Two Souls, One Story

Friends

"So.... How exactly did you save Kaien?" Izuru asked after a moment of silence fell between the two.

"It took so much planning," Rukia sighed dramatically. "Especially since it didn't even happen until almost six years after I woke up as Rukia!"

"That long?" Izuru raised a delicate brow, which caused Rukia to smile with nostalgia. It was the same gesture on the bus all those years ago. 

"Yeah, don't ask how long that took me to figure out." Her ears turned red as she sighed, looking up at the starlit sky. 

"You didn't figure it out until his wife went on the mission, huh?" Izuru had a knowing tone to his voice as he eyed her with unimpressed blue eyes.

Rukia let out a groan. "I begged to go on that mission, I eventually was allowed and I managed to pull her away alive. I don't even know how I managed to do that. I know that we couldn't touch it, not with our Zanpakuto or our bodies, and Kido wouldn't work on it at all." Rukia grunted, crossing her arms and glaring at the ground. "We lost a lot of good men that day. I managed to convince the 12th company to capture it." Her grin was wide and her eyes almost wild. "Kurotsuchi experimented on that hollow until it begged for death." Quickly schooling her expression she shook her head. "Everything went well."

Izuru watched her with a blank expression, which wasn't unusual for Izuru at all. "You would be excited about a hollow being tortured."

Rukia shrugged. "I hated that hollow even more than the one who kills Ichigo's mom... Which reminds me, what are we going to do about that?" She looked up at him. "Do we just let it be? It all turns out fine in canon... But I think she could be useful." 

He frowned. "I don't know. I'm all for saving as many people as we can, provided we keep under certain radars. Why do you even think she'd be useful, isn't she just a normal human?"

"Ah, silly silly boy." Rukia shook her head with a fond smile as Izuru's face pinched up. "Masaki is a fantastic human. She's a Quincy." Her eyes lit up. "Ah, she should be a child around now. Maybe we should go meet her!" If Rukia's math was correct, she should be around the age of 14 or 15. Somewhere around the teen years.

"I completely forgot about that... Wait, why would we go meet Masaki? Isn't it enough to just save her that rainy day?" He turned to give her a perplexed look.

"Duh! We gotta get her to like Soul Reapers!" She laughed. "Plus, she's probably absolutely adorable as an angry teenager." she clasped her hands in front of her and rocked on her feet. "I want to meet young Masaki and watch her grow up into a fine adult. And maybe Ichigo." She hummed quietly. "Let's head back to the restaurant, I'm hungry." She patted her belly and grinned.

Izuru almost snorted. "Alright, let's head back then, time is almost up anyhow. I'll have Kira tell me how to take Shuuhei home and Momo can get over her irrational discomfort and take care of Renji. We can talk about Masaki and Ichigo later... After I'm more comfortable with this body and earn Captain Ichimaru's trust. I think there's a reason he's keeping me on such a short leash..."

No words were exchanged. If anything, Rukia's smile only became painfully larger.

"I swear, Tanner if you say... one... bloody thing about what I just said..." 

Rukia wisely kept her mouth shut... but made no promise about her mind.

~O~O~

The following morning found Rukia sitting at a desk, filling out paperwork when a pair of large hands slammed on her desk. Sharp gray eyes surrounded by impossibly long lashes glared directly into hers as soon as she looked up.