Yeah, I know. It has been too long. Life circumstances. Oh well... Enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 073 - Behold! The Shinigami Women's Association

The next day, September 25th, 2001. In Seireitei...

"Soar... Ryūjōmaru!" Fujimaru announced his new Shikai command. Five full seconds of silence followed, before the young man's eyes turned blank and a drop of sweat rolled down the back of his head. "H-Hey... Ryūjōmaru?!"

"Somehow... I knew this was going to be a disappointment." Yoruichi said in a mocking way, while she crossed both arms over her chest.

"N-No, you see... Let me try again!" Fujimaru focused, as he pointed his sword in her direction once again. "Soar, Ryūjōmaru!"

Crickets chirped.

"You came barging in, shouting about how Ryūjōmaru had a new form... Such high anticipation, then such a weak deliver..." The former Captain spread both arms to the side, with a look of disinterest appearing on her face.

"W-Wait! I was telling the truth! Ryūjōmaru transformed into this long chain with this huge axe-like weight on the end!" Fujimaru told her. He waved his arms as he explained the details of this new form, just like a child does when telling a story. Yoruichi barely listened to him, as she yawned, causing Fujimaru's eyes to turn blank once again. "Don't ignore me! I was telling you how amazing..."

"Have you forgotten who I used to be?" She countered with a louder voice, causing him to immediately lower his own. "I know all about it, idiot! I was watching you and Hisagi fighting Madarame and Ayasegawa."

"Oh! You were?! For real?!" The surprised Fujimaru questioned his mentor who nodded to answer. He then stared back to his sealed Zanpakutō. "Then... do you have any clue why I'm not able to do it today?"

"That command you're using is not meant to activate your Shikai." Yoruichi revealed, causing Fujimaru's eyes to widen. "There are many Zanpakutō that have multiple commands for multiple effects, but there's always only one to release your Zanpakutō from its sealed state."

"Ah, I see! Well... Flash, Ryūjōmaru!" Fujimaru announced the command, which caused his sword to transform into the blue gauntlet with bronze markings. "Ahah! Here we go! I was starting to get worried!"

"Still, I'm confused on how your Zanpakutō really works..." Yoruichi pondered aloud, while she held her chin. "Urahara's multiple commands are used to activate Benihime's techniques, but that's not how it works with yours..."

"Soar, Ryūjōmaru!" Fujimaru said the second command, causing his Zanpakutō to finally transform into its new form. The blond Shinigami held the weapon with both hands and stared in awe at it. "Woohoo! I did it! Yoruichi-san! I did it!"

"It's closer to Madarame's Hōzukimaru, since it has a command to activate the Shikai and then a command to assume a new form." Yoruichi continued to voice her thought process, without noticing that Fujimaru had ignored her and started swinging his kusarigama-like weapon around, like a child playing with a new toy. "Madarame's second command causes his Zanpakutō to assume its true form, but one close to the initial one and that allows him to quickly shift between them for his advantage if needed. It's almost as if it was a technique. However, Fujimaru's second command causes it to change into something entirely different..."

"Ahahah! This is great!" Fujimaru's eyes almost sparkled, as he watched the bladed axe flying through the sky after he launched it. "It really looks like a dragon soaring through the sky... WOW!"

"If I didn't knew better, I would say he has two different Shikai, but the fact he cannot use the new form without first using the original one seems proof enough that..." Yoruichi suddenly stopped her thought process, as all the noise she heard behind her enraged her to the point a vein popped up on her forehead. With a swift movement, she turned around and smacked Fujimaru in the back of the head, causing him to land face first on the rocky floor with high impact. "Stop acting like a damn infant and pay attention to what I'm saying!"

"S-Sorry..." Fujimaru mumbled almost inhaudibly, since his face was still stuck in the ground.

"We'll think about this later when we start focusing your training on your Zanpakutō. Until then, just remember to not try and use this form right off the bat. It won't work and you may end up giving your opponent an opening." Yoruichi instructed him, until she heard steps behind her. Someone was using the stairs that led to the training ground. "I guess it's about time... Get up, Fujimaru! Time for today's special training session!"

"Oh! Right!" Fujimaru quickly got back on his knees and stared up to his mentor. "What are we going to do today?"

"Well... today's special exercise is going to be a feminine extravaganza!" Yoruichi revealed, causing Fujimaru's eyes to close into slits.

"A feminine extravaganza?!" The confused Fujimaru still asked, before he was slammed back into the ground, this time by a pair of large and quite heavy spherical objects he didn't have time to identify.

"Helloooooo!" Rangiku greeted Fujimaru, before she got back on her feet after pouncing on her longtime friend.

"So... that's what that was..." The dizzy Fujimaru soon realized, before a small burst of blood erupted from his nose. He decided to spend a couple more seconds in the ground recovering, while the rest of Rangiku's companions arrived.

"Good day." Nanao slightly bowed to Yoruichi, as soon as she arrived. Behind her, every other member of the Shinigami Women's Association followed her. "Just as agreed, we're all here.

"Hi, Fujimaru-kun!" Hinamori knelt by Fujimaru's side and helped him sit up. "We're here to help you with your training!"

"Oh, really? Thank you!" Fujimaru smiled to the girl, but soon noticed her blushing deeply. "W-What's wrong, Momo?!"

"Hihihi! Blondie had a nosebleed from being close to Hina-Hina!" Yachiru suddenly popped out of nowhere to point out what happened.

"W-WHAT?!" Fujimaru was the one to blush this time around. He quickly wiped the blood of his nose and tried to explain himself to Hinamori. "Look, Momo! Don't listen to her! What really happened was..."

"Pervert! Pervert! Blondie is a pervert!" Yachiru chirped while she hopped around Fujimaru, quickly causing his eyes to turn blank and a loud roar of anger to be unleashed, before he chased her around the training field.

