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Never Let Me Fall	By : shadoesong Category: Bleach > General Views: 1394 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and its characters, nor do I profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Chapter 20
September 7th was a busy day in the World of the Living. Toshiro, Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji, and Rukia all arrived after two Espada, Yammy and Ulquiorra, showed up. The same night, Grimmjow and all his fraccion attacked Karakura Town. His fraccion all perished, but the Espada himself was able to get away.
Aika had been chosen as the go between for the team in the World of the Living and Soul Society. Piled on top of her duties as the current caretaker of her squad while her Captain and Lieutenant were away, she had her hands full. She arrived in Soul Society on the morning after the attack in order to collect the report from her Captain. She found him at Orihime's house, just as she was preparing everyone a meal with the help of Rangiku.
"Oh, hello!" Orihime greeted her when she opened the door. "You must be Aika-chan! Rangiku-san was telling me about you! It's good to finally meet you!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Inoue-san."
Aika nodded her thanks as the human girl let her inside. Toshiro was kneeling at the table, just finishing his reports. He looked up when his subordinate entered. Orihime returned to the kitchen when Rangiku called her.
"About time you showed up," the Captain grumbled. Clearly annoyed with being stuck with the chatty women.
"You say the sweetest things, Captain," she replied as he handed her the reports, rolling his eyes at her. Rangiku poked her head out of the kitchen.
"There you are, Aika!" she exclaimed. "Are you staying for breakfast? We're having eels with chocolate sauce!"
Both Toshiro and Aika looked sick.
"Um... Actually, the Captain and I already have arrangements!" Aika said quickly. "We should probably get going now, Captain, or else we might be late!"
She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the house before Rangiku could protest. Once they were halfway down the street, she smiled at the white haired man with a gleam in her eye.
"I bet you're real happy to see me now," she purred.
"You have no idea, Kawasuzu," he sighed.
"You know, I think I might just have to come here more often. Especially around meal times," she laughed. It earned a chuckle from the Captain, as well.
"It would be much appreciated," he replied. "Do you actually have a plan in mind for breakfast?"
"Yes! I was going to visit a local candy shop before leaving. Would you like to come with me?"
"Candy?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"There's a lovely little place around the corner where we can go for breakfast," she told him. "I know the owner of the candy shop. Though some chocolate does sound nice."
"How do you know them?" he asked, looking surprised.
"I was in the World of the Living before I entered the Shino Academy," she said. "This was one of the first places I stayed before I went west."
She turned into the restaurant, holding open the door for the Captain. He thanked her and they quickly found a seat. A waitress came and gave them menus. Once they had decided on what they were having Toshiro spoke again.
"I didn't realize that you've been here before," he said. "It's not easy getting here without proper authorization."
"A friend of mine had access to a Senkai Gate," she explained. "She helped me, and continued to do so even after I got here. She got me the plane tickets and set me up for a long stay here."
Their waitress came and took their orders.
"How long did you stay?" he asked once she had left.
"Over twenty years. They were good years, too. I'm glad to be back in Soul Society, though. There's a lot of people there that I've missed." She sighed, and he knew she was thinking about Rin.
"Did you find out anything about Rin from the arrancar that attacked?" she asked, changing the subject. She frowned when he shook his head.
"Nothing. All we know is that these arrancar are far more powerful than the ones we've encountered previously. One of them in particular, he called himself an Espada, was above the power level of even the Vasto Lordes. If Aizen has more than ten Espada transformed at the Vasto Lordes level..."
He didn't have to finish the sentence. The implications were daunting. They ate their meal in silence. When they finished, the dark skinned woman paid and led him to the candy shop. It was open by the time they got there, so she walked right in. She smirked when the first person she saw was Renji, who was sweeping the shop and grumbling about having to earn his keep. When he saw Aika and Toshiro, he straightened up and bowed.
"Captain Hitsugaya! I didn't expect you to be here," he said.
"Oh, do we have customers, Abarai-kun?" someone sang from the back room. Aika grinned, recognizing the voice immediately.
"Kisuke!" she exclaimed.
The shopkeeper came out from the back room just in time for the small woman to fling herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him, and he returned the favour. Picking her up and twirling her around.
"Ah, Aika-chan! What are you doing here?! I haven't seen you in forever!" he said. He turned his head and yelled into the back room. "Yoruichi-san! Aika-chan's come to visit!"
"Aika-chan!" The cat woman came to the door way as Kisuke released the small woman. "Long time no see," she purred holding out her arms for a hug. Aika smiled wrapping her arms around the taller woman.
"Too long," she said. "I'm the go between for Soul Society and the team here, so I thought I would come to visit. Also... Would it be okay if we used your training grounds?"
"We?" The shopkeeper looked at Toshiro, who looked just as surprised. "Ah, welcome to my shop, Captain Hitsugaya! I didn't see you there," Kisuke greeted him. That earned the shopkeeper a scowl from the short Captain. "Of course you can, Aika-chan. Abarai-kun isn't allowed to use it until he finishes sweeping."
"I'm almost done," Renji growled.
"The outside, too, Renji-kun?" Yoruichi purred.
The Lieutenant looked at her in disbelief, and then trudged outside, looking defeated.
"Don't be too hard on him, Yoruichi-san. Captain Kuchiki might not be happy if you broke him," Aika admonished, chuckling to take the sting out of her barb.
"Pfft. We're only toughening him up," scoffed the amber eyed woman. "I'm surprised Byakuya-bo hasn't already chewed him up and spit him out."
Aika laughed. She then glanced over her shoulder at her Captain.
"I hope you don't mind a little sparring," she said. He shook his head.
"Of course not. I don't see where we'll be able to, though," he said dubiously.
