Alright so here's the full chapter. Finally. I can believe it took me pretty much two months to finish it off. I'm pretty ashamed of myself, but I've been busy with uni and rowing :L

Not sure when the next chapter will be around, so I'm sorry in advance if it takes me ages again :/

Also, I wanna thank you all for your favourites, follows and reviews I really do appreciate them. I glad you're all enjoying the story.

This has not been betaed.

I own none of the rights to Bleach, those go to Tite Kubo.

'Shiro'

'Tensa

Taught by a Kuchiki

After spending the majority of the day in the company of his inner spirits Mugetsu had made a speedy retreat back to the Academy in hopes of catching dinner before the canteen closed. He got a lucky break and was happy to find that not only was it still open but it was earlier then he originally thought. Everyone was still eating and a few people looked like they'd just arrived so he was glad to see that he wasn't the only one who was late.

Mugetsu spotted his small group of friends, and after grabbing some food and a drink he joined them at their table in the centre of the room.

"Hey Snowy!" Hitomi grinned as he took his place at the table, "Where've you been all day? We've all missed you so much!"

"Hitomi's exaggerating as usual," Katsu sighed, a small smile on his face.

Mugetsu flashed them a small smile and a chuckled at Hitomi's dramatization, "I was out visiting a friend. Didn't Arata tell you all?"

Hitomi, Katsu and Shizuko all send Arata looks of confusion to which he almost jumped out of his seat, a shocked voice full of realisation escaping him, "Yeah! I completely forgot! Sorry, if I hadn't have forgotten I would've said something."

"It's okay Arata," Mugetsu said, before digging into his food as if he hadn't eaten in months. In a way it felt like it, he'd used up a lot of energy battling Tensa and Shiro in his inner world and with all the other activities he'd been doing he was ravenous.

"Long day, Tamotsu?" Katsu asked, a single eyebrow raised.

"Yeamm," Mugetsu mumbled in reply as he chewed on his food. The response earned a scowl from Arata, a roll of the eyes from both Katsu and Hitomi, but Shizuko's reaction remained a mystery to him as he was sat next to her and couldn't see her face.

"You could at least swallow first Tamotsu," Arata sighed, pointing a chopstick at him as the scowl lessened.

Mugetsu made a big motion of swallowing his food before addressing Arata sarcastically, "Yes, it was a long day."

A smile played at everyone's lips –even Arata's- before Katsu asked another question, "So what did you do that was so exhausting? If you don't mind me asking."

"Nothing exciting," Mugetsu shrugged, quickly thinking of something that wasn't too far from the truth. "We just talked and sparred. What about you guys?"

There were a few mumbles of reply that expressed some of the boredom his friends had gone through during the day; work, work and more work. After telling Mugetsu about the mountain of work they'd had all three of them smirked at him, knowing he'd have to cram in in somehow as they had heard about him going to Kouki's the following day.

The group continued talking about what they all planned to do the following day and multiple other things that seemed to make the time fly by. They spent so much time talking that they had to be kicked out of the canteen as it was closing for the day and it was only half an hour before lights out. Due to being kicked out of the canteen and finding that it wasn't long until they'd all have to return to their rooms, the small group decided to go their separate ways and retire to their rooms for the night.

With the door clicking shut behind them Mugetsu flopped onto his bed, his muscles relaxing into the soft, cushioning material of the covers. It had been a long day and he still had work to do that was in for Monday. He only hoped that he wouldn't be at Kuchiki mansion the whole day, not only would he not be able to stand Byakuya that long without falling into old habits, he had work to do.

"Oh yes!" Arata exclaimed at little bit too loudly, causing Mugetsu to bolt up in his be in surprise. The midnight-haired student flashed him a grin before pulling something out of his pocket, "I just remembered, Kuchiki asked me to give this to you."

He threw the item at Mugetsu, who leaned forward to catch it; noticing that it was a letter. He carefully pried it open and pulled out the small piece of folded paper inside. Discarding the envelope next to him Mugetsu briefly mulled over the fact that Kouki hadn't just told him earlier in the day. He quickly dismissed it, coming to the conclusion that he probably thought Mugetsu would forget so he wrote up the letter, which he probably planned to give to him later, had Mugetsu not been away. Snapping himself out of his thoughts Mugetsu unfolded the paper and read its small contents:

Tamotsu,

Meet me at the Academy entrance at 9:00am for a fun-packed day, full of excitement. Byakuya has told me that he's prepared to spend an hour –and no more- to train us. Unexpected really as he's usually rather dismissive of me because of how my father dishonoured the Kuchiki clan. But, that doesn't matter as I'm rambling. I shall see you tomorrow.

