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A Shadow of What Was	By : katami Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 49594 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Author's Notes: Many thanks to all those who have read and reviewed. I hope you enjoy this latest offering, and if not, you can take solace that the next chapter will be coming quickly (Sunday at the latest and you will once again see Kisuke and Ichigo). Happy Friday!

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She was one of the first to arrive, but she was still behind Jyuushiro, Byakuya, Shunsui, and Hisagi. Although why the young captain of the 9^th should be so interested in Urahara�s return Yoruichi couldn�t imagine.

�He was having tea with Jyuushiro and Byakuya,� Shunsui told her in a whisper, chuckling as she jumped slightly and turned to glare at him. �Gotcha. That�s a bottle you owe me.

"Booze are on Yoruichi tonight, Jyuushiro," he called to his lover, earning a faint, indulgent smile from the other man.

"So, what do you think? Is it really Kisuke, Yoruichi-chan?�

She glanced around the room on the pretense of checking to see if any of the others had arrived, but it was really to buy herself time. She hated to admit it, but she didn�t know. She, who had known Kisuke since they were both children, had no longer been in his confidence when he�d died. He had always played things close to the vest, but time and the war had increased his secrecy. And the addition of Kurosaki Ichigo to his bed had made things ten times worse.

A Kisuke in love was a Kisuke with something to lose. And Urahara had never been good at losing. He had guarded his relationship with the younger man as jealously as a dragon guarded his horde and as a result, his other secrets had stayed locked away as well.

�It�s him. Or at least it is if Kurosaki�s reactions are to believed,� announced Hitsugaya, Abarai at his side and Kuchiki Rukia beside him.

�Where is Kurosaki? I�d have thought he�d have been here for this,� murmured Jyuushiro.

�He excused himself because of how close he is to the issue. Kurosaki-taichou didn�t believe he could be impartial and sent me in his stead,� replied the tiny vice captain of the 5th, her eyes daring someone to disagree with her. Not that anyone would. They all knew she was lying. Only a fool wouldn�t know. Ichigo would never excuse himself on something concerning Urahara.

If there was one thing Kurosaki excelled at it was obsession and love tended to bring out the best and the worst of his obsessive qualities. He had tried to storm Hueco Mundo single-handedly to avenge Urahara�s murder; a little thing like being emotionally connected wouldn�t have slowed him in the least about ruling on his return. In fact, it should have guaranteed his attendance to try and push Soul Society into acting - if only to try and keep the young captain from acting in their place.

�Sedatives or inhibitor?� Byakuya asked blandly.

�Both. As well as Renji repeatedly connecting his skull to the floor several times,� replied Hitsugaya as Unohana and Soi Fong entered, the latter attaching herself to Yoruichi�s side instantly. She had split her old duty as commander of the Onmitsukidou and captain of the 2^nd with the smaller woman, with Soi Fong handling the 2^nd while she took the larger job of the Onmitsukidou.

�He was that determined?� asked Hisagi.

�He was sure even before the message. He still has Benihime and she claims to be able to sense her old master,� murmured Renji. �And Uryuu is pretty sure as well. He met this Mizuno and says the kid is the spitting image of Urahara. And he can do kidou.

�Humans cannot perform kidou,� hissed Kurotshuchi, entering and glaring at the assembly. Yoruichi shot him a feral grin. Even the threat of Urahara returning had to be making things interesting around the 12^th. Kisuke had been captain there for a long time and while he was gone, Urahara was not forgotten. Mayuri has stepped into big shoes, and the other man didn�t have near the skill Urahara did with people. His very public animosity with Ishida didn�t help him any either; the Quincy was very well respected, especially among the younger officers. And his affair with Abarai only increased his standing. Nothing like a torrid romance defying Soul Society and family alike to sell the youngsters, she thought with a small grin. Hitsugaya was proof enough of that, the number of cadets petitioning to enter the 10^th had increased three fold since rumors of his affair had gotten out.

�This one can. I saw him kill a Hollow myself two evenings back. And he used a high-level kidou spell to do it,� announced Rukia, earning a sharp glare from the captain of the 12^th. �Or has Hadou 90 been downgraded recently? asked the girl sweetly, a cutting smile on her lips. Byakuya's lips twisted into a matching smile and he drifted toward his sister, regarding Kurotshuchi benignly from her side, daring the other captain to naysay her.

"Ya gotta problem with little Kuchiki-chan?" growled Kenpachi, giving Kurotshuchi a menacing and slightly maniacal glare.

"Is there a problem, Kurotshuchi-taichou?" murmured Byakuya.

"No. No problem," grated out the captain of the 12th, looking as thought he had swallowed a lemon. When faced with one of the most powerful and one of the most dangerous captains of Soul Society, retreat was definitely the better part of valor. Especially if Ichigo learned that Mayuri had been bothering his fukutaichou.

