Aimer’s POV
 
“STOP DOING THAT!!!”
 
I sighed and looked up at Ichigo, who was leaning out of the window. “What do you mean, stupid strawberry?”
 
Said high school student had an angry vein on his head. “I mean, stop jumping out of the window without warning! What if you broke a leg and died?!”
 
My eye twitched slightly. “I’m not that weak.” I turned around and walked away.
 
“Oi! TEME!”
 
(A few minutes later…)
 
I opened the door of Urahara Shop. “Yo…” I muttered as I closed the door behind me.
 
Kisuke, Toshiro and his lieutenant, Matsumoto Rangiku, were sitting around the small wooden table. I blinked when I saw the lieutenant of the 10^th Division. She had curly blonde hair that reached just above her shoulders and ice blue eyes… and her body was the same as Orihime’s (if you know what I mean -_-).
 
“Tetsuya Aimer?” Toshiro said with a surprised look. “What are you – ”
 
“KYAAA!” Rangiku suddenly jumped up and hugged me. She looked at me and squealed again. “Taichou! You never told me that she was this cute!” Rangiku smiled as she pinched my cheeks.
 
I had a ‘WTF’ face as I smoothed my messed-up hair. Toshiro had an annoyed look. “Because that necessary in the report, you fool.”
 
“Still…” Rangiku hugged me again, squeezing the life out of me. “You are such a cute cutie, Aimer-chan!”
 
“Matsumoto, that’s enough,” Toshiro said.
 
“Okay.” Rangiku pouted a bit and released me. She sat down beside her captain while I sat next to Kisuke (who had been smiling like a creep all along).
 
“Please continue,” Kisuke said, suddenly turning serious. I was slightly surprised. Uncle’s never this serious…
 
“Well, that’s basically what happened yesterday,” Toshiro said. “Those orders I told you earlier were issued by the Head Captain himself. We have no choice but to follow them. And one more thing…” He looked at me. “The seal had been lifted. You’re free to defend yourself.”
 
I blinked. “… what? I’m confused.”
 
“Please allow me to demonstrate!” Kisuke said in a cheery voice. In a flash, I was splashed in the face by lukewarm tea. “And now – GUWAAAH!”
 
Toshiro and Rangiku just watched with sweat-drops as I lunged at my own uncle and the two of us rolled around on the floor. I grabbed Kisuke’s neck and strangled him in a funny way. Then, I stopped when I realized something.
 
“That…” I felt the air around me with my hands. “That barrier is gone.”
 
“Yes, the seal was lifted.” Toshiro looked at me in the eye. “I hope you won’t take it to your advantage.”
 
I scoffed. “Yeah, sure, whatever, taichou…”
 
“A spiritual dome is placed around Karakura town. It’s made especially to repel your reiatsu so that you can’t escape,” Toshiro explained.
 
“Okay,” I said like that piece of information won’t change anything.
 
Toshiro stayed calm and his eyes travelled to Kisuke. “And I think you better release him. He’s turning blue in the face.”
 
I had stop strangling Kisuke, but my hand was still gripped tightly around his throat. “Sorry,” I said as I released him.
 
“And thus, my demonstration was successful…” Kisuke croaked out and weakly did a victory pose. My eyebrow twitched slightly and I kicked him in the side.
 
“Just lay down and die quietly,” I muttered half-heartedly.
 
“Well…” Toshiro started as he and Rangiku stood up. “We should get going.”
 
“Oh… okay,” I said.
 
“Bye bye!” Kisuke waved happily as the captain and lieutenant of the 10^th Division walked out of the shop.
 
Rukia’s POV
 
I was patrolling around Karakura town. So far, there were no Hollows about so I took this morning to be a peaceful one
 
And no signs of those two enemies either… I slightly frowned at that. Hitsugaya-taichou ran into them yesterday. He said that they had business with Tetsuya Aimer. So, it’s true then… those Chains are targeting her! We don’t know how powerful they are yet… well, at least we have Hitsugaya-taichou and Ichigo on our side. I’m also assigned to protect Tetsuya Aimer but…  I closed my eyes and winced. Byakuya nii-sama killed Tetsuya Aimer’s parents… so she must also hate me… right?
 
