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A New Window	By : Platinumsabr Category: Bleach > Het - Male/Female Views: 13905 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Any Original Characters are mine however, as is the story itself, and if you see it or any part of it posted elsewhere please report it

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
Curse
Named Love

The goodbyes were said on good
terms, only with the promise that they come back and visit more than once a
year naturally. Kenpachi had decided he might as well stay�it would be a waste
of time otherwise�and with the baby so close Yachiru had decided, in all her
womanly expertise, that the Eleventh Division could survive without its captain
and lieutenant for a couple of weeks. Ikkaku would keep everyone in line well
enough.

Yumichika wasn�t due back for a
visit for a little while anyways. Leaving the Eleventh Division, under any
terms, hadn�t been the easiest for him, but love waited for no man and a change
of scenery was essential was that love to get anywhere. As such he was now a
reserve member of Ichigo�s squad, though technically he was still the fifth
seat of the Eleventh Division. He had found a beauty he could, in his own words,
�only compare to his own.� A narcissist he may be, but he was a damn good
fighter too.

Back to the topic at hand, Kaien
and the others had made their way back to Seireitei by nightfall, and luckily
for them their friends weren�t stingy enough to wait until morning to ready the
Senkaimon. Their visit had extended far past what they had intended already,
but had it not been for that there would still be two in mortal peril in the
coming years. Thankfully that wasn�t the case anymore.

They were all smiling even as
they ran out the exit, and since it had been so long since the last trip had
been made, Ichigo and Tatsuki had both conveniently forgotten where the end of
the Senkaimon usually was.

So, of course, they all ended up
grinning�in the middle of the air.

The sudden lack of proper footing
so unexpectedly took a few seconds to sink in, even though by that time they
were already falling. Ichigo had naturally, instantly flown over to his wife
now back in her very human body without hardly any delay, securing their
place in the air with his feet planed firmly on the spirit perpetually hanging
in the earth�s atmosphere. For a second it looked like Tatsuki was rather
indignant with his overprotective handling of her, but she was only pulled
closer to his hard chest and her body�horrible, traitorous body in her own
opinion�instantaneously melted into lovesick goop. She lulled her head over onto
his shoulder and he looked down and smiled at her; that same, million-watt
smile of his childhood that only she and her children had ever been privy to
since.

If that wasn�t a boost to her
ego, she didn�t know what was. Her girls may have him wrapped around their
fingers, but she was irrevocably tied around his, even if the same could be
said about him.

Unlike Ichigo, the others hadn�t
been expecting, or even known how to react to the
sudden drop that had instantly disoriented them. Kaien found his bearings
first, for reasons even he didn�t know, and he immediately tried to reach out
to grab those closest him, if not just to flip them upright. He found out very
quickly that his hands as they were could only grasp air, but his brain had
already taken off instinctively and before he knew what was happening the tendril-like
appendages waiting just under his skin had shot out of his pores and wrapped
around each other into a width that could support most anything with ease. In
less than a second each one had grabbed on to all those around him and as he
found his footing in the air the tentacles of white rope held firm like real
arms and kept those they were carrying in their grip without slacking.

They were only needed for a
little while, because everyone there could walk on air, they just hadn�t
been ready to at the time. As each person straightened themselves out from
whatever limb they were currently being supported by, one couldn�t help but
notice their preoccupation with the inhuman strands holding said limb in place.
They watched in morbid curiosity as after they had gained their equilibrium
again, the strands wound back into the host body as if by their own will.

�Interesting little
side-effect you decided to leave out earlier. Any more Hollow powers hidden in
there?� Tsukiyomi asked bluntly as she tried to forget the feeling of
the rope-like thing that had held her arm. It wasn�t for any wrong reason
either, in fact it was exactly the opposite. The corded strands of white had
been unexpectedly soft on her skin, like the lotion she and Masaki liked to use
in the bath. It was firm yet almost liquid, doing nothing abrasive to her arm
at all. It was�weird.

Kaien sat down, still in the
middle of the air, and crossed his legs while the others decided they might as
well sit down too. The run hadn�t been easy after all. �From what I can gather
from my other memories, Kaien Shiba fought against a Hollow before he was
killed, and that Hollow�s ability was what allowed the Noveno Espada to have
Kaien Shiba�s spirit body. The Hollow couldn�t really die, it would just return
to Hueco Mundo and regenerate, but its main body resided in its hair, and that
was what it used to force its way into other spirit bodies and take over, then
eating them from the inside out.� The faces of those around him scrunched up in
disgust, and Kaien winced. However, Kin didn�t let that go unnoticed and in
apology she shuffled her way over to his side and leaned against him lovingly.
She couldn�t help but smile when she felt the tension in his body melt away as
he relaxed into her as well. The silent thank-you was all she needed to feel
warm inside.

�I don�t know how many exactly I
have, but I know they�re there. I can almost feel them under my skin, just
waiting for my command. From my experiments using them I found out that I can
take control of Hollows, at least, I haven�t tested it on anything else, but
they can�t leave my body so I�m more like a puppeteer than anything else.
Another thing I found out is that if they stay in the Hollow too long than I
absorb the Hollow, so I�m not really wanting
to test it on anything else.� He sighed and cracked his neck. �What about
you Tsuki? Any side-effects from your�completion?�

�Other than the
sudden urge to creep us all out with your facial expressions?� Masaki
added tauntingly, earning her one of Tsukiyomi�s patented glares.

�I can�t really say for
sure. I�m still not used to the increase from eating those modified gikongan
pills, so if anything did happen I haven�t felt it yet. With those urges gone though Amaterasu and I have been able to talk
a lot easier now. I�d almost count myself normal if I didn�t look like
this, and the Ierro stuck around too that�s for sure.�

�Heh, well I�m just glad you guys
found what it was you needed. I�I was really scared when I found out I was the
only one going to live�� Masaki�s voice was barely above a whisper, and her
eyes glistened in the growing starlight with unshed tears just from the memory.

Tsukiyomi scooted over to her
twin and smiled before catching her in a headlock, the last thing the
orange-haired girl had been expecting. �Like I�d let my little sister get
married before me!�

Masaki yelped as she struggled to
get away. �You�re only older by a few minutes!!�

�Still
older than you!�

�Come on girls; let�s finish the
trek back home. You can rest there if you need to,� Ichigo spoke up, and they
nearly jumped in surprise. They had almost forgotten their parents were still
with them.

�Meh,
sounds good to me,� Kin affirmed as she stood and cracked her joints.

�Yeah. I
really just want to get back into my body and sleep on my own bed,� her fianc�
said through a tired groan.

