The Noble Sort

A/N: Most of the important information is in the first two parts. And I'll apologize in advance for the now every-two-weeks update schedule; I'm prepping for the GRE, having to pick up two new foreign languages so I can be ready to go for my PhD, and starting a business at the same time. Busy doesn't even cover real life at the moment. Nevermind the fact that I finally had the time to sit and play FFXIII for the first time, and I'm a little addicted.

But on the plus side, Kubo has finished the big battle between Ichigo and Aizen, which means I can finally continue writing. It's been holding me back for almost a month and a half now.

Ah! And someone asked about Nanao and Shunsui—rest assured, they will actually play quite a large part in this story. I'm at about chapter 20 in my editing and the battle isn't finished, and there is a large portion of this story that will take place after the final battle. The battle is only a pit stop in the long road of this story. So be patient, it's there. We just have to get there first.

Finally, thanks to those who've reviewed, favorited, etc. It helps me write that much more quickly and keeps me interested in this myself!

R &R if you've enjoyed the chapters, have any comments, etc.!

Enjoy!

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"The Noble Sort"

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Unohana and Ukitake were both late for the meeting, arriving almost twenty minutes after Yamamoto and Kyouraku. They had to take the extra time to heal Minako's eyes and throat, as well as escort her to the building bodily. Her eyesight was back, but her eyes were tender and she kept them as closed as possible the entire time they were outside.

They were the only four that knew everything at this point, at least in the Seireitei. It was decided the information would go no further.

Instead of assembling as they normally would for such a meeting, everyone was casual. Only Yamamoto was in his normal position at the front of the room.

"Well, Retsu?"

"It's unbelievable, to be honest. I don't think I would believe it if I hadn't seen it, felt it, for myself."

The awe was still written on her face, as if she was still having trouble accepting what she had seen. Yamamoto doubted she had ever seen such a case in her time as a taichou, which spanned more centuries than he cared to remember.

"Genryuusai-sensei, he can become her. When prodded, they join." His eyebrows knitted together, his face showing his displeasure. "He is most obstinate."

"The fire-types usually are," Yamamoto said dryly.

He had enough experience with his own to know that. They were stubborn, sometimes annoying, but loyal to a fault.

"No matter what we told him, he would not leave her body! And they were obviously arguing over control, according to Minako-san. He would not listen at all!"

Kyouraku fought the urge to laugh at his friend's disgruntled mood.

"It is true; he does seem very dark. Although, only toward other people. He referred to Minako-san as "my dear" and was very upset with the idea of her being hurt, or us believing he would hurt her," Unohana said.

"Is she dangerous, Retsu-san?" Kyouraku asked, almost fearing the answer.

"Not in the least. Nor is he, I think. This is not like Baishin, although I have many questions about that specific incident now. He was in pain, I believe, and upset that she was as well."

Her normal tone of peace and tranquility was finally beginning to return, although it was taking time. There was still something else there, left over from the amazing experience.

"She was able to control him before he tried to harm me. He only threatened me after I tried repeatedly to cut off the connection between her soul chain and his reiatsu."

"They are not—joined—as Baishin and his zanpakutou were."

She turned toward Yamamoto.

"It is as if there are two conscious entities sharing her body, yet not. They reside together, but he also resides in his sword." Her voice lowered. "If the melding of their minds is that incredible, I only wonder what the melding of their bodies is like."

"But Unohana-taichou!" Ukitake exclaimed, aghast. "If she was in pain then, only imagine—"

"There is pain when they join?" Yamamoto asked, suddenly anxious but not letting it show.

"Not exactly. Only when I attempted to begin to sever the connection was Minako-san in pain. During the early part of the examination there was some anxiety, but no pain."

The room was quiet for a long moment, everyone pondering the situation they now found themselves in.

"Still, they are very closely tied, too closely. They seem to feel each other's emotions, share pain, and even consider each other as one being when they are meshed. I can't remember precisely what he said, but "You are hurting her, you are hurting me" is very close. "I am her; she is me" perhaps?"

"Yare," Kyouraku breathed, his hand coming up to massage his eyes.

