What Now?

Ichigo didn't know how long he stood there, holding his mother. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. All he knew was that when they finally separated, his eyes had long since run out of tears.

"Ichigo… Yuzu… Karin…" Masaki murmured, gently breaking off the hug. "How many years has it been? You've all grown so much…"

"I'm sixteen now," Ichigo whispered. It seemed so surreal now, like a dream, to have his mother back, even if she was a spirit. "It's been six and a half years…"

Quickly drawing the correct conclusions, Masaki glanced downwards at her twin daughters, "You're eleven years old? I've missed so much… I'm so sorry… "

Ichigo felt a twinge in his heart at that – did she blame him for getting her killed?

"It's alright, Mom…" Karin assured her, her voice a bit choked up. "You're here now."

"Let's get your mother caught up on everything, shall we?" Isshin asked rhetorically, his face bearing a smile.

And so, the Kurosaki family reclaimed the living room. Zennosuke, Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro had left already. Since Aizen was apparently gone – otherwise, Ichigo would still be fighting – they figured it was likely safe to return to where they should be.

Ichigo, still wary about the effects of his reiatsu on his family, took a nearby comfy chair. Isshin sat across from him, while Masaki, Yuzu and Karin settled on the couch. The conversation started haltingly, but soon they had gotten caught up in the storytelling, with Isshin only occasionally interjecting.

Yuzu told her mother how she had taken over the household, the cooking and cleaning especially, and how she teamed up with her father on spying on Ichigo at times. Isshin, Ichigo and Karin all praised Yuzu for being the one who managed to keep them together as a family during those troubled years of grief.

Karin laid out her life simply, sharing how she'd been able to see ghosts for almost all her life but refusing to believe in them, how she'd joined the soccer team and grown stronger, strong enough to not let her family worry about her. Now she was even able to take care of the weaker Hollows!

When it was Ichigo's turn, he found he had a very dry throat. What could he say? His life had been far from easy, but if anyone deserved to know, his mother did. So, he began with his karate training with Tatsuki. Masaki already knew about that, she'd picked him up from the dojo before she died, so it was a decent place to start in Ichigo's mind. Then he described how he'd come to need the skills he picked up from there as bullies and thugs picked on him because of his hair color, and how he'd gained a best friend for life when he saved Chad. He relived the exhilaration of finally beating Tatsuki in karate, and explained how his skills as a fighter gave him a reputation, one that persisted due to the thugs who kept challenging him.

"I know, hardly the best thing for a high school teenager," Ichigo admitted when he saw his mother's shocked face. "But I'm not going to dye my hair just to avoid fights. I won't let anyone stupid enough to challenge me force me to change something I got from you."

Yuzu, who had more than once urged Ichigo to dye his hair to keep from coming home bruised and bleeding, barely held in a gasp as Ichigo finally gave his true reasons for his stubborn refusal. Ichigo had indeed inherited Masaki's fiery orange-red hair, and who could blame him for wanting to hold onto that precious piece of her after she had died?

Masaki smiled, flattered but unsurprised. "How did you become a Shinigami?"

Ichigo grew quiet for several seconds before he nodded, knowing where to begin. "Last year, my life changed forever when a Shinigami leapt in through my window. Her name was Kuchiki Rukia, and she was looking for a Hollow that my reiatsu had attracted. She explained what she was, and what her purpose was in Karakura. But then she sensed the Hollow, which had injured Dad, and captured Yuzu.

"She had bound me in a Bakudō, but I broke it and chased after her, leaping at the Hollow to save Yuzu." Ichigo chuckled self-deprecatingly, raising his hand to his neck and rubbing it. "I was smacked away effortlessly, and Rukia got very injured trying to purify it. She asked me if I wanted to save my family, and when I agreed to do anything, she thrust her Zanpakutō into my heart, giving me her Shinigami powers. With them, I slew the Hollow effortlessly. That was the start. I ended up getting my own powers, but that story is the beginning of a war that ends with Aizen's death by my hand."

"We've got nothing but time, Ichigo," Isshin assured him with a small smile. "Besides, it's time we got the full story."

Initially about to refuse, a glance at his mother's face, pleading to know exactly who her son was after so many years of absence, Ichigo relented.

His family was the perfect audience. They gasped at all the right parts, and even Karin looked stricken when Ichigo related how close he'd come to losing against his Hollow side permanently when it came to saving Inoue. Almost two hours and a tall glass of water later, he finished his story with the choice Aizen had forced him to make on who to sacrifice, and how he'd come to his decision to forsake pride, honor and his word, to fulfill his vow to protect everyone.