Kin couldn�t agree more, though
she wasn�t going to say so vocally. It wasn�t so much the bed as it was the
company therein.

~~~~~~~~~

None of them really knew what to
expect when Kaien reentered his body, but for some reason they weren�t really
surprised when the first thing his body did was start shaking like under the
throes of a seizure. Before their very eyes his hair�including his
eyebrows�lost its profound black and was replaced by the white counterpart that
had taken residence over his soul-self�s body, the one blue bang right where it
belonged. Thankfully, and mostly because it wasn�t possible outside the spirit
realm, the one thing it was lacking was the hypnotic wave-like illusion that
the blue strip usually made. That would be a bit hard to explain.

True to form, when he finally
stopped and opened his eyes tiredly, his right eye had already changed to the
pale blue they had all come to expect. Tsukiyomi had definitely been right in
her earlier evaluation; with his white hair, they looked more alike than ever
before. And, like her, his skin hadn�t paled to the unnatural alabaster of his other
self, another thing to be thankful for.

He groaned as he stood and
stretched as the weariness of his soul transferred to his physical body. He
didn�t bother asking what the looks of those around him were for, he had an
idea already, but mostly he didn�t care at the moment. He waved his goodnight
as he stumbled to his room and they smartly kept their mouths shut when they
saw Kin follow him.

It was back to Hueco Mundo
tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~

For one of the few times since he
had come back, Kaien was actually up before her, though he suspected the days
of worrying and searching for him had finally taken their toll on her. The pain
was still in his chest from that, but it was dull, almost impossible to feel
when he looked over and saw her sleeping face, like none of that had ever
happened.

He knew what was going to happen
when they returned to his home away from home, he had
been dreading it for a good long time now, even in his dreams. A good deal of
the Arrancars who liked to call themselves his Fraccion were of the female
persuasion, and Kaien had noticed more than once that there was an ulterior
motive to some of their so-called servitude besides the protection his strength
offered. He didn�t doubt that he wouldn�t have any opponents of the opposite
gender as well; not as soon as they got a good look at Kin. He wasn�t just
being the proud fianc� when he thought she was extremely beautiful, and he knew
he wasn�t the only one with thoughts like that. Her class offered all too much
proof of that.

His heart swelled in his chest as
he lay there, content to be the sap he was and stare at her sleeping form,
covered in the shirt that she hadn�t been able to take with her to Soul
Society. Her carefree, childlike innocence as she slept made him feel even
worse that he had abandoned her for those days, and it was only thanks to her
greatly undeserved love that she had forgiven him so quickly.

She was everything precious, even
in her construction. Her hair was the purest of gold, her skin the finest
bronze; teeth of unmatched pearl and nails of rarest ivory. He couldn�t make a
realistic comparison to her heart, it was the most valuable out of all she was,
and somehow he, grossly unworthy, had possession of it. The worth of the only
thing he could give her back in thanks for such a gift, his own heart, seemed
to pale in comparison.

As he did on an unsurprisingly
high basis, he pushed his luck. Leaning over as softly as he could as to not
disturb her well-deserved sleep, he carefully stole his first kiss of the day
from her unsuspecting lips. He pulled away with a gentle smile, and with the
same idea in mind, flashed from his bed without the slightest disturbance in
the reiatsu around them, or a flicker of his own, as was his usual. He looked
back only slightly to see if she had awoken, but she only started mumbling
incoherently while grasping out at the side of the bed that had been warm until
a few seconds ago.

He sighed. He should have known
that even if he didn�t disturb a hair on her head, she would instinctively
recognize the loss in body heat. It didn�t help that he was almost perpetually
feverish temperature-wise. He pulled the mangled covers over her body again and
she sighed happily as she reveled in the warmth she thought was something�or
more accurately someone�else. At least she hadn�t woken up, she really
needed her rest.

Now that that had been taken care
of, he grabbed a change of clothes and left the room to one of the bathrooms
farther away. It wouldn�t be good if he went through all that trouble only to
wake her up with running water right after. He had to admit it felt good to be
out of his kimono, even if the silk garment Kuukaku had so forcibly told him to
keep felt immaculate. He couldn�t wait to get back into his simple blue jeans.

His thoughts trailed back to what
he was going to do, and he cringed. He couldn�t leave early to get it over with
before she got there because one: he had promised he wouldn�t do that to her
again; two: he doubted he would be able to finish in a day if they wanted duels
and not a battle royal; and three: he just plain-well didn�t want to.

The shower happened in a daze
while he thought, and though who he saw in the mirror hadn�t been who he had
been expecting, it wasn�t too big of a shock compared to his soul. The changes
only made sense. The body had to be close enough to the soul to be recognizable
otherwise the soul would reject the body, he only counted himself lucky his
body had been able to make the changes it needed naturally, even if it was a
bit disconcerting.

When he thought about how they
were going to pull off a wedding in Hueco Mundo his mind drew a blank. Sure,
most of the Vastro-Lorde knew the importance of marriage in the Living World,
but there was no paper-trail or annoying laws in Hueco Mundo other than the
open acceptance needed of the two parties involved. Families were still rare,
even though many Arrancars had long given in to the longing that their new
humanesque bodies came with. Many were paired, but children were still a rarity
in the realm, with a few exceptions.

Basically all he needed to do was
say she was his, fight anyone who didn�t like that, and consummate the
relationship. Thus, a wedding ceremony then would be something new to them, all
of them, himself included. Still, the thought of Kin in a wedding dress was too
tempting to refuse.

He only hoped he didn�t have to
fight too many of the people he had come to call friends in the effort to have
the culture�s approval. He was on a first name basis with most of his Fraccion,
even though he despised calling them that. They were his friends, and if need
be they were a division under his leadership should another large outbreak of
Adjucha happen. There were trained groups like his under most of the Espada,
and his family for that matter, and Soul Society had never really grasped the
concept that if Ichigo ever really wanted to, he had an entire army of soldiers
who�s very weakest could be compared to a lieutenant in Soul Society�s
rankings. Those of lower rank wouldn�t be risked at all.

Aizen wasn�t very orderly, and
for the most part he just let them all do their own thing as long as the Espada
were controlling them properly, and for all intents and purposes Ichigo held
the same vision, though he was more inclined to have a contingency plan for
every scenario that involved a chain of command. He was more of a leader than
he gave himself credit for, but then again the white haori he wore made it all
too clear that those around him respected his ability, and his position among
the very deadliest of Hollows made the same point.

Kaien sighed wearily. He had no
doubts in his mind that they would use that training against him if he were to
fight them, and though he was considered the Prince, facing however many there
was going to be at once was not something he was looking forward to.

Should those rules even apply
to me? He wondered offhandedly as he got dressed. I mean I know I�m the
Prince, but technically I�m not an Arrancar� He sighed again. Then
again, Souken fought, but Asuka is at least half Arrancar; Kin and I
aren�t. It was disputed what exactly he was even in his own mind, because
he had never heard of a zanpakutou spirit like him before, but his sisters
weren�t conventional either.

He knew he was just delaying the
obvious, if not the inevitable.

Brooding the entire way, he
walked to the kitchen and helped himself to some cereal, trying to think up
some reason to fight against friends he had made over five years of hell. He
was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn�t even seem to notice Tsukiyomi or
Masaki, who were sitting not two seats away eating their own breakfasts. It had
taken a second for them to remember the changes he had gone through. The white
hair really looked distinguished, especially with his naturally pale skin tone.

�You wanna stay here for another
day? We haven�t really had much of a break have we?� Masaki asked amicably as
she played with her cereal. She knew what he was probable thinking, both of
them did. They had as many friends there as he did, and they knew those friends
were probably the first people he was going to have to face, if not just to
prove his resolve.

�No use putting it off. We need
to get back in time for you guys to get back to school after all,� he replied
automatically, his responses still on autopilot.

Tsukiyomi sighed dramatically as
her face settled into its normal beatific glower. �Would you just quit it
already? So what if you might have to fight against guys you�ve fought and
laughed beside? Do you really have it in you to hold back when you know they
won�t be?? What if they actually wanted you to take them seriously, it�s no
laughing matter! You lose, your relationship won�t be
accepted. It�s as simple. As. That.�

His bowl jostled from the sudden
spasm that had crumpled his spoon like paper.

The white-haired young woman had
the sense of mind to gulp when she saw that her brother�s bi-colored eyes had
hardened like two emotionless gemstones, and his face was set in their mother�s
typical battle scowl. Her words had hit their mark,
the one that he hadn�t wanted to admit was there. He couldn�t afford to lose,
there was no other option. He couldn�t live without being able to go to what
had become his home, nor could he live without her. That left only one viable
answer.

Win.

Those sitting beside him could
feel the polar shift in the atmosphere, like it recognized the resolution now
flowing through him, and their stomachs tightened in
unison. This was fear in them right then, they were sure of it. Their bodies
were reacting instinctively to the strong presence they were by, even if his
reiatsu hadn�t left his body.

�Thank you, Tsuki,� he said
sincerely. �I needed that.�

She gulped again, just to be able
to answer. �No problem.� Her voice still cracked.

Their breakfast was finished in
silence, and they both knew as soon as Kin was ready they were leaving.

