"GUWAAAAAHHHH!"

"Stop your yelling! You're in a hospital!"

"YOU'RE YELLING TOO!"

"Ichigo-kun, please stop moving. You've lost too much-"

"HEEENAAAAHHH!!!"

"What's with you and all this freaky sounds? Do you want people to believe we're doing horrible things to you?"

"But you are!" The door opened only slightly, just enough for Captain Unohana to take a peek inside.

"Please be quiet this is a hospital and if you don't-," her eyes opened and for some reason she became more terrifying to the group of drifters than Kenpachi, Kuchiki, and Kurotsuochi combined. "There are ways to silence you."

"Y-Yes ma'am," they all whimpered. Captain Unohana looked down at Orihime who was hard at work on the last and deepest wound on Ichigo's body.

"Are you well, Orihime-san? You look pale," she asked out of concern but she didn't need to ask. She already knew the young girl was exhausted from using her unique ability.

"I'm fine! Just a tad hungry."

GRUUUUUUUNG.

Everyone stared in mild astonishment and fascination at the sound that just came out of Orihime's stomach that betrayed her starved state. Captain Unohana smiled in reassurance.

"I'll send someone to fetch food for all of you," she said before closing the door behind her and walking away, silent as a ghost.

"Is it just me or-?" Ichigo muttered.

"No, it's not just you," Chad reassured. Everyone was terrified of Unohana for no good reason. If they got in a fight with her, they would most assuredly run for their lives. The room was silent but not tense. They have completed their mission. Many truths and lies have come to light. Some time has passed but not enough to fully understand the situation. But what concerned them though-

"Does anyone want to talk about it?" asked Ishida. Ichigo turned his head away to try and avoid anyone looking into his eyes.

"There's nothing to say."

"Huh? What are you talking about?!" Ishida went on in a rage, "Diabolos-san -no- Agito is our enemy. We brought our enemy back into power! If only we-"

"Shut up! It doesn't make sense!" Ishida got silent. "She...trained me with Urihara-sensei. And Urihara-sensei trusted her but he knew more than he let on about everything. So why..." There were too many puzzle pieces that were missing. Ichigo remembered how she looked gilded in white and precious jewels. She looked like a Queen and for some strange reason, it fit. But something wasn't right with this. She was too cold. All his life he had known the spitfire of a woman Agito Diabolos had been. In training, not only did she stroke the flame that was in his heart to fight harder, faster, and stronger, but she fucking added gasoline, flour, sugar, coals, anything to make him rage hotter.

But this Agito that stood before the entirety of Seireitei was much too cold to be his sensei. It broke his heart inside. He had known her all his life. She was like an ever watchful godmother or aunt. To know that she was not only ready to kill Rukia, his friend, and betray him without a single thought. Now that hurt.

And he didn't want to think about it anymore.

"Good evening everyone. I was told you were hungry?" Said a voice from whomever opened the door. Ichigo turned to look and nearly sat up in shock and rage.

"AGITO DIABOLOS!!!" The woman at the doorway looked like a well disguised Agito but she was definitely Agito, what was she doing here?

"Don't hurt me! I got food!"

"What's going on?!" Ishida shouted. Chad was steadily rising to his feet, arm tensing and getting ready for a fight. But Ichigo started noticing stuff. She ... looked like Agito ... by a lot ... but she wasn't. The shape of her eyes were slightly different. The color was slightly off too. Instead of a bright predator yellow, this woman's was a soft amber color. And now that he's actively looking, he could sense it. Her reiatsu wasn't the same as Agito Diabolos.

"Wait, who are you?"

"Huh?" The woman kneeled at the door and bowed in honor.

"I am glad to meet you, Ichigo Kurosaki." She lifted her head and oh, she was definitely not Agito. She was too kind. "I can see why my twin sister liked you."

"Tw-Twin sister?!" The woman sat up and pushed the tray of food more inside the room before closing the door behind her.