By the time Ichigo had finished, his mother was crying once again. "My baby boy's… all grown up."

Ichigo felt distinctly uncomfortable with how he'd made his mother cry, but he had no idea how to fix it. Looking slightly panicked, he leaned forward, waving his hands in front of him as though to deny her claims. "Ah, well, I…"

Isshin, on the other hand, merely got up, made his way to the couch, and reached an arm around his late wife. "Masaki… he's had to learn some hard lessons early due to the war. But Ichigo's still a teenager, and he has a lot to learn about life, rather than the practice of death. He still needs you, just not for the same reasons as when he was young."

To Ichigo's surprise, Masaki managed to nod, swallowing her tears and murmuring apologies, which were quickly waved off by everyone. It had been a very emotional day, by anyone's standards. Wow. For once, Ichigo was impressed with his father. He hadn't acted like a total fool, and had instead somehow managed to quickly identify and address the exact issue Masaki was having. How did he do that?

"That said… Ichigo, I'm very proud of you. You were put into an impossible position that no man should ever be placed in, and you found an answer you can live with without regret. So what are you going to do now?"

"I'm thinking… it's time for a vacation."

"A vacation?" Karin and Yuzu asked in unison.

Ichigo gave a sharp nod. "Yeah. I've had enough of war, of desperate struggles to get stronger in time, of life-changing realizations of who and what I am, of choices that decide the fate of thousands of people. So as soon as I'm back in my body, I'm going to take a vacation, and figure out what I'm going to do from now on. I need time to feel like a human teenager again. Anything that isn't life-threatening can wait until I get back."

Isshin nodded seriously. He knew that there were limits to what the human mind could take – endless fighting put a strain on the psyche that nothing but time, rest and relaxing experiences could relieve. There would be other challenges, but he could tell as a former leader and a doctor that his son needed the reprieve, or he would reach his mental breaking point. Though it tore him up as a father, he knew that he could no longer treat his son as a child – the war had forced Ichigo to mature early. Though there were things that Ichigo did not know, lessons he had to yet to learn, he was an adult. Ichigo could be nothing less after what he'd been through.

By this point, Soifon had long since returned to Soul Society and alerted Kyōraku-taicho that Aizen was dead, and the Kidō Corps was no longer necessary. The taicho had all been recalled from the orders that Kyōraku-taicho had ordered, and had immediately been given new assignments. Squad 4 was treating Yamamoto, Gin and Tōsen, while Hitsugaya and Komamura stood watch, just in case. Neither of the traitors could be trusted, and having two taicho there should prove a large deterrent from them causing trouble.

Ukitake had returned to his quarters for a rest; the fights had stressed his body, and while his illness had yet to resurface, he wanted to ensure that Squad 4 didn't need to deal with him while they had critical patients. Kyōraku had taken up Yamamoto's duties in addition to his own, and was for once not so laid-back and lackadaisical about what had to be done. He complained lightly about it, but it was nothing compared to how lazy he usually was when dealing with his own squad. It was perhaps the first time that Soifon had seen what Yamamoto had in the man – Kyōraku might actually have what it took to be sōtaicho one day.

Soifon herself had quickly assigned a team of five Onimitsukidō to spy on the Kurosaki family and report back to her in a few days. The team Yamamoto had dispatched to Hueco Mundo finally returned shortly afterward. Because all the other taicho were so busy, it had naturally fallen to her to deal with getting their reports.

Soifon had immediately sent Unohana and the other healers to her division – their healing prowess was more needed than her report, which Soifon believed she could ascertain from the others. Strangely enough, Hinamori Momo was being carried by one of Unohana's team members… But stifling her curiosity, Soifon moved on to acquiring the reports.

Kenpachi was largely unharmed, and Yachiru-fukutaicho was as cheery and healthy as ever. His report had been extremely casual, with many details missing. "Eh? We wandered around a while before found a guy, called himself Yammy. Byakuya got to him first, but he got bigger and madder, and we ended up fighting together. Then Kurotsuchi did his thing with stuff he got from some guy's lab, and opened the way back."