I stopped walking and looked around, only to find that I was near Urahara Shop. I spotted a familiar white-haired girl inside talking with Kisuke. Then, I made up my mind and walked towards the shop. There’s only one way to find out…
 
Aimer’s POV
 
“I bet you’re glad that the seal was lifted,” my uncle said, smiling.
 
“Yeah…” I replied as I gulped down a cup of tea (looks like I’m gonna be drinking tea as long as I’m with Uncle Kisuke).
 
“But.” Kisuke looked at me darkly. “I’m sure that you won’t use it to your advantage.”
 
I looked away and sighed. “Don’t worry… I won’t. I’m not ordered to anyway…”
 
Kisuke looked at me with a surprised face. “What do you mean?”
 
“Nothing…” I muttered.
 
“Does it relates to your OCA mission?”
 
“… yeah.”
 
Kisuke sighed and took a sip of tea. “Okay. I won’t ask you about that anymore. By the way… did you know that Noah-kun tried to invade Seireitei alone a few days ago?”
 
“Yeah. I heard that he failed. Soul Society doubled its defense force.”
 
“That’s true. But he managed to… well…”
 
I huffed out some air. “Just tell me the damage he did.”
 
”Okay then: 396 shinigami dead, 135 wounded. The captain of the 5^th, 6^th and 8^th Division were badly injured and half of Seireitei was burned down by his flames.”
 
“Looks like he made a real mess this time. Jeez…”
 
Kisuke smiled a bit. “Noah-kun really got stronger.”
 
Of course. His seal reached its limit because he trained so hard, but… I mentally gulped. That’s nothing compared to Noel…
 
Then, the door of the shop opened and a familiar shinigami entered. It was Kuchiki Rukia.
 
“Ah, Kuchiki-san!” Kisuke smiled. “What can I do for you today?”
 
Rukia shook her head. “Nothing.” She looked at me. “I need to speak with you in private,” she said emotionlessly and walked out of the shop.
 
I had a ‘T.T’ face as I looked at my uncle. He just shrugged and smiled. I sighed as I got up and followed the female shinigami out of the shop.
 
~
 
“Okay, what do you want to talk about?” I asked as Rukia stood a few meters away from me. The sun was high and it was getting hot, so I assumed that it was noon. A cool breeze blew.
 
“I… I…” Rukia started. “I know everything…” Suddenly, she went down on her knees. “I am very sorry for what Byakuya nii-sama did! Please forgive him.” Rukia gulped. “It was a big shock to me when I found out that nii-sama was the one who killed the heads of the Tetsuya clan. Because I’m his sister, I… I have a feeling that… you would hate me too.” She had her head down, avoiding my gaze.
 
I sighed. “Get up,” I said coldly. Rukia slowly stood up. “You know, I’m not that kind of person to hold a grudge or want revenge (actually, I am but who cares?).” I scratched my head. “I mean, of course I don’t hate you! You have nothing to do with me…I’m not sure about Kuchiki Byakuya though.” She looked at me in shock. “I’m just joking! Jeez…”
 
“I’m glad,” Rukia said and smiled a bit. Then, she looked at me in the eye. “But… I’m not sure if you’ll be happy to hear this…”
 
“Just spill it,” I said lazily.
 
“Tetsuya Aimer… I know… I know who you really are,” Rukia said in a serious but slightly shaky tone. A breeze blew again, causing some leaves on the trees near us to rustle. Strands of my long white hair whipped around my face and Rukia’s short black hair flowed in the wind. Her uneasy violet eyes met with my calm grey eyes. “You are… the daughter of King Tetsuya Kenjirou and Queen Tetsuya Seira…” Rukia went down on one knee. “The Soul Princess Aimer.”