"Excuse us for the large crowd." Isane bowed to Yoruichi as well, as soon as she reached her.

"Don't worry! I was the one who called you, so it's not like I wasn't expecting all this commotion." Yoruichi chuckled, before she noticed Kiyone peeking from behind her much taller sister. "Hey there!"

"A-Aaah! It's nice to see you, Yoruichi-sama! Please forgive me! Don't hurt me!" Kiyone immediately begged for forgiveness, still referring to a previous event where she and Suì-Fēng had teamed up to take nude pictures of Yoruichi for a Shinigami Women's Association project.

"Little devil... Too fast..." Fujimaru had to stop for a moment, as he had quickly gotten tired from running after the hyperactive Vice-Captain of the 11th Division. As he recovered, another friend of his approached him.

"Tired already, Fujimaru?" Rukia questioned him, with a raised eyebrow.

"It was just... pink little devil..." Fujimaru tried to answer. It was enough of an explanation though, as Rukia immediately pat him on the shoulder to show her support. "Did you interrupt your training just to come here?"

"We thought we'd help out, Kudō-kun!" Orihime appeared by Rukia's side to answer the question. The Shinigami of the 13th Division sighed and smiled to the human girl.

"What did I tell you? You need a break, Inoue!" Rukia reminded her. "Your body isn't used to such stress."

"What are you talking about?" Orihime asked, before she unexpectedly punched herself in the gut, causing Rukia and Fujimaru's eyes to turn blank. "S-See?! I'm fine... I c-can stand everything... you dish out! Y-Yeah..."

"Aaaah! She knocked herself out!" The shocked Fujimaru shouted, as Orihime lost consciousness and fell forward, face first into the ground, as soon as she stopped talking.

"Are we really having the Shinigami Women's Association's meeting here?" Suì-Fēng asked to Nanao, as soon as Nemu arrived near them with a bunch of files and paperwork.

"I don't see why not." Yoruichi was the one to answer instead. "Just help me with Fujimaru's training and you can have the meeting afterwards, during his break."

"H-Hey there... Suì-Fēng." Fujimaru nervously greeted the Captain of the 2nd Division, who gave him a cold look. "Man, I bet she's pissed at me... After the way I spoke to her the last time..."

"What's with the long face?" She sharply asked, causing Fujimaru to gasp. "Don't tell me... it's about what happened the other day?"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you..." Fujimaru's eyes literally begged for forgiveness as he stared to Suì-Fēng. "You saved me and I did that instead of thanking you... So..."

"Save it. I understand." Suì-Fēng turned her back on him, causing him to frown. It was not as if she did it to ignore him or show indifference, though. In fact, she did so because she couldn't bear to see that look in his eyes. "I know the frustration of seeing someone I love being taken away in front of my eyes and not being able to stop it from happening. So it's alright, I didn't get mad at you. Just remember... You owe me one now and I intend to cash it in someday."

"Eh... Thanks, Suì-Fēng." Fujimaru smiled, as he saw her walking away towards the group of other female Shinigami. He decided to join them, so that he wouldn't delay the training session any longer. "Hey, Yoruichi-san! What's with all this? What are we going to do?"

"As you can see, I've invited the Shinigami Women's Association over to help train you." Yoruichi told him, while she motioned towards the girls. "Since we've got so many people here, let's divide into two teams for a mock battle."

"I have to prepare for our meeting, so I won't be participating in the battle." Nanao informed them, as she was already looking into some of the paperwork.

"All right. Fujimaru and I will join the rest of you. Let's split into teams." Yoruichi continued, before she picked something from her pocket. "I have prepared these straws. Each person will draw one. The ones with the five biggest ones will form a team, while the others will be on the other team."

"Are there any rules we should follow, Yoruichi-sama?" Suì-Fēng asked to the woman she most admired.

"Well, since it's 5-on-5, let's make it a bit like tag. If a person's movements are restricted, that person gets eliminated. When a team manages to 'capture' all members of the opposing team, the match ends." The former Captain laid out the rules. "That way the match doesn't drag on and we can avoid serious injuries."

"Alright then! Let me draw!" Fujimaru picked up the first straw, before his signature silly expression filled his face. "Man, I probably drew the shortest one of them all..."

"C'mon girls! Pick your poison!" Yoruichi instructed the other women, who one by one drew a straw to know who their partners would be. A few moments later, each team's members stood side by side and towards their opponents.

"We've got our work cut out for us." Fujimaru stated his opinion. By his side he had Rangiku, Momo, Nemu and Isane. The opposing team was composed of Yoruichi, Suì-Fēng, Rukia, Yachiru and Kiyone. "They have two Captain-level members on their side."

"Hey! No negativity allowed! If you're going to play, play to win!" Rangiku scolded her friend.

"You're right! Let's do it!" Fujimaru nodded and drew his sword, an action that was mimicked by most of the other Shinigami. However, the first one to charge was someone who used her body as her main weapon. Nemu quickly choose Suì-Fēng as her target and attacked her with a spinning kick, which was blocked by the Captain's right forearm. The other pairings were soon chosen as both teams moved towards one another. Kiyone decided to challenge her older sister and pushed her away from the pack with a series of sword slashes that Isane blocked with her own Zanpakutō. Not far from them, Rukia and Hinamori also traded sword slashes. A bit farther, Rangiku used her Zanjutsu skills to force Yoruichi to put her Hohō mastery in use. That left Fujimaru's opponent to be...

"Hi!" Yachiru greeted Fujimaru, who immediately sweatdropped.

"Really?! You're my opponent?!" Fujimaru asked in disbelief.

"Yaaaaay! I get to play with Blondie!" The pink-haired girl chirped, before she suddenly got serious. "But you're a Perverted Blondie, so I shouldn't play with you..."