Kurotsuchi Mayuri was completely unharmed, along with his fukutaicho, Nemu. "We arrived in Hueco Mundo, and made our way to Las Noches, but for a while we couldn't find anyone. When I sensed Kuchiki-taicho using his Bankai, I made my way over to where he was, and found a quite interesting Arrancar that I would have loved to run experiments on… he fancied himself a scientist, you see." Mayuri grinned that wide grin that showed almost every single one of his teeth. "It seemed that Kuchiki-taicho had been hit by a liquid that duplicated him several times, all versions using Bankai against each other. I stayed back to watch, as Kuchiki-taicho fought his clones until the Espada used another ability, creating a doll of Kuchiki-taicho. It was quite fascinating, really, witnessing how the Espada was able to destroy Kuchiki-taicho's internal organs just by crushing the doll's parts… I really must see if I can duplicate that ability in myself, it seems quite useful…"

Soifon cleared her throat.

"Mm? Oh. I killed the Espada and healed Kuchiki-taicho, before finding the Espada's lab. I found a device capable of creating a perfect Garganta, which I used to bring us back here. Nemu!"

"Yes?" she asked emotionlessly

"Get everything we recovered from that wanna-be scientist's lab to ours, and begin cataloging everything!"

"Hai." Both Mayuri and Nemu left then, leaving Soifon stewing in her own frustration about taicho who didn't take their jobs seriously enough to give professional reports. Mayuri had given extreme detail on the capabilities of an Arrancar that was now dead, and had been almost flippant about his possible technological findings, which were vastly more important.

Luckily for her state of mind, there was Kuchiki Byakuya left, and he was well-known for succinct, but thorough reports. "After arriving in Hueco Mundo, we separated in the interest of finding and defeating more of the Arrancar," Byakuya reported calmly, stoically. "I was stopped momentarily by a team of Arrancar who called themselves the Exequias, but they were quickly purified by my Shikai. In my exploration of Las Noches, I came across a labyrinth of stairs and walkways that led me to the Octava Espada, Szayel Aporro Granz. His Resurrección proved troublesome to defeat, until Kurotsuchi-taicho and his fukutaicho came to assist. He finally met his end at the hand of Kurotsuchi-taicho due to some unorthodox precautions Kurotsuchi-taicho had made within the body of his fukutaicho.

"Kurotsuchi-taicho remained on site to examine the Espada's lab after healing me with some of his drugs. I set out to search for more Arrancar, and found the Cero Espada, Yammy Llargo. Defeating him took some time due to his special ability of utilizing his rage to increase his strength exponentially, eventually requiring collaboration with Zaraki-taicho. In conclusion, I must state that Substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo was correct in his information regarding the change in Yammy's strength pre- and post-Resurrección.

"After Yammy was defeated, Kurotsuchi-taicho utilized a new device that produced a stable Garganta, allowing us to return to the living world. We were met there by Sado Yasutora and the Quincy, Ishida Uryū. They explained that Hinamori Momo had arrived in the living world to gain answers from Aizen, and Aizen had used his illusions to convince her that Kurosaki Ichigo was the enemy. Sado and Ishida defeated her swiftly, but lacking the capability to transport her to Soul Society, had been waiting for our arrival. Afterwards, we used a Senkaimon to return to Soul Society. I know nothing of Unohana's actions in Hueco Mundo."

The leader of the Onimitsukidō could have sighed in relief. That was all the information she needed for the time being. "Thank you, Kuchiki-taicho."

Byakuya nodded slightly. "Now, what has happened? I presume Aizen is dead."

Soifon quickly gave him a synopsis of the day's events, focusing on Aizen and Kurosaki, though not neglecting to mention Gin's betrayal and Tōsen's capture.

"I see." Byakuya's poker face gave nothing away that could give Soifon a glimpse into his thoughts. "Thank you." He turned and began to leave.

"I ask your honest opinion, Kuchiki-taicho."

Byakuya paused for a moment at the door. "My honest opinion?"

"Yes."

"… Kurosaki Ichigo has many flaws. He is young, brash, disrespectful, and has no sense of tact. I dislike his casual attitude towards nobility and his disregard for tradition and law. However… he is not entirely unrespectable." With that, he swept out of the room, his words hanging in the air.

And what is that supposed to mean? Soifon wondered, her eyes narrowed. His strength is respectable, yes, but there is something in the way he spoke that indicated more… She rubbed her temples. Why can no one understand that Kurosaki must be reined in?

Because they have allowed themselves to put their feelings over their duty. Kurosaki has never done anything terrible to Soul Society, and every single person he fought gained a respect for him. Madarame, Abarai, Zaraki, Kuchiki, Suzumebachi reminded her.

