A/N: I know, it's been literally forever but I've been steadily writing out the final chapters for the book. I'm aiming to have them all done by the end of 2021 so be prepared for a few more updates!

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From nights and days training with Kisuke, observing him growing stronger and stronger, I knew he had untapped potential. That kid was full of surprises.

Renji blew out a relieved sigh. "Of course count on Ichigo to come to the rescue." He collapsed with his back to a tree, a hand on his stomach. Only now could I see his body swathed in bandages.

The phoenix roared its fury.

"Yeah, but who's going to save him now?" Blocking it once was a miracle. Stopping it twice might prove too much.

Not to mention the captains and lieutenants watching with upturned faces. I mentally prepared myself for the face that we might have to run in once Ichigo saved Rukia.

"Wait, who's that?" I questioned. Three new figures had entered the scene. One wore captain robes. He held something... strange... before him. A shield?

A sudden rope or chain appeared, snaking its way towards the phoenix and strangled the living daylights out of the bird.

...Probably not, but it certainly looked that way with the bird frozen in mid air.

It came from the large wooden board the white-haired captain stood next to. Another captain joined the new one, one I knew because everyone woman fawned over him and how handsome he looked with a pink kimono – Shunsui Kyoraku.

"That's the Captain of the Thirteenth Squad! And the Captain of the Eighth!" Renji exclaimed.

A bright flash of light came from the wood then orange ascended up the line. Once it reached the bird, the colours merged. The phoenix burst into smithereens, a rain of fire falling on the onlookers below.

I held my arm out as a blast of hot air reached us, tearing limbs from the branches and throwing dirt in our eyes.

"Did you know that could happen?" I shouted to Renji over the howling wind.

"I didn't even know it could become a bird!" he answered.

When everything settled, it grew quiet once again. I really wanted to draw nearer to find out what was happening exactly but that wasn't feasible. Surprise would be our friend if they needed it.

A figure stood atop the execution stand. What did Ichigo plan to do now? The scaffold glowed blue. Realisation dawned – he planned to break it. But for the hunk of wood it was, it was practically indestructible said all accounts.

It shattered within seconds, another explosion rocking the Seireitei. My mouth dropped open into a large 'O'.

'What the hell did Kisuke feed that kid?'

"Your friends shouldn't be far away so you should stay here."

"Huh?" I gawked at Renji as he withdrew his zanpakuto a fraction to loosen it and sheathed it with a click.

"I'm going to help out. Stay here."

"I don't follow orders given by a person with no natural eyebrows. Besides," I said, waving off his indignation, "with that many captains floating about, it's better we go together."

He raised one of those tattooed eyebrows at me, looked me up and down. "You can't even stand up straight. And you don't have a zanpakuto. This would be a repeat of last time."

I shoved myself off the tree I was practically hugging. "I'm perfectly fine."

'Liar.'

He clicked his tongue and shunpo'ed away before I could even respond. "Ah!" I reached into empty space. Guess the decision had been made. I hated when everyone was right.

I stood for a half a second longer, watching his form grow smaller. "Perhaps we should head back to the staircase and wait for the others."

'Good idea. Won't be good getting into a fight right now.'

I retreated into the shadows then jogged slowly back the way we'd come. Hopefully the others had closed the gap between us, perhaps even the others from Squad 11 were with them.

'God, stop with the pining.'

"I'm not pining," I muttered. "I merely making a tactical observation that having high ranking members of Squad 11 would be better than just me as the only soul reaper. "Besides...Besides...What had I been thinking about?"

I frowned and missed a step. I stumbled into a tree, sudden disgusting bile in the back of my throat. Then my jelly legs gave way. I slipped down between the roots of the tree. Even this felt like a feathered bed in my state.

'Kera, what are you doing? Get up.'

"I don't think I can," I said, bones weary.

'You have to get up, Kera. No, don't go to sleep!"

"I'm not," I muttered, traitorous eyelids drifting shut. I just couldn't keep them open no matter how hard I tried. Now that I'd stopped moving and the adrenaline had worn off, the tiredness I'd felt back in Squad 11 came rushing back like river down a mountainside.

'We won't wake up if you do!"

An unbearable fatigue swamped me, nothing I'd felt before. Perhaps I may have overexerted myself past my capabilities. Fear tickled my chest.

'Are you listening?!'

I wanted to call Chiya to help me but my voice wouldn't work and I felt her fading away as quickly as my vision.

'Open your goddamn eyes, I mean it!'

'Kera!'

'No! You have to get up!'

'Kera, get up!'

...

Are you really going to lay down and die like the last time?

My eyelids snapped open. The echo of the voice sounded familiar but it was gone before I could capture it, forgotten in an instant. Golden sparks fizzled out and gave way to clouds floating lazily overhead.

From this vantage point, you could believe nothing was wrong. Another boring day in the Soul Society.

With a groan, I sat up. My eyelids still felt leaden as I gazed around. How long had I been out for? It was eerily quiet on the hilltop.