"Stop it! You sure have a talent to distort reality!" The blond Shinigami furiously roared, causing Yachiru to giggle once again.

"You're being funny, so there's no problem... I'll play with you!" Yachiru decided, before her montrous Reiatsu started to irradiate from her in a pink glow, which made Fujimaru freeze. "Wanna see something cool?"

"This Reiatsu... No way! How can she be this powerful?" Fujimaru mumbled, as he prepared for whatever was to come from the little devil. Suddenly, Yachiru jumped into the air and stretched her arms out.

"Bankai!"

"W-What?! It can't be! Quick... Flash, Ryūjōmaru!" Fujimaru immediately summoned his gauntlet in order to have some sort of protection for Yachiru's Bankai. The thing was... nothing happened. "H-Huh?!"

"Hihihi! I forgot I can't use it right now!" Yachiru suddenly remembered her 'Bankai' was not an option at the moment, causing Fujimaru to fall to the ground. That distraction nearly cost Fujimaru though, as Yachiru drew her sword and performed multiple somersaults in her direction. The blond Shinigami quickly got back on his feet and used his gauntlet to block his opponent's blade just in time.

"How is it possible?! Her blows carry so much strength!" Fujimaru frowned, as he struggled to block the little girl's attack. "Despite that... she's still a child! I can't just point the blade of my Zanpakutō at her!"

"Hihihi! Blondie's face is twisting like if he ate a lemon! I hate lemons too!" Yachiru innocently stated, before she held the handle of her weapon with both hands and started spinning around like a spinning top. The continuous movement made Yachiru's Zanpakutō move towards Fujimaru multiple times, with the young man struggling to block each blow with just the gauntlet portion of Ryūjōmaru.

"Heart of the South! Eye of the North!" Isane started her incantation, at the same time she swung her Zanpakutō with thunderous force towards her younger sister. Kiyone was able to block the blow with her own weapon, but the impact still sent her flying backwards. The older sister then drew black powder out of one of her pockets and used it to draw a zig-zag pattern on the blade of her own sword. "Finger of the West! Foot of the East!"

"That's Kakushitsuijaku's incantation, but I've never seen her using it like this..." Kiyone partially realized her sister's intentions, before she got a better grip of her Zanpakutō and charged back in her direction. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but I won't let you do it!"

"Arrive with the Wind..." Isane continued the incantation, while she drew a circle on the ground with Itegumo's blade. As soon as Kiyone reached her, she stopped what she was doing and blocked her sword slash, before kicking her away once again. She then drew some symbols inside the circle, again with her sword. "...and Depart with the Rain!"

"D-Damn it! She did it..." Kiyone bit her lower lip, as she saw the circle glowing bright blue.

"Bakudō#58: Kakushitsuijaku!" The Vice-Captain of the 4th Division finished her spell by stabbing the inside of the circle with her Zanpakutō. "Oishiki!"

"A Kidō Shiki?!" The surprised Kiyone still asked, before she noticed her sister extending her right hand in her direction. "W-What?!"

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!" The tall woman unleashed a bullet of red flames in her sister's direction. Kiyone was able to dodge the destructive spell, but Isane wouldn't let it phase out so quickly. With a motion of her right hand, the spell moved towards the nearest target. Yachiru was still spinning around, forcing Fujimaru back with her continuous sword attack.

"Oooohhh! Fireworks! Hihihi!" Yachiru noticed the burning bullet moving in her direction, so she decided to increase her Reiatsu to counter it. A pink glow enveloped her sword while she kept on spinning around, resulting in a wheel of pink energy appearing to the eyes of those who watched. The powered up blow sent Fujimaru backwards, before the next one hit the Shakkahō spell just like a baseball bat would, redirecting it towards her opponent. "Hihihi! Strike!"

"D-Damn it! I need to counter it! Hadō..." Fujimaru still extended his free hand towards the spell to counter it with one of his own, but the bullet of red flames suddenly stopped in midair, before it flew back towards Yachiru. The girl had finally stopped her attack method and only had time to block Isane's spell by placing her Zanpakutō in front of her body. The spell did explode this time around, sending the youngest Vice-Captain flying back. "What?! What happened?!"

"Oops! You got me!" Yachiru realized, as she suddenly became entangled in a net of orange energy that succesfully restricted her movements.

"Hadō #12: Fushibi!" Hinamori announced the name of her spell, before she was immediately forced to block Rukia's sword slash and continue her battle against her.

"Kakushitsuijaku allows its user to track and locate the Reiatsu of those nearby. Using Oishiki allows Kakushitsuijaku to record those Reiatsu signatures so that I can send further Kidō spells towards them like guided bombs." Isane explained what happened, before she extended her hand towards her sister once again. "Hadō #31: Shakkahō!"

"I won't fall for it then!" Kiyone shouted, before she dodged the spell by jumping. Knowing the spell would come back to hit her from behind, the 3rd Seat turned in midair and prepared to fire a spell of her own towards the returning Shakkahō.

"Bakudō #4: Hainawa!" Fujimaru launched a rope of yellow energy towards Kiyone, which circled around her waist and brought her back down to the ground. "Kotetsu-fukutaichō!"

"I'm on it! Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!" Isane immediately unleashed a spark of yellow energy towards her fallen sister. The bright energy bullet connected with Fujimaru's Hainawa, causing it to transform into six beams of light that pinned Kiyone into the ground.

"5-on-3 is too much of a lead already..." Yoruichi stated, as she noticed what happened behind her. Suddenly, waves of ashes surrounded her and trapped her in a massive ash tornado.

"Neko Rinbu! I got her!" Rangiku shouted, before she noticed something was wrong. She dissipated the tornado to reveal that Yoruichi was nowhere to be found. "No! She used Shunpo to get out of it in time!"