Kouki Kuchiki.

Mugetsu supressed a groan, so Byakuya would defiantly be there and would be teaching them. He, instead, sighed, refolded the paper and replaced it back into the envelope it had arrived in and reclined back into the bed.

"Was it that bad?" Arata asked, noticing the flicker of annoyance that had appeared on Mugetsu's face, if only briefly.

"Not really," Mugetsu lied, a yawn escaping him. "I have to be up for quarter to nine at least and I was planning on sleeping in for longer."

Arata chuckled and Mugetsu heard rustling, which he presumed was Arata changing. As his roommate changed the warmth of his bed became more appealing and despite his best attempts to stay awake, Mugetsu found himself too tired and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.

Arata watched at his roommate fell asleep, the constantly haunted and scowling eyes relaxed and appeared to be content, as if sleep was an escape from his waking thoughts. He didn't know what to think of the albino, he appeared to grasp everything so quickly, unlike everyone else. He had a huge sense of responsibility for the protection of others, one that seemed beyond anyone else Arata had ever met. It also seemed to run too deep for someone who had lost people in 79th. Those who lived up there cared little for anyone else as there was a chance that if you woke up the next day, they may not be there anymore. Then there was what he'd found under his bed, the blooded Academy uniforms and bandages that had concerned everyone greatly when he'd told them about it. However, when he'd checked for them again they'd all gone; leaving no trace that Tamotsu had ever been injured.

There were so many things that didn't add up about Tamotsu; the random disappearances, his skill when it came to everything related to combat, his power that had shattered kido barriers, his attitude towards life and the occasional slip of the tongue that suggested he knew more than he was telling. But Arata didn't want to dwell on these thoughts; he didn't want to believe that his friend was hiding something bad from them. And while he understood that Tamotsu wouldn't just tell them everything, Arata liked to think that given time Tamotsu would divulge to them more of his past.

Arata pulled himself from his thoughts and threw his uniform onto the chair at his desk before scooping up Tamotsu's letter and placing it on his desk. As he did Arata decided it was best to set an alarm for quarter-past eight so that Tamtosu wouldn't be late.

After setting the alarm Arata truned off the lights and crawled into bed. He closed his eyes and after a few moments of sinking into the warmth of his bed Arata also fell asleep.

~/~

Harribel, City Of The Dead

"Welcome to Phariseer's palace," Caden announced as the group arrived in front of a large pair of double doors that were the entrance to an equally large building. The building hadn't been far from the main square and a deathly silence had fallen over the group throughout the whole journey.

"This place is almost as big as Las Noches," Mila-Rose observed, her eyes taking in the large brick building that held the same colours as everything else in the City of the Dead, teal.

"How observant of you," Apacci said snarkily.

A growl rose in Mila-Roses throat but a warning look from Harribel stopped any retort that she would normally voice, had they been under different circumstances.

"It is impressive," Caden commented before flicking his hand in the direction of the doors, which then slowly swung open with a creek. "Come."

Caden stepped into the large hallway and began walking quickly down the length of it. The room itself was much darker than the outside. Teal coloured torches lined the walls along with a few stoic guards who made no indication they were surprised about the presence of four Arrancar and a dragon, as they continued to face forwards with their hoods covering their faces. There was something about the place that set Harribel on edge. It sent chills up her spine and it felt like something other than the guards was watching them, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Off to the sides there was many doors, each leading to multiple different places in the palace and it left Harribel wondering why this Phariseer had need for so many rooms. He wasn't building an army like Aizen was and he didn't appear to be the Captain of a squad like in the Soul Society. But, that didn't mean he didn't already have an army, the amount of guards she'd seen so far only told her that there were many more.

At the end of the long ragged carpet they walked on was another set of doors. They were smaller than the others but they weren't any less grand. On each door there were golden skeletal figures, both appeared to be looking at a pair of golden scales which were placed at the centre of the doors. The scales were uneven and on one side there was a wisp of glowing white-teal, while on the other side there was nothing. The carving of the uneven scales appeared to lean towards the side of the wisp and Caden, noticing this, made a comment that left Harribel slightly confused.