~~~~~~~~~

Kin Urahara-Shihouin was a
natural at most things, a prodigy spawned from two of the most gifted Shinigami
Soul Society had ever seen, so there was very little that could surprise her.
However, the pitch black darkness of the Garganta, lit only by the spirit
particles she was forcing under her feet and the dim exit in the distance, was
one of the exceptions. Watching the portal appear with a wave of her fianc�s
hand had been strange enough, but this weird between-world experience was a
definite first.

She couldn�t help but notice the
mood aforementioned fianc� was in either. �Mood� might not describe it right,
but whatever it was it was sending chills down her spine, even though she had
almost swooned when he kissed her good morning. That she could
definitely get used to.

It had come as a surprise to them
all that when Kaien returned to soul form, he wasn�t wearing the now-black
standards he had been in when he had initially changed; instead the snow white
Kimono with black and blue accents that was given to him by Kuukaku once again
graced his frame, and only a thin pair of flip-flops were on his pale feet. He
looked like he had just come from a hot springs, and his relaxed demeanor fit that description
perfectly. In her own personal opinion he looked amazing, so why, even with his
apparent mood, did she still have this feeling of dread? He had even slicked
his hair back like he usually had it instead of the mop of unruly spikes that
hung from his head if he let it down. Everything just seemed so normal,
even though they were on their way to the realm of the Hollows. Now he was
trudging along the perfectly formed path of his own making with as little
difficultly as it was taking him to breathe.

Looking back at it now, it was
little wonder why she had fallen for the alabaster demigod.

Also, it occurred to her that
this was the first time she was going to meet his friends. Soul Society
had been new to them all, but the Kurosaki�s still knew more people than she did,
even if most of those people were captains. She had isolated herself for the
better part of those five years, pushing both herself and her parents to the
limit of their expertise. He however, had had who-knew-how-many people to help
him along, and according to Asuka, the better part of those people were female.

Unwittingly, her jealousy spiked
warningly and she found a growl rising in her throat. If she remembered the
customs of Hueco Mundo right, there may be more than a few challengers to their
relationship, even if they had already bonded themselves together deeper than
any proclamation, ceremony, or piece of paper could ever declare. Shaking
herself away from those thoughts, she noticed they were almost to the light at
the end.

�Stay close to me.�

The ethereal voice of her lover wafted
through the silence around them with careful authority. She knew she would
never tire of hearing him speak anymore, not when it was like listening to
water caress over the smooth rocks in a riverbank. She wet her lips and nodded
hastily. This time they were going into his territory, so she knew she should
listen to what he said more carefully than she would normally. As it was now he
wasn�t just speaking to her as her lover and fianc�, but also a governing force
that was returning to its domain.

�Where�where will we show up?�
she asked, unable to control her curiosity any longer.

She saw the briefest grin sly
across his features. �My room. Most of my friends are
housed around my general area like all of the other Fraccion in Las Noches,
even though I told them they didn�t need to. The more power I gained, the more
followers too. It was pretty annoying for the longest time to tell you the
truth.� He seemed positively baffled as to why too, which almost made her
groan.

Of course, it probably hadn�t
occurred to him that part of his gaining power was because he was training; in
other words, using time. Getting older. And as he got
older, he grew more masculine. He naturally attracted people to him, she knew that better than anyone. �D-Do tell�� she replied hesitantly. Sometimes he could seem so
mature she felt like a child, and made her forget he was usually more na�ve
than anyone she had ever met. She wasn�t about to let the truth ruin that
glorious naivety, especially when it came to the romantic realm. He was hers.
She smiled smugly.

Inwardly, Kaien frowned and tried
to stop his heart from hurting. He hated lying to her, and he could see that
she had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. After hanging around girls for most
of his life, he would have had to be a whole different kind of dense to not
clue in to what some of the female emotions around him were. He knew he
was dense and na�ve, he had known that for a long time, but even he saw
some things. Sometimes it came in handy though, like right then for instance.

When they broke through the exit
she gasped at the�cleanliness of it all. She had expected darkness and horror,
but the walls were clean and cut expertly into shape, and the best she could
equate it to was a white darkness, as odd as that
seemed. It held an unnatural feeling around it, and she could almost taste the
high density reishi hovering in the air. The room itself was scarcely decorated, just furniture and other essentials if guests
were invited, but other than that it didn�t really look�lived in.

This had been his?
She thought unbelievingly.

Kaien seemed to recognize the
look on her face. �Uh�yeah�didn�t really spend a whole lot of time here other
than sleeping. When I was down from my aftereffect I was shuffled through my
Fraccion�s rooms. They didn�t want to risk anything, where my room is is well
known, even if no Vastro-Lorde in their right mind would try anything. Pretty
easy to just go in and�� He made a cutting gesture across his neck, and the
sarcastic motion made Kin�s stomach turn.

Totally helpless among countless
Hollows, what did that feel like?

Honestly, she didn�t want to
know, or find out, anytime soon.

It seemed that they weren�t the
only ones looking for reiatsu around their vicinity, because not five minutes
after they had landed in his room, the door had been kicked open violently.
�Stay where you are, intruder! How did you get into Kaien�s
room!?�

The threat had been issued from a
voice as silken as it was commanding, and when the dust cleared from the sudden
near-destruction of the door, it was a woman who came into view. Kin tried not
to gasp. The woman was nothing short of beautiful, a model with the spirit of a
warrior. She held her sword expertly in front of her and from what she could
see, her mask fragment covered her right eyebrow and traced down the back of
her jaw. She had striking emerald eyes and uncharacteristic bright red hair,
pulled smoothly behind her ears and scalp into flame-like spikes behind her
head; in fact, it was almost identical to the way Kaien usually did his hair,
as it was right now. It was all attached to a figure more suited to a dancer
than a soldier, and that was confirmed in the way she held herself. She was
visibly graceful, even in angry movements.

For some reason, Kin gulped. If
this was an example of what Kaien had been around for five years�. What had
Kaien seen in her, with only his memories as a child, to come back to her when
he had been around people like this for half a decade.
Well, at least there was something to the saying that guys didn�t always go on
looks.

She looked around for her voice.
�Uh�um�I was brought here,� she said at last. Even to her own
ears, it sounded pathetic. Obviously the Arrancar thought the same, because her
grip tightened on her sword.

�Well, this is what happens when
no-one can feel my reiatsu I guess. Hey, Asa, been keeping everyone in line for
me?�

The redheaded sprite froze when
the enchanting voice with all the worry of a blade of grass hit her ears, and
she looked past the bronze woman in front of her to the ashen man standing
nonchalantly at her side. Her eyes were wide as she took in the appearance,
trying to fit them to those of her memories, if only as a base. He no longer
had a Hollow hole, and his skin and hair had changed color completely, but it
wasn�t hard to make the connection, especially to someone that had been around
him for a long time. For a good while she stood there, frozen. Finally, her
mouth moved again. �K�Kaien? Is that really you?�

He smiled at her, and Kin fought
back the jealousy burning against her insides like acid when she saw what only
another woman could see rise in the Arrancar apparently named Asa. She adored
him, that much was certain. She had to admit though,
she was very calm and poised throughout it all, but she had been trained well
by her mother and father to see things normal people didn�t. �You could call me
Kaien two-point-oh if you want,� he joked lightly, but even then, the shivers
Kin had felt going from the top of her head to the base of her spine since that
morning didn�t abate. �I�m back.�

For a second
Asa looked absolutely overjoyed, but then her expression darkened. �If
you came back�that must mean�� Her now cold, calculating eyes turned back to
Kin with new scrutiny openly displayed. She gave her a good look up, then down,
and harrumphed dismissively. Kin�s skin burned as she fought to keep her
anger in check. �You must be Kin, right?�

Kin was momentarily stunned. She
hadn�t known he had been that open about his reasons to train, or about his
reason to return. �That�d be me!� she replied, trying to sound as confident as
she could. He was hers, and she knew if she wanted to keep him she was
going to have to make sure that was known. She hadn�t known she could be so
jealous, and she wondered what Kaien was feeling about this whole situation.