"That's unfair, neesan! It was 2-on-1! You ganged up on me!" Kiyone kept on protesting, while she tried to get free of Isane's spell, but to no avail.

"Well, it's a team battle after all..." Isane tried to reason with her sister, before she noticed Yoruichi sneaking behind her and Fujimaru. "Watch out!"

"Bakudō #73: Tozanshō!" Yoruichi invoked the spell, causing an inverted pyramid of blue energy to form around them. At the last second, Isane was still able to push Fujimaru out of the way, before she was trapped inside the former Captain's spell.

"No! Kotetsu-fukutaichō!" Fujimaru shouted, before he noticed his mentor extending her right hand in his direction. "D-Damn..."

"MOVE!" Rangiku yelled, as she sent a massive amount of cutting ashes towards both of them. Both Yoruichi and Fujimaru jumped back in time to avoid them, with the wave of ashes crashing against Yoruichi's Tozanshō. Rangiku landed by Fujimaru's side and pointed her reforming Zanpakutō towards the dark-skinned woman. "Focus, Fujimaru! We'll need to team up to take her down!"

"Yeah, I know..." Fujimaru nodded, while he watched a cocky grin forming in Yoruichi's lips. "You've been beating me around for enough time already during training... I'll get you this time!"

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" A rush of cold air was felt throughout the training area, as Rukia released her Zanpakutō.

"Aaaah! It's so cold!" Orihime shivered for a moment, before she noticed the burning fire in her training partner's eyes. "Kuchiki-san sure is putting all she has on this..."

"You've always been one step ahead of me, Hinamori-fukutaichō! I have to do everything I can, if I want to defeat you!" Rukia proclaimed, before she punctured the ground a couple of times with her Zanpakutō. "Tsugi no Mai..."

"Rukia-san... You're my friend, but I made a promise to help another friend of mine in any way I could... and to do that, I need to take every chance to become stronger as well!" Hinamori answered with matching determination, before waving her Zanpakutō as well. "Snap, Tobiume!"

"Hakuren!" The Shinigami from the 13th Division pointed her white sword towards Hinamori, unleashing a large avalanche of cold air in her direction. Hinamori quickly placed her released Zanpakutō in front of her body in a blocking position, with a minuscule fireball igniting in each of its jutte-like prongs.

"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen!" Hinamori called out the name of the spell, creating a large spinning disk of condensed yellow energy to block Rukia's attack. The ice-type technique clashed against the Vice-Captain's Bakudō, nearly breaking through it on the first impact. "Hold on! Just a little longer..."

"That spell won't hold on for long, Hinamori-fukutaichō!" Rukia warned her opponent. Suddenly, she started to feel her technique losing power. The fireballs born from Tobiume's prongs got mixed with the energy of Enkōsen, creating a spinning wheel of fire that started to melt Rukia's ice attack. "S-She's combining her Zanpakutō's power with her Kidō skills?! That's just like..."

"Hadō #58: Tenran!" Hinamori unleashed a new spell, generating a wide tornado blast that went through the previously created fire wheel. Again, the techniques mixed together, this time to create a massive blazing vortex that burned through Rukia's Hakuren, melting it away and advancing in the lower-ranked Shinigami's direction. "Please, move out of the way, Rukia-san!"

"I knew it! It's just like when Kaien-dono mixed Tenran with Nejibana's water! I got this!" Rukia smiled, while her Zanpakutō started to glow. At the last second, Rukia used Shunpo to avoid the flame blast and reappeared in midair, just a few meters in front of Hinamori. "I got you now! Some no Mai..."

"Sorry, Rukia-san..." Hinamori apologetically smiled, just before Rukia stopped in midair, unable to move an inch forward. "I'm the one who got you... with Hadō #12: Fushibi to be exact."

"W-What?! How can this be?!" The shocked Rukia questioned her opponent, just before the orange net appeared out of thin air, revealing that Hinamori's statement was indeed true. "Impossible! When did you set this up?!"

"When you released your Shikai." The Vice-Captain revealed, causing Rukia's eyes to widen. "I first used Kyokkō around me. Only then did I activate Fushibi... Since Kyokkō allows me to bend light to hide the physical form and Reiatsu of whatever I want, you would never notice Fushibi until you got caught on it. I just had to wait for you to get near."

"Darn... I got sloppy." Rukia sighed in defeat, but smiled nonetheless. "Good job, Hinamori-fukutaichō!"

"Thank you." Hinamori smiled back, before she watched the other fighters around the training area. Nemu was still holding her own in hand-to-hand combat against the Captain of the 2nd Division. Fuijmaru and Rangiku continued to press Yoruichi into making a mistake, but still to no avail. Hinamori quickly made up a plan and decided to inform the others. For that, she drew some black powder out of her pocket. "I'll have to go with Tenteikūra for this... Please, hold on for a bit longer all of you!"

"I'll admit, I'm surprised... Your skill in Hakuda is far superior to that of many members of the Onmitsukidō itself." Suì-Fēng let out a little smile, as she praised Nemu. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she was actually having fun for once. "What's more... I'm surprised Kurotsuchi enjoyed his time in the Maggot's Nest so much, since he apparently used us as inspiration for making you."

"Mayuri-sama's inspiration..." Nemu suddenly blushed slightly, but never lost her usual 'poker face'. "...is something far beyond your realm of comprehension."

"If you're blushing... Then that's a piece of intel I really don't want to know about." Suì-Fēng sweatdropped and her eyes suddenly became slitted, as she tried not to imagine what could have gone through Nemu's mind. Out of nowhere, Nemu appeared in front of the distracted Suì-Fēng and brought her right hand towards her. Nemu's forearm suddenly started rotating at ferocious speed, creating a effective drill out of her hand. Suì-Fēng nearly got stabbed, but was able to step to the side just in time. "A body modification to perform stabbing attacks, huh? Great, not only does her fighting style resemble the Onmitsukidō's, she also was a weapon of sorts that kind of mimics Suzumebachi as well... Eh, next thing you know, I was Kurotsuchi's inspiration for... For... G-Gah!"