"It appears today is another bad one," He sighed, looking up at the scales.

"What do you mean?" Harribel asked, curious.

Caden turned around and began his explanation, pointing to the scales as he did, "Those scales represent how the majority of souls of this day have weighed. As you can see most of the ones today have weighed heavy, judging them to be bad and then sending them to hell."

"A crude manner of judging souls," Draco snapped.

"You want to do better Reptile? Go ahead," Caden growled. "We've stayed loyal to our traditions since the beginning of time. Don't tell us how to do our job, we try and be as fair as we can but some are not worthy of our forgiveness."

"So you leave them to remain in Hell forever more? At least we give them a second chance-" Draco began to retort but Harribel cut over him.

"We're not here to argue the differences of your practices," Harribel said, her patience wearing thin. She wanted to get all this running around done, and return to looking for Mugetsu.

"Indeed," Caden said absent-mindedly. He turned away from Harribel and his voice began to echo around the large stone room as he murmured words that were incoherent to the group behind him.

Suddenly a rumble ran along the walls as the doors slid apart. They disappeared into the walls, leaving the room in front of them in view. It was in a similar style to the room before; large, spacious and filled with Grim Reapers. However, it appeared these Grim Reapers were not merely guards as each of them were accompanied by the same teal colour people they'd seen outside. A few of the hooded reapers turned in Harribel's direction and when they noticed Caden they promptly turned back to what they were doing and appeared uninterested.

The attitude confused Harribel in a way. They acted as if Arrancar visiting were a regular occurance and they didn't instantly jump into a battle with her and her fraccion. With her arms crossed over her chest Harribel frowned to herself before deciding to satisfy her curiosity.

"Why do you not attack us?"

As Caden answered they continued to walk, "While we have our own versions of Hollows, many of us believe that if the Hollow itself has proven that it is no longer driven by its hunger for souls then we don't instantly hunt it down. We're still wary but we're more tolerant than other Pantheons, you would not have the same freedom in other places such as the Greek one."

"I hope that was not another jibe at my home Reaper," Draco snarled as he drifted next to Harribel.

"What if it was, reptile?"

A low growl escaped the small dragon but he had no time to voice his displeasure as they'd reached their destination. Harribel stopped just behind Caden and looked up to see a Grim Reaper stood behind a pair of scales that were placed on a black wooden table. Next to him was a soul that was intently watching as a red object was being weighed on the scales. Caden held up his hand for them to be silent and they all watched as the scales met out judgment on the soul.

It didn't take long and after a few seconds the object weighed heavy. The soul next to the Reaper let out a howl and began pleading with him to do it again, only to be rejected. A crestfallen look overtook the souls face and before they could open their mouth to speak chains appeared from the floor and dragged it down. That was when Harribel realised that the soul had been condemned to Hell.

Her gaze flickered to the Reaper, and even though she could not see his face she sensed a mixture of anger and sadness radiate from him. The sadness soon vanished however and left only anger coursing through the Reapers frame as he picked up the red object and squeezed it into nothing. Finished with what he was doing he strode around the table and positioned himself in front of it, propping himself up against it as he quickly took in those before him.

"You are the ones Ananke sent?" He asked, his rough and hollow voice holding a tint of the anger from within.

"Yes Sir, they are," Caden answered for them, unaffected by the anger that had set her fraccion on edge. All three of her fraccion had tensed up, the power of the one in front of her was likely to be uncomfortable for them. But not only was it just that but the fact that they were in an unknown place where they had no idea what the rules were.

He turned to face Caden, "I trust there were no complications."

"Nothing that I couldn't handle."

Harribel could hear the smirk in his voice, "Good." He paused, "Now shall we get down to business?"

"Let's make this quick," Harribel said, the others nodded in agreement before waiting for the Reaper to make move.

He indicated to a single door that was hidden in the darkness behind them, "Follow me and we shall discuss this matter away from prying eyes and those who would listen in."

A mixture of bone and cloth could be heard padding against the floor while they all made their way to the door. When they'd almost reached the door it swung open of its own accord, granting them access to the room beyond.

The Grim Reaper stopped as they crossed the threshold and without turning to face them he said, "If you hadn't already guessed, I'm Phraiseer. Nice to meet you, Tia Harribel."