"Where's Kurosaki?"

"He excused himself, Zaraki-taichou, and sent me in his place," murmured Rukia. "The recent activity coupled with matter of Urahara-san's possible return made him feel that it would be impossible for him to be impartial."

Zaraki laughed, believing the lie about as much as everyone else did.

"How far did the message spread anyway? demanded Yoruichi, suddenly curious. They all treated receiving a message from Urahara as something normal; but the message couldn't have come from him - or at least not him as they had known him. The message had come filtered through a human. A human who was missing twenty years worth of advancements in Soul Society.

"The spell was modified to reach anyone able to achieve bankai," growled Kurotshuchi, a hint of a sulk in his voice. "Quick and sloppy work."

"It worked," pointed out Abarai.

"It was foolish and caused several normal messages to be jumbled," snarled the captain of the 12th.

Nothing like politics and old rivalries to enliven a nice dull captains� meeting, thought Yoruichi with a sigh, as the debate degraded into a shouting match. She spared a thought to wondering if she could managed to get herself seated next to Shunsui. He was always willing to share a cup, or six, of sake with a good friend. And if she had to sit through even half the meeting she thought she might, then sake would be necessary. It was never a good sign for getting things done quickly or efficiently when the meeting hadn�t even started and they were already arguing.

Yama-jii and the few remaining others trickled in and the meeting was called to order. Which really only meant a short break in the argument for formalities before the yelling started back up, louder and with more people contributing. Had to love those captains� meetings. Nothing said fast and efficient like hours of arguing over the smallest point.

�We will first handle the issue of the Arrancar,� announced Yama-jii over the din. �The issue as to whether or not this message is truly from Urahara will be handled secondly and must be given all due consideration,� he said as Kurotshuchi snarled and began to object.

�The Arrancar have no reason to defect; they were created by Aizen,� snapped Kurotshuchi.

�They have no reason to remain loyal either,� countered Jyuushiro calmly. �If they are former members of the Espada, they might have become disenchanted with Aizen�s guidance when he replaced them.�

�That would make their loyalty highly suspect,� offered Hisagi.

�Loyalty must be earned. What has Aizen done to earn theirs?� countered Byakuya, his eyes meeting Abarai�s and something passing between the two men. Yoruichi couldn�t say what, but from the small twist of Abarai�s lips he seemed to understand his former captain perfectly.

�Absolutely right, Kuchiki-sama,� murmured Abarai, startling just about everyone by not only agreeing with his former captain, but using the most formal honorific. Abarai and Kuchiki had never had an easy relationship and Yoruichi wondered what had happened to change things. And when?

Damn Kisuke for getting himself killed and letting his information network in the real world fall to ruins. Not that it was really his fault, but Kisuke�d had an absolute gift for gathering intelligence. Between him covering the real world and trying to get data on Hueco Mundo and her covering Soul Society and trying to get data from that end, they had made a formidable team.

�These Arrancar could have information on Aizen�s forces. Information we need,� she offered.

�They could also turn the human over to Aizen if we refuse to treat with them,� murmured Komamura.

And like a flash they were back to whether the human could really be Urahara and just what it meant if he was. Trouble, decided Yoruichi. Kisuke had always been smart and that intelligence in Aizen�s hands would have been disastrous. Especially without centuries of experience to counter Aizen�s wiles. The bastard loved to play head games, one only had to look at Hinamori to see that. Twenty years and she was still unready to take up her old post - and likely never would be. A human under Aizen�s thumb would be like entrusting a newborn lamb to a wolf.

�Silence!� roared Yama-jii. "We will send a party to speak with the Arrancar and discover their intensions. Our representatives will also take charge of the human until such time as we can determine his status and assess what will be done with him."

"I would like to volunteer to negotiate with the Arrancar," murmured Jyuushiro.

"Agreed. You and Kuchiki will be authorized to make contact with the Arrancar and speak for the Gotei 13 in this matter. Shihouin, you will take charge of the human and attempt to determine if he is who he claims to be."

"I object!" snarled Kurotshuchi. "If it is Urahara, he should be turned over to the 12th to be studied."

"A member of the Thirteen, even a former member, should not be studied!" objected several people, including Abarai, who looked ready to challenge Kurotshuchi. Yoruichi wondered if there would be bloodshed. It had been several years since the a captains' meeting had erupted in violence. Although she seemed to recall Kurotshuchi being at the center of it then, as well. Something about him studying a member of the 11th; Kenpachi had objected.

"That is enough!" snarled Yama-jii, a burning wave of reiatsu washing over them all. "A member of the 12th will accompany Yoruichi and may discreetly examine the human."

"That's four of us. Think four captains is enough to handle a teenage Kisuke?" Shunsui asked her in a whisper.
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A Shadow of What Was