"I believe I have to introduce myself. My name is Rue Diabolos, younger twin sister of Agito Diabolos by four minutes. Please take care of me."

"She didn't tell us she had a twin sister!" Ichigo was still freaking out. Agito had family? Agito had a twin? What else does she have? Children? A husband? A harem of lovers?

"I believe you are aware she didn't tell you a lot of things," she spoke gravely and the atmosphere fell. She was right. There were a great many things they were unaware of, especially Ichigo. He felt blind by what went wrong.

"Why?" he asked because there were so many questions to be answered but this was most prevalent. Rue-san bit her lip in concentration, trying to figure out where to begin and Ichigo took notice in how similar and different the sisters were. Rue Diabolos was clearly more feminine. While Agito was all harsh lines and sharp angles that made a harsh but ethereal look, Rue was softer and more careful. But they had the same inner strength.

Agito appeared before them like some warrior Queen of old with gnashing teeth and squandered jewels. Rue, with her tattoos, looked like a witch doctor a second away from calling spirits of the dead. It was a strange twist of fate that Agito was traded for Rue for this group of Drifters.

"Agito and I," she began with a soft voice, "are over two-hundred-and-forty years old." The number surprised them but not really. Shinigami ages were really messed up.

"She was good and kind. She took care of me when I was sick. She had a sense of justice that was unmatched. She trained a lot of young Shinigami and became well known for teaching people with a touch of destiny, seeing as how all of her students became either third seats or above."

"She told us she trained Byakuya Kuchiki," Ichigo retold truthfully. Rue-san nodded her head and the affirmation blew Ichigo away.

"Byakuya and I were her first students. And she messed up a lot. She's more of the hands-on-experience type teacher."

"I noticed."

"If she were so good, what happened?"

"There's a lot I don't know. I don't know why she sided with Aizen. I only know of what happened in the execution."

"Execution?" Rue-san nodded her head, biting her lip.

"Fifty years ago Byakuya Kuchiki's wife, Hisana, died of an illness that could not be prevented. We were friends with Byakuya and mourned with him. But Hisana was never seen by the elders as the true Lady Kuchiki no matter the respect given to her by everyone in the Noble House. Agito helped give her an honorary funeral, something the Kuchiki House refused to fund despite Byakuya's request. Her involvement...got the Elders attention."

"You were really such great friends? To that jackass?"

"He wasn't so cold until after everything happened!" Rue-san defended and tears trickled in her eyes. "So Agito was called into a Noble meeting and she was propositioned. The Elders wanted her to become Lady Kuchiki."

"Wait, you're a Noble?" asked Ishida.

"No. We grew up in the slums. It's very well known but ... Agito was respected, had a very honorable reputation, a Captain, and childhood friends with Byakuya. In their eyes, it was a good match. They were even considering wiping every record that Agito ever did come from the slums."

"What happened?" Rue-san was quietly shivering in grief. Even now remembering the night she was separated from her sister tore a hole in her heart.

"We were friends with Hisana. We loved Hisana. And Agito was close to Byakuya. When he grieved, she grieved. Not two weeks after Hisana's death were the Elders about to replace her. And Agito...couldn't forgive that."

"She-" Ishida cut himself off, his skin paling to blue as he realized what happened.

"Agito murdered an Elder of the Kuchiki House. More specifically, Byakuya's uncle."

The atmosphere in the room chilled at the mention of murder. It was way too close to what had happened with Aizen.

"She was caught and sentenced to die. But...she escaped."

"Escaped how? She did that all by herself? How?" Rue-san nodded her head before asking, "Have you ever seen her bankai?"

"Her bankai?"

"More specifically, her zanpakutou?" seeing the undisguised looks of wonder she explained, "Her blade, Michael, is a tad different than usual. Michael or Maikielu in katakana, is from the Judaeo-Christian belief system."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Everything. Her blade doesn't believe in Shinigami, a Japanese orientated belief where there's multiple gods and multiple death gods. Her blade believes in heaven, hell, and Seireitei is a pagan belief. If her blade doesn't believe this dimension exists for a purpose, then it can rip through this dimension easily."