~/~

Mugetsu, 8:15am, Academy

The sound of beeping riled Mugetsu from his sleep but it soon stopped, leaving him thankful to whomever had ended it. Just as he was about to fall back into the warm, comfortable sleep he'd been pulled from, a hand latched onto his shoulder and started to shake him. Mugetsu groaned and attempted to swat the hand away, protesting that it was too early to get up and he was still tired. The owner of the hand sighed before ripping the duvet away from him and exposing him to the colder air of his dorm room.

"Time to get up Tamotsu," Arata sang from the end of his bed.

Grumbling out a reply Mugetsu slowly rolled himself over and sat up so that his legs were dangling off the edge of the bed. Leaning over his legs Mugetsu rubbed the base of his eyes and said nothing as his mind slowly awoke. He found it strange how he missed the old way he used to get woken up. He hadn't missed his Dad's over the top ways of waking him up so much when he lived with Harribel, her fraccion and Rukia as there had been some degree of similarity; Harribel would yell at him and then if he didn't get up Rukia would make him. But, here it was different. Arata wouldn't yell at him or attack him as he slept, the most he'd do is pull the cover off him. Now that he thought about it, Mugetsu missed the old ways he used to get woken up. Sure his Dad was annoying and an idiot, but, that was his family.

The thought of him family briefly shot through him, leaving him feeling empty. He missed them, had been missing them since he'd come back in time but it hadn't been so bad. He'd seen the occasional flash of black hair that was Karin's or heard a whisper of Yuzu's voice. However, now he regretted not going to see them when he'd had the chance. Mugetsu scowled to himself. He would see them again soon and then he'd be satisfied. He hoped, as they weren't his sisters.

"Don't think too hard, you might pop a brain cell," Arata smirked, causing Mugetsu's scowl to be aimed at him.

The midnight haired boy chuckled lightly, "I'm only joking. It's not like you have any to pop."

"Why you!" Mugetsu growled half-heartedly. He got up and darted towards Arata with an air of mock anger.

Arata let out a small shriek before jumping around Mugetsu, who had he wanted to could've caught Arata mid jump. Instead, Mugetsu allowed Arata to jump around him and dart out the room, which was exactly what Mugetsu wanted as he needed to check on his wound.

Shutting the door behind Arata, Mugetsu quickly tore off his uniform and threw it onto his bed. He then grabbed another set from his cupboard. As he did Mugetsu noticed that it was the last set and made a mental note to find a clean set as well as to stop wearing them to bed. He looked down at the bandaged wound that no longer hurt or bled –thanks to the ointment. He also realised that he couldn't change them for a clean set as he had no more. But, thankfully it appeared he wouldn't need to, as despite Apophis' power that somehow stopped his hollow's regeneration the wound was healing nicely and would continue to unless it got knocked.

A knock at the door launched Mugetsu into action and he quickly pulled on a clean set of uniform before pulling open the door. The grinning face of Kouki greeted him, but the grin soon turned into a frown as he took in Mugetsu's attire.

"You're wearing your uniform?" He asked.

Mugetsu shrugged, "Figured I would, they're the only proper clothes I've got."

"I see, well I heard Byakuya used to do the same," Kouki returned a shrug. "I take every opportunity to not wear the uniform."

"Ready to go then?" Kouki continued, starting towards the door. As he moved towards the door Mugetsu noticed a zanpakuto hanging at Kouki's hip, its red sheath stark against the white shihakshou that was almost completely covered by a deep red cloak.

"Yeah," Mugetsu answered following after him. "Do you know its name?"

"My zanpakuto? Yes, it's called Reddomisuto," Kouki said with a small smile. "Got her last year, can be a pain but she tends to keep to herself most of the time."

"Yeah," Mugetsu chuckled, knowing how annoying his inner spirits could be. "You'll get used to it."

"I guess I will," Kouki replied before picking up the pace, "Come on, we need to get there quickly."

"Aren't we early?"

"Yeah but I decided that we'll eat at the manor."

Mugetsu scowled a little but agreed without hesitation. Satisfied that everything was as it should Kouki and he made their way out of that Academy and towards the Kuchiki manor.

~/~

The it didn't take long to get there, but by the time they did Mugetsu was starving and much to his chagrin Kouki decided that he wanted to introduce Mugetsu to his grandfather first.

"Hey Grandfather, this was the student I told you about, Tamotsu," Kouki said as they walked up the elder Kuchiki who was currently stood on the veranda that surrounded the garden.