"He also disappeared from his sheath. From what you said, Kyouraku, I thought it only happened when she used bankai. Apparently, he can do so at will and join with her."

"I do not think so, Ukitake-taichou. I believe that is on an entirely different scale. When the sword disappeared, their conscious minds meshed. I do not think their bodies, for lack of a better term, had joined. It would have shown up on my scan."

"But even this small meld was dangerous for Minako-san. The reiatsu flared, and for him to utilize her eyes and her voice box—there was damage."

"How much?" Yamamoto asked, fearing the answer.

"I was able to heal it, thankfully, but she had lost her sight and her larynx was severely damaged."

She stopped, looking at Yamamoto thoughtfully.

"Have you ever seen his physical manifestation?"

"He is a black dog."

"And that is all you know?" Her voice, usually gentle, had once again taken on the subtle steel the Eleventh Division feared so badly.

The sou-taichou sighed.

"He is a very large black dog."

She continued to stare at him.

"A," he sighed again, sure his niece would kill him after this, "hellhound, to be exact. Ryouken Jigoku no Akazora, kaze-ni, or something to that effect. It has been years since I've seen the blade used, but I believe it is along those lines. "

"Hellhound of the red sky, ride the wind? On the wind? I can't really remember either, Yama-jii. It's close enough, though. Might have missed a few words, but, eh," he said lazily.

"There is no way!" Ukitake exclaimed. "Sweet little Minako-san's zanpakutou turned out to be something so, so dark?"

Everyone heard the word he had suddenly exchanged in that sentence; the 'evil' was still evident in his tone.

"She's a Yamamoto. We are not known for our…tenderness." He chuckled. "Minako has always been more playful, and much sweeter than expected for my family. That can be attributed to her mother. But she is still a Yamamoto, and she can be fierce. She once got so angry with me she tried to chop my arm off during a training exercise."

"And her bankai, Rokumon no Genshukusa—it is a very large barrier utilizing six gate-like seals on different dimensional axes. She literally traps her enemies in a hell of her own making; you could compare it to the traitor, Tousen's, bankai, except the barrier is the key and not the effect inside. It is not nearly as powerful as my own, but it is able to hold an enemy for a greater amount of time. Unfortunately, her strength is not nearly enough to be able to just incinerate powerful enemies."

Ukitake just stood there, still shocked.

"I wouldn't let her hear you call her 'sweet little Minako-san' either," Kyouraku said dryly.

"A male hellhound," Unohana said, her voice low. "The sheer reishi that would be needed for him to use her eyes at his normal physical level and change her voice would explain the injuries. He will have to be taught to accept her physical form when they meld."

"Still, this is not what is most important right now."

"Indeed, Shunsui. She is of no danger to us?" Unohana shook her head. "And it is of no danger to her, except the pain felt during the transformation?" She nodded.

"Very well," he said, and everyone could hear the finality in his tone.

"Leave it be. There are much more important decisions to be made."

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Meanwhile, the fuku-taichou of those in the meeting were in another room of the division headquarters, happily greeting their friend.

Minako and Isane had immediately burst into excited chatter, each trying to tell the other everything that had gone on in the last eighty years. They only stopped long enough for Nanao and Minako to exchange greetings and regrets about the missed lunch date and for Sasakibe to check her eyes once more using the small penlight Unohana-taichou had given him.

"You named him what?" The others heard Isane exclaim. "What does that even mean?"

Minako laughed.

"Well, it isn't a term of endearment, I assure you. He deserved it, the big oaf. But now, whenever he comes around, Shi—" she glanced at the others before quickly correcting herself, "all of my friends call him that, too."

"Where did you even hear it?"

"American television show!"

Which sucked, by the way.

They were discussing Minako's last—and truthfully, the only serious one since she left Seireitei—love interest. The only man she had ever found in the human world, other than the occasional one night stand, and he had been human. It was a sore subject.

Shinji had hated him the first time he had come over for something and met him, and she had dropped him not too long after; the tie was tenuous at best, other than Lisa and Shinji—occasionally Hiyori, when she wanted someone to beat on—and she wouldn't risk it. She knew the Visoreds were a connection she had to keep.

