skycrane | <37>

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[Locked to Kensei, Renji, and Ichigo]

Not a word. All three of you keep your damn heads down and dont say a word till something can be figured out.

You already did your stupid heroic shit for this year.

[Locked to Urahara and Yoruichi]

Please tell me that you covered your tracks, Kisuke, so that I dont have to worry about you getting busted for being involved.

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This isn't about heroics, this is about not letting an innocent man, the soutaichou no less, hang.

I know damn well what Aizen's up to, but I'm not about to let Ukitake go down for something I'm actually responsible for.

I won't pipe up now. But our time to figure something out is exceptionally limited.

We dont know whats going to happen, Kensei! Not yet! Just... don't run off and do something thats going to get you really fucking killed this time, okay?

I'm not going to run off.

But I can't let Ukitake take the fall for this. Whatever the punishment. Aside from the fact that I'm the one responsible, I owe him my life.

I'm not expecting you to sit and do nothing, but fucking hell, think this through!

~~I want you to run and hide cause I dont know if I can handle losing someone I lo...I care about again.~~

Thats... that's all I'm gonna ask of you. ~~Fuck, I dont want to respect your honor right now.~~

I have, Kuukaku.

They want someone to punish. And there's no way I can just turn the other way and pretend I didn't do it while an innocent man is being blamed for the mission I willingly accepted.

Renji can't be taken because that'd weaken the Gotei more than it already is. Not to mention the repercussions of a captain having something to do with the killing of an Espada, even if he didn't draw the bastard's blood.

I'm sure Ichigo is all for taking the fall, but I don't think that's an option that you're willing to accept either.

No matter what happens, guess I'm causing you a lot of pain.

I'm sorry. I just hope you understand, even if you hate it.

[Yeah, she understands. More than she wants to, she understands pride and sticking up for whats right. The Shiba have made a business of being rebels for the cause for a long time, she just wished it didn't have to involve him being the exact same way.]

You're both gonna go confess, aren't ya? No matter what we tell ya, or what we try to plan, you're gonna go do it.

Don't expect me to stand by and watch you martyr yourself. You OR Ichigo.

I don't know what's going to happen yet. All I know is no one has presented a better solution to this. We only have so much time. If anything, giving myself up may provide a little more time for something to be figured out.

I don't know what else to do. It's not something I want to do. But I have to unless there's a better option.

He's not getting you. He's not getting Ichigo. Period.

If you have an idea, then by all means, share.

I don't have one now. But it doesn't change anything.

I just don't know what else to tell you. It has to be done.

The less of us that fall, the better. The fact that I'd be punished for something I actually did for once would be practically refreshing. Besides, there's no guarantee the penalty is death, anyway.

No way of knowing Aizen won't execute you just to be rid of you either.

He'd have done that a long time ago if he'd wanted to.

He'd rather let people live to toy with them. Killing me wouldn't benefit him.

Yeah, but offing you would please the fucking blue bloods. Offing Ichigo's symbolic. He's got shit to gain from it alright.

Whatever he'd gain or lose by killing me is irrelevant.

The fact is I'm the one that cut Szayel's throat and burned the body to ashes. I can't let someone else take the heat for it.

And don't expect me to stand around and let Aizen take more important people from me!

Well, what do you want me to do?? Turn my back on the man that saved my life? Be responsible for the unjust incarceration and punishment, however lax or severe it may be, of the head of the Gotei?

I don't have any other damned choices! I can't run from this!

I KNOW! I fucking KNOW you can't! I know Ukitake's too important and you owe him your life! I know this shit!

What the fuck do you want me to do, Kensei? Smile and nod and let you and my cousin go off and put your damn necks on the chopping block? I am not letting what happened to Kaien-nii happen to either of you!

...Kuukaku, what happened to your brother is completely different. He hadn't done anything to deserve what happened to him.

I did something I thought would benefit and protect everyone. Including you. And now we're being called on it.

I'm not expecting you to like this. It's a fucking lousy deal all around.

But until someone comes up with something or I get orders to do otherwise, my hands are tied.

[When she finally responds again, her voice is low and quiet. And for a woman like Kuukaku, quiet and stillness are nothing but a cloak for something deeper. There is no serenity in her tone, more like the deceptive quiet that precedes a hurricane coming ashore.]

Aizen's creations still killed him AND my sister - as they were doing what they thought was protecting everybody. That bastard Octava was his creation too, right? I...

And my hands are tied too, Kensei. My honor says I'm going to save you and Ichigo no matter what. So I guess we're just not gonna see eye to eye on this, are we?

I'll see you later, Kensei, wether you like it or not.

[User "Shiba_Explosion" has logged off the network.]

Nobody's jumping to any confessions. This is more serious than that.

Thank goodness someone has some sense! Now excuse me while I go beat some into Kensei!

But like hell I'm going to let Captain Ukitake take the fall for this either. The Gotei needs him, Kuukaku.

And they need Renji.

Just hold Kensei back 'til we can talk about this, okay?

Thats what I've been trying to get him to do!

Oh come on, Kuukaku, this ain't about being heroes. What the hell is the Gotei supposed to do if its leader is grounded?

I ain't saying don't do something about it, I'm saying don't play hero again and boldly confess to the crimes because of some jacked-up sense of honor. This is Aizen, thrilling heroics are just gonna make things worse, we gotta plan.

Of course I covered my tracks. There's really no way the concoctions Abarai-san used could be identified, much less traced back to me.

I do worry what's going to happen if Aizen sees fit to actually take things out on Ukitake-san, however...

Good, at least one of you is thinking straight.

They're gonna obey their sense of duty and stupid pride and go confess. And then Aizen will have them to either torture, experiment on, or just fucking public execute.

I knew this would be a trainwreck. Idiots, the lot of them.

[There's a very, very, very long pause...]

He won't have them. Not while I'm still around.

[You can hear her exhale through her nose]

Don't you go doing anything stupid either. This isn't the time for rash heroics, that's exactly what he wants. Hopefully no-one's going to end up sacrificed. We're working on it, keep your head.

Do you really think he's just gonna throw them in prison? He's going to execute them, and you know it.

That's what he wants, and that's why we're going to have to make extra sure that those three don't give him what he wants by saying anything more than they should.

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[filtered same--Renji's is too i just fail at life XD]

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