The old, white haired Kuchiki gave Kouki a warm smile, "It is nice to see you are as energetic as always Kouki, I trust your studies are going well?"

"They sure are."

"Good," He nodded, satisfied with the answer. It was then that he decided to turn his attention to Mugetsu, noticing the way the boy held himself; as if something would attack him at any moment and the hard look in his eyes that Genrei believed someone so young shouldn't have. "It is good to see that Kouki is making an impression on the younger students," He looked back to Kouki. "I only hope that it is a good one."

"Why ever would you say that?" Kouki said with mock surprise in his voice.

Genrei merely gave Kouki a stern look before speaking again, "You two best be going, no doubt you've got lots planned. Byakuya may be able to spare some time for you too."

"Sure, see you later Grandfather," Kouki grinned before pulling Mugetsu in the opposite direction before he could even formulate a goodbye.

After being dragged half way across the manor Kouki had finally allowed Mugetsu to grab something to eat. Although the strange noble gave Mugetsu little time to eat his meal before whisking him off to the sparring room. It was in that plain wooden room that he told Mugetsu that they'd spend the first half of their day.

A pair of wooden swords hung on a rack among other wooden, practice weapons. Kouki slid the door shut behind him and motioned for Mugetsu to stand in the centre of the room while he deposited his zanpakuto by the weapon rack. With that done he made his way back to Mugetsu and before long the pair were trading blows with each other.

Mugetsu played down his abilities, making mistakes in his technique here and there to ensure Kouki didn't grow suspicious of his high level of skill. Despite it being harder for Mugetsu to make the mistakes than do the techniques properly, it worked in his favour. Whenever Mugetsu would attempt to mess up he would either do it wrong as he intended or, do it wrong anyway but not in the manner he intended. Either way it was enough for Kouki to make comments about how he could improve.

One thing that did disappoint Mugetsu though, was the lack of personal touch Kouki gave to his attacks. They were all very good, almost exactly like they were written in a text book. But that was the problem. In a real hand to hand battle his enemy would sooner or later find it easy to exploit the 'by the book' way of Kouki's attacks. But, Mugetsu decided to refrain from saying anything about Kouki's technique during their sparring matches and instead decided that he way off-handily mention something later.

And so they continued.

They had many hand to hand matches. Both of them ended up getting so carried away that they barely noticed someone strolling in the room just in time to see one of Mugetsu's well-planned failures. Of course the newcomer was a well-trained soul reaper –a captain at that- and noticed something was off about the 'mistake' his cousin's opponent made. But, he said nothing and watched as Kouki promptly floored his opponent after grabbing the badly thrown punch and kicking out at the unstable stance they boy had put himself into.

"Nice try Tamotsu," Kouki said, giving Mugetsu a hand up. "But your punch and stance was off again."

Mugetsu scratched his head in embarrassment as he chuckled nervously, "Damn it, I was sure I had it right that time." Mugetsu looked over Kouki and saw, to his amusement, that Byakuya was stood at the doorway, "Oh hey, By- Kuchiki-sama." Mugetsu inwardly cursed at himself but was glad that the pair appeared not to notice as Kouki was too busy already asking Byakuya if he could give them Shunpo lessons. However, Mugetsu didn't fail to notice the slight twitch of Bykauya's brow at his greeting. Mugetsu stowed a smirk at that, just like old times. Anything he did used to rile the noble and the reaction always amused him.

"-so I was wondering if you had time to teach us something because your one of the best people in the whole Seireitei," Kouki continued his ramble and Mugetsu watched in surprise as a very small smile crept onto Byakuya's face before it disappeared as he spoke.

"I gave you my word that I would teach you," Byakyua confirmed.

"I know, but grandfather said that you were busy," Kouki said.

Byakuya gave a small incline of his head before speaking, "I have time but then I must return to work."

Kouki flashed Byakuya a smile before he led both him and Mugetsu out to the garden where they started working on their shunpo. When they first entered the garden Mugetsu had to stop himself from inhaling sharply as he remembered the day that Rukia had been killed. Fortunately, he was glad that no one noticed his brief change in his demur. He was also glad that the garden had been repaired so promptly as he wasn't sure if he'd be able contain his reaction. Instead of doing anything that would draw attention, Mugetsu's jaw briefly clenched as well as his hands balling into fists. Both were an attempt to keep within him the feelings of failure he'd felt that day when he'd arrived too late to save Rukia; the fact she was still alive now was beside the point.