"What the hell is happening to Suì-Fēng?" Fujimaru ended up asking, as he noticed from far away that Suì-Fēng had just brought both hands to her mouth to avoid not to puke. Nemu appeared in midair of her disgusted opponent and charged back towards her, thrusting her drilling hand forward. Suì-Fēng somehow managed to dodge and prevent what was inside of her stomach from coming out at the same time, with Nemu's blow creating a large crater where the Captain of the 2nd Division had been standing up until then.

"Fujimaru, I understand it's hard to have your girlfriend on the opposing team, but you really have to focus." Rangiku whispered in Fujimaru's left ear, causing him to jump out of shock.

"W-W-Wow! Wow! Wow! Wait just a second!" Fujimaru blushed deeply and pointed a finger in Rangiku's direction. "I-It's not like that! We're not a couple!"

"You're not?!" Rangiku let out a disappointed pout, before she put Fujimaru in a side headlock of sorts. "C'mon now! You two were so cute back then! You two were like my uncle and aunt!"

"Where in the hell did that family connection come out from?!" Fujimaru shouted with blank eyes.

"Oh! Don't you remember that time in the Academy? All that deal with Gin? I still remember the way she worried about you and how she treated your injuries! So cute!" Rangiku reminded him, before laughing in an unexpectedly mocking way, causing Fujimaru to only blush more. While Rangiku didn't release her side headlock, someone else put Fujimaru on one as well from the other side.

"And you didn't see that one time he took her home! Cuteness personified!" Yoruichi further added to the conversation, causing Fujimaru's jaw to hit the floor. "Do you still remember the song, Fujimaru? Let me sing it... Fujimaru and Suì-Fēng, sitting in a tree..."

"So cuuuuute!" Rangiku gave her opinion, before both her and Yoruichi laughed in the exact same mocking way, causing a vein to swell in Fujimaru's forehead, in one of the rare displays of pure anger of the blond Shinigami. It could've gone further if he didn't realize something.

"Wait a minute... We are the three standing here next to each other." Fujimaru asked to them.

"Yep!" Both answered in unison.

"But the match is still on, right?" Fujimaru continued his thought process.

"Yep!" Both repeated the answer.

"And correct me if I'm wrong... but we're not all on the same team." The male Shinigami revealed his discovery.

"Nope!" Both women again answered, before they finally released Fujimaru and stared at each other. "Huh!"

"Oh, okay... GET HER!" Fujimaru yelled, as he angrily pointed towards Yoruichi, but she was quick to avoid her opponents' charge with Shunpo, the same technique Fujimaru and Rangiku then both used to follow after her.

"Connection successfully established!" Hinamori's voice suddenly ringed inside not only Rangiku and Fujimaru's heads, but on Nemu's as well. "Listen guys! Even though they're only two and we are four, they're still Captain-class combatants. The only way I see we can win this is if we take care of both of them in a single shot!"

"I understand." Nemu nodded and immediately used Shunpo to change her position and attack Suì-Fēng once again, pressing her back towards Yoruichi. On the other side of the battlefield, Fujimaru and Rangiku nodded to each other and positioned themselves in a way that their attacks could only allow for Yoruichi to dodge by moving backwards, towards her partner. After a couple attacks, Fujimaru and Nemu succeeded in kicking their opponents away, causing them to crash against one another.

"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!" Hinamori unleashed her Kidō spell, just as Yoruichi and Suì-Fēng got back on their feet and stood back to back. The six beams of light slammed against one another and caught nothing though, as both Captain-class opponents managed to avoid them at last second by using a well-timed Shunpo. "Oh no! I missed them!"

"It was a good idea, but your attack patterns made your intentions painfully obvious." Suì-Fēng spoke just from behind Hinamori, causing the younger girl's eyes to widen in shock. A chop to the back of the neck caused the Vice-Captain to immediately black out.

"Hinamori!" Fujimaru still called for his friend, but she gave no response. The sound of another body falling to the ground was heard immediately afterwards. Both Fujimaru and Rangiku turned just to see Nemu already knocked out as well, the result of Yoruichi's sneak attack, done in pretty much the same way as Suì-Fēng's. "Kurotsuchi-fukutaichō too..."

"This is bad..." Rangiku gritted her teeth and tightened the grip on her Zanpakutō. Immediately after that, both of their opponent disappeared with a Shunpo performed at the exact same time. Just a second after that, Rangiku had the blade of her own Zanpakutō placed against her throat, while her left arm was restricted in a hammer lock-like move. By her side, Suì-Fēng had locked Fujimaru in an Octopus Stretch-like maneuver. "S-Shit..."

"It seems victory is ours, don't you agree?" Yoruichi asked to both of them with a smirk, before releasing Rangiku. "Let's release everyone and do a break? We have to wait for Hinamori and Kurotsuchi to wake up, anyways."

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Suì-Fēng questioned Fujimaru, as she saw him stretching his arm.

"Huh?! No! I'm fine!" Fujimaru lied, as Suì-Fēng had pulled him with a bit too much strength. Of course, the Captain didn't seem to be convinced. "Say, Suì-Fēng..."

"What is it?" She asked.

"Someday... Will you resume training me? Like we used to do back in the day?" Fujimaru asked to her. Suì-Fēng had the urge to turn her back on him, in order to hide the smile that was forming in her face.

"Who knows? I have a tight schedule, as you know..." She told him, causing him to be slightly disappointed. "But perhaps, just like today that I'm here to help Yoruichi-sama training you, I may have some more sessions scheduled already..."