"He takes it in stride now, though."

There were so few of them in the human world that they tended to stick together, and a failed relationship didn't change that. Everything had gone back to normal in a few months, and it had quickly become a running joke amongst them all, even the ones that wouldn't talk to her: her failed attempt at a human romance. Lisa loved teasing her, telling her to write her own ladies' manga.

He had continued to be one of her better friends, and she missed him. But Matsu was fine, last she had heard from him. They still talked on the phone often, and he had accepted her lack of aging for a love of cosmetic surgery the last time they had gotten together for dinner.

He was not worthy of you anyway. You don't need a man, either.

"B-but, oh Kami, Minako."

They both collapsed into laughter again.

They're talking about me in there. I can tell.

Once the giggling stopped, Minako leaned in close. She dropped her voice to a whisper and asked, quickly and quietly, "And you? Made any moves on—"

"I moved on from that!" Isane said quickly, blushing and stuttering over the embarrassment of her previous crush.

Are you ignoring me?

Both girls looked up as a shadow fell across the floor in front of them.

Nanao was standing there, her normal book in her hands, and she looked nervous, which was unusual even when she was a teen. She had always been very sure of herself.

"Sit down! Join in."

She did so very self-consciously, still looking like someone might try to hug her in the next five seconds. Of course, she had survived being around Rangiku so she could surely survive them. Neither of the women she now found herself with were as touchy as Rangiku.

"And little Nanao, all grown up now!" Minako gave her a big smile. "You're just his type, you know."

"I'm sorry?" she said, a vein on her forehead popping out.

"Taichou's, of course."

Nanao blushed.

Minako grinned slyly, able to read between the lines. He had already been putting the moves on the woman. And she was his type—petite, dark-haired and fair-skinned, just a little too stiff to be seen as his normal match. She was the epitome of his desires, all his lustful wishes in one small package. The naughty librarian of his dreams, most likely.

She snickered behind her hand.

Both she and Lisa had been partly right. But he had never taken it further with them, not that they would have been receptive. Lisa was into, well, not men, and Minako never had any interest in the man that way. But he wouldn't have tried; they were both too playful, too similar to himself.

Nanao, on the other hand, was perfect. Enough to keep him on his toes and in line, but still his type.

There was the small matter of her age, not that anyone ever paid attention to that. It was hard to when you lived centuries, sometimes millennia. Once you reached a certain age you were just considered an adult. Everyone tended to forget you might have grown up here.

"I bet he's all over you," she said teasingly, her eyes sparkling.

The petite woman blushed heavily while adjusting her glasses, her book shifting in her lap as she fidgeted.

"Do you push him away? You know that only makes him try harder."

Isane giggled, her hand coming up to mask the noise from the others in the room.

"I—" Nanao glanced around, still nervous and blushing, before continuing, "I try! But he's hard-headed."

"Or you don't really want to push him away," Isane said, her normally sweet and innocent tone laden with a tint of playfulness.

"It's embarrassing! He has no decent respect of privacy at all. He—he—"

"You have to give as good as you get. It's the only way to stop him," she said wryly, giving the fuku-taichou a sideways glance. "But I don't think that's what you want."

The poor woman, normally so pale, was beet red and looked incredibly nervous. Minako felt a moment of guilt for teasing her, but they really were cute together. And Nanao would have to learn to take it eventually.

"If he would just be discreet…" she said, the vein at her temple throbbing, most likely from anger at the remembrance of the many times his innuendo had made her uncomfortable in front of others.

"No chance, Nanao. You don't mind, do you, if I call you—" the woman shook her head and Minako sighed, relieved she hadn't overstepped a boundary.

Soon, though, all of the frivolity was out of her mind. She knew why Nanao would have originally sought her out today, either for lunch or a chat. She waved her hand through the air carelessly.

"But I doubt that's why you came over here." She leaned in and lowered her voice. Isane already knew, of course, but some of the people in this room—Sasakibe—didn't. She hoped he didn't, anyway, although she figured he did. Her uncle's right hand man usually knew everything, too. "She's fine. I talked to her earlier today, in fact, when they let me go home to get some things."