During the beginning of their session, Mugetsu had to force himself not to act as he usually did around Byakuya –'informal' and 'disrespectful' as the noble had once commented. He found easy to begin with, but as their lesson went on he found old habits worming their way into his speech. Thankfully Zangetsu and Shiro kept an eye on what he was saying but that didn't stop him from remembering the images of a beaten and torn up Byakuya who'd taken on Yammy with Kenpachi, something that still surprised Mugetsu today.

"Come on Tamotsu, you keep doing the same mistakes," Kouki called out as Mugetsu yet again messed up with his feet. Byakuya was stood in front the veranda so he could easily watch both of the students at the same time. The passive look on his face twitched only slightly at Kouki's comment before his eyes flickered to the way Mugetsu had purposely positioned his feet.

Laughing the comment off, Mugetsu feigned surprise and yelled back, "Damn it! You should've told me earlier."

"I did," Kouki deadpanned. "But, you weren't listening. Again."

Must've been talking to the others Mugetsu thought, scratching the side of his head before replying to Kouki, "I was concentrating."

"While it is good to ensure you get the technique right," Byakuya began. "You should always pay attention to those around you."

Biting back any usual retort he would've aimed at the noble, Mugetsu calmly stood there like a good student and replied placidly, "yes, Kuchiki-sama."

As Mugetsu continued doing a slow and as amateurish shunpo as he could, Kouki went over to Byakuya and began conversing about something that Mugetsu was unable to hear. From the way they were glancing at him, Mugetsu had a feeling it was about him. A small amount of worry crept through him as he pretended not to notice and he continued to shunpo shot distances around the garden.

When he landed at one point, he snuck a look towards them and caught Byakuya with a frown on his usually passive face. Mugetsu didn't have time to looked at Kouki before he made himself stumble into another shunpo.

The next time he appeared out the shunpo he found that they'd both disappeared. Unease crept over him and Mugetsu tense up just as a Kouki appeared in front of him. Acting on instinct he shunpoed to the side in an instant; barely managing to keep the technique looking amateurish. However, he had little time to think over it as Byakuya appeared behind him. With little time to think it through Mugetsu shunpoed away, but made himself trip up on the landing.

He hit the ground hard and proceeded to roll a few meters before his body stopped face down on the ground. Groaning for emphasis he rolled onto his back and shot a confused look at the approaching Byakuya and Kouki.

"I was told that you've been seen shunpoing well under pressure," Byakuya explained calmly. "It appears true."

Feigning confusion Mugetsu scratched the side of his head, "Really?"

"Yeah," Kouki agreed with his cousin. "You reacted much quicker too, although the trip at the end ruined it, but we can fix that."

"Well I wasn't expecting Captain Kuchiki-sama to appear behind me right after you," Mugetus smirked as he flashed his friend a look that said 'I'll get you for that later'.

Kouki grinned accepting the silent challenge before turning to his cousin, "Thank you for your help Byakuya-san."

The ever stoic Captain said something about returning to his work before he quickly shunpoed away. Kouki and Mugetsu said nothing for a moment before the agreed to continue practicing. As they practiced they both took it in turns to chase each other. During their game Mugetsu was constantly being caught while he only managed to capture Kouki a couple of times. The pair were so caught up in their game that they did not notice Byakuya and Kouki's grandfather watching them occasionally. Both believed there was something strange about Mugetsu, but they decided to leave it be as the boys practiced for most of the afternoon.

~/~

Harribel, City of the Dead

Harribel wasn't surprised that Phariseer knew who they were. It appeared that Ananke had forewarned him about their arrival and Harribel had a feeling it would be the same for all the other places.

Phariseer's armour was similar to Caden's in a way. It was the same red colour and encased his abdomen while there was a single pauldron sat on his left shoulder. However, that was where the similarities in their armour ended. The armour all had a gold trim and he had more of it laced around the base of his neck. The pauldron, like Caden's, was thin and not as bulky as the other Arnel's. It made Harribel wonder what kind of a squad they were and as she took in the light looking armour the word 'stealth' came to the forefront of her mind. Then, something behind him caught her attention and her eyes widened when she realised what it was.

Phariseer seemed to notice, a small laugh escaping him before he spoke, "It seems you've noticed them."

