Be Good

Chapter 2: Planning Phase

Disclaimer: Once again, unless I've suddenly inherited it from Kubo-san in the past four minutes, I still don't own Bleach.
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Retsu was given command of the Fourth Division only a few days later. The ceremony was planned out to be small, as the Fourth had always been the meekest of the divisions, and they were completely unprepared for the enormous number of people that came. Isshin, though still suffering from the loss of his Lieutenant, had even brought the traditional Eleventh Division spirits.

It was a surprise to everyone, then, that after her obligatory first glass, Retsu politely turned down a second. Retsu refusing a drink was like Genryusai suddenly deciding to do a complex dance routine – it didn't happen very often. "You really don't want a second one?"

"No, thank you."

Kisuke and Yoruichi stared at each other in unabashed amazement. It was even rarer to hear Retsu being polite. "Are you sure?" Kisuke said, unconvinced.

"Yes," Unohana-taicho said, her face wreathed in a polite, motherly smile, "I'm trying to be good."

For a hundred years, give or take a few decades, Retsu followed the rules fairly strictly. Isshin, Yoruichi, and Kisuke had all left Soul Society in one way or another, but she remained. It rang, especially on particularly bitter days, ironic to her that she, the last of the four to be appointed Captain, would last the longest.

She worked more diligently than ever, even taking on her own apprentice – a tall, shy girl named Kotetsu Isane. She was skilled and resourceful, but modest to a fault. She was also too reserved to handle Captainhood; the other Captains would simply walk all over her. She lacked responsibility, not for lack of effort on her part, but because she would simply acquiesce to others. This was not so much because she didn't possess a view on the matter, as much as it was because she was afraid to act on her own intuition, fearing, above all things, failure. Isane improved steadily under her tutelage, but slowly.

She was at the same point in her life as her former Captain had been, simply remaining to train the next generation and the one she trusted to follow her. Her life revolved around teaching Isane, and refining the rest of her Division. It was boring, incredibly mind-numbingly boring, but she kept telling herself to hold on just a little longer.

Suddenly, the action in Soul Society increased again. Several ryoka had entered Seireitei and injured several Shinigami. That was bad in itself, but then the unthinkable happened, one of her very own officers vanished. His name was Yamada Hanatarou; he was her Seventh Seat, and a very good officer at that.

She worried; it was all she felt she could do. She even told Isane to order her Shinigami to move in groups and avoid confrontation. Several ryoka were caught, though there was no telling how many more there were. One ryoka had even survived against the Eleventh's Captain, Kenpachi Zaraki. Zaraki wasn't exactly on Isshin's level, but the thought still bothered her. It was no coincidence that she began taking her tea outside, in view of her Division's main gate.

Her officer eventually returned, and though his return caused her immediate happiness, she couldn't help but frown when she read the official report. Her officer had supposedly been captured by the ryoka and forced into assisting them.

Why had she not gone?

It simply didn't sound like her at all. Assistant-Captain Unohana would have grabbed her Zanpakuto, destroyed the ryoka, and returned her officer herself. Captain Unohana had simply worried and hoped for the best. As she stared at the report before her, the only emotion she could feel was disgust.

Attached to the report, she noticed, was a notice from the First Division. It was the Sotaicho's suggestion for sentencing: immediate public execution by Captain for treason. Genryusai did not ask, as he did not need to, and his suggestions were practically orders. The old bastard was ordering her to kill one of her own men.

A few hours later, when Sentarou and Kiyone from the Thirteenth arrived with both Hanatarou and Jushiro's slightly slanted investigation report, she frowned. It would be so much more difficult now. To clarify, the official report document had been delivered to her directly, through a courier from the First Division. Jushiro had meant well but had accidentally put her in an extremely precarious position.

Genryusai would also have received a copy of Jushiro's report, and would immediately check it against his own. Seeing the differences in the reports, and considering his rather powerful suggestion, he would immediately suspect her of subterfuge if she was too lenient. The focus of two different Captains meant that she would now be under increased pressure from the First Division to follow their recommendation. Ignoring the matter until the First Division forgot about it was now, sadly, out of the question.