Nanao sighed in relief.

"Still the same, too. And wait until I tell her about you! She's gonna be jealous that I got to see you and she didn't. She might not act it, you know, but she does care about people. And I know she cared about you."

I really don't appreciate the silent treatment. I was only protecting us.

Minako put her finger to her chin, thinking.

"Come to think of it…how did you know…"

"I'm not stupid. I also spend a great deal of time in the library. If you know where to look…I found the Central Forty-Six records of their trial."

Minako gave her a sympathetic look.

"It's kind of the biggest non-secret now, I know. After Shinji let some shinigami see him at an Arrancar battle, it's been pretty much blabbed everywhere. But we try to be quiet about it. All we need is all of them in my situation."

Exactly. Our situation. I was trying to help. Stop ignoring me, onna.

"Your situation?" they both said, staring at her.

"Come on, guys," she said, her consternation showing. "I'm a prisoner. Don't let the fact that I have my zanpakutou fool you."

Prisoner. Yet you get upset because I threatened one of them?

I will never understand the females of any species. Dog, shinigami—you are all the same!

She got a faraway look on her face.

"Something tells me they are discussing me right now, even. Trying to figure out what to do with me."

She heard him sigh in her mind. She wanted to grin, but held it in.

I just told you that. Stop ignoring me, Minako.

Oh, for all that's holy in the world—

I'm sorry.

And? she said in her mind.

And I'm a baka-shishi, he said grumpily.

I love you anyway.

He just grumbled, although she could feel his happiness.

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After the meeting, Kyouraku and Ukitake walked out to the courtyard together, where they would pick up their companions and head their separate ways.

There was one thing Ukitake wanted to mention to him, but he couldn't figure out a way to do it gently. While straightforward usually worked with his best friend, this was a sore subject.

He scratched the back of his head, coming to a stop on the long porch they were walking on.

"I, ah, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Kyouraku stopped, looking at him lazily.

"Eh? What is it, Ukitake?"

"We went to the human realm this morning. Genryuusai-sensei sent me with Minako-san so she could pick up some of her…personal things. While we were there," he looked around, covertly, "Minako-san was on the phone with someone."

"I wouldn't worry about it."

"I'm not, although I did make sure she didn't call anyone else. It's just—well, who she was talking to."

"And? Does little Minako-chan have a lover?" Kyouraku said, his voice playful. He knew that any such conversation would have embarrassed Ukitake unbelievably. His former fuku-taichou was not a discreet woman—she wouldn't have had any problem letting him overhear.

The pale man blushed.

"No, no, nothing like that," he said, his words rushed.

"But she was talking to someone you knew well about 100 years ago."

Kyouraku didn't even pretend to misunderstand him. He knew exactly who would be hiding in the real world and in touch with a defected shinigami that he would know and care to hear about.

"Lisa-chan! I hope she's doing well," he said, his playful tone not dented one bit by the information.

"You are not surprised?"

"No, no. My ladies are always well-trained." He tipped his hat up with one finger, his eyes locking onto Ukitake's. "Usually from having to deal with me."

The amusement in his voice was clear.

"Ah," Ukitake replied, and continued down the veranda.

They soon arrived at the courtyard in front of the First Division, where only Nanao and Minako were still waiting for their partners to arrive.

"Yare, Nanao-chan. Let's see if we can't find something to keep us entertained this afternoon," Kyouraku said, and she stepped up next to him. They began the long trek back to the Eighth after he sent a lazy wave and a smile in Minako's direction.

Minako watched them walk off, her taichou leaning toward the petite woman next to him and Nanao obviously already on his case for something. They were too cute!

"Minako-san, we have a few hours before you are due home. Genryuusai-sensei usually stays here until about seven. Is there anything—" he stopped, unsure of how to proceed.

"You don't have anything you need to get done today?" she asked.

"No. My seated officers are taking care of the division today."

Do you think we could pull it off, even with him shadowing us?

I'm not sure, my dear. Maybe.