As if he was pointing to them, the skeletal wings that extended from his back flared out to the sides. The golden scales, skull and a pair of swords that hung at his hip collided quietly with the movement. The wing's bone was severely chipped in places, which made them look ancient and fragile. It was then that she noticed the sharp spikes protruding from the tips of each bone and Harribel realised just how menacing these things could be. But, could they fly? Harribel very much doubted that. She couldn't see a purpose for them apart from combat and even with the spikes, they'd probably get in the way.

"Ha! What's the point in those? You can't even use them to fly" Apacci snickered without thinking.

Sung-Sun sighed, her mouth covered with her sleeve as her eyes gave Apacci a look of disdain. "don't you know when to remain quiet? You only make a fool of yourself by speaking before…thinking. "

"Why you little b-"

Apacci stopped herself when she noticed to look that Harribel was giving her.

"My apologies Harribel-sama," she muttered, sending a glare in Sung-Sun's direction.

"If you're quite finished," Phariseer said unamused by the fraccions antics. Harribel herself wasn't pleased with them either. While she usually didn't mind their arguing, they weren't normally trying to negotiate with someone. She made a metal note to have a word with them later about their behaviour.

"To answer your earlier question these wings are a way of showing power," Phariseer explained. "The more filled out the wings are, the more powerful the person. As you can imagine our Commander wings are fully formed and he's the only one to reach that stage in many years. Anyway, you're not here to hear about our ways. You want my help to defeat this Shimi, yes?"

"That's right, we were told that we'd have to do something for you."

"Just a little test, nothing to worry about," Phariseer said dismissively. "What I want to know is more about this Mugetsu."

Harribel and her fraccion tensed up at that remark. Quickly schooling her features, Harribel asked in a neutral voice, "Why do you want to know about him?"

"If I'm helping someone it's only right I know who they are," Phariseer reasoned. "I'd also never heard of Mugetsu before a few days ago when our Commander was sent to capture him. I also know he's now one of the most wanted people in the world."

Harribel frowned, "If you know that, why do you want to help him?"

"I was rather close to the Commander and the last message I received was about Mugetsu being innocent. Since then I've not heard from the Commander; no one has. So, here's my test," Phariseer started as he gently removed the scales and skull from his hip. Gesturing for them to follow him, he made his way to the centre of the teal lit room. At the centre of the room they came to a large circular table made from stone. Most of the table was covered in papers, which had notes scrawled all over them. Pushing some of the papers out of the way Phariseer placed the scales on the table.

"I want all of you to pick a memory of this Mugetsu, any memory, and put it into this," He held out the skull towards Harribel. "It doesn't matter what memory you pick, just as long as you believe it shows who Mugetsu truly is. I'll then weigh it on the scales, which will determine whether or not it is worth putting my resources towards his cause."

Tentatively Harribel took the skull from Phariseer. She wasn't completely sure about this, but there was little she could do as Mugetsu needed all the help he could get. Giving in Harribel pulled up the memory of Mugetsu when he'd asked them if they wanted to leave with him to the world of the living. The memory was full of his compassion towards them when they were only strangers. When she was done she passed the now dimly glowing skull onto Mila-Rose who did the same. The skull's glow got brighter as they all added their memories and when they were done Phariseer gently placed it onto the scales.

At first nothing happened and Harribel sent a questioning glance to Phariseer. However, the Reaper had his back to her as he stared at the scales. She was about to ask something when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she to found Caden bringing a bony finger in front of his hooded face in a 'shhing' motion before he pointed back to the scales. Heeding his actions Harribel returned her attention to the scales, which –to her surprise- now had a black-blue ball on the side that had been previously empty. Occasionally the ball would spike and shift as if it was alive, but that wasn't what bothered Harribel. Arms dropping to her sides she realised that the ball had a similar signature to someone she knew; someone they all knew. Mugetsu.

~/~

Mugetsu, Kuchiki Manor

Mugetsu was in mid shunpo when something strange happened to him. A strong force hit him, knocking all his strength out of him and he found himself unable to follow through with his shunpo. The result was him crashing hard into the ground of the Kuchiki garden. Severe exhaustion overcame him as he flopped onto his back panic in his mind as he wondered what was happening. He had no time to ask the others as Kouki shunpoed right next to him. Looking up at the noble took a lot of effort, but when he managed it he could see the concern etched into the boys features.