While this should have been good news – I had a better chance at surviving – the entirety of the situation felt eerily wrong. Because just now I sensed the spiritual pressures of the Captains who'd been on the hillside in different parts of the Seireitei.

They were fighting. Fighting who though? Each other?

No, preposterous. But, two Captains had gone and destroyed the fire-bird. And why could I sense Mr Yoruichi? Nothing about this felt normal even by Soul Reaper standards.

There was an influx of power in the distance. I shivered, the power of a great man fanning flames at my back. Only one person had strength such as that. And if he was getting involved, I prayed for the poor souls. A Head Captain's rage was nothing to smirk at.

'For the love of god, Kera, if you close your eyes again, I will throw you off the cliff.'

"Why didn't you just take back control then."

'You've blocked me out, you idiot. I don't know how you even have the strength to do that when you can't even keep your legs underneath you.'

"Calm down. We're fine, see?" I stood and stretched, every muscle in my body screaming in pain. We'd come a pretty solid distance from the clearing so I could probably walk now. "I think."

"Kera!" I only had that warning before another familiar red-head threw herself on me. Which would have been fine if I had strength but as it was, the surprise attack buckled my knees and we fell in a heap on the ground. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Orihime exclaimed.

"Not any more," I groaned, unable to move a muscle.

"Aw, you beat us here," grumbled Yachiru then threw herself on me too, albeit a bit softer than Orihime did.

I hugged her back tightly then ruffled her hair. She pouted at me.

The others were here too - Chad, Uryu, Makizo; and a random stranger. "It's good to see you guys," I said, trying to sit up.

Orihime grabbed my hands to help me sitting then pressed her fingers to her hair clips.

"No, wait, Orihime, I'm fine," I tried to reason and I held my hands up to push her away. That was when the hollow bone on my arms cascaded down. I started bleeding profusely.

All too soon she had me glowing. It only took about a minute and I spent all of it giving her a disapproving look. "You didn't have to waste your power on me."

She ignored me. "Your reishi is stable now and rising," Orihime said, drawing away her hands. The orange glow faded. "It's not a waste if I'm using it on you, Kera."

The cuts on my arms and the other smaller wounds Paulo had inflicted had healed and I felt a little more refreshed than I had in a while. "Thank you," I said begrudgingly, noting that she was pale now and her eyes tired. "Are you alright, Orihime?"

"Oh, don't worry about me!" she said, perking up instantly and waving off my concern.

Unfortunately, I'm always worried about this lot.

All of them wore soul reaper uniforms and looked relatively unharmed. Someone had taken good care of them, surprisingly. I narrowed my eyes on Uryu. "If you ever stab me again, Uryu, I will break your arm. And who are you?" I asked the guy with the bandanna and a strip of bandage over his nose.

"The name's Ganju. I'm guessing you're Kera?"

"The one and only," I said, standing up. "And you are who exactly? How do you know the others?"

"His sister helped us get through the Seireitei," Chad said.

"Where's Ichigo? And Rukia?" Uryu asked.

I pointed over my shoulder in the direction of the no longer existing execution stand. "Last I saw, Ichigo had saved Rukia and Renji went to help."

"Why aren't you helping?"

"Considering I'm having difficulty getting off the ground, I think the answer is obvious enough." I groaned and gestured for Yachiru to get off. She clambered off my lap. "Now that I found you guys, we should head towards Ichigo and the others. It was a pretty dicey situation earlier." I looked past the others. "No one else from Squad 11."

"Kenny got busy fighting," Yachiru said happily.

"Of course he did."

"Is Ichigo okay? And Rukia?" Orihime asked, falling into step beside me.

"I think so. I don't know, I was pretty far away from them." I yawned. "But I do sense someone strong up ahead. Quite strong. I hope he's still doing okay."

"Do you think it's a Captain?" Orihime asked.

"With our luck, most likely," responded Uryu, rubbing his arm.

My attention strayed as they spoke, mind weary. Each footstep made a rhythmic, lulling tune and I wanted to go back to sleep but that was a dangerous notion I tried very hard not to entertain with thoughts of beds. I also hungered like no other, my stomach scrunched tight against it.

The sound of a zipper and I zoned in on it like a lifeline in the ocean, for that glorious sound only meant one thing - Uryu's little bag of goodies.

"Give me!" I screeched before he'd even pulled his hand out, overcome by the raging hunger. Pretty sure the last thing he saw before we collided was bulging eyes.

I wrestled the banana out of his hand and gobbled it down. A reigning silence made me peer over my shoulder at the rest of them staring blankly at me. I pulled a face to the ground then stood and dusted myself off.

Sheepishly, I rubbed the back of my neck. "Ahem. Sorry about that. I might have been a bit on the hungry side. Thank you, Uryu, for the food," I said with an afterthought.

"No...problem," he responded from the ground and I helped him up, dusting him off.

"Now, ah, what were we discussing?"

The others looked more than happy to change topics. "What we'll do when we reach Ichigo."