"Huh?!" A big smile quickly returned to Fujimaru's face. "For real?!"

"Perhaps." She answered, while looking back to him over her shoulder, showing a smaller, more discrete grin.

"Hey, lovebirds! Come here, so we can decide on new teams for round two!" Yoruichi called them from a distance, causing both their eyes to turn blank.

"Y-Yoruichi-sama!" The ashamed Suì-Fēng quickly blushed at the nickname her mentor put on them.

"Would you drop it already?! It's not like that!" Fujimaru angrily shouted back, causing Yoruichi to chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah... Here draw!" Yoruichi extended them the last two straws. Fujimaru picked the one that was really small, while Suì-Fēng picked the one which was the biggest of all ten. "Oh... Fate keeps pulling you apart."

"STOP IT!" Both Fujimaru and Suì-Fēng shouted in unison.

"So these are the new teams... Suì-Fēng! Yachiru!" Yoruichi called them, causing both of their heads to jerk up. "You will join Hinamori, Matsumoto and Kurotsuchi."

"So the three of us remain together, huh?" Rangiku said, while Hinamori and Nemu kept stretching their necks, which were still a bit stiff.

"Fujimaru! Isane!" Yoruichi continued the call. "You two will join me, Kiyone and Rukia."

"Sure!" Fujimaru and Isane nodded and walked to the side of their partners. "How did you wake them up so quickly just after knocking them out?"

"Pressure points. I may teach how to work them someday, but you still have a lot more to learn about Hakuda before that." Yoruichi told him, causing him to nod in understanding. "So... Let's begin! Winners are the ones left standing!"

Both teams immediately charged against one another, with the fastest ones being the first to clash. Yoruichi and Suì-Fēng punched towards one another, the impact of their fists against each other raising a massive shockwave that nearly knocked everyone else down. Nemu was the first one to regain her balance and attempted to kick Kiyone, who was on her knees. The 3rd Seat had a good reaction though, and was able to jump over Nemu while drawing her sword at the same time. The sword slash would have cut Hinamori in two, but she stepped away from the attack and charged towards her target, with her glowing right hand extended.

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!" The sphere of red flames unleashed by Hinamori quickly reached Isane, who had her right hand also surrounded in her own Reiatsu. Waving it, the healer was able to parry the spell away, redirecting it towards Rangiku. The Vice-Captain of the 10th Division simply spun around and cut through the bullet of flames, causing it to explode behind her. She continued to spin around, aiming a slash at Fujimaru, who blocked the attack with his own sword.

"Bakudō #4: Hainawa!" Rukia launched the energy rope towards Rangiku, while she was distracted with the blond Shinigami. However, as the Kidō spell was about to reach the Vice-Captain, Yachiru appeared out of nowhere and cut through Hainawa with her Zanpakutō. Yachiru then turned around and used a Dropkick to knock Fujimaru away from Rangiku. The woman with orange-tinted blond hair spun around Yachiru and hit a jumping kick of her own to knock Rukia away from them.

"Nice job, Yachiru!" Rangiku congratulated Yachiru, who giggled in response.

"Ouch!" Kiyone groaned in pain, as she landed back first on the ground, the result of being knocked down by one of Nemu's hard kicks. Near them, Hinamori was also down and Isane prepared to leap towards her with her sword in hand. However, Nemu caught Isane by her left ankle midway through her jump and swung her around, before launching her towards the fallen Kiyone. "Oh no..."

"Bakudō #37: Tsuriboshi!" Hinamori summoned the light blue elastic web, which successfully pinned both sisters against the ground. "I got them!"

"S-Sorry..." Isane said to her partners, before sighing in defeat.

"This is bad... With Yoruichi-san dealing with Suì-Fēng-taichō, we're left to deal with four Vice-Captains on our own." Rukia explained the situation to Fujimaru, while a drop of sweat rolled down her face. "How good is your Kidō, Fujimaru?"

"I would say good, but not for this kind of situation... I don't really know any spells to restrain my opponents." Fujimaru frowned, before staring to his partner. "That means that if they get you..."

"It's game over." Rukia finished the sentence for him, while she watched the Vice-Captains coming together.

"I guess we just have to create a distraction for Hinamori to get them with Kidō." Rangiku quickly took the lead and decided on what they had to do to win. "Then, we'll help Suì-Fēng-taichō in defeating Yoruichi-san."

"Yoruichi-san is skilled with Kidō..." Fujimaru pondered aloud, while he stared to his mentor and watched him battling Suì-Fēng. "If I switch with her at the right moment, you two could possibly restrain all of them in a single swoop."

"What?!" The surprised Rukia stared to her partner with her eyes widened. "Well... If well-timed, yes probably, but... Are you suggesting you should fight Suì-Fēng-taichō on your own?! She's way above any of us!"

"I know... But I know how she fights, I think I can hold her long enough for you two to handle them." Fujimaru told her, before he let out his silly grin and rubbed the back of his head. "At least, I hope so!"

"That's all good and all... But how do you intend to tell Yoruichi-san your intentions?!" Rukia questioned him, as she saw Yachiru and Nemu ready to charge them.

"I have an idea for that! Just don't get caught before she arrives to support you!" Fujimaru vaguely answered, before he waved his Zanpakutō. "Flash, Ryūjōmaru!"

"Fine! I'll trust you on this one!" Rukia told him, before she blocked Yachiru's sword slash with her own Zanpakutō. By her right side, Fujimaru raised his gauntlet to stop the slashing motion Nemu's right hand. Immediately afterwards, a cloud of swirling ashes surrounded all four of them.

