The Noble Sort

A/N: As usual, all the important information is lurking in the notes of the first two parts.

Enjoy!

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"The Noble Sort"

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"I think you have some explaining to do," he said, his voice hard.

Minako stared at the man in front of her, eyes wide. They were in deep shit. Immediately her mind recalled all the reasons she wasn't allowed in Serireitei without more planning than most assassinations warranted—they had been trying to prevent this exact situation.

Oji was going to murder her.

She froze. She had no clue what to do.

Thankfully oji-san was already moving, a scowl set firmly on his features as he gestured his student into the room and to a seat at the low table. Her former taichou shook his head, and she felt herself back up a step, her back coming to rest against the bookshelves. His eyes were boring holes into her face; she could see the rage he was controlling shining back at her.

Her uncle just sighed and took a seat in one of the few chairs in the room, gesturing to his student to shut the door. He did so without the smallest protest, his eyes never leaving hers.

"So what is all this, hmm?" she heard him ask, and she almost flinched at his tone.

"Surprise," she muttered weakly, cringing when both men shot her twin glares of loathing. She had thought a little humor might bring the tension down.

Wrong.

"I think it should be obvious, Shunsui."

"Obvious?" he asked. "I think my former fuku-taichou—who supposedly died three years ago—is standing before me. That is what is obvious to me."

"Right in one, taichou."

"You are not helping, Minako. Be quiet." She absently nodded her head. Perhaps this was one of the times she needed to actually obey oji-san. "She did not die. She has been in the human realm, on a mission for me. We had to be sure that no one would suspect her involvement—"

"Don't lie to him, oji-sama, that's not fair—"

He sent her a stern look. "Stop antagonizing me."

"Stop lying to everyone! Including yourself." She shot him a look. "I'm done with it. It's gotten us nowhere but at each other's throats. And, um," she looked over at her former taichou, "a major-huge breach of security, apparently."

"Children," he snorted, "but perhaps…"

"I'm still waiting, you know…"

She bit her lip. He looked ready to attack, truthfully. She didn't think she had ever seen him this pissed, including when he had finally hunted her down in the human realm three years ago. He looked like he wanted to cut both of them down right then and there.

She had always known he was hiding this; only a person tamping down a decent amount of rage and power would have the total self-control her taichou had exerted over himself daily. Only someone hiding such power would act the way he did, as if fighting was a last resort—it was for him because he could blow throw his opponents as if they were bugs. There was no reason to fight.

But she had never been face to face with it.

"I made a deal. My freedom in exchange for one last mission and a promise that I would never step foot in Seireitei again. Unfortunately, I've been brought here a few times because of the men I'm hunting down. I'm sure it's made a splash in the local gossip mill."

"The Zero-taichou, hmm?" he asked, his face still dark.

"The men responsible for what happened to me—as well as your current hollow problem. They are one and the same."

"And this was somehow easier to accomplish in the human world, Minako-chan?"

"I had no choice."

"Aa. You were forced into it, yes?" he said, his full attention shifting from her to her uncle. "After everything, you pushed her away again. Did you not realize the mistake you made the first time? Did you not realize what it would do to the rest of us?"

"Watch how you speak to me," her uncle said, the warning clear in his tone and posture.

"You promised me, Yama-jii. She was no longer part of my division, but you swore to me that you would protect her since I no longer could."

"Hey, I don't need—"

"There was no other way to be sure they would not find her."

She snorted.

"What he means is there was no other way to keep everyone from me and me from them. It was a fucking isolation tactic. Congratulations," she said with a flourish. "You're the first to know the truth."

She saw his hand fall to his sword and tensed. She doubted he would charge her, but pulling a sword on oji-san right now would be a bad choice to make; he was already in a bad mood from everything that had gone on. His student challenging him would only make it worse. And no matter how strong her former taichou was, he wasn't even a challenge for oji-san. The sou-taichou could wipe the floor with both of them—at the same time—even missing an arm.

She was going to have to be the adult here, obviously, and stop riling him up. She hated being the adult.

"Please," she pleaded, "just calm down and let us explain. We can't get through all of it—we don't have time—but we can get through the big stuff." She finally stepped away from the bookcases and crossed the room swiftly, coming to a stop right in front of him.