The first three are or were in Squad 11. They only value strength and the ability to fight, which Kurosaki had. Kurosaki saved Kuchiki-taicho's sister. Soifon's eyes lit up in understanding before horror crossed over them once more. She was beginning to comprehend just how many people Kurosaki had on his side within the ranks of the Gotei 13. By his actions, he'd managed to acquire a sizeable chunk of support within the community.

"Then again… the community does not rule Soul Society…" Soifon murmured to herself, recalling how Urahara and Yoruichi had been banished and the Vizard slated for execution, despite the outrage of the taicho of the time. "The Central 46…"

While she was already making plans to plant more Onimitsukidō agents in Kurosaki Masaki's district, such a heavy-handed tactic should be kept as a last resort, Soifon reasoned. Instead, why not let the government make the decisions? It put the Gotei 13 in the best possible position – enforcing law, rather than being the organization that was truly Kurosaki's enemy.

The Central 46 had not reconvened since Aizen had killed their members, as Yamamoto had declared Soul Society to be in a state of martial law. The Central 46 only ruled during times of peace, as they were meant to represent the entirety of Soul Society. When it came to times of war, it had seemed reasonable that the Gotei 13 be put in charge, being a military organization and knowing better than the public what actions had to be taken.

Soifon nodded to herself. As soon as Yamamoto declared the war over, it was mandated by law that the Central 46 retake control of the government. The Central 46 had previously displayed anti-Vizard tendencies in the past. It shouldn't be difficult to instill some fear into them.

Yep! Though you might have problems keeping them from simply ordering you into assassinating him directly…

Soifon paled. That was a problem. The Central 46 had ordered almost precisely that concerning the original Vizard group, and as the leader of the Onimitsukidō, she had the best chance of killing Kurosaki. However, she hadn't been able to pierce Aizen, his reiatsu overwhelming her own. Kurosaki had to have even more enormous reiatsu than Aizen had had, considering the traitor's evolutions. As a result, Kurosaki would be impossible to kill in her usual tactics. If only she had Zaraki-taicho's levels of reiatsu, there could have been a…

Soifon's eyes were wide as her back went ramrod straight, an idea forming almost faster than she could think. Hold on. Zaraki. His eye patch inhibits his reiatsu significantly. How quickly could I commission Research and Development to make a stronger version that could work even on Kurosaki's reiatsu? Without waiting for an answer from Suzumebachi – not that she expected one, Soifon's Zanpakutō rarely spoke up since she'd gained Bankai – Soifon immediately began drafting a request for two such devices. One would be needed for Kurosaki, and one would be for herself – Soifon knew she needed to increase her reiatsu reserves significantly if she wanted any sort of chance.

Soifon nodded to herself, more confidently this time. She now had plans, tentative though they were. She would need to arrange to have Kurosaki willingly wear such a device – and that should prove no trouble, considering his fear of accidentally harming his family with his reiatsu – and work on her own reiatsu levels so if need be, she could take him out. Another alternative was convincing the boy to have a large portion of his reiatsu sealed, much like how taicho and fukutaicho were required to have theirs sealed when on missions in the living world. The emergency backup plan was to use Kurosaki's mother as collateral. That simplified matters enormously – Soifon had no need to use the Central 46 at all.

However, the ideal situation would be to have Kurosaki swear loyalty to the Gotei 13. That power could be put to good use. But how to arrange that? Soifon needed to think more, but one of her subordinates brought her another stack of paperwork, and she resolved to work on that particular problem later.

Urahara stood in front of the Kurosaki residence, his face remorseful. He did not like what he was about to do, but it was necessary. He knocked on the door in front of him.

It was answered by Ichigo. "Urahara?"

"Ichigo… I'm sorry, but it's time."

Ichigo blinked. "Time?"

"Time for Karakura to return to the living world. I'm afraid your mother must remain in Soul Society."

There was a cacophony of denial from Karin and Yuzu as they rushed and stood next to Ichigo steadfastly, blocking Urahara's path inside. Ichigo's expression was unreadable, however. "Why?"

"Ichigo, she is a purified spirit now. Her spirit body subsists on spirit particles in the air – she can't survive long the living world."

"Isn't there some other way?"

Urahara shook his head. "Not until she has developed powers of her own. At that point I could devise a gigai for her, but even then I wouldn't recommend it – she is known to the living world to be dead. Her body was found. Her name was registered as deceased. For her to suddenly return… it would create difficult questions."

Ichigo felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw his mother smiling sadly. "It's ok, Ichigo."

"But we just got you back!" Yuzu cried out. "It's not fair!" Karin said nothing, but her expression indicated she agreed with her fraternal twin.

