A/N: ....Hello? Are my readers still around even though I've taken almost an ENTIRE year to update this novel? 

I can assure you, I am still alive and I am very sorry I haven't gotten round to updating this novel. I hit, well, more than one roadblock with writing these past months but I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT MY LOYAL READERS! I have some time free these next few days so I'm going to try and belt out as many chapters as I can and that may involve me finishing the novel, YAY! 

By my calculations (which are usually so astronomically wrong so take this as an estimate lol) there's another 4 or 5 chapters to go. 

Now, onto the chapter. This kind of just feels like a filler chapter (which in Bleach is normal) and I'm not too happy about it because it's... well it just feels like it's lacking for a better word. IDK, guys, tell me what you think!

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I craned my head up, following the zigzagging path to take. Steep stairs that practically glowed in the harsh sunlight. Then I still had to go along the bridge to where the Sokyoku was set. Time was slipping through my fingers faster than I liked.

'Why are you hesitating?' Chiya questioned.

"Why couldn't it have been a hill? I hate climbing stairs," I grumbled, steeling myself for the muscle burning I could practically envision.

'Seriously? You hesitate because of cardio?'

"You underestimate how much I hate stairs," I said, placing my foot on the first step. Already my lungs anticipated the exertion and I was panting after 30 steps.

'How on Earth did you ever pass a physical exam?!'

"There were no stairs in it," I gasped out. At this rate, I'd never get there in time. So I did the one thing I knew I'd regret at the top. With a groan, I forced my legs faster until I'd set a very uncomfortable and ungainly jog up.

Pain is necessary if I'm to help save Rukia!

I sweltered beneath the sun, sweat soaking my lower back and under my arms the higher I went. My concentration flagged – is the air getting thinner or is it just because I forgot how to breath? – and the hollow bone melted from my injured leg, revealing a completely healed limb. Phantom aches still pulsated through the ankle with each jarring step and I bit my tongue at the sensations.

Count the steps, it'll make it easier. 1, 2, 3, 4....10...15...26...48....51...............

'Kera, pay attention or you'll bleed out.'

My narrowed vision on my path widened and I slowed, sweat running down my arms. It didn't feel like water though so I looked down to see the hollow bone slipping off, as cold as ice. Beneath it were angry striations, red blotches and skin still peeled back from Paulo's attacks.

I solidified them with a thought, marvelling at the ease in which the hollow casing knit back together over my battered forearms and hands at the simple command.

'You've picked this up much faster than I anticipated,' she said. Beneath her flat tone, I felt her bristling with indignation.

"It... rankles you, doesn't... doesn't it?" I gasped, pausing my slowed gait for a moment to break. A quick, involuntary glance upwards and I groaned – only halfway and my calves might have well been set alight.

Her growl got me moving again.

Stupid... stairs... Even my thoughts were beginning to slur. If I had been at full strength, I wouldn't be having this problem. Stupid... Paulo... The lactic settled in my gut.

The higher I climbed, the more the worry set in. Going higher should have meant I was getting closer to my friends but I didn't sense them at all. Which meant I was either ahead of them or – 

I shook my head and didn't finish the sentence. The only viable option was that I was ahead of them because they had Yachiru leading them and no offense to the adorable lieutenant but her directional skills were next to hopeless.

The wind howling stopped me, a low shriek that curdled my insides. Raw power oozed out from the direction of the execution zone and I tried to keep my panic steady.

"The seal's been broken," I whispered, my hammering heart thundering in my ears. I looked once in the direction of the Sokyoku then back up the stairs. I had a feeling that this next headlong rush would have to be my last if I was to ever make it in time.

I felt rather than saw the ropes binding the halberd hitting the ground. The ground beneath my feet rumbled from several impacts. The howling had ceased and all looked calm from this distance.

"Can you sense the others?" I asked the dragon and she pushed her way to the surface. My head swung side to side.

'Nothing. They're probably still behind us.'

I worried my lip.

'That means you're going to have to do something stupid voluntarily this time.'

I nodded my head as she went back away, content to let me finish the gruelling stairs. Once we reached the top, there would be no time to rest. I'd have to be ready to fight the minute I got off that bridge. With a deep breath and my body at its limits, I forced my legs into motion.