His big brown eyes were hard, glittering and dark from his anger, but they were focused on her now, not on her uncle. His hand slowly moved away from his sword and swept up to her cheek, barely touching the skin there before being pulled back and hidden underneath his haori. He shot her uncle a look of loathing before his eyes, now full of concern, were back on her.

"You look rough, Minako-chan," he whispered, and she felt her heart break at what they must have put him through. He had always hated seeing his division members hurt, especially the females. He was a natural protector, really, even if he didn't show it to those outside the division.

"I was in a fight a few nights ago."

"Oh?"

"Fuku-taichou of Zero." She grinned as his eyebrows shot skyward. "I won, too."

"Yare—"

"Do not get cocky, Minako," her uncle said wryly from his chair. "You won, yes, but you were injured. Matsuno-fuku-taichou was not fighting with his full strength."

"Obviously," she snorted. "But I still beat him. Allow me some gloating."

"Why—"

"Because he raped me. He should've known I wouldn't let him get away with it," she said, her eyes gleaming with a dark satisfaction.

"But—"

"I know, it doesn't make sense. You have no idea what we've been dealing with. You won't, either, unless you sit and let us explain." She shot him a pleading look and he nodded slowly.

She backed up, never taking her eyes off of him, and breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he finally took a seat and stared at her uncle.

They would need to be a united force in this, she knew, but part of her was thinking it would be great to let him take the heat. But still—they needed him to cooperate, not be angry. She pushed the emotion down and crossed the room, coming to a stop behind her uncle. They would be united. She could do it so this mission could be finished. It wouldn't be the first time a Yamamoto had bitten the bullet and done what was needed.

She was somewhat sure her uncle did it on a daily basis.

"So then, Minako-chan? Yama-jii?"

"Should I do it or you?" she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"I think it might be better coming from you."

"You mean he won't try to fight me," she muttered sarcastically. Her uncle shot her a teasing look—how she had missed that, sometimes—and she cleared her throat.

"Apparently not all of Central thought Aizen as harmless as we previously thought. Right after Urahara's banishment, they started a program. They were creating…soldiers, you could say."

"Oh? Why, they have thirteen divisions of soldiers..."

"New soldiers, taichou. You're looking at the only one that seems to have survived." His eyes widened; he had caught her meaning. "I was the only elemental-type they tried to change—it's what saved me. The others weren't as lucky as me."

"But if they created you, why did they not follow you later? And why you? Wouldn't you be too high profile for something like this?" he asked, the anger fading as his innate curiosity took over. It was an intriguing puzzle, she knew.

"I was powerful but not—I wasn't a taichou." They shared a look; they both understood what she was saying. She would never have been allowed any higher than fuku-taichou with her mother in Central, but she was powerful enough to have done so. Perfect for research.

"If all had gone well I apparently would have been promoted quickly to taichou then to Zero immediately. So they could keep an eye on me. But I didn't even let them get that far—I left first. They found me about fifty years later, and one of their own was sent to stay close to me."

"Close, Minako?" her uncle muttered gruffly.

"Matsu said he broke the rules. He was supposed to kill me, not…anyways!" she said, her voice a little squeaky at the end. "The entire thing was a failure. The two Central operatives were promoted to Zero and the whole thing was buried. And then I was—well, when I showed up to fight Aizen, they were just happy some of their plan had gone correctly. I was not the big offensive power they had wanted, though."

"None of this explains—"

"Patience, taichou. I'm getting there," she said sternly. "When I woke up in the hospital, we—well, we both said things we shouldn't have. Nothing new, right? And this was born." She flicked her hand at the chair that held the two cloaks. "We noticed that there were also other problems popping up in different parts of Seireitei, such as a time-delay in dimensional jumps. The codes ended up matching. I wasn't their only mistake."

"So they are also responsible for the large amount of hollows in the human realm?"

"Something like that. We eventually got names—the two Central members were high up—we had guessed that from haha's information. She was the first to stumble upon this, too. And then with that and…Aizen's…help…we got the third. Matsuno-fuku-taichou. The fourth was already dead; Aizen had Ichimaru infiltrate the project to keep tabs on what they were doing. I wouldn't put it past him to have whispered the idea in someone's ear, even. Control freak."

"So you two have been busy assassinating them?" he replied, disbelief written on his face.

"Sort of. I got my revenge and oji-san's problem was taken care of. But I've had to move in secret. No one could know what we were doing—we couldn't tip them off. And really, the story of my death did help; Rashogen didn't expect me at all. I don't think any of them did until Matsu figured out I was alive."

