"There’s no time to wait for you to completely recover," Arms crossed, Yoruichi stands several feet away from Ichigo on an unfamiliar, rocky terrain. "You’ll have to put up with the pain."

"...Sure," Ichigo says coldly. His natural scowl deepens as he recalls the conversation they had earlier...

Yoruichi's expression is calm and unreadable, despite the way Ichigo fisted her collar in one hand and slammed her against the wall.

"Why," Ichigo growled out hoarsely, sweat dripping down his face and chest. "WHY WAS I THE ONLY ONE YOU TOOK WITH YOU!?!"

"I had the best chance of surviving if I were left back there!!" Ichigo screamed fiercely as he kept Yoruichi pinned against the wall, "This will get Ganju, Hanatarou, Rukia - all of them killed!!"

"Don’t think so highly of yourself," Yoruichi told him coldly. "You didn’t have a chance. There wasn’t a single person back there who could’ve survived against Byakuya."

"Bitch..." his yell was cut off when his world spun head over heels. Before he knew it, he was laying flat on his back with the wind knocked out of him. Yoruichi stood over him.

"Quit making a fuss," Yoruichi glanced down at Ichigo as he gasped for air. "You’ll end up opening that wound I went to so much trouble to close up," she paused, looking away. "...In order to be certain of a clean escape from Byakuya, I was limited to carrying away only one person," she explained.

"...So then..." Ichigo looked up at her angrily, "Why not Rukia instead of me..."(1)

Yoruichi paused again, giving him a calculating look, "Actually... among those who had been back there at that time, none of them could possibly defeat Byakuya. However, given 3 days time, you are the only one I can see gaining that possibility. That’s what I thought, so I took you with me."

Ichigo's eyes widened at Yoruichi's admission.

"...Other than Byakuya, Ukitake was also back there," she continued. "As Rukia’s direct superior, he’s a man with a strong sense of duty. He would take the so-called bandits who came to save Rukia - as in Ganju and that boy from the 4th division - and put them in jail. I couldn’t possibly imagine him killing them," she said as she watched Ichigo slowly move to stand up again. "So don’t worry about it, Ichigo. You can get stronger here. You can’t win against Byakuya the way you are right now, but in 3 days I can train you to win. Then, by your own hand next time... you’ll regroup and rescue everyone!!

Fired up by determination, Ichigo draws out Zangetsu from over his shoulder and settles into a battle-ready stance.

"I need to ask you something first..." Yoruichi calls over to him, "are you aware that Zangetsu is a Zanpaku sword that’s always in its released state?"

"Really?" Ichigo looks up at her in curiosity. "When you say it’s always in its released state, do you mean it’s like Kenpachi’s? I’ve been thinking about how strange it seemed that its shape is so different from other folk’s. It doesn’t transform even when I call its name..."(2)

"...So you haven’t noticed it then..." Yoruichi notes with a slight grin, "Then... you also do not know that Zangetsu can be liberated one more level?"

"Zangetsu, as a full Zanpaku sword without limitations, is capable of performing 2 stages of release," Yoruichi adds. "The first release is 'Shikai'(3) and the second release is called 'Bankai.'(4) Being able to do these two releases is the single prerequisite condition in order to become a Captain."

"Prerequisite..." Ichigo echoes in confusion.

"That’s right," she says. "In other words it means that all of those who have the rank of Captain - barring one exception - master this 'Bankai.'"

"...An exception...?" Ichigo repeats, clueless.

"Zaraki Kenpachi!!" Yoruichi reminds him. "Even in the long history of Soul Society, there are men such as him who can take up the position of Captain without being able to perform the 'Bankai' or know the name of their own sword. That fixation with his combat ability was a great thing for the 13 Divisions. You, who fought him, should know that better than anyone else."

Ichigo stands quietly as he thinks this over. Then, Yoruichi continues with the main point of her lecture, "The level of a Zanpaku sword’s fighting ability when it goes from the 'Shitai' state to the 'Bankai' state, depending on an individual’s qualities and degree of training... generally increases from 5 to 10 times as much."