When she was finished reading the copy Jushiro had written specifically for her, she instructed Isane to let them in. Her eyes immediately settled upon the small man walking between the two members of the Thirteenth. He walked in, staring at the ground and his hands trembling gently. Sentarou had apparently won the obligatory game of rock, paper, scissors outside, and stepped forward to present the report. His loud voice droned on in the background, but Retsu's gaze never drifted from the Seventh Seat's face. She had never seen him more frightened.

As his offense was read, Hanatarou clenched his fists and did the last thing she expected. He looked her in the eye. This type of look was something Retsu was intimately familiar with, having had a great deal of experience with it. Though Sentarou had tried his best to convince her that Hanatarou had not been sound of mind when he decided to assist the ryoka, Retsu could immediately detect the truth.

He had been completely aware of his decision when he made it; he had even known this hearing was basically inevitable, but had decided to risk it anyway. He had made his peace with the result. His eyes did not say 'I regret', 'I doubt', or even 'I'm sorry'. Their simple message was 'I accept'.

Retsu closed her eyes as Sentarou began the conclusion, his voice rising to an impassioned crescendo, and Hanatarou's gaze remaining fixed in her mind. She had to save him, but tactfully, as every word would have to be reported to Genryusai at a later date. She drew in a short, imperceptible, breath, "I understand," she said flatly. Her eyes remained closed as she frantically scrabbled for the right words in her mind. "However, nothing in the report changes that you aided the ryoka and the damage that they caused was substantial."

She opened her eyes and softly matched her Seventh Seat's gaze, doing her utmost to keep her voice level. "One must always be accountable for one's actions," was her carefully constructed reply, "From the standpoint of your rank and responsibilities, I cannot condone your actions."

It had taken her five minutes alone to configure those two sentences. The first sentence was only a cleverly crafted broad generalization, though only the accused would understand it as such. The second also seemed like a reprimand; however, she had only stated what it was her duty to state. She had not mentioned how she felt about his offense individually.

Hanatarou stared at her, dumbfounded, obviously wondering if the two subtle messages he had received were real. She wanted to assure him, but could make no obvious move but to frown slightly, "Do you understand?"

"Fourteenth Advanced Relief Squad Leader, and Fourth Division Seventh Seat, Yamada Hanatarou," she said, noting the sudden stillness in the room, "I sentence you to imprisonment for one count of conduct not befitting an officer of the Gotei Thirteen." Hanatarou's eyes widened as he realized what he had been sentenced to. One count of poor conduct was imprisonment for a maximum of three days. "Isane, please take Hanatarou to his cell."

About forty minutes later, Isane returned to the Fourth Division Headquarters to find Retsu sitting solemnly in her usual spot with a hot kettle of tea before her. In fact, her Captain was so deep in thought that she hadn't even noticed Isane's arrival. "I've shown Hanatarou to Cell 3-A," she said softly, unwilling to break her Captain's train of thought.

Retsu nodded grimly, "Do you think he did the right thing, Isane?" she asked.

Isane looked away; it just wasn't her place to question her Captain's actions, "I don't know," she said, fiddling with the front of her shihakusho, "But I have faith that whatever decision you make is just, Unohana-taicho."

"I see."

That night, Retsu left her Zanpakuto next to a sleeping Isane and wandered through Seireitei. She wasn't looking for anyone in particular as much as she was certain someone was looking for her. The reiatsu signature had been teasing her all day, almost like a scent that flees before fully smelt. "Hey, Retsu." a voice called, proving her suspicions correct.

Retsu turned slightly, smiling politely at the stray cat that seemed to be following her, "My, did you just talk? How strange." The cat seemed to glare at her, but it was easily-enough ignored. Cats couldn't glare, after all, "But, then again, most cats also don't choose to be black to scare people."

"Yeah, well, you know me," the cat replied, "But you haven't seen it happen to someone in the mortal realm; frankly, it's hilarious. You don't know what you're missing."

"You, Kisuke, and Isshin."

There was a small silence as the cat washed one of its front paws reflectively, "I missed you too, Retsu..." it said finally, "And I know both Kisuke and Isshin miss you."

"How's Isshin?"

"Married, last I saw."

"Poor man. Kisuke?"

"Incredibly stupid and amazingly brilliant."

For the first time for several decades, the polite smile dropped and Unohana Retsu really smiled, "So, basically, Isshin getting married is the only thing that's happened?"

"Oh, and Kisuke got a stupid hat."