"Neko Rinbu!" Rangiku announced the name of the technique, creating a tornado of ashes to trap everyone inside of it. However, all four Shinigami used Shunpo just in time to avoid being trapped. Rukia had moved further to her left and, as soon as she landed on the floor, she waved her Zanpakutō, preparing to release it.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" The Shinigami of the 13th Division activated her Shikai, releasing a burst of cold Reiatsu to keep her opponents away from her for a few moments.

"Eheh! You've been waiting for this rematch, haven't you Suì-Fēng?" Yoruichi asked to her opponent, with a wide grin filling her face, as she blocked Suì-Fēng's kick with her left backfist.

"It's always an honor to fight you, Yoruichi-sama." The Captain answered with a much different posture compared to the one she had during their last fight. She followed up with a punch from the left side, but Yoruichi blocked the attack with her right forearm. Suì-Fēng then delivered a punch from the opposite side, but the former Captain stepped back to avoid it. At that point, Yoruichi's eyes widened, as she noticed someone coming for them. Suì-Fēng delivered a new blow with her left hand, but Yoruichi stepped back once more and grabbed hold of her opponent's left arm, before launching her away. Only then did she notice that Yoruichi had thrown her towards one of her other opponents. "Fujimaru?! Did he just use Shunpo Chōgeki?!"

"Got you!" Fujimaru shouted, as he motioned an acrobatic kick towards his friend. However, being the experient hand-to-hand combatant that she was, Suì-Fēng twirled in midair and was able to counter with a kick of her own, both of their shins colliding against one another.

"What's that?!" Yoruichi asked herself, as she saw Fujimaru motioning the fingers of his left hand behind his back, while he struggled to gain the advantage on his clash against Suì-Fēng. "I see... The audacity of using the Onmitsukidō hand signals we thought him back in the day... Gotta love it!"

"What?!" The confused Suì-Fēng asked, as she saw Yoruichi disappearing with Shunpo. Fujimaru tried to capitalize on the distraction and attempted to grab hold of her with his free hand, but the leader of the Onmitsukidō avoided him with a back handspring. "What's your idea, Fujimaru? How dare you interrupt me and Yoruichi-sama's battle?"

"Eheh! It seems like we're having that training session sooner than we thought!" Fujimaru chuckled, causing Suì-Fēng to sigh and eventually smirk.

"You're a hundred years too young to think you have a chance of defeating me." Suì-Fēng stated, causing Fujimaru to immediately drop his smile. "Touched a nerve? Well, go ahead and defeat me... if you think you can."

"You can be really unpleasant when you want to, you know that?" Fujimaru sighed, before he charged towards with Shunpo, aiming a punch at her face. Suì-Fēng jumped back to avoid him, only to realize the blond Shinigami was already above her, the result of a new Hohō step. Fujimaru attempted to stab her with the blade of Ryūjōmaru, but she was once again faster and moved away from his attack. Giving her the less amount of time possible to react, Fujimaru quickly unleashed a Kidō spell immediately after landing on the ground. "Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!"

"Your reactions are quite better nowadays, at least." Suì-Fēng spoke as she landed on the ground, just a few meters behind Fujimaru, much to his shock. Only then did the flames of Sōkatsui cause an explosion by colliding against a nearby rock formation. The younger Shinigami quickly turned around, only to meet his opponent's backflip kick. Suì-Fēng's right foot struck Fujimaru's face and sent him flying backwards, his body dragging across the floor. He quickly rolled back to his feet, only to notice her already by his right side. The palm strike-like blow that followed sent Fujimaru flying once again, this time against a giant rock.

"G-Gah! N-No way... Her fighting style is the exact same as before, but her speed... It doesn't allow me to read her movements in time!" Fujimaru realized, as he saw her staring at him from a distance. "There's only way for this to end well for our team... I need to hang on and make her slow down!"

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!" Rukia unleashed the avalanche of cold air towards her four opponents, forcing them to dodge by jumping into high air.

"Oooh! Pretty!" Yachiru's eyes sparkled as she watched the result of Rukia's technique.

"Look out! President!" Nemu still tried to push Yachiru out of the way, but that only got her trapped in Yoruichi's wires as well. Both Vice-Captains of the 11th and 12th Divisions got trapped against the ice, taking them out of the match. "Are you alright, President?"

"Oh... You tried to save me..." Yachiru somehow managed to free her right hand to give Nemu a thumbs up, along with a wide smile. "Thanks for the effort, Vice-President!"

"President, you..." Nemu's eyes quickly became moisty, in one of her rare displays of emotion.

"Those two dolts got caught..." Rangiku facepalmed herself, as soon as she and Hinamori landed back on the ground. Immediately afterwards, two new set of feet landed on the ground as well. "We're in trouble now..."

"Eheh! Follow me, Rukia!" Yoruichi instructed her partner, who quickly nodded in agreement.

Back on the other side of the battlefield, Suì-Fēng punched Fujimaru hard in the face, sending flying against another rock formation. The male Shinigami flipped in midair and used the rocky wall as leverage to quickly charge back towards his opponent and hit her with a backflip kick of his own. Not surprisingly, Suì-Fēng dodged once again by stepping to the side. Fujimaru quickly followed up though, and was finally able to hit her with his gauntlet, with a backfist blow-like motion. The blow forced her against a giant rock, leaving her little to no space to escape.

"Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!" Fujimaru unleashed another blast of blue flames, that apparently consumed his opponent. However, as the smoke cleared, she was revealed to be unscathed, while the rock behind her was mostly destroyed by the explosion. "N-No way..."

"Take this as your first lesson. This difference between us... it is how much you need to improve." Suì-Fēng told him, before she took a single step forward. To his shock, it was enough to cover the dozens of meters that had been separating them. Following the Shunpo, Suì-Fēng nailed him in the face with a backfist blow, before following up with a hard knee strike to the gut and a punch to the face. A rising kick sent Fujimaru high into the sky, blood already dripping from his mouth.