"She can rip through dimensions?!" shouted Ichigo in alarm.

"How do you know this?" asked Ishida.

"My blade is the same."

"What!? Twin blades?!"

"More like counterparts. She has Michael. I have Gabriel."

"And she escaped with this ability?"

"Yes. I didn't even know it was possible until she did it."

"And how does Aizen get into this story?" Rue started chewing on her bottom lip, a now recognizable habit of unsurety.

"I don't know. The only connection I can think of is Gin Ichimaru."

"Ichimaru? What does the Third Company traitor have to do with this?"

"Agito Diabolos was taichou of the Third Company before she murdered a Noble. Gin was both her student and fukutaichou. When she escaped he took her place." They were all silent after that revelation. How scary. Gin was incredibly strong. Did she really...

"If Gin and Agito got into a fight, who would win?" asked Ichigo.

"Agito, most definitely."

"Why?"

"She hates him." Ichigo turned his head to really look at Rue-san.

"She hates him and yet she taught him? And yet he's still that strong? How could I beat him? I only had ten days of training with her."

"There are many masters you can train under. And you have something Gin never had."

"What?" Rue-san grasped his hand in hers and smiled.

"You have her favor."

"How can you tell?" asked Ishida, "How is that supposed to help?"

"I can sense her reiatsu lingering in you." She studied each of them in turn and sai, "Agito trained Ichigo but you all have her favor."

"So what a murderer and enemy wants us to win?"

"She wants you to succeed."

"Same thing!"

"No, winning the war never means you succeed. Growing stronger, wiser, better, now that's succeeding." Ichigo turned his head away, a slight blush on his cheeks. To hear his sorta Godmother gave him her blessing (in a real twisted way) warmed his heart and sank his stomach.

"They say that whoever has her favor would always get to the top. Impressing Agito Diabolos, even if she were a murderer, is a talisman around here."

"Who else has it?"

"I do and I'm a third seat. Then there's Byakuya and that's explainable. There's Toushiro Hitsugaya and-"

"Toushiro? You mean the midget taichou? White hair and the one who swore to kill Agito on the Hill?" Rue nodded sadly.

"He was her last student."

"Why did he have so much animosity towards her, Rue-san?" asked Orihime, speaking up for the first time. Ichigo was nearly done healing and the food Rue-san brought was really helping.

"He loves her."

"WHAT??? THAT'S PERVERTED DOES HE NOT KNOW-HOW OLD IS HE???" Ishida was irritated by Ichigo's yelling so he poked his wound with the tip of his finger.

"PUUUUUAAAAAAAAFFFF!!!"

"Stop screaming or Unohana-taichou will come back."

"But really! She's too old for him!" Rue-san giggled at Ichigo before explaining, "She was his mentor and if the stories are true, she was one of the first to see his potential and helped him reach it. He respects her so...

"Seeing her at Aizen's side was a betrayal I don't think anyone was ready for." Wasn't that the stone cold truth. Now the story, Agito's story, made a lot more sense now. Of course there was a lot of missing pieces but...they weren't lost on what happened.

"Diabolos," said Chad. "Michael. Gabriel." for some odd reason Rue-san laughed.

"I know! It's an awful pun for us but we like it."

"What?" asked Ichigo ignorantly.

"Diabolos is the name for Devil, Lucifer, Satan in original Greek. We're named after Satan but our zanpakutou are archangels."

"How did you know that, Chad?"

"Spanish."

"There's that and-" Ishida cut himself off, unsure of his musings, "- Agito was going to be a Noble Lady. That's just about as close to Queen as you can get here. And now she's Aizen's Queen."