"Really."

"Yes." the cat answered, "Now that we've caught up, come help me break a bunch of rules."

Retsu frowned at the cat, "You just reappear after a few hundred years and expect me to help you?"

"Honestly, I'm surprised too." the cat said, "I've already spoken to both Jushiro and Shunsui, so I thought you'd be the easiest to convince." The yellow eyes seemed to frown, if a cat can be said to frown, "There was a time when all I'd have had to tell you was that Yamamoto would be furious."

"What were you planning to do if I refused?"

"I'll tell Isshin that you sent him all of those admirer letters."

"What?" Retsu said, her composure dropping momentarily, "What letters... I didn't..."

"Of course not." the cat said, a playful bounce to its voice, "So you won't mind me telling Isshin that you did, right?" It whisked its tail at the fuming Captain, "Your choice. I'll leave you a trail." With that, the cat seemed to vanish with a soft whoosh, leaving Retsu wondering how annoying old friends could really be.

Twentieth Seat Officer Kanaye Masako was the most recently seated officer in the Fourth Division. She had only graduated from the Academy two years ago and a seat so soon was fairly uncommon. Granted, it was the Fourth Division, but she would move up in the ranks until she became the Captain. The old lady Captain didn't seem too tough.

Her current workload was difficult and very demanding, but she felt assured that, if she struggled though the tough times, she would be one step closer to Captainhood. She had even volunteered for the night guard shift, the most boring duty in the Division.

The night guard was a good move on her part because it would show everyone how responsible their new officer really was. She had heard that even her Captain had done it once or twice in her career. She had been so sure that she could handle it when she had volunteered, but Masako quickly found that guard duty, and night guard duty, especially, was much more boring than she had anticipated.

Half-asleep, she stumbled past a corner and turned as she heard a small whooshing sound. There stood her Captain, in full uniform, staring open-mouthed at a blank spot on the ground. Masako opened her mouth to say something respectful, but her Captain spoke first, "You bitch!" she roared at the ground. There was another whoosh and her Captain vanished.

The odd experience kept her awake for the entire shift, and the very next day, she began telling people how she had seen Unohana-taicho making whooshing sounds and cursing at herself, while on guard. That proved to be the wrong thing to do; however, as she was quickly pulled aside by her Assistant-Captain and asked politely not to fall asleep on guard duty again.

Retsu finished the final flash-step and landed, quite gracefully, in the large training space. There was a horrible, violent coughing behind her and she turned. It seemed that there was a young orange-haired boy attempting to drown himself in the healing springs, "Yoruichi!" the boy yelled, "Why the hell did you bring her with you too? I'm not even wearing anything!"

The cat turned and winked at her, "Such an innocent boy," it said. There was a small popping sound and a bronze-skinned woman stepped from the sudden cloud of smoke. "There, now I'm not either. Happy?"

Retsu didn't bat an eyelash at the transformation, simply watching the orange-haired boy renew his drowning attempts with a smile on her face. "He doesn't know how easy he has it," she said seriously.

"Yeah," Shunsui said, on his back about ten feet away, "I still remember when she was showing that technique to us for the first time."

Yoruichi smiled at her old friend and pulled on her clothes, "Me too. Poor Kisuke, he's so cute when he's terrified."

Jushiro suddenly appeared next to Retsu and smiled at everyone warmly, "I see I'm the last here."

Apparently, the orange-haired boy had managed to find his clothes, and he stood, gaping at all of the Captains assembled around him, "Why are they here?" he asked rudely as his hand drifted slowly to the nearest Zanpakuto.

"We're having a meeting," Yoruichi said with a grin, "We'll be back." With that, all four flash-stepped away again, leaving the very confused boy behind.

When they were finally far from hearing range, Jushiro smiled, "He resembles Isshin quite a bit, doesn't he?"

"Yeah. They're both stubborn, and loud."

There was a bit of silence as the four old, old friends stood, reunited finally after such a span of time and space. Friendship proved a much stronger tie than time could dissolve, though, and they quickly set to work. "Kuchiki Rukia is our objective." Yoruichi said, "We're going to save her."

"What about Isshin's kid?" Shunsui asked, "You said that's what he came to do, right?"

"Yeah." Yoruichi replied, "Imagine him being Isshin's replacement since two of our usual group aren't here."