"I won't let this to be the end... Soar, Ryūjōmaru!" Fujimaru shouted, causing his gauntlet to morph into his new whip-like weapon. However, before he could give it any use, Suì-Fēng appeared above him and kicked him in the torso with great impact, sending him crashing down to the ground. The young man's back slammed hard against the stone pavement, cracking it around the point of impact. "G-Guh! Aaaargh!"

"You're eliminated, Fujimaru... Bakudō #30: Shitotsu Sansen!" As soon as she landed back on the ground, Suì-Fēng announced the name of her Kidō spell, causing Fujimaru's eyes to widen. She generated three triangle-shaped beams of energy, which slammed against Fujimaru's body, pinning him against the ground. She then turned around and prepared to leave, so that she could resume her fight against Yoruichi. "Sorry Fujimaru, it's over now. I'll... Huh?!"

"Eheh... Leaving so soon... Suì-Fēng?" Fujimaru let out a pained smile, as he saw Suì-Fēng stumbling and nearly falling to the ground. As she turned around, she saw that Ryūjōmaru's chain was wrapped around her left ankle. "I sent my chain before you trapped me. If you want to leave, you'll have to break it apart."

"So what? That's not difficult to do, Fujimaru!" The annoyed Suì-Fēng raised her right hand and prepared to rip the chain apart, until Yoruichi sneaked behind her and grabbed hold of her wrist, while also pointing an Anken against the Captain's throat. "Y-Yoruichi-sama?!"

"Game over, Suì-Fēng. You're the last one." Yoruichi revealed, much to Suì-Fēng's shock. Behind them, Rukia stood by the side of Rangiku and Hinamori, who had both been captured together in a single Rikujōkōrō spell. "Nice job, Fujimaru! You got her good!"

"What?!" The confused Suì-Fēng asked, while Yoruichi released her. "What do you mean by that?!"

"When Fujimaru interfered in our battle, he used some hand signals to deliver me two messages. I wonder who taught him how to use the Onmitsukidō hang signals, but oh well..." Yoruichi started to explain. The reference of the hand signals caused Suì-Fēng to freeze on the spot, as she had been the one to teach him that back when they were young, so that they could cooperate better in battle. "The first message was to help Rukia. As for the second one... care to say it, Fujimaru?"

"Defeat her when she defeats me." Fujimaru revealed, causing Suì-Fēng to turn around to him, with her eyes expressing all her shock. "Hey, you were the one who taught me back in the day... If you see your allies losing, that's your chance. Don't step between them. Take the enemy down from behind."

"He played it in reverse! Instead of following my advice and wait for the kill, he played the decoy and allowed Yoruichi-sama to get me!" Suì-Fēng realized, before she bit her lower lip. She then dispelled Shitotsu Sansen, freeing Fujimaru. "I'm surprised. Nice job, Fujimaru."

"Eheheh! Thanks, Suì-Fēng!" Fujimaru smiled widely to her, before he returned his Zanpakutō to its sealed form, freeing her up from its chain. She smiled back to him, before she left with a Shunpo to free up everyone else. By then, Fujimaru was left alone with Yoruichi. "We won! I'm glad you understood my idea, Yoruichi-san!"

"Yes, you did well." Yoruichi praised him as well, before she crossed both arms over her chest. "This session was to see if you could concentrate on your own fighting without being influenced by those around you. A lot of action was happening at the same time. Plus... they're all pretty ladies, which can be distracting... It was pretty tough, I'll bet."

"Actually, it was..." Fujimaru had to agree with her.

"That's it for today. They're going to start the Shinigami Women's Association's meeting in a little while. Why don't we take a break?" Yoruichi suggested, to which Fujimaru nodded.

"I'm all sore... I guess I'll just ditch Hitsugaya-taichō and take a nap after lunch." Rangiku said, while she stretched and walked towards the real Vice-President of the Shinigami Women's Association. "Did you get a good shot of her, Nanao?"

"I think so. This should look good on the website." Nanao quietly showed her the photos she took during the training exercise. She had managed to take a few dozen photos of Yoruichi in action.

"Think it'll get us lots of hits?" Rangiku enthusiastically asked. "We can put it in the personal section. I'm sure she won't mind."

"Oh, absolutely! Great idea!" Nanao agreed, before she prepared to give start to the Shinigami Women's Association meeting.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book

GOLDEN!

"I can't take it... I need to see Yoruichi-sama's photos!" Suì-Fēng made her decision and sneaked away behind the group to grab hold of Nanao's camera. She scrolled down the dozens of photos of Yoruichi, her eyes sparkling and drool forming in the corners of her mouth as she admired each and every single photo. "This is perfect! I need to make a copy of every single one of them!"

"What were all those pretty light attacks you used during the training?" Yachiru asked to the group, causing everyone to freeze, as they all realized their mistake in using Kidō in front of her... again. Of course, Suì-Fēng was so focused on her mission that she didn't notice the commotion behind her.

"What is this?!" Suì-Fēng asked herself, as she saw Nanao had taken a photo of Suì-Fēng and Fujimaru talking to each other. And another. And another. And one of them fighting. And another. And another. "Eh! This is kinda cute to be honest... Wait! No! I can't let them have photos of ours! This must be some plan of theirs... Like that Hisagi had... I know! I'll delete them all!" Suì-Fēng decided, before clicking on a button. Much to her shock, she messed up. "Wait! N-N-N-NOOO! Not all of them! Just ours! Not Yoruichi-sama's! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Moments later...

"After all the work... all the effort..." Nanao cried, while she held her 'empty' camera. Behind her, Suì-Fēng simply kept her poker face.

"I'm the President! I want to focus on what's important!" Yachiru suddenly demanded for everyone's attention once again. "Those pretty light attacks you used today... Teach me!"