"Who is Matsu?" he asked.

"Matsuno-fuku-taichou. I knew him as Matsu. I'd known him as a fucking human for years."

"Did you not say something about telling the truth, Minako?" her uncle said, and she could hear the sly amusement in his voice.

"That was all true!" she said stubbornly.

"Omission—"

"Is as good as, yes, I know," she said exasperatedly. "But it isn't important, just embarrassing."

"Oh, Minako-chan?" her former taichou said, his eyes sparkling. He even had his sakkat pushed back, which meant he was really interested. She was happy he was back to normal, the insane reiatsu force no longer suffocating the room, but—she could strangle them both right now and not care.

"Yes. Why does this even matter? There's more to explain because one isn't—"

"Come now, Minako-chan. Tell me the truth."

She glared at him.

"Matsu was Matsuno. Matsu, my fucking human ex-fiancé." His eyes widened. "Matsu, my ex-fiancé who was also the one that thought raping a defenseless woman was a good idea." She saw the realization come over his face, and a dark smirk crossed her own. "Yes, now you see. How do you think I felt when I found out?"

"I can't imagine—"

"I'm sure you can't," she said dryly. "Anyway, it isn't important. He's dead. Rashogen's dead. Ichimaru's dead. Aizen—well, he's as close to dead as you can get and still have brainwaves. Nishiori is not dead, he is still breathing, and he's alone in this right now. That makes him dangerous. And he knows oji-san's involved in this—he'll come after him or the evidence soon enough."

"You have evidence against them?" he breathed, his eyes shooting from her face to her uncle's. "Why did you not put them through a trial?"

"Central has no say over Zero, Shunsui. There were no guarantees they would be convicted. They have disrupted our functioning, broken our laws. I will not let them escape justice."

"So I'm here to get the last one. We haven't exactly figured out what happens after that."

"You mean you haven't," her uncle replied, and she furrowed her brow. If he already had a plan for after, she would like to know it. This was her future after all. And she wanted to be sure Zero wouldn't be coming after every one of them at some point.

"And you couldn't at least let some of us know she wasn't dead, Yama-jii?" her former taichou asked.

"No, he couldn't," she replied, shrugging. As much as it upset her, oji-san had been right on that. "More people have found out than should have already. Hikaru-san, Sasakibe, Akane—well, she would've known anyway—Mayuri, kami only knows how many of his technicians…it's hard to keep it a secret the more people know about it. No one can know until we're done now. No one."

He nodded slowly.

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Two Days Later

"Remember to stay between us. And turn off that blasted phone—you will get us all caught," her uncle said sternly, and she fought the urge to giggle underneath the cloak. Then they were out the door, marching down the deserted hall.

The cloak hid her well, really. Their reiatsu was gone, thanks to the inhibitors, and they hadn't been seen. At one point he had shut her outside his office for hours because she had forgotten to stick close. But the day before one of his clerks had almost walked in on her talking on the phone with Isamu, and another had almost bumped into her on the way to a meeting with his division's trainers.

But the close calls were nothing—at least he had agreed to the plan and stuck with it. She had been worried that he would say no, even after everything that had gone down Sunday.

Instead, the day before had gone smoothly; well, other than the few close calls.

But it was a point of contention that Akane was doing better at this than she. Of course, the girl was a natural at sneaking. Even Sasakibe had forgotten she was there a few times, she was so quiet and never noticeable. But Minako didn't do "quiet" well; it wasn't in her nature. She had an urge to just shout sometimes, just to be loud. She had even just sat and tapped her fingernails on the floor at one point, driving her uncle crazy, but at least there had been some noise.

"That was my haori, insolent girl."

"Sorry, oji-san," she whispered, removing her foot as quickly as possible. She hadn't meant to step on it.

She felt Akane bump into her—they were both invisible and walking between her uncle and Sasakibe—and once again stifled the urge to giggle. How did Zero deal with these things? This must be why they only used them to travel, not all the time. Or maybe they had something that made it where they could see each other.

"What is on the agenda today, Choujirou?" she heard her uncle ask as they made their way from the division's barracks to the offices.

That was another problem.

