Oddly enough, I did not find this chapter depressing, although it may have been so to write. It was, as this entire piece has been, quite truthful emotionally. As a reader, that's a must-have for me. I will put up with quite a lot to have the truth fed me, but fortunately this writer doesn't commit things you have to put up with, only that which you can enjoy.

What! The Powers That Be are lying to us about something of substance! How can that happen!

The popping noise you just heard is this reveiwer removing her foot from her mouth. Goofiness aside, this chapter presents several important moments ... Rukia's death is almost the least important of them. But, yes, here there be Character Death. Rukia goes out doing what she and Ichigo do together and apart: protecting others. It's a danger that all shinigami live with day-to-day. Here, it catches up with one of them.

Am I glad there is more to come? Yes, very glad. Enjoyment in these-sized doses does not come along so often I'm sitting here thinking, "Oh, tra-la, just another excellent lengthy fic, tra-la, so what." No, I'm sittin' here glued to the monitor, have been all day, was most of yesterday and the day before too.

Began extremely well, and continues lovely. I don't know why you're thinking of starting in the middle but don't ... it's all exquisite, and you, dear Reader, are missing out on some good stuff if you don't read all of this fic. You don't have to do it all in two days like I did ... on the other hand, it was a very nice two days.

Phew! So now they know. Continues excellent, with true emotions and psychological validity all around.

Ah, the slow but inevitable awakening ... you can believe this of the author's Ichigo, and of the Byakuya you find herein. In addition, the author has made each of the children an identifiable presence, a true personality.

I'm glad I wrote my own IchiRuki before I read this wonderful story. It would have been impossible after.

Ikkaku here displays the magnetic attraction his feet have for his mouth, and as usual, all of the emotions here ring true. And an Ichigo who gives up would be a very OOC Ichigo, indeed.

The emotiona here are very fraught, and ring absolutely true. As I have an ex-husband of my own, I can attest to this. Beautifully done.

Ah, Byakuya ... your beauty is equalled only by the thickness of your skull. Funny, valid, and touching, all of this, all at once.

Still with the funny, still with the painfully apt, still with the deep resonance of truth that rings throughout this story.

As a writer, I'm starting to be jealous.

A lot of humor (all of which works) and just a little bit of the serious biscuit, handled so well that you know the cake is the darkness between Ichigo and Rukia, and Kenpachi and Byakuya here provide the icing.

A deft mix of humor and the deep dark topic this fic is treating so well.

The author's deft hand for details is revealed here. The fic gets stronger as it goes on. It's nice to see this Ichigo and this Byakuya coming to grips with their affection for one another.

This is just terrific. I really don't know whether to laugh, or cry, or just turn bright red over the Kurosaki family dinner. Delightful.

What I love so much about this story, besides the simple meat and bones of it; it has weight - is that, for instance, our canon or canon-derived Ichigo at fifteen wouldn't drink, but this Ichigo comes to the solution of alcohol quite naturally.

Oh, and that Zaraki remains the pain in the ass he is, and nice guy, maybe rough-hewn to the point that saying "hello" to him will give you splinters, but still a nice star-haired maniac. We knew that all along.