There was a question burning in
those piercing green irises, and she knew it. Asuka had been back for a while
now, so she couldn�t help but wonder if she had kept her mouth shut or not
about how far they had gone. Kaien sighed exaggeratedly. �Always
the melodrama. Story of my life,� he breathed in near-exasperation. He
tugged his haori to the side and Kin nearly turned purple when she saw that her
marks from their �make up� hadn�t healed on his soul yet either. �Good enough
for you?�

The Shihouin heir felt a small
amount of pity at the hurt that entered the Arrancar�s eyes as she saw the
indisputable proof of what she had feared. �You came back to fight, didn�t
you?� Her raw voice was small, marked by sadness.

Kin straightened. �If I have to.�

�No!� She gasped in surprise at
his sudden and vehement response to her answer. Hadn�t the question been
directed at her? His fierce gaze left nothing to that. �This is my world. If we
were in the Living World we could be married in fifteen minutes if we wanted
to, but here it�s different, and it�s because of me that we have to do this. I
won�t put you in any more danger than I have to, and I�ll fight anyone who
doesn�t agree with us, even if they�re friends.�

Her breath was stolen yet again. That
had been what he was so resolute about, that had been why he looked so serious
when she had woken up! He knew he was going to have to fight to have her
accepted, and he was even willing to fight against those who had been with him
over five years of training if he had to.

Asa suddenly looked ten times what
she actually looked, her posture low and eyes heavy as she absorbed what he
meant. �You really love her, don�t you?�

Not even Kin�s nerves could find
it in themselves to be irritated when Kaien walked over and pulled her gently
against his body. She knew Arrancars could cry, and this one looked awfully
close. More so than that even was the surprise at seeing how short the
fairy actually was. Compared to Kaien a lot of people came up looking small,
but Asa looked like a middle-schooler in comparison. A middle-schooler
perfectly proportioned to that of a busty, toned supermodel, but still a
middle-schooler.

�I�m sorry, Asa, hopefully after
all this is over we can get back to normal. I can�t live without her.�

Kin�s entire body flooded with
warmth as she heard that. He was hurting, but he knew where his priorities
were. She could see the hesitancy in Asa�s arms as they moved to hold the man
comforting her, and when she finally did she nearly melted into him with a
feminine sigh that belied her crisp and fiery looks. Now, Kin would be lying if
she said she didn�t want to throw some kind of jealous fit, but for some reason
she knew this was important, if not just as a final goodbye of sorts to the
hope she had been holding on to.

She pulled away sooner than Kin
would have thought, and surprisingly her eyes were still dry, just a little
sad. She was truly stronger than she looked. �I know it will, Kaien. I�ll make
sure it happens.�

He sighed and gave her a warm,
lopsided grin. �Only after you beat the living tar out of me, right?�

She mimicked his grin, and it
looked far more sensual on her face. �Of course.� She
went down onto one knee and bowed lowly. �Your second-in-command recognizes
your claim and the willingness to fight. I shall spread the word.�

Just like that, the fire-haired
pixie had disappeared.

Kin nearly choked. That
frail-looking dancer was Kaien�s second-in-command?

This might not be as easy as she
thought.

She should have known that since
this was the one place most of their friends were, and since Sora had been
specifically requested to break into Soul Society, there may just have been a
little bit of worrying going on. It shouldn�t have come as a surprise then that
once Asa�s reiatsu was gone from the room with the previously unknown reiatsu
in it, the next person bursting through those doors would be none other than
Asuka, Souken not far behind no doubt. At least they knew what her reiatsu felt like.

Why Kin was shocked then was a
mystery for the ages, but she wasn�t given enough attention to dwell on it.
Instead, the blue-haired woman flew into the only male presence in the room
with feline precision without even checking if he was the one she was looking
for. The force behind her unexpected tackle propelled them right onto his bed
with her on top of him.

�Kaien!!!� she cried happily.
�Are you alright?! Did someone get hurt!?! Why was only Sora
allowed to go help!!!!???� The last question had the most emotion behind
it, and it didn�t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.

It was probably the most delayed
reaction in the history of the world, but she finally looked at who she
had tackled.

The amused alabaster face looking
back at her with bi-colored eyes and a bright orange flaming tattoo over his
left shocked her into complete stillness, and it was only then that she felt
the intense killing aura radiating from behind them.

Her head could only move in jerky
motions to look behind her, because her spine was trying everything it could to
make it not move. When she saw at last, she could have sworn Kaien�s
malevolent black reiatsu had decided Kin would make a decent host too, and the
way her eyebrow was twitching couldn�t have been healthy. She quickly turned
back to Kaien�s�still�amused expression. �Asa was just here, wasn�t she?�

He smiled at her, too
sweetly, and she felt her stomach drop. Shit. Of all the first
impressions Asuka was hoping Kin would get from his Fraccion, his
second-in-command was the one she didn�t want. A woman�s jealousy was a
terrible thing, and Asa had never been too subtle about her attraction.
Paradoxically, she was also the one with the most restraint and emotional
control, so though she openly displayed what she was thinking and feeling most
of the time, she was also tactful and sure, careful not to step on too many
toes. That wasn�t saying anything about the fact that if she did step on
toes�metaphorically speaking�she was usually the only one to walk away from the
ensuing encounter.

�If�if y-you weren�t
m-married�I�d�I t-think I�d k-kill you right there�� Kin�s voice was positively
shaking in rage, and Asuka�s animal instinct of self-preservation had
her away from Kaien as fast as she possibly could, which coincidentally ran her
right into her husband�s arms as he walked casually through the doors.

Like his usual, calm self, he
looked down at his wife with a raised eyebrow before taking inventory of the
room she had been trying to run out of. He all but completely ignored the
fuming woman in the middle of the room, but when his eyes fell on Kaien his
mother�s nature took over instinctively and any words he might have wanted to
say were instantly dead in his throat.

Kaien sighed as he picked himself
up off his bed and straightened out his yukuta-like kimono. �It�s really gonna
be a pain to explain this to people who weren�t there to see it firsthand,
isn�t it?� The question may or may not have been directed at Kin, because if it
was she was still too busy seething to care to answer. He looked over and saw
both Asuka and Souken still staring openly at him. He smiled proudly. �So, what�dya think?�

Souken was the first to answer,
likely because no Ishida was ever one to stay speechless at the hand of a
Kurosaki for too long. �I�I think I�m more surprised at your voice than
anything else��

And that was saying something,
for the physical changes had barely been processed before he had opened his
mouth.

�What happened?� Asuka�s voice
was full of nothing but awestruck wonder, unable to keep her eyes at any one
place on his body at a time as she tried to digest the changes that had
happened in her closest friend.

The silence that dragged from
that question left the two in confusion, and Kin had been knocked out of her
anger at the look that overcame her fianc�s face. She was now meshed against
his front, embracing the heartsick pieces of a partner left knowing he was
living because a dear friend had essentially died. Asuka too had stopped short when her
eyes at last fell on his, and the pain in the now separately colored irises struck
her to her core. This wasn�t any minor pain she saw, this was something she
could only equate to losing a loved one right in front of their eyes.