Masaski kneeled down and held her daughters close. "Sometimes, life isn't fair, darlings. I'll be waiting for you in Soul Society, but I don't want to see you there for a very long time. And when you do come to see me, I want to have a lifetime of stories, ok?"

Yuzu nodded, her eyes already leaking tears. Karin, however, wheeled on her older brother. "Ichigo, you better be ready to deliver messages whenever you go to Soul Society."

His throat dry, Ichigo could only nod. When Masaki stood up, the Vizard hesitantly initiated a hug, which Masaki quickly accepted. "Be safe," Ichigo pleaded.

For the first time in years, Ichigo heard his mother laugh. It warmed his spirit and prompted a heartfelt smile of his own. "I should be telling you that, young man," she chided, still smiling as she broke the hug. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. If I do need anything, I'll see about contacting a Shinigami to get a hold of you."

"Thanks, Mom." Ichigo suddenly realized he felt a lot more… at ease. Peaceful, even. It didn't take long for him to realize why: his mother was alive in a spiritual sense, happy and healthy. She didn't even blame him for her death. Even though she had to reside in Soul Society, he could see her every now and then.

Masaki pulled him in to kiss him on his forehead, before doing the same to Yuzu and Karin. Then she turned and pulled Isshin into a hug, kissing him on the lips for a few seconds.

"I've missed you," Isshin whispered hoarsely.

"And I've missed you. Take good care of our children, Isshin."

Ichigo's father nodded resolutely. "I will."

Her goodbyes made, Masaki gently pushed past her children and took Urahara's hand. "Ichigo… your body will be waiting for you in the shop when the transfer is complete," Urahara informed. "Yours too, Isshin." Then, with a flicker of Shunpo, they were gone.

With a sigh, Isshin closed the door to their home, and sat heavily down on the couch. "I suppose you want my story, Ichigo?" he asked heavily.

Isshin was startled to see his son shake his head negatively at him, a smirk on his face. "Nah. You had your reasons. When you're ready to tell me, then I'll listen." Ichigo leaned against the wall, looking up.

"But aren't you curious who I was?" Isshin asked, astonished.

"A little," Ichigo admitted. "But I can wait. Besides…" His eyes glazed, recalling one of the life-changing lessons that his Zanpakutō had beaten into him, and paraphrasing a little. "… what difference does it make who you were, if I know who you are?"

Just then, Ichigo felt a wave of reiatsu harmlessly pass over him. He blinked, before coming to the obvious conclusion. "Back in the living world?"

"Back in the living world," Isshin confirmed. "Now then, let's get those bodies of ours."

Upon leaving the building, Ichigo's father Shunpo-ed away – he needed his body quickly so he could actually be available as a doctor for if any emergencies came up. Ichigo decided to walk – he could use the quiet time to think.

Now that there wasn't an immediate need to grow insanely stronger as quickly as possible, Ichigo contemplated what he wanted to do with his human lifetime. He'd never honestly thought about it before, but as a high-school student Ichigo knew he had to think about it soon, and recent events had forcefully introduced him to realities of life and death. After having nearly lost his life several times by now – Ichigo's mind flashed to that first Hollow that had attacked his family, to Byakuya destroying his powers, to fighting Kenpachi without his eyepatch, to Aizen slashing him almost in two, before Ichigo snapped out of his recollections – he wanted to make the most of it. But the question was…

What do I want to do with my life? It was a tough question. Until recently, he hadn't really enjoyed doing much of anything. Ichigo had always felt his most alive when fighting after his mother had died. He snorted. Professional recreational fighter?

We'd kick so much ass.

We do have a bit of an unfair advantage, Ichigo reminded his Inner Hollow, though the corners of his lips pulled upwards in amusement.

So let's use those advantages. Mercenary for hire? Bodyguard? International superspy?

Despite himself, Ichigo chuckled at the last suggestion. Now you're just being ridiculous. Though, I could bodyguard, the Vizard mused. The idea had some merit, he had to admit. It served to satisfy his instinctual desire to protect, and gave him an occasional fight. And if a Hollow showed up, Ichigo would just have Kon take over his body while he went and took care of business.

"Not a bad idea," he finally muttered aloud, before noticing he'd almost reached Urahara's shop. Resolving to think about it later, he went in to talk to Urahara – he wanted to make sure his body wouldn't disintegrate with him inside it.