The air soon tasted of ash and fire, a rumble that rattled my bones and sent fear crawling through my body. A chant filled my ears – too late, too late, too late! – with only 50 steps to go.

Adrenaline boosted me up the remainder and into a garden of tall trees. I didn't have time to pause and catch my breath; instead I burst out of the lush greenery and pounded towards the bridge. The wood shuddered beneath my feet, my breath a wheeze in my throat. I drew Chiya's sword, fighting forward through the scorching haze that buffeted me.

It wasn't hard to imagine what I'd see when I'd reached the top but I almost stopped dead in my tracks at what floated in the sky. A phoenix of molten fire like a burning star in the sky. Even Chiya sucked in a breath. Rukia looked little more than an ant compared to the sheer size of the phoenix.

'What the hell is that?'

"I have no idea." That wasn't the Sokyoku I knew from the stories. No one ever mentioned it turned into a giant flaming bird.

'You cannot defeat that and all those Captains and Lieutenants in your state!'

"At least have some faith in me," I argued back, the doubt she sparked to life slowing me as I ran into the dead trees at the end of the bridge. I knew there would be a clearing and the Sokyoku structure at the other end. There was no chance of me losing sight of the phoenix through the knobbly branches as they whipped across my face.

I slashed them out of my way. My mind whirred on game plans that I cast aside just as quickly. The only chance I had was to go in fast and hard, and somehow take out the Sokyoku before the Captain's realised. And when they did, hope to god I had enough strength in reserve to keep Rukia safe until help arrived.

I slashed once more and saw an opening in the trees, the group of people in the distance. Without waiting for hesitation to catch up with me, I rushed forward. 

A root caught my sore ankle and before I could react, I crashed down to the ground, Chiya's sword flying from my grip. Blood in my mouth, I shoved up into a lunge position and promptly fell back over. The world spun round. Must have hit my head. That or the exertion had just caught up to me because when my hands hit the ground to steady me, I threw up.

"Fuck."

I wiped the back of my mouth and wobbled onto my feet. I couldn't see the sword anywhere.

'It disappeared because you're so tired. You shouldn't have let it go.'

"Not my fault," I muttered, brain all jumbled, memory all foggy. Until I saw the flaming bird rush forward and it suddenly all came back to me. "No!" I cried, stumbling into a tree.

The brilliant orange flames cast a golden shadow across the clearing, embers spiralling about. My mouth twisted. I'd told the others I'd come here for selfish reasons with Rukia being only a small part of it. But to witness her death hurt more than I thought it would.

"Kera?!" I spun, wiping tears from my face. The Lieutenant of Squad 6, the very same Lieutenant who'd given me quite the thrashing back in the world of the Living, hurried up behind me.

Renji Abarai.

I punched at him before he could attack, making him bend backwards and away as I followed through with my other fist.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked, hand reaching for his blade. I grabbed his wrist with lightning fast reflexes, slid past him and yanked his arm backwards at a painful angle. He gave a sharp cry of pain as I kicked the back of his knees and pushed him to the ground.

"Who else is sneaking round here?" I whispered into his ear. He squirmed underneath me, protesting, but I gave his arm another twist and he stilled, panting.

"No one!" he hissed. "I'm trying to save Rukia!"

I blinked in surprise and climbed off of him. "What did you say?"

"I'm here to save Rukia," he said as he pushed himself up to his feet. This was the same Renji who had tried to kill me to capture Rukia way back when and now he was saying he was coming to save her? I couldn't tell if he was lying or not. Even so, I couldn't stop the pained look that spread across my face when he mentioned the word 'save'. "What is it?"

Tears welled again and I took a deep breath to break the news to him when I felt a shift. He felt it too and we rushed to the edge of the trees, our scuffle forgotten, to see the phoenix pulling back for another attack.

"What the hell?" Renji said.

It was difficult to make out the figures from this distance, to discern which Captain was which. But the figure floating up near Rukia – who was still held high above the ground and not charred – it was hard not to mistaken the person I had to share a house with for so long.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," I breathed out. "Thank god."