunately you all didn't enter Soul Society discreetly. Now everyone is looking for all of you. The best choice for you all is to simply remain here and train for the next 10 days and prepare yourself for the final confrontation."

Ichigo frowned and shook his head. "I refuse! I'm here to rescue Rukia and Momo. You think I'm just going to wait around here and do nothing? I can't trust a single word you say! I haven't forgotten that you did something to me that night, knocking me unconscious."

Kishin smirked and immediately released his reiatsu into the area.

FWOOM!

"UGH!" Ichigo, Ishida, Sado, Orihime, and Ganju cried out in shock and alarm at the same time as they struggled under the weight of Kishin's spiritual pressure. Their breathing became labored and sweat began dripping down the side of their faces. Kishin narrowed his eyes and said nonchalantly, "Look at the state you guys are in. This is merely the level of a Lieutenant's reiatsu but you all are having such a hard time standing already. You think you guys can accomplish anything like that?"

Before anyone could answer Kishin increased the level of his reiatsu again immediately causing Ichigo to fall down on his hands and knees. Everyone else laid completely flat against the floor desperately trying to breathe.

"This is only the level of an average Captain's reiatsu. Look at all of you groveling on the ground. You can barely breathe let alone move. And you think you're some hot shit? Don't get snarky with me. If you want to go out there and die then I won't stop you, but if you want to save Hinamori then shut up and listen."

Whoosh!

The heavy pressure in the air immediately dissipated as Kishin reigned in his reiatsu. Yoruichi slapped a paw over her face in awkwardness whilst Ichigo and the others took several long minutes to catch their breath and to calm down their beating hearts. Ichigo had an unwilling look in his eyes as he stared at Kishin with frustration.

"You bastard! Huff...huff...I-"

"Ichigo!" Yoruichi shouted and interjected.

"Y-Yoruichi?"

"Haaah...just let it go."

Ichigo frowned and angrily inquired, "Why should I? This guy's dangerous...and no one even told us who he is yet!"

Yoruichi let out a slight cough before answering, "Right. Well then, allow me to introduce him. As you all have probably guessed by now he is a close acquaintance with Kisuke and I. His name is Chigetsu Kishin and he's the Lieutenant of the 13th division."

Ishida widened his eyes in shock as he struggled to stand back up and asked suspiciously, "How can that be? You said he's a Lieutenant...but he said that he raised his reiatsu to the level of a Captain's. Doesn't that mean he's a Captain?"

Yoruichi shook her head. "No. The truth is that Kishin is really a Lieutenant, however his true power has transcended far beyond that. The only reason why he's not a Captain is because all the posts are already filled. Anyways let's get back on topic. If you can't trust Kishin then at least trust me. There's no need to argue against Kishin. He's telling the truth and is trustworthy. I can guarantee that."

Ichigo and Ishida clicked their tongues at Yoruichi's answer whilst the others simply felt a hint of fear grow in their hearts at the memory of how powerful and dangerous Kishin's display of power was just a moment ago. Kishin clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Great, so now that that's all settled can we get a move on?"

Ichigo furrowed his brow still feeling displeased, but in the end he held back his temper. "Tch. Move on to what?"

Kishin pointed at Ichigo and said, "Of everyone here, you have the greatest potential. You should spend this time training to become stronger. If I'm not wrong...it's possible for you to gain the strength of a Captain within the next 10 days. As long as you're willing to suffer a little and put in the effort that is."

Ichigo furrowed his brow. "Suffer? What do you mean?"

"Heh. Look, there's not a lot of time left before Hinamori's execution. That means you can't take it easy and learn step by step. That means the only way to uncover your potential and have you grow stronger is to suffer and fight over and over again and again to the death."

"Fight...to the death?"

Yoruichi took a moment to stare at Kishin before asking, "Kishin...are you planning to train him?"

He took a moment pondering to himself before nodding. "It's bothersome, but I promised Rukia that I'd do something about the whole situation. These kids are too weak and useless to be of any help the way they are right now and honestly speaking, I already laid the groundwork for everything. Even without them we can save Hinamori. They're only useful as a distraction."