Her uncle had taken to staying in the barracks most of the time. He couldn't just change his routine; it would be too noticeable. So she had been forced to sleep on just a blanket on the floor of his living area—with her injuries still giving her problems, it wasn't comfortable at all. Akane had passed the night in better conditions, at least—Sasakibe had let his gentlemanly side take over and had offered her the bed and taken the small sofa in his own quarters. She was jealous; oji-san didn't have a sofa. Or even a western chair.

"—and then the nightly taichou meeting."

Nightly? I thought last night was just a fluke!

It had killed her, too. They hadn't taken long, but she had sat behind oji-san and just watched them all. One in particular had her attention most of the time, of course. It had been so long since she had seen him she couldn't help it.

And the temptation was almost too much. She was invisible, her reiatsu inhibited…she could've crawled right behind him and gotten a closer look. But she didn't tempt fate.

Her uncle—who was acting incredibly out of character—had teased her about it while she was trying to eat dinner later that night. It had been mortifying and one of the most uncomfortable experiences she could remember. He had never felt the need to comment on her relationships before—at least, the only comment he had ever made was not to bring them to his house for her 'nightly activities.' His student's involvement seemed to change all that.

Even worse, the teasing confused her. He wasn't going to keep them apart, apparently, or if he was he wasn't above having fun at her expense; he was being smug and, in Akane's words, a douchebag.

If there was anything to tease about; it had been three years, after all. She didn't know.

Between oji-san and Hidaruma teasing her, she had gone to bed very grumpy. She had woken up grumpy. The only reason she wasn't now was because Sasakibe had tripped over her earlier and the sight of him sprawled on the floor had been hilarious.

Once they finally reached headquarters they went their separate ways, Sasakibe and Akane to do whatever he did all day and she and oji-san to his office. He was nice enough to remember to leave the door open long enough for her to enter, at least.

He moved straight to his desk to begin working while she situated herself against the wall, close enough to get to him quickly if needed but far enough away that no one would trip on her if they came in. She settled down, her back against the wall and her phone on vibrate in her hands, and let herself drift off. Hidaruma could watch the room most of the day; she had some sleep to catch up on.

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It was gorgeous; there was no other word for it.

The valley was bordered by high, grey mountains with peaks of white soaring into the sky. Chile was on the other side, and supposedly there were ancient outposts all through the mountains. The locals said they had never all been found.

She took a sip of her wine, delighting in the bold flavor splashing on her tongue, and breathed in deeply. All she could smell were grapes and grass, cool clean air and pristine nature. It was breathtaking. It reminded her of the mountains of Rukongai, of sitting in the farthest districts after a hard mission and seeing the peaks rise into the sky while sipping on tea.

This was not the Argentina she had imagined. She had visualized Buenos Aires, seen pictures of the vast Patagonian lands, even researched the tip of the continent. But Mendoza—it had been a hidden surprise for her, although her companion had told her what to expect.

She hadn't thought he had it in him.

They weren't even in one of the large hotels downtown, a definite surprise. He usually only stayed in the nicest places, but this time they were rooming in a small winery turned inn on the very edge of the valley. They were deep in the heart of the country instead of seeing it from a Hyatt or a Marriott.

She smiled, turning toward him, catching the serene smile he sent back—

And everything changed.

The beauty of Mendoza was overtaken by dark clouds, the grapes withered on the vine, the mountains menacing instead of majestic.

His face morphed into a dark, sadistic smirk, his eyes slanted and harsh as they captured her own. He slowly raised a sword as her wineglass fell from her hand, and she couldn't find the strength to scream, to wonder where the waiter had gone, even gasp as he plunged it into her neck—

She woke to semidarkness with a shudder and a gasp.

But she wasn't in Argentinean wine country, she was in her uncle's large office in the division's headquarters. Matsu wasn't seated beside her. Her back was against a wall, not a hand carved, wooden chair. There were no mountains. There was no smell of grapes, just of rice and tangy meat.

She was startled again by her uncle's voice.

"Your dreams have become a problem?" he said dryly, not looking up from whatever he was working on, but she could hear something different in his tone.

"Not one you have to worry about." She rubbed her eyes and pulled the hood off of her head, letting it settle on her shoulders. "I thought there was a meeting tonight."

"There is. You have less than twenty minutes to eat."

She yawned as she moved quickly to the tray on his desk, but she frowned when she finally saw it had been untouched.

"Where—"

"I have already eaten."