Ukitake watched calmly as she stared off into space. He wasn't sure if she was trying to think of something to—oh. The zanpakutou. They were communicating most likely.

He would admit it was one of the more interesting things about this entire situation. They all communicated with their zanpakutou; it was nothing to occasionally see Mastumoto-san running around the Tenth trying to find her own or yelling at it. But few ever zoned out the way she did. Most of the time, it was spoken aloud or like a buzzing in the back of your brain, not enough to take away conscious thought.

I think the more important question is, will he help us at all?

I'm sure we could offer him something in exchange. A chance to poke at you?

These two, though, were connected very differently from normal shinigami.

I don't think so, he growled.

It would work, you know. He would drop dead at the chance.

How about something else, hmm? Some information on that new system of blondie's?

They both grinned, thinking it was the perfect payback. She knew that Urahara had to have given them some clues, helpful or not.

"Actually, could we visit the Twelfth? I have someone I need to see there."

Ukitake wasn't sure he liked the look on her face.

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He knew he didn't like the one she gave off when they were finally standing in front of Kurotsuchi.

This was not a man he respected, and his esteem for Minako-san was steadily diminishing—did she really hang around Kurotsuchi when she was a shinigami?

"Yamamoto Minako. A face I have not seen in a very long time!" the excitable scientist exclaimed.

"Mayuri. You look…as creepy as ever, actually," she confessed, in awe of the crazy outfit.

He preened.

"I'm glad you think so."

But his demeanor shifted, and he looked at her narrowly, suspiciously.

"What are you doing roaming about? I had heard you were here, but with your oji-san's temper, I was sure you would be…locked in a cell."

I hate this guy.

Shut it, shishi. He's always been nice to me, which is saying something, considering who we're talking about.

"I've been given a day of freedom, I think. Making the rounds, seeing all the old faces. Thought I would stop by, see what you were up to. Maybe take a peek at what you were working on."

His face drooped, then set in a fake-furious position.

"You won't be taking my secrets back to your pet genius, Minako."

"I wouldn't dream of it," she laughed.

She fluttered her hand in the air in front of her, her face taking on a coquettish look.

"But," she said, her voice taking the tone of someone with many secrets, "I could always give you a heads up on how he's hacking your system."

Ukitake, feeling forgotten by now, meandered over to the small table and chairs set at the bottom of the flight of stairs leading to Kurotsuchi's strange computer/organ machine.

He watched as the two climbed the stairs, talking loudly and gesturing at each other, and he sweatdropped. What a pair.

He was sure sensei would not have allowed her to be friendly with Kurotsuchi, but she seemed to be, so much so that they had both dropped the honorifics. It's none of your business, he told himself. Besides, she might know a side of him that others rarely saw, as he did Kyouraku. No one, upon first meeting them, would think they were best friends, but it worked.

Perhaps this was the same thing, although he doubted it.

His thoughts were cut off by the blaring of loud music.

"I knew you could!" he heard her say loudly.

'Insolent boy, this slave of fashion, basking in your glory…'

"See?"

"And this is on your own system?"

"Yes! It's from an American play. You see, this is how he's been doing it. We just did it backwards."

"Excellent…"

He watched as Kurotsuchi rubbed his hand together, and then they leaned in together once again, discussing something.

He wasn't interested in her teaching Kurotsuchi to hack Urahara's system. Although, he did have an objection to it. Hadn't she said Urahara was a friend, that he had helped her?

Oh, well. He would wait and say something when they were alone.

He shut his ears off, leaning back and drifting into his own mind.

"See," she said quietly, "this will work. Although, he'll have patched it up and found another way in after he finds out you've been there."

"No matter," Mayuri said, delighted. "It'll give me some time in his system."

"Well, I've given you something…"

"Now for the trade, yes?" he said, his exasperation clear.

She pulled a small black phone from her pocket, modeled in a fashion he had probably never seen. "It's touch screen," she said, knowing he would ask. "The latest thing in the human world. They're really mini computers; they do everything."

"Interesting…"

"Well, I can get you one, if you want. Or you can have one of your own pick one up in the human world. But I need you to make it able to communicate like the shinigami phones. I know they can call here and vice versa when in the human realm. I need this one to be able to do the same."