Meanwhile… "This is strange," Hachigen murmured from his meditative position within the Vizard warehouse. "I cannot sense Ichigo's reiatsu anywhere."

"Eh?" Hiyori demanded. "How is that possible? The Strawberry has no control over his reiatsu, last I checked, and that was earlier today!"

"I don't know," Hachigen admitted.

"Could he be in Soul Society or Hueco Mundo?" Lisa asked calmly.

"It's possible," the Kidō master conceded.

"But why would he?" Shinji pointed out. "He just killed Aizen. If he's working his way through killing someone for the first time, he should be with his family, and they're here in the living world now!"

"Could we have been tricked by Aizen again?" Rose inquired worriedly.

Everyone fell silent as the idea sunk in – with Aizen, anything could be possible. Was Ichigo dead?

"Can you sense his father?" Kensei demanded.

After a moment, Hachigen nodded confidently. "Yes. He is with Urahara."

"And how are their reiatsu?"

"Calm, but alert."

Kensei nodded, folding his arms over his torso in a manner that suggested that Hachigen's response answered everything. "Then Aizen truly is finished. Ichigo must simply be in Soul Society for some reason, and in no danger, otherwise their reiatsu would be far more agitated."

Everyone relaxed – the former taicho's words made sense.

"I have a question." The rest of the Vizard turned to Mashiro, who for once seemed uncertain rather than her normal cheerful self. "Aizen's dead now, right? What are we going to do now?"

The question seemed to bring the reality of their situation down on them. Their goal was complete, though now the Shinigami forces knew that the Vizard were alive and well. "Well…" Love said slowly. "Surviving is still something we all want… we should probably change locations sometime soon. We don't want the Shinigami to come kill us."

"True," Kensei agreed, seizing the idea.

"No."

The others turned in shock of hearing Hiyori's firm answer. "What?"

"I said no, you dumbasses! Don't you get it? The Shinigami know we're alive now, and let's face it, to them we're traitors!"

"We've been traitors to them for a hundred years, Hiyori," Shinji reminded her softly.

"Yes, but before now, they thought we were just Hollows! Now they know that we have powers of both Shinigami and Hollow, and they are going to want to use our power, or destroy it! And I don't know about you, but I'll be damned if I work under those bastards ever again! But they'll track us, no matter where we go! Hachi's barriers are strong, but now they have that fucking Tōsen creep who went and got himself Hollow powers too!"

"She has a point," Hachigen admitted. "Tōsen could, with some help from the current Kidō Corps, be able to break my barriers… and he might just able to track us."

"So what do you suggest?" Lisa asked curiously. Hiyori had never been this passionate about getting stronger before, only about her need for vengeance and for fighting.

"If we want to survive, we need to get stronger! We need to be so strong, the Gotei 13 has to think twice about even trying to take us on!" Hiyori passionately ranted. "What we need… is Resurrección! If Ichigo can do it, why can't we? Let's get so strong that they have no choice but to let us be!"

"And then what?" Kensei asked coldly.

"And then we can work towards ensuring what happened to us doesn't happen to anyone else," Love said quietly. Seeing everyone's gazes turning to him, he went on. "We were marked as traitors because of Aizen's actions. We weren't given any choice in the matter, and we were to be executed by the orders of the Central 46. Let's change how Soul Society's government works, by saving anyone that is being punished unfairly by them, challenging them to gather all the information."

"Sooner or later, they'd go to war with us over that," Shinji warned.

"They wouldn't dare." Eyes snapped onto Rose, whose voice had taken on an awed tone. "I see where you're going with this, Love… we'd gather the information ourselves, and publicly prove they were wrong, every time. Without the ability to silence us without going to war, the Central 46 would be forced to repeal their decisions until they got their act together and actually do the proper investigations. If they didn't, the Central 46 would lose power, people would begin to revolt."

"Nobility won't like that…" Kensei commented, though his mouth was beginning to turn upwards into a smirk.

"Who cares about fucking nobility?" Hiyori demanded, a victorious smirk of her own showing to everyone what she thought of the idea. "Let's do it."

Hachigen nodded – it was a noble plan, and it did have an element of humiliating the government that had banished him and his taicho. He had to admit that appealed to him.

"I'm in!" Mashiro chirped.

"Why not?" was Lisa's response. Internally, she wondered what her old taicho, Kyōraku Shunsui would have said about the idea. I suppose I'll find out.

Shinji's face broke out into a wide grin, every one of his teeth showing. "Sounds like we have a plan. Once we find Ichigo, we'll get him to teach us Resurrección!"