None of them had wanted to mention it but each had felt the absence of both Kisuke and Isshin quite powerfully. Centuries of friendship will do that to a person. "And Kisuke?"

Yoruichi suddenly flash-stepped away and then back, dropping a large red shield, with the Shihouin clan symbol on it, on the ground before them, "Kisuke sends his love."

Each of the four could immediately recognize the odd contraption. It had been their first attempt at creating a device that could fully destroy a Vasto Lorde after that horrible first encounter. The red cables and staff were designed to wrap around the Hollow tightly and immobilize it temporarily. Then, two Zanpakutos in their shikai forms were inserted into the slots, channeling an extremely high-frequency reiatsu charge into its body. The result was an effective, if a little disgusting, Hollow-slaying.

Because of its size, it had never seen any real field use, but, apparently, Kisuke had remembered the blueprints for the device. "This works on the same principle as the first one," Yoruichi explained, "But Kisuke's implanted a reiatsu multiplier into it, so you won't even need to shikai to use it. We'll use this to destroy the Sogyoku."

"I volunteer to destroy the Sogyoku." Jushiro said, "Since, undoubtedly, Genryusai will attack the destroyer first."

"Ukitake-taicho," Retsu said firmly, her duty as a doctor prodding at her mind, "You are very sick."

"This is my duty as Rukia's captain." the white-haired Captain insisted, "I will do it."

"Fine, Jushiro, you and Retsu..."

Shunsui shrugged his shoulders, "I'll go with him. We're a good team, remember?"

Yoruichi sighed and nodded, "Fine." she gestured to the shield, "You take that back, Jushiro," she said, "Bring it with you when you go to the execution tommorow, and be ready to fight. You'll probably have to distract Genryusai."

"Oh, good," Shunsui groaned, "Another zanjutsu lesson from the old man..."

"Is it sealed?" Jushiro asked, ignoring his friend.

"Yeah, Kisuke did it himself, so no one will know you have it until you unseal it."

"I understand."

Shunsui watched Jushiro heft the heavy shield and smiled at him, "Don't be late!" he sang. Seconds later, they both were gone.

"Retsu, I need you to wait on the Hill. When we start attacking, they're probably going to attack us with Lieutenants first. We don't want any unneeded casualties, so you need to get them away after Ichigo knocks them out. I've already discussed his role with him. After that, come back and take care of any other Captain that's still left on the hill. If there aren't any, just stay with the Lieutenants and make sure they don't go back up there."

There was an explosive spike of reiatsu behind them and Retsu couldn't help but frown, "Who is that?"

"Abarai Renji." the golden-eyed woman replied, "It seems he's just achieved Bankai." It was uncertain whether Yoruichi seemed slightly sad or not, "It doesn't matter though. He's still going to die."

"What are you going to do?" Retsu asked, bringing herself back into the conversation.

"I'll distract Soifon."

Several minutes later, the plans had been almost entirely settled. Only one point remained, "And what if Isshin's son doesn't reach Bankai in time?"

"Then you'll have to block the Sogyoku until Jushiro gets there. Since I don't have a Zanpakuto with me, and both Shunsui and Jushiro will be busy; you're the only one who can."

Retsu nodded and she quickly flash-stepped back to the Kurosaki boy, Yoruichi following closely behind. He quickly sat up when she appeared, seemingly preparing to fight her if she attacked. "What is your name?" she asked.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Ichigo, will you incapacitate all of the Lieutenants?"

Ichigo glared at her suspiciously, "If that's what it takes."

"There will be one among them that is not a fighter." Retsu stated plainly, "You will know which one it is immediately. She will hold her Zanpakuto awkwardly, as if afraid to hurt you. Please treat her kindly when you do what you must." Another long glare answered her but she felt her advice had been heard. With only a small, polite smile to Yoruichi, she flash-stepped away again.

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A/N: Hey again - Bloodmist here.

As promised, here is Chapter 2 of the probably three-chapter vignette about Unohana Retsu. I haven't even really begun typing up the next chapter but I'll try my best to update quickly for you guys. I've already gotten three reviews and the amazingly kind response I've recieved for this fic is unbelievable and completely beyond anything I expected for my first submission. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Please review, and any feedback at all is appreciated.

B-E