Ichigo is shocked by her estimate, "Ten times...!!"

"Isn’t that a miraculous boost?" Yoruichi says, "However, in order to go from 'Shikai' to 'Bankai' it is therefore necessary for even the talented ones to undergo training that can easily last more that 10 years."

"Wa... Wait a minute!" Ichigo interrupts, fully aware of how little time he really has. "That much time is..."

"Needless to say, I understand," Yoruichi assures him, "I’m saying that it would take 10 or 20 years to accomplish it if we were to go through persistent and fair training." Her composure is deadly serious when she adds, "It’s rather beset by danger, but you’ll gain mastery of the 'Bankai' within 3 days by using a completely different method."

Ichigo sweats, not willing to step down but also not sure of what kind of training awaits him.

~*~*~

"I see..." Jogging down the walled-in pathways of Seireitei, Ishida looks over at his traveling companion, continuing their current conversation, "so then Tsubaki still hasn’t completely recovered..."(5)

"Yeah..." Orihime says; her worry and regret is quite evident. "I even gave him treatment last night for some time, but it looks like getting a knack for healing my companions is a lot harder than I thought..." one of the small petals of her six-petal hairpin is cracked, but not completely broken. "I’m sorry..." she says to Ishida regretfully. "I’m not being of any use..."

"Wha... What are you saying?" Ishida exclaims in surprise, "It's great that you’re able to protect and heal! That's good enough!"

"...Thank you," Orihime accepts the compliment graciously, but it still doesn't seem to be enough to convince her.

As they keep running down the path, Ishida thinks, I really do think that's good enough... If Orihime takes the rear guard this way in order to protect and heal, then the odds of her getting targeted by an enemy will be less... In the few days I've shared with her here, I understand her behavior clearly... She is absolutely not cut out for fighting! He looks back at the fretful Orihime in concern, More than anything, she hates to see anyone hurt right before her eyes. Even if the person is an enemy, for example. A person like that must not fight. A battle like that will only hurt oneself and one's friends.(6)

Ishida turns his attention towards the path ahead, but their progress is halted by the sound of a gruff voice behind them. "HEY!! YOU GUYS!!!"

It seems that a Shinigami had turned the corner onto the path they were sprinting down. The Shinigami isn't a particularly handsome man - he's tall, with slicked back hair and a weak excuse for a moustache. He has a flask dangling from one hand. "What team are you guys from!?" the guy demands from Ishida and Orihime, "What are you doing in a place like this!?"

"The..." Orihime hesitates.

"The 11th team," Ishida finishes for her.

"Hoh..." The man mutters in suspicion. Ishida and Orihime watch the man cautiously as he shuffles towards them. "That's strange... I'm in the 11th team too..." He tosses his flask away carelessly, "This is the first I've heard of dopes who wander around without Zanpaku swords belonging to our 11th team that specializes in combat."

Damn it! Ishida's eyes narrow, There are distinguishing features for each team, huh...!

The man from the 11th yanks the collar of Orihime's jacket and takes a look at the white patch sewn inside the hem. In the middle of the rectangular patch is a black circle with a spiky top. "...It's the badge of the 12th team. Not my team," he notes. "I knew it... you've got no excuses." He looks down at them both threateningly, "What are you guys?"

Shit... Ishida braces himself to attack, I still wanted to go by peacefully, but we’re out of options...!

A heavy force slams down on the threatening guy's head - knocking him unconscious.

Ishida and Orihime are shocked. It seems that they have saviors from an unlikely place.

"Whew!" A Shinigami man with a sharply defined chin, blonde hair and black eyebrows, holds up his battered stick as the unconscious man from team 11 falls over at his feet. Blondie is accompanied by 3 other smiling Shinigami companions.

"That sure was dangerous, you guys!" A cute young man (7) behind Blondie addresses both Orihime and Ishida in a friendly manner.

"What an awful guy to doubt one's companions, of all things!" Blondie exclaims. "You're not hurt are you?" he asks Orihime and Ishida.

Off to the side, the three other guys take a look at the fallen man from the 11th team.

