Chapter 2: Kisuke Urahara Confronted! A Face from the past wants Revenge

Timeline – about twenty minutes after Grimmjow is taken back to Hueco Mundo by Kaname Tosen.

Even in his body, Ichigo felt the rain falling in his soul. He knew this because it's how he'd always feel before he had ever cried. He felt the pain and anguish rising up and fought the urge to release it; to let his tears fall. He had let everyone down during the Arrancar attack. He even was unable to save Rukia. Renji had trie d to convince him otherwise, but Ichigo had shot him down at every turn. And now he was watching his friend watch away before Renji vanished via shunpo. Ichigo stared at the place where he disappeared, and then turned and started to run to the last spot he had seen Rukia.

If I hurry, I can get her to Orihime. He thought desperately. Ichigo turned a corner and saw the last remaining shards of ice that lay like a final testament to D Roy. Ichigo skidded to a stop and gasped; Rukia's body was gone! Ichigo stood open-mouthed for another few seconds before turning and punching a wall. He hit it again and again, shouting one word with every strike.

"NO NO NO NO NO!"

Ichigo fell back, his fists still clenched and his eyes closed. What had happened? Had they taken her? If they had…no. If he had allowed them to tale her….Ichigo slid down the wall, his head in his hands. Now he could cry; now he would release the tears that threatened to fall as soon as he saw Grimmjow's hand enter Rukia's chest. Despite himself, Ichigo chuckled.

"Dumbass. And you wonder why I worry?"

-----

Akio Kokuei yawned and pulled his zanpakuto from the cement of the roof, where he had stuck it. He sheathed it and walked over to Hayato Ryoushi, who was sitting watching the orange-haired Death God run off. Akio stepped up on the lip of the building, preparing to give chase.

"Just say the word and I'll pursue, Taicho."

When he heard no response, Akio looked back at Hayato. He prepared to repeat the question, but Hayato held up his hand, signaling Akio to hold. Akio did so, and then shot a glance back at Hayato, who was still sitting with his, eyes closed, breathing deeply. Akio sighed.

"What do you want to do –"

"Did you feel the reiatsu of the one he was fighting, Kokuei-kun?"

Akio saw the look in his captain's eyes, and nodded, too afraid to speak. Hayato continued.

"The one he was fighting had reiatsu frighteningly close to my level. We cannot let enemies like that get in our way. They have their mission, we have ours. Come." With that, Hayato vanished. Akio covered his eyes with his hand for a second, and then disappeared, allowing his captain's reiatsu to reel him in. He reappeared at Hayato's side, a half-mile from where they had just been. In front of them was a store. The sign on the front read Urahara Shop. Akio raised an eyebrow.

"Ryoushi-Taicho…where are we?" Hayato made no initial attempt to answer him, continuing to stare at the shop. Akio could tell by the way his captain was narrowing his eyes that he was deep in thought.

"Are you familiar with Abarai Renji? He was one of those Shinigami we saw from the roof."

Akio did a double-take. He had not expected a question. He stuttered out an answer. "N-no, Taicho. Well, not directly. Lieutenant Kaito had some dealings with him." Hayato burst out laughing. He reached and proceeded to wipe an imaginary tear out of his eye.

"Ah yes, Kaito-san's very first Lieutenant's meeting. She was so excited. How could I…forget?" Hayato's face grew hard and his reiatsu suddenly flared so intensely that Akio was forced to take a step back or risk being affected by it. Just for good measure, Akio took another two steps back. The look on Hayato's face absolutely terrified him.

-----

Jinta could not have picked a worse time to go to the bathroom. To his credit, he almost made it back to his room. He was crossing in front of the closed shop entrance when Hayato's spirit pressure caused the door and metal gate to crash inward in a heartbeat, throwing Jinta to the floor and dazing him. When he regained any reasonable sense of his surroundings, he found himself starring down the business end of a katana. Hayato smiled down on him. Jinta gulped; the look it the man's eyes was scary. He saw anger, sadness, and even something bordering on madness. Hayato stepped closer.

"Evening." He placed his foot on Jinta's chest and pushed him back to the ground. "I'm looking for Abarai Renji. Seen him lately?"

-----

"Kurosaki?"

Ichigo raised his tear-stained face and looked around for the source of the voice. When he found it, he was both relived and a little disappointed. Rangiku Matsumoto was running towards him. She stopped just short of him.

"There you are, Kurosaki. I've been looking for you everywhere. Kuchiki is asking for you."

Ichigo jumped to his feet. "Rukia? How is she? Where is she?" Rangiku held up her hands.

"Slow down, Kurosaki. Listen, while it isn't anything to worry about, Kuchiki's still in bad shape. She's currently refusing treatment until Inoue heals Captain Hitsugaya."

Ichigo gasped. "They got Toshiro too? Just how strong are these Arrancar?"

Rangiku gave a little laugh. "If Hitsugaya-Taicho was conscious, he'd want me to remind you