"Tamoutsu! Are you okay?" Kouki gasped, crouching down next to him.

Mugetsu managed a smirk, "I'm fine, just tired I guess."

It appeared that Kouki wouldn't be placated so easily. With a frown on his face the noble replied, "I don't think you're just tired. You were fine a moment ago, but now I can barely feel your spiritual pressure!"

Mugetsu's smirk turned into a scowl as he wondered how it had managed to drop. He'd never had problems like that in the past, it had always been the opposite. What the hell was going on? Moving to sit-up took a lot of effort and noticing the Kouki frowned.

"I don't think you should be moving," he said disapprovingly. He looked like he was about to say more when just as quickly as it'd gone, Mugetsu felt his spiritual pressure -and with it his strength- returning. Kouki seemed to notice it too.

"I wonder what that was about," he commented as he got up, offering Mugetsu a hand as he did. Not wanting to accept the help Mugetsu got up on his own, wondering the exact same thing as Kouki. He knew the others didn't know as they were both rambling about what had just happened; with Shiro being more vocal than Tensa.

"I guess I just overexerted myself with that last shunpo," Mugetsu shrugged as he told his inner spirits they'd discuss it later. Kouki didn't say anything more about it. Instead he glanced up at the sun and the back at Mugetsu.

"Let's take a break, I think everyone else will be having lunch soon," he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Mugetsu had a feeling he was still think about what just happened. He hoped that Kouki wouldn't mention it to anyone, but knowing his luck Mugetsu was sure he would.

It was a second later that Kouki's words dawned on him. He was going to be eating lunch with the Kuchiki's. Trying to suppress the twitch that usually occurred on his eye-brow Mugetsu inwardly yelled. Both spirits reacted, but Shiro was louder about the amusement he found in Mugetsu's predicament.

'This'll be great! Remember to behave yourself king!'

'If you do anything I swear I'll-.'

"Tamotsu? Are you okay?" Kouki's concerned voice interrupted the treat he was about to deliver to the hollow.

Blinking, Mugetsu focused on the black haired boy who was stood before him. His eyes filled with trepidation for Mugetsu, which seemed to disappear as soon as he realised he was okay. All this concern that Kouki exhibited shocked Mugetsu as well as made him feel ridden with guilt. He hadn't expected to get close to people so quickly and given that it was a friendship built on lies, it only made him feel worse.

"I'm okay," Mugetsu finally said, flashing Kouki a smile. As he did his inner spirits made a few comments about making it rain, which made him snap out of his guilt.

Kouki didn't seem convinced, but he didn't push the matter as he led Mugetsu away from the garden and into the manor. The interior of them manor itself was grand and despite being here a few times before, Mugetsu hadn't realised how big it truly was. Kouki led him down multiple well lit corridors, which consisted of cream coloured panels boarded with wood.

When they came to a stop Mugetsu was surprised to find that the room they were outside of was not where they would be eating. Instead, when Kouki opened the door, Mugetsu found that it was a spare room. Against one wall there was a reasonably sized wardrobe as well as a bed being rolled out in the centre of the room. Scowling, Mugetsu was about to ask Kouki what was going on when the noble beat him to it.

"There should be a clean set of clothes in here," he explained as he walked over to the wardrobe. After a few moments of rifling around in the wardrode, the young noble sighed as he pulled out a black kimono; one eerily similar to a shihakusho.

"I'm not wearing that," Mugetsu said quickly.

"It's all there is that would fit you, the white one must be dirty." Kouki brought the kimono over before pointing out, "You can't wear what you're wearing at the moment, it's dirty."

As Mugetsu glanced down he couldn't help but agree with the noble. His uniform was covered in a layer of dirt from the hard practice they'd been doing all day. Glaring back at the black kimono he reluctantly held out a hand. Kouki handed it over with a smirk before he started to leave the room.

"There's a shower behind that door," he pointed to the door that was next to the wardrobe. "I'll swing by in fifteen minutes.

"Damn you Kouki," Mugetsu cursed as the noble exited the room. Taking the kimono with him, Mugetsu walked across the room and slid open the bathroom door.

Kouki's Zanpakuto:

"Blind, Reddomisuto (Red mist)

Wasn't sure whether Mugetsu should've used sensei or sama to refer to Byakuya, so sorry if I got it wrong :P

Next Time: Trials and…A Mountain of work?