No�who could he have lost?
She thought confusedly. His family was all safe and sound, and the only real
friend he had left in the Living World was Kin, the rest of their gang had all
made the all but permanent transition to the spirit realm. No Arrancar was
allowed in Soul Society, so what was the deal? Her brain hurt from the amount
of energy she was using in such a short time on the question. She just couldn�t
figure it out. In the silence, they had all decided it would be better if they
sat, just to make the wait more bearable.

It couldn�t have been that long
since words entered the air, but when Kaien spoke next it was like it had been
forever. �My�zanpakutou nature hadn�t been perfected when I was born�so my
Hollow blood was allowed more power than it should have had.� The quiet tone
emphasized the otherworldly aspect of his new voice, even if the pain was
nearly audible enough already. He took another deep breath to steady himself.
�It would�it would have eventually destroyed me, within the next year or so to
be exact.�

The harsh inhalations from that
were from both Asuka and Souken this time.

Even with the depressed
atmosphere he was exuding, Kaien gave a soft chuckle at the look on his
friends� faces. �She knew that. When she came back to me a hole I never thought
could be filled disappeared, but it wasn�t what I needed, even if I hadn�t
known what I needed at the time.� The gears in their heads were moving, just
not there yet. �It took a situation none of us had anticipated for her to
decide, and with God as my witness if I had known I would have waited to the
last possible second of however many years I had left before I would have asked
her to make it.� Kin�s eyes mimicked his now, and the silence this time was far
more suffocating.

�Who�? What�?� The rasps were the
only things Asuka was able to make at this point.

Kaien�s eyes turned tender and he
put his hand over his heart softly, like by touching that part of himself he
was touching someone else. �Two lifetimes and all I ever did was
fail her, and she still blamed herself. Nejibana merged with me to save
my life. Hence the changes; my blood, her power, and everything else,
completely under my control for the first time ever.�

While part of them was wondering
how a teenager had actually managed to use �hence� in a workable sentence, the
emotional impact of his words hit them where he was hurting.

�I�m�wow�I�m sorry.� It was a
gross understatement on Asuka�s part. She couldn�t imagine life without her
zanpakutou, but then again an Arrancar�s sword was their entire Hollow power
sealed and condensed, so it couldn�t be destroyed without the Arrancar being
destroyed also.

He chuckled in pain. �Even though
I know that already and I�ve spent three entire days to get to that, it still
hurts to say it out loud. Stupid, isn�t it?�

SLAP!

Kaien cheek stung from the force
of Asuka�s blow, even with his Ierro, and she grabbed his head to look into her
eyes. It was only thanks to Kin�s frozen astonishment at the previous action
that she was able to do so.

�Kaien�don�t you ever say that
again.� Her voice was commanding, but at the same time it was gentle, holding
the same pain within it that he felt in his heart. �We�ve lost people we cared
for in battle before, now tell me, have you ever
forgotten them?� She didn�t need him to answer vocally, she knew. �Neither have
I,� she whispered gently. �This is no different, in fact this is even more important.
Face it Kaien, you loved her, you loved her like only you could, and she loved
you. It�s not like with Kin, that goes without saying,
but you both loved each other more than family. I don�t have that kind of
zanpakutou, so I can�t relate, but I can imagine it. You don�t need to forget
her Kaien; remember her, remember her every day. Don�t ever be embarrassed to
say that talking about it hurts, and don�t ever say that remembering it is
stupid. As long as you live happily, she�ll rest in peace. Understand?�

He smiled nostalgically. He had
heard those words before; he had come to the same conclusion. �Yeah, yeah I
understand perfectly.� He was going to live happily, he would make sure of it.

Maybe it had been the whole
unexpected nature of the situation before and the talking since then, but for
the first time Asuka sensed the overall resolution, the killing malice that
seemingly came from nowhere and sent chills through to the deepest parts of her
marrow. When she looked at his eyes again they were hard, and she knew where it
was from.

�Come on Kin, the sooner we get
this over with, the sooner we can get planning.� He stood and offered her his
hand, and without a second glance they were walking out the door.

Asuka and Souken barely had time
to shake themselves out of the trance they had fallen into before they were
gone. �Get what over with!?� she called out frantically.

Kaien turned and grinned darkly. �The fight for my happily ever after.�

Asuka�s throat went dry just in
time for them to disappear.

She knew better than anyone that
it wasn�t going to be an easy battle. He was the Prince, for goodness
sakes! Out of everyone in Hueco Mundo, he would be fought over more than
anyone. The Arrancar women were not nearly as placid as their human
counterparts. His sisters might be a close second, but most of the men would
challenge that just for something to do, and both Tsukiyomi and Masaki had a
respect among the Arrancar women that was far beyond their years.