"You want to communicate with someone in the human realm, yes?" he said, interested.

"Pretty much. Can you do it?" She sent a covert look behind them at Ukitake, "and quickly? I don't know how long he'll just sit there."

"Of course I can," he murmured, already pulling up something on his computer.

"And don't put in a backdoor. I don't need anyone listening, not even from your division."

He sent her a look, one she countered. Finally he sighed, and nodded.

"The only problem might be the physical technology of the phone. I'm not sure if it will hold my software."

"Urahara has one. And his computer is human, too, and can hold your software. And his."

The competition factor was enough to get it done.

He had her phone up and connected through some sort of calling software of his own before she could blink, and he was "typing" furiously, downloading the software.

"You realize," he said out of the side of his mouth, not even looking at her, "that I will now be rifling through your own system."

"Go ahead," she said, waving her hand. "There's nothing important on it. Some good music and movies, though, if you want."

He smiled.

Fucking freak.

Shishi…

He typed in what looked like a number, and then her eyes adjusted to the software and she realized it was her own cell number. Her phone vibrated on the top of his machine, and she grinned.

"Now…"

A random number popped up, one most likely from the human realm, and her phone screen showed it was dialing. And then connected. She could hear a woman's voice coming through the phone, announcing herself as the clerk at some office, and the grin became a full-blown, thousand kilowatt smile.

She threw her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him briefly. He hated it, so it was one of her favorite methods of teasing the creepy scientist.

"You're the best, Mayuri."

"Of course I am!" he exclaimed.

"Brilliant. Thank you so much," she breathed, picking the phone up and hiding it in her pocket once again after disconnecting the call.

"Anytime, Minako."

She looked back at the taichou below them, and moved down the stairs.

"Gotta go, Mayuri!" she said loudly, throwing a wave behind her.

"Where—"

"Any mall in the human world!"

Ukitake stood as she reached him, and they turned to leave together but she stopped after another song blared from his machine.

'Itsumo sasaete kureru hito-tachi ni, higoro no omoi wo kometa rhapsody…'

She turned back toward him.

"You could at least wait until I'm gone before you ransack my computer files!"

He chuckled evilly, cackling in a way only mad scientists could, and she just shook her head, continuing on.

Ukitake-taichou was quiet the entire time, something that was unusual considering how much he had been talking all day. Every trip, every destination had warranted some comment or conversation. When they finally exited the large courtyard in front of the Twelfth Division, she finally realized what was most likely on his mind.

She knew what most people thought of Mayuri, and to be honest, she had the same thoughts herself sometimes. But he had always been kind to her, even when others had been too afraid to befriend her—her uncle's influence the main problem—and he had never feared the connection.

Plus, he hadn't been nearly so creepy in the academy. Sure, his hair was a weird color, but he was just a normal person then, if a little twisted.

But their friendship had made many uncomfortable, her uncle one of the many. Most likely, he was feeling the same.

"He used to not be so…that," she said self-consciously.

Ukitake-taichou looked shocked at the fact that she had chosen to comment on the situation, but recovered quickly.

He sent her a smile.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. In the academy, well, he was just like the rest of us. And a good guy, underneath it all. Now, well, who knows? But he's always been a friend, even though he got creepier with age."

"You have a very interesting group of friends, then," he said. "And the fact that you would betray Urahara-san to him…"

He frowned.

"Not really. Urahara and Kurotsuchi compete, and they regularly let each other get caught. I just sped it up this time."

"As for my friends…Nanao, Isane…Mayuri, Juro…then those in the human world. Just a few of them are crazy, really. Most of them are normal."

She grinned at him, and he laughed.

"Normal?"

She blushed.

Stop flirting, onna. You make me sick.

Shut it…

She wasn't going to explain that the only people she felt comfortable around, other than the girls, tended to be mad scientists and ex-shinigami that usually found themselves forced out because of their uniqueness.

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A/N: The songs were, in this order, "Angel of Music" from Phantom of the Opera and "Thank You" from Home Made Kazoku. (I had to throw in a Bleach theme.)