"This guy's drunk!" says the one with bushy hair.

"Serious?" asks the one with his hair tied back.

"Kick him," Cute Guy ('Cg' for short) adds in helpfully.

Orihime approaches Blondie gratefully, "Th... thank you very much!"

"What," Blondie waves off her gratitude with a generous smile. "It's natural that members of the same team 12 help each other out."

Cg scoffs comically at the drunkard on the ground. "These team 11 guys come to freakin' provoke us. Shit!"

Ishida keeps his eyes on the team 12 guys as they speak with Orihime.

"There are times when a person is in a hurry and forgets their sword!" one of them adds.

One of the other men pipe in, "That's right!"

...wait. Think about it carefully, Ishida tells himself as he watches the men warily while they laugh and joke around with Orihime, Isn't it strange that they would be the ones to save us in this situation? Although he was drunk, the case that the man from the 11th team made was totally correct. It’s unmistakably odd that we claimed to be in the 11th team and yet wore the clothes of the 12th team. A reason for going to the trouble of saving us - Ishida's thoughts are cut off by a startling realization. He suddenly pushes past the Team 12 men to lunge for Orihime, "I...Inoue-san!! Get away from..."

A deafening explosion rocks the Team 12 men back as the spot that Blondie once occupied goes up in a ball of flame. Blood and guts fly out everywhere - splashing against Cg's shocked face.

"...Eh? Wha... ah... huh? Eh...?" Cute Guy looks at the gore splattered on him in confusion and disbelief. Half a second ago, this blood belonged inside the living body of his companion... but now - in a violent flash - Blondie was completely wiped out.

"Wha... What the hell is this!?" Cg spins around and charges at the one who committed this horrible murder.

The other two men follow after him, running from the smoky crater in horror, "UWAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"Captain! Captain Kurotsuchi!!" Cg screams in rage, "This isn't what you told us!! KURO-" Cg's face suddenly becomes bloated, expanding, straining against the flesh before -

- three explosions occur at once, incinerating the men from the inside out.

"You can’t do that," Captain Kurotsuchi stands before the flaming explosions with a detonator in his hand. Nemu stands silently behind him. "Grenades that've been hurled out don't return."

(1)Glad to see that Ichigo is thinking of Rukia as a priority now. Beforehand, she just seemed to be one on a list of many people that Ichigo fights to protect. Heh.
(2)Yeah, I kinda figured that was the case. I mean, if it were sealed it would look more like a normal sword, ne?
(3)“first release”
(4)Another type of release that sounds far more complex and mystical. The ‘manji’ symbol (also known by its reversed form as a swastika) is a strong Buddhist symbol. Go pick up a history book or religious text and actually investigate the true meaning of the symbol before giving a thoughtless knee-jerk reaction – otherwise, I’ll be very disappointed. -_- However, invisible bonus cookies go to anyone who finds out any interesting info about the ‘manji’ symbol and its connotations in Japan & Buddhism. ^_^
(5)Tsubaki, as you may remember, is the one member of Orihime’s Shun Shun Rikka who can perform attacks (instead of heal or defense ‘magic’). He was injured heavily when Orihime tried to use him in an attack but failed because she didn’t perform the attack full-heartedly.
(6)Personally, I can agree with some of Ishida’s reasoning – Orihime really is someone who hates to see people get hurt no matter who they are, so that’s a major disadvantage in a situation like this. However, I think Ishida is undermining her true ability, so I hope she gets a chance to prove her worth in the fight against Mayuri – that guy is such a monster that Orihime could probably fight him with all she’s worth. So, what’s your take on this?
(7)Don’t ask me to describe the cute guy – the only word I can think of is “hottie”. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating but still... :P

Notes:
-Mayuri is an evil bastard. I know I said the same thing about Kenpachi and I was wrong, but this time a very Cute Guy got killed, dammit! You don't see Kenpachi doing something as horrid as that! DIE MAYURI!!! >_<
-Ahem... Chapter 121 is coming very soon to an lj near you! ^_^ (Woohoo! 3 day weekend, baby!!!)

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