This was going to be an
interesting show, and she found herself wondering how many Fraccion Kaien would
have left after this little fiasco.

~~~~~~~~~

He had brought them to a large
auditorium-like structure, and as the light of the moon cast the white entrails
of the building into an eerie luminescence, they had stayed and waited as the
Arrancars gathered, seeking out the unknown reiatsu of the Soul Reaper that had
been brought to their realm.

Kin was really starting to enjoy
the looks Kaien was receiving when they figured out it was actually him under
the changes that had taken place, and the more that came the more Kin didn�t
want him to fight alone. She had once heard that ten Vastro-Lorde of completely
human appearance would mean the absolute destruction of Soul Society, and there
was far, far more than just ten, or even twenty, that showed up. While many were in varying
stages of Arrancarism, there was a good deal of them that looked no different
from any regular human she had ever met, except for the small mask fragment
somewhere on their face and the hole usually hidden on their person. There were
women and men, though she supposed they were just there to see what kind
of woman had caught the eye of the Prince.

It still disconcerted her to no
end that he was technically royalty, but if she was going on technicalities
then she was royalty too, and not just because she was going to be his wife.
Her mother was the princess of the Shihouin dynasty, and as her daughter she
held that heritage in her blood as well.

Every eye in the place was on
them, she didn�t need any extra senses to feel that, and it seemed that Asuka
had been right, there was going to be a ton of females challenging this
relationship. However, she could tell the difference between the ones that hated
him being in a relationship period to the ones that honestly had feelings for
him. She could see it because she knew their eyes, she
had seen them every time she had looked in the mirror during his five year
absence. It was a sad but very real reality that the more bestial ones were
just jealous, whereas their humanoid counterparts were usually the ones most
hurt by his revelation. There were a few exceptions, but not many.

Thankfully, the ones that she
could see the hurt emotions in were still few and far between, but considering
the hundred or more that had shown up, that was still too many for her liking.

She leaned into his side further
and whispered, �Just how many Fraccion do you have?�

He thought about that for a
second. �Last I checked�two-hundred and nine. When it comes to Espada class, or
more accurately Privaron Espada, the Tres Cifras, they�re at a one-to-three
ratio with the Gillian, or more beastlike Arrancars.�

Kin gulped. Even one
three-digit Arrancar, or worse, the ones that might have actually been in
contention for an Espada position�were Aizen�s system still in place�to every
three weaker Arrancar, still meant Kaien had a whole heck of a lot of power
under his command.

She could only gulp again. He had
an entire division, and from the looks of things, most of it had shown
up for his announcement and battle. Her back stiffened when she heard him clear
his throat loudly, and in a booming voice that resounded throughout the center
he spoke. �I, Kaien Kurosaki, have claimed the Soul Reaper Kin
Urahara-Shihouin! Anyone that wants to challenge this claim can stay here, those who don�t can either leave or watch, though it
might be dangerous to watch. I don�t want to fight any of you, I�ve met all of
you at one point or another and we�ve fought many times together. Those who
aren�t of my squad, I may not know you, or maybe I do, but I still don�t want
to fight any of my friends. You�ve been with me for five years, from the time I
didn�t know how to hold a sword to the time you decided to fight under me, and
I can understand if you want to fight just to get rid of your frustration. I
know I deserve it.�

That was when Kin felt it, the tap
slowly being opened. It started as a slow leak, until like the nozzle had been
destroyed his reiatsu darkened the atmosphere around them and crushed down on
everyone present, the malicious intent exponentially greater thanks to the love
and determination merged into that killing resolve. There had only been a few
in the room to ever feel his reiatsu firsthand, and even less to feel it as it
was right then. Kin winced in pity as many of the more bestial types fell to
the ground, and even the more humanoid Fraccion were either on their knees or
struggling to stay upright. She was glad he had enough control to spare her from
its effects, because even Asa, in all her prideful puniness, was sweating
profusely in fear, though she never once put a knee to the ground.

Like a match extinguishing, Kaien
snuffed his reiatsu out and let everyone breathe again. He had no desire to fight
against any of them, and he knew a display first would hinder those with
less-than-righteous motives to fight. It all depended on strength, and he was
going to make sure he had enough to make the job easier. Losing Kin now was not
an option.

To Kin�s great surprise, when
many of the Arrancars picked themselves up off the ground or swept the sweat
from their skin, there was no hatred in their eyes, instead there was a deep
and profound sense of respect. She guessed that even though they had fought
beside him before, that he always had his reiatsu
hidden had become one of the few complaints against him. If he was strong, he
was expected to show it. Now he just had, in no uncertain terms.

�I challenge you!�

The powerful voice echoed in the
large auditorium, and it was to no-one�s surprise that it had been Asa to
announce her contention first. For such a small body, she had a deep and
sensual voice that made her figure really stand out.

One by one a chorus of voices
rose up in agreement and by the time everyone had left that didn�t want to
fight, it was most of the full-blown Vastro-Lorde that were still there, even a
few of the males, though that was probably because they wanted to fight his
newfound power.

Kin�s mind was full of only a few
words at that moment, and most of them were four-lettered.

The damning sound of steel being
unsheathed lit up the ensuing silence in a rhapsody of death that had Kin�s
stomach twisting, and from the stoic look on her lover�s face she couldn�t tell
if he was worried or not. She didn�t know if he had been cut by all of his
Fraccion�s swords yet or not, and that made it all the worse.

His hands raised,
and everyone present tensed in anticipation, until with frightening clarity
they watched as he removed his haori and threw it to the side, revealing the
perfectly healthy alabaster Ierro it had been covering. The silver tattoos of
his arm sparkled in the moonlight, and with a smile that everyone saw, he
turned his back to them and smiled over his shoulder. �No need to beat yourself
up anymore Asa, come at me with all your strength.�

It took a moment for Kin to
realize what he meant, and it was only when she saw the thin line of water
leaking from one of Asa�s eyes as she smiled in relief did she know. His back
had healed of the giant scar that had previously run along it. In some twisted
way it made sense, his second-in-command would have been the only one capable
of inflicting that kind of injury on him.

He turned back and held out his
hand, where water starting appearing out of nowhere and twisted into a
recognizable shape, a long crystalline trident with a white tassel. It had once
been blue, but she could only guess it was because of his now perpetual White
Transformation-like state.

Instantly every Arrancar was on
guard, and Kin was entranced as he straightened his posture proudly and like
dancers, he and Nejibana were flowing together, she spinning around his wrist
like it was second nature. �Well come on, bring it!�

And like a starting gun had been
shot, everything sprung into motion at once.

She was rooted to the spot as the
Arrancars jumped at him, and from where she was it was like watching a tidal
wave of white and black moving with deadly aim at the only man she had ever
loved. The wave hit, and when it did an actual wave blew back the center
as Kaien swung Nejibana out in a long arc towards them.

The speed of the battle itself
was chaos, and chaos could be the only word that could describe the battle.
Thanks to the unusual tall stance that made him a very small target along with
the inhumanly quick redirects of the trident thanks to the spinning axis, it
was a battle of one hit at a time. They flew at him like darting hornets and
with a dodge or a parry he sent them to the back of the line as more took their
place and tried their luck at hitting.

At first glance it would seem
that a battle of such overwhelming odds was a huge disadvantage, but at closer
inspection it actually made Kaien�s job easier, as it made starting a combo all
but impossible for them and an innumerable combo for him all but impossible not
to do. He could flow from one strike to the next without even flinching because
no matter where he swung he was going to stop something, and the spinning
motion thwarted any attacks he might not have seen easily.

Suddenly he saw the glint of
metal shine ominously, and it was aimed right at his feet. In this situation he
couldn�t do anything, and his body reacted on instinct. He jumped. As soon as
he did he knew he had fallen for a trap, and Asa�s
smirk as she flipped to her feet after sliding at his made that all too clear.
He needed footing, and in the jump he had none.

They were planning; it wasn�t
just mindless attacks anymore, they were coordinating against him. The kick
from behind caught him unaware and he was shot down to the masses below, where
Asa grinned before leaping up and landing a soccer kick she could have only
learned from Karin at his side, propelling him faster into a spin that
ultimately saved his life, because the swords swung where his head had once
been seconds earlier zipped harmlessly by his ear. He didn�t know if she had
planned that or not, but he was glad she had done it, even if his side burned
in protest.

He knew against these odds if he
stayed like this too long it would cost him, so with another spin his white
tendrils had shot out of his arms and whipped around two unsuspecting Arrancar,