"Does that mean they're married?" asked Orihime. Rue-san frowned in deep thought.

"Who knows." A sudden and most embarrassing thought came to Ichigo's head.

"Did Byakuya-" he stopped himself and blushed because you can't just ask that out of nowhere in front of people! It's a sensitive topic!

"What is it?" oh now he really wanted to know. But it was embarrassing and what if people took it the wrong way?!

"Amazing Kurosaki-kun! Your whole face is a lovely strawberry red!" complimented Orihime.

"Just spit it out, it's gonna bother you forever until you know."

"Did Byakuya love Agito!?" Ichigo burst out and promptly blushed so hard his wound began to bleed less.

"Whoa! What a scary thought. Super scary Diabolos-san and super serious Kuchiki-san would make...super duper scary serious kids!"

"Orihime-san, I don't think he was-"

"Of course he did."

"HUUUUUH?!" Rue-san was surprised at their shock but continued.

"They were such good friends. I remember he one time shaved one of her eyebrows off. She burnt all of his underwear. And then there was the time he tried to drown her and she put a worm in his nose when he was asleep. Even when they grew older she once started a rumor that Byakuya was a vampire and to prove it you had to catch him in a mirror because he wouldn't appear. He then stole all her clothes and for a week she walked around in lingerie only."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Ichigo burst out before trying to calm himself for fear of Unohana's return. "Romantically. Did he love her romantically."

Rue got real quiet. She wasn't biting her lip anymore which was telling. And her eyes got real sad.

"Why do you ask?" Her tone changed from soft and kind to hard and cold. Eerily like Agito-san.

"I just...it just makes sense right? And...I saw. I saw how they looked at each other when she stabbed him. That wasn't...that was...something." Rue continued in silence thinking. When she had her answer, it didn't look like something anyone would like.

"I think, once upon a time, it could have happened. If the Elders had given Byakuya time to grieve and heal, he might have found a wife in Agito but...

"She's too different now. For fifty years she's been gone from Seireitei and only fifteen years can be accounted for you, Ichigo. Which means thirty five of those years are missing and wherever she went made it possible for her to actually kill Rukia. Simply put, Agito is not the same and if she were to come back I don't think she'd be welcome."

"She's your sister."

"I love my sister. But that doesn't mean I can't face the fact that she tried to kill Rukia." Rue had this expression of stone, not unlike Byakuya. It sat uncomfortably on her face but it was there and understood. "Some acts are unforgivable. Even if we're family."

"Can she be beaten?" asked Ichigo because there was a war coming and he needed to know now.

"As you are now, no. If you master yourself, even then you might not be able to."

"You make it sound impossible," Ishida said while pushing his glasses up.

"It might just be." She looked around the room before revealing the truth, "No one knows Agito's bankai ability. No one has any idea what her limit of power is. I have her zanpakutou's counterpart and what Gabriel tells me...I shudder to believe it true."

"Why? There's always a limit. There's always a weakness in a zanpakutou's shikai and bankai."

"Ichigo-san. Agito has Michael. In the Judaeo-Christian belief, Michael isn't just some archangel. He's a war angel. A General in the ranks of their Lord. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and taught his soldiers of War. Michael is God's most perfect idea of what War should be. If you think there isa limit to the brutality Michael, and in extension Agito, has you are gravely mistaken."

"Then we can't defeat her?" Rue turns very quiet. It's a terrible conclusion to come to. They have to win this war but on the enemy's side was an impossibility. Or...maybe not.

"Michael is unbeatable. But maybe not Agito."

"What do you mean?" asked Ichigo.

"Agito is human. She's the flaw. If we can defeat her, then so goes Michael. I'm not saying it's going to be easy but...I believe that's how she can be defeated."

"So we train to get stronger and we...appeal to her humanity."

"That's exactly how we fight her," Rue incisted.

"What if there's no humanity to appeal to?" asked Ishida.

"Then...we're fucked."

~~~

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