Yoruichi, Kisuke, and Aika all laughed at that.
"Come on, I'll show you!" the small woman said.
She beckoned him into the back room. He followed her, and she led him over to a hatch in the floor. She pulled it open, revealing a long ladder leading deep into the ground. She flashed him a mischievous smile.
"See you down there!"
She jumped into the hole, bypassing the ladder completely. When she landed on the bottom, she moved to make way for her Captain. Below the shop was a giant room with a ceiling and walls painted to resemble a sunny day. It was also very bright within. The floor was made of brown, craggy land dotted with huge rocks, cliffs and dead trees. It was the perfect place for even those of Captain-class to let loose while training. Aika turned around as Toshiro landed, just so she could see his face. She grinned when she saw the disbelief on it.
"Kisuke claims that he built it in a single day and a night," Aika told him.
"This is impressive," Toshiro admitted.
He had to remind himself that the shopkeeper was the creator of the Department of Research and Development, and not just the fool he appeared to be. That made the secret training ground more believable to him.
"I know where there are some practice swords," Aika said. "I'll go get them while you find some place for your gigai."
She returned with the swords, finding that the Captain had set his gigai, his Captain's haori, and his zanpakuto aside. She handed him the practice sword and placed her own zanpakuto to the side before taking up a position across from him. She motioned for him to go first, and he immediately attacked.
Aika was glad she had the chance to work off some nervous energy. She'd been frustrated and angry ever since she was told that there would be no rescue team for Rin in Hueco Mundo. Daisuke, since he had been the only witness to her friend's kidnapping, was unavailable due to questioning still. And otherwise, she was far too busy.
They kept their attacks light as they warmed up, getting to know one another's fighting style before they really started into it. Aika's mind wandered as she thought about what would happen when Aizen finally attacked full force. She hoped she would be on the front lines. She was keen on getting some revenge. The futility she felt now, however, made her blood boil. Without realizing it, her attacks became a little harsher. She was surprised when Toshiro grabbed her practice sword, easily disarming her.
"Calm down, Kawasuzu," he said. "You're losing your focus."
"I'm sorry, Captain. I'll pay more attention," she told him. She pulled away a little.
"Let's try something else. How about Hakuda?" he suggested. She smiled.
"I like that idea."
They put the practice swords off to the side. Aika found it a lot easier to pay attention when she was doing something she loved, and knew she was good at. While Toshiro was well versed in his hand-to-hand combat skills, Aika, having been trained by the best, was still better. They went for a few rounds, but each ended with Aika on top. It wasn't until the Captain had fallen flat on his back for the third time that he conceded. She offered him her hand and helped him to his feet.
"I didn't realize how skilled you were in Hakuda," he said. She smiled.
"Yoruichi herself trained me," she told him. "So don't feel too bad that I beat you."
"Okay, smart ass, I think we're done here," he said.
He gave her an annoyed look. They started getting their things together. They were just in time, because Renji and Chad were taking their turn in the training area now. Outside the shop, Aika was about to leave for Soul Society when Toshiro spoke.
"Same time tomorrow?" he asked.
"For sparring? Absolutely!" she said. "I'll try and make it in time to save you from Rangiku's cooking."
She winked at him before opening the Senkaimon to head back to Soul Society.

Rin wasn't impressed when she was awaken in the middle of the night because of knocking at her door. She groggily stood and went to answer, about to give whoever it was an earful. However, her mouth clamped shut the moment she saw Grimmjow, covered in blood and missing his left arm.
"What the fuck did you do?" she snarled, suddenly wide awake. "And why come here?!"
"Fucking bastards locked me outta my room," he growled. "I'm staying here for the night."
He pushed past her before she could protest. She glared daggers at him, but reluctantly closed the door and followed him in.
"Don't get blood on my stuff," she snapped. He rolled his eyes.
"Just get me some fucking bandages, Baka-onna," he said.
She gave him the bandages and watched the painful process of him trying to wrap his wounds for a few minutes before stepping forward to help. Once he'd been fixed up as best she could manage, he collapsed onto her couch, which had been moved into her room the day prior. She sat on the other end, her arms folded across her chest.
"Don't see why you didn't go bunk with your fraccion," she muttered.
"They're dead," came his blunt reply. She shot him a surprised look.
"How?"
"Shinigami bastards in the Living World killed 'em," Grimmjow replied with a shrug.
"And they cut off your arm, just like that Yammy guy?" she said. She was curious to know just how strong their enemy was.
"Pfft, as if. They barely scratched me. You did more damage than those pathetic wimps in the Living World," he growled. "Fucking Tosen cut my fucking arm off and destroyed it with that Kido shit you use."
"Dammit, Grimmkitty!" she yelled. "Just tell me the whole story from the beginning already and stop giving me fragments of it!"
He growled beneath his breath before telling her what happened. How he had taken his fraccion to eliminate those with spiritual power in the World of the Living against Aizen's orders. He showed no remorse over the deaths of the five arrancar that had served under him. He then told her how Tosen had stopped the fight between him and the shinigami daiko, Kurosaki Ichigo and taken him back to Hueco Mundo before cutting off his arm.
"You're a dumbass," she said once he'd finished.
"I did it for Aizen!" he snapped. She scoffed.
"No, you did it because you're bored here! You want to fight, but no one will spar with you so you decided to go find prey in the Living World," she growled. "You're going to get yourself fucking killed, baka."
Another knock at the door made Rin growl in frustration before getting up and answering it. A servant told her that Aizen wanted to see her. The woman sighed and called over her shoulder to Grimmjow.
"Help yourself to sake, I'll be back later. Just don't drink it all!" she yelled before stepping out to follow the servant.
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Never Let Me Fall