throwing them off into the roof and stopped his uncontrollable flight.

The entire battle slowed as the
unexpected appendages heralded a difference none of them had ever faced before,
and even Asa�s eyes were wide. Once again they all surprised her, and instead
of being afraid or any normal reaction like that, it was exactly the
opposite. It would seem his transformation into a more Hollow state made them more
overjoyed than ever.

And it brought on the worst
possible thing. They all released their zanpakutous.

There was no more coordination, this was now a battle of pure unadulterated
power. The reiatsu was so thick in the air he could almost reach out and bite a
chunk of it off, and his body was certainly starting to feel the pressure.

The wave began anew, and this
time he almost started to panic. This was more power
than he had ever faced in his entire life; seemingly countless Espada-class
Arrancars in complete Resurrecion all aimed at him. Maybe showing them this
power hadn�t been the brightest thing to do.

He was so caught up in the
oncoming wave, that none of them noticed the unsheathing of another sword until
the reiatsu crashed into the air with theirs. He knew whose it was, but he
wasn�t prepared for the hundreds of glistening crystals to fly in front of him
like a wall of spikes, crackling with otherworldly energy.

�Hadou Thirty-One: Red Flame
Cannon!�

That wave burst in every effort
to get away when they saw that that powerful spell was coming from each and
every one of the crystal feathers floating innumerably in front of them, and
the ensuing explosion blasted a huge hole in the wall on the far end of where
they had once been.

Kin jumped in front of him, the
blue lightning he knew all too well jumping chaotically from her back, the
golden armor over her torso. She turned to glare at him, and he sweated more
from that glare than he had at the horde of enemies. �You can be the
overly-chivalrous, sappy idiot all you want when this is over! You�re out of
you frick�n mind if you think I�m letting you fight this battle alone! They
challenge you, they challenge me!�

For a second, Kaien stood there
stunned, and even though he wanted to protest, she had a point; and besides, he
doubted he would be able to stop her even if he wanted to. She grinned when she
saw the decision already reflected in his eyes, and before who-knows-how-many
Vastro-Lorde, she strode over and brazenly kissed him.

His lips tingled and he could
feel his hair spiking more than usual from the electric Kidou passing from her
body to his. God it was indescribable. The light, the emotion, the plain power
in general flowing off her body, and it was all naught as their lips pressed
against each other in passion. His Ierro offered almost no protection from this
close, and it was like all she was touching were nerves; even with the
situation he knew they were both in, he simply wanted more. When she pulled away this time it was his turn to be
dazed, and as a final reminder, and a possible hint that even the energy around
her didn�t want to let him go, one last spark jumped between their lips as the
gap widened.

�Holy shit�� he rasped as he tried
to stable his spinning eyes.

Kin smirked in self-satisfaction
as her ego inflated. �I don�t know why only one gets to fight. The way I see it
is we�re a package deal, and if they think they can beat up on my lover while I
just stand there playing in the sand they�ve got another thing coming! Preferably this!� She shot her palm over at one of
the clumps of Arrancars�who were trying to figure out what was safe to do or
not in the face of the new weapons of which they had no idea what their
abilities were�and the Kidou energy of Shunkou zapped out angrily at them,
forcing yet another retreat. �Anyone got a problem with that!?!!�

When no one answered, she grinned
darkly.

Kaien chuckled softly. She really
was like her mother, never one to do what others told her to do.

Asa floated to the ground with
soft flaps of her leathery wings, and no one noticed the cracks in the
granite floor when she landed, even as softly as she had. Her emerald green
eyes now had serpentine pupils and the vertical green slits looked at her
approvingly. She had a long reptilian tail that was layered with spikes, and
her hands and feet now bore long claws that looked as sharp as they truly were.
Her mask had replaced itself over to her ears, and they went from her temples,
up over her ears to her hair, where they branched off into flame-like spikes
seemingly holding her short, spiky hair in place. She grinned at her, and Kin
saw she had fangs now too. �Seems like I have to give you
some credit, Blondie. I might have beat you up
just for the hell of it if you hadn�t done anything.� With each word, sparks of flame came from
her mouth, but Asa paid it no mind, like it was supposed to happen.

The redhead was a dragon. Literally.

�Save it; all that credit went to
sitting out as long as I did in the first place.�

That evoked the first somewhat
friendly grin Kin had ever received from the female second-in-command. �Is that
so? Well then, bring it, Blondie!�

Kin just grinned at her in
response, and the sickly-sweet gesture made Asa�s stomach tighten in�if she
hadn�t felt it firsthand she wouldn�t have believed it�fear. Her eyes
widened when, when Kin moved to attack, Kaien did too without any prompting.
She instantly steeled herself for the oncoming assault, only to be passed by
without a second glance. �Huh�?�

What she saw when she turned
around froze her blood in its fiery veins.

The army around them was getting
slowly but thoroughly dismantled, or decimated, if she had to pick the more
realistic word. The synchronization wasn�t anything like she had seen with
Masaki and Ikki, but it was far more disturbing. She had been his highest
subordinate and friend for a good four years, and a helpful
tutor-slash-babysitter before that when his parents trusted his education to an
Arrancar outside the original Espada, yet she had never been able to move with
him on a level so�intimate. They weren�t in perfect synch like the youngest
Kurosaki and her other, but they moved in a way that complimented the partner,
where the raw emotion the chemistry between them created was almost a palpable
entity.

The draconic woman quickly found
the blonde�s greatest asset to be her speed, and what was worse was she had a
great deal of strength too, so she wasn�t lacking in one area because of an
abundance of the other. Asa couldn�t complain about her own abilities, but
maybe it was the way the woman she was watching fought, so happily, so resolute,
so absolutely sure the person she was fighting with wouldn�t let her down. It
hurt just to look at them, to see that even after so many years away from her,
they could fight together in a way that matched and even pronounced the
strengths they both had. They were the angel and demon, ebony and ivory in
every sense of the word. The one one would initially suppose to be light used
darkness as his ragged wings, and the one that would be assumed to be dark used
bright light as hers. It was like watching two paradoxes move in complete
compliment of the other, the supposed angel using demonic power the same way
the would-be demon made use of the magical energies only evocable by their
sworn enemies.

There was no Hollow or Soul
Reaper there, just love.

They were fighting the pinnacle
of the Hollow form, and yet their faces were only slightly worried, barely even
that in the dark-skinned woman�s case. It made Asa so furious she couldn�t even
describe it. Kaien had left one of the strongest beings outside of his parents,
and he had come back even stronger than he had left, all because of her.
It had been her involvement in his life that had prompted those changes, she
was sure of it. Before, his hidden power had been cause for speculation and
fear, the even more hidden Hollow powers under that more so. He had been looked
up to and lusted after, loved by more than he could even name likely, but this
Kaien that had come back seemed to command attention with his very presence.
His ashen pallor and seemingly magical attributes drew things to him, held them
in its grip with an iron hold that they didn�t even want to get out of, and he had only been back for a couple of hours!

Yet he was fighting for her;
it was because of her.

He clearly didn�t have a grip on
his Hollow powers, but the tendrils were still a threat that Asa wasn�t about
to ignore. She would bide her time, there was still plenty of threat there
to the two fighting for their chance to love, and she knew she could hurt one
of them, even if it was the last thing she wanted to do. Her pride wouldn�t let
her do otherwise.

Still she watched, and from the
distance she was at seeing any wounds on the contenders was difficult. However,
her heightened senses made seeing the red soaking into the pristine white of
Kaien�s hakama from the cuts in his flesh rather easy. He wasn�t getting away from this
encounter unscathed, but he didn�t even pay attention to the wounds, just like
he always did. Right then he was a man possessed, and it didn�t matter that he
was getting hurt as long as he made it to his goal.

Yet even then he was so soft.
Every fighter that had faced him was on the ground, writhing in pain, but still
alive. He wasn�t purifying anyone, but he wasn�t na�ve enough to foolishly hold
back and risk getting both himself and his lover killed. She could tell the
difference between the ones he had taken down and the ones she had, because while hers were incapacitated in a many ways,
there was usually charred Ierro from the force of her Kidou and wounds far
greater than necessary, whereas his were bloody from precision strikes that
left them immobile.

Her eyes were brought back to
them, the blurs moving magnificently through the night-laden sky, where
crumbling pieces of roof let in even more moonlight for their battle. The red
feathers were flying around like knives propelled by some kind of telekinetic force,
and it wasn�t hard to see who was controlling them, from the hand movements
that matched their motions perfectly. Asa laughed quietly; she knew she could
avoid that now. Even she heard the sickening crack as Kin brought her foot down
on the collarbone of the current Arrancar she was fighting, and before her eyes