"Oh," she muttered, not about to chance asking him what his subordinates had thought of his requesting two trays. It didn't matter right now.

She checked her text messages quickly, noting that Akane wanted to meet tonight and that Isamu and Kenta had reported in that nothing in Rukongai was suspicious at all. One very quick text back to her student and she turned to dinner, the most pressing thing on her mind. She hadn't eaten since breakfast.

She inhaled the rice and yakitori in front of her and was even able to have a cup of tea before he was shuffling his papers into a pile to one side of his desk and rising from his wooden chair. She threw her hood back over her face.

"I'm going to go with you to the chamber, check everything out, then meet Akane on the roof. We have to have a talk."

"Oh?"

"Mm. I'll be waiting outside when the meeting is over; I'll slip in or wait until you come out and jump in behind you." As he opened the door—Sasakibe was already waiting outside, she noted—she whispered one last thing. "Hidaruma's picking up something strange scent-wise. Be careful."

She saw him nod and she stepped into their formation.

The trip was short, thankfully, as was her check of the room. They had arrived earlier than the taichou so she was able to move swiftly and not nearly as quietly as she should have. She found nothing; the only way he was in this room was if he was able to move very quickly very quietly and not have a scent.

She squeezed her uncle's shoulder twice—their all-clear. Then, as the taichou began to flood the room, she slipped out when no one was in the doorway.

Her first stop was the barracks.

Not only did she need to make sure that everything was still normal there, she needed a restroom.

After a ten minute search of the rooms and a stop in the bathroom, she headed off again, this time using the roofs of the buildings to move a little more quickly. When traveling high up she didn't have to worry about bumping in to the clerks or the fuku-taichou in the building due to the taichou meeting.

She landed as quietly as possible above the large chamber that all the meetings were held in and let Hidaruma take over her sense of smell. There were flowers blooming nearby, the smell of dinner from the barrack's cafeteria, and—there. Akane was smart enough not to wear perfume, but everyone had a scent and the shishi knew hers.

Where?

The corner, southwest. Low. She's crouching or kneeling. Maybe sitting?

Probably. I doubt she slept all day.

The black dog grumbled in her mind.

You had better appreciate that. I only allowed it because you will be up tonight.

I know, shishi.

She approached slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible, but whispered the girl's name when she was ten feet from the edge. All she needed to do was startle her into attacking.

"Minako?" the girl said. There was a swish of fabric.

"Yeah," she whispered.

She stepped forward to the edge and felt with her hand, but she couldn't find her.

"Where are you?"

"Right on the corner."

"Just stay there," she said, and she stepped right up to the edge. The night was cool—even temperature had a scent to Hidaruma—and the flowers and food was still lingering in her senses, but she could smell it now herself.

Using his senses was still one of the strangest things she'd ever been through.

"He's an idiot," she hissed. "He's been here sometime today."

"Nishiori has?" the girl exclaimed quietly.

"I can smell—I don't know what it is. Aftershave? Cologne? Soap? It's manly, and shishi says it doesn't fit any of the clerks he's met or shinigami he's seen so far. It has to be him. A scent and no visual? Every scent usually has a visual."

"Is he here now?" she heard her say.

"No." She sniffed the air again; the scent was stale and old. "It's been a few hours. But if he's scoping the place, he'll be back soon. If I were him, I would make my move at night. But we don't know he'll do that—be prepared for him to attack tomorrow too."

"So full alert tonight."

Minako nodded, even though she knew the girl couldn't see it.

"I'll have Isamu and Kenta stick close to the gate and be ready. You stick to 'Kibe like glue. If he goes to the bathroom you wait outside the door. Stay in the same room as much as possible, stick to his side as much as possible. I don't think he'll go for him, but you never know."

"Should we check on the house?"

"Nuh-uh. Oji-san has a team there. Nishiori would blow through them, but an alarm would sound and alert us. Plus, everything is here in oji-san's rooms. None of the evidence has left his side since this all began. And even if he gets it," she said, staring at the men and women now exiting the building below them, "we have copies in Mayuri's possession just in case."

"So it'll all be over soon," the younger woman said in a heavy tone.

"It'll all be over soon," she repeated as she watched her former taichou, his fuku-taichou, and Ukitake-taichou as they crossed underneath their feet and around the courtyard below.

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R & R if you enjoyed! Happy New Year Everyone!