even had time to roll back in her head, the unconscious body had flown to the
ground and broke even more of the granite-like stone of the floor.

That was when she noticed something
odd. Kin barely had a scratch on her. There was the odd wound here or there,
but nothing more than a flesh wound. She didn�t even have Ierro, it shouldn�t
have been possible. Her answer came in the form of the latest foe launching
herself at Kin�s unprotected�and unknowing�back. Without even halting his
movements, Kaien had danced behind Kin and spun her in his arms, propelling her
gracefully into the opponent she was currently fighting, leaving her none the
wiser to the fact that the claws that had been directed at her back had torn
into his. She even smiled at him
gratefully, like she thought it was part of his whole plan!

Asa could feel the blood running
down her fingers, from where her talons were biting into her palms in their
fury.

The next time she came to her
senses, she was the only one left, and Kin was smiling at her smugly with her
crimson wings folded behind her. Kaien was beside her, still half-naked, looking
ten-times worse than she did, but his bi-colored eyes were as bright as when they
had started. He had a sword in his hand too, just as white as the others he had conjured, which meant after this was all over he was going to be down for the count for a while. She could see the burnt
skin of his shoulders from where she was standing too, his Cero technique was
never meant to be used over extended periods of time. Not even Arrancar Ierro
was completely invulnerable to the overwhelming energies of Cero. She knew it
would heal, but she was still picked that he had gone so far for her.

�So, not so bad eh?� the busty
blonde called out snidely. She could practically taste the pride in her voice.

Her emerald eyes blazed. �I�d
have more respect for you if you were as beat up as Kaien.� She saw her flinch.
So it hadn�t gone unnoticed after all.

�The day I let her get hurt when
I could�ve prevented it is the day Lucifer dies of frostbite and pneumonia,� Kaien said simply, like
it was the most natural thing in the world. Once again, Asa felt her heart�or what
passed for a heart, she didn�t know what Hollows had�tighten
in her chest.

Crushing those feelings
underfoot, Asa merely shrugged. �Saving me for last wasn�t the smartest thing
you�ve ever done.� She noticed the way Kin winced as she saw the bursts of
flame that always accompanied her words.

�I always thought dragons were
larger,� she taunted, but Asa had a lot of experience with that, and smiled. Kaien
knew her strength, he wasn�t about to
underestimate her.

�Why don�t you punch me and find
out? I may be short, but I�m not weak.�

The instant the sentence was
finished she felt a bone-crushing impact hit her in the shoulder, and to her
surprise it actually pushed her. A few inches that is. However, Asa had to
respect that; it was the furthest she�d ever been pushed outside the royalty
and Espada, and the Kidou behind it was no joke. It was only thanks to her
willpower that she was able to keep from crying out, if she did that the whole
intimidation factor would be eliminated.

Kin was staring at her with wide
eyes; she had never met anyone able to take a punch enforced by Shunkou without
flying off into the distance, other than another Shunkou user of course.

�H-How�?�

The emerald irises in front of
her sparkled dangerously. �Dragons are known for a few things, their breath and
size for instance. Have you ever thought of the weight that must come with that giant size?� The recognition
sparked faster than she would have thought in the blonde�s eyes, but by that
time she had already pulled back her fist and was putting all of her impressive
weight into her momentum.

�Santen Kesshun, I Reject!�

Just before she hit Kin in the
face, the orange shield had formed between them and stopped the blow in its
tracks, even though the force could be felt from the huge impact of air that
had blown the dust around them into disarray. Needless to say, the shield
cracked and broke, but Kin was able to get away without a scratch, but with far
more fear in her eyes than had been there before. That alone was enough for
Asa.

�Haven�t you ever heard of not
judging a book by its cover?�

No more words were said after
that, just the flurry of weapons and claws sounded throughout the air. Despite
her surprising weight for such a perfect figure, she was no less agile than
before she had released, and that was really annoying in Kin�s eyes. The
Arrancar had even managed to destroy a few of her crystal feathers, with her
hands no less, and her spiked tail was never immobile for too long.

She knew just how to fight them
too, how to dodge the incoming projectiles and keep Kaien far enough away from
her that he couldn�t help her nor injure herself. Her breath wasn�t just for
show either, and the burning magma that flew at them when she huffed was what always kept Kaien too far from her to be of any use.

Her chest-plate was invaluable
when it came to protecting her torso, because if she didn�t have it she would
be near death more times than she wanted to count. Too many of Asa�s punches
had made it through her own hand-to-hand skills, and not because of strength either.
The pint-sized dragon had the weight to make her blows deadly and the speed to
deliver them.

Finally, Kin caught her unaware
and managed a punch bursting with Kidou right into the smaller woman�s gut,
doubling her over her fist. Asa coughed up blood and fire, but she held on to
the fist and Kin had no way to escape from the tail flying over Asa�s head
right on her unprotected back. The white tendrils came out of nowhere, but they
weren�t strong enough to stop the weighted object from falling, and it was only
thanks to their redirection that it hit the back of Kin�s armor and bounced
harmlessly off, though the impact hadn�t been completely unabsorbed by the body
underneath.

Seconds later her hands were
wrenched away from the bronze arm and she was thrown�thrown�carelessly across the large building. The punch that came
next rocked her fangs in her head and jostled her brain before an unfamiliar
feeling of rope tightened around her arm and pulled her back for another
mind-numbing blow. Unable to see in the state she was in, she simply spewed
fire at whoever was in front of her, and the deep scream that came from that was one
she knew very well.

When her senses came back to her,
she saw Kaien glaring at her with eyes glowing murderously, all the blood
vessels of his sclera broken. His red-rimmed eyes only brought attention to the
veins standing out on his body as he held his breath, willing the pain to leave
him. He was clutching his right arm, where she could see the burning remnants
of some of his white strings shrivel mercifully back into his body. She had
seen a look like that before, when he had come close to losing an arm, and realized
that none of them had known of the potential nerve-endings the vines might have
had.

She felt like crap, but she could
still fight. She saw Kin rushing toward Kaien, and knew this was a great
chance. With a great inhalation of breath she aimed, and only when she was
blowing it all out did she notice she had been surrounded by the crystal
feathers of the woman�s Bankai.

�Bakudou Eighty: Rejection Void!�

It was like being trapped in a
sealed glass bowl, and she had no way to block the fiery magma that filled it
of her own volition.

Kin winced at the screams that
resulted from what she had done, but both she and Kaien couldn�t afford to
fight any longer, not against people they couldn�t kill.� She dispelled her incantation and watched the
body fall to the ground, burnt, but not dead. Somehow Asa�s hair was only
out-of-place, and only a few places where her defenses were the weakest had bad
burn marks. Her wings were torn and burnt and her tail was missing its end, but
all in all any Soul Reaper would have been incinerated, whereas she had just come
out extra crispy.

Asa coughed weakly as she
struggled to stay upright while preserving her modesty from the burned tatters
her covering had been reduced to. �D�Damn.
Im-Impressive�. You have�m-my sup�port�� Then she fell down face first, unconscious.

It was over. Finally.

She made her way over to Kaien as
she resealed her Bankai and noticed that he hadn�t let go of the white sword he had recently
summoned. It hadn�t been the first, but it was the one he kept after using the
others. �What do we do now?�

He grinned tiredly as he slashed
at her and she was too stunned to do anything, but soon grinned when she saw a
near hidden bar on the side of the blade glow red against the white backdrop. �Now we fix everyone and get back to normal. Yumichika and Sun-Sun will want to help with your dress, so I should probably
introduce you to them once I recover from this.�

She smiled so brightly it made
the moon pale in comparison.

They were one step closer to
their wedding, and she couldn�t wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Author�s Notes: Wow everyone, I am so sorry it took so long. I
finally found a job and the hours have kind of thrown me through a loop, so I
hope this was good enough to justify the wait. I just had to make Yumichika and
Sun-Sun a couple though, she even has the same kind of
feathers over her eye! (Sun-Sun is one of Halibel�s Fraccion if you can�t
remember). Well, that�s it for me for now, if I
remember anything else I�ll edit this later to tell you all more.

Thanks so much to my continued
reviewers and I really am sorry for the wait! I�ll try to make the next chapter
come out faster, and it should be the last one before the epilogues. Maybe,
LOL!

Thank you for reading and I hope
you enjoyed it! Reviews would be appreciated!

And just as an added note, I'd like to ask something. Are women still reading this? I couldn't help but notice most of my continued reviewers have been of the male persuasion, that I know of anyway, with one exception. I know I write lots of fight scenes and all that, but I'd like to think I'm reaching the emotional aspects of the characters too. If anyone has anything to offer on that front, I'd really like to hear it.

Once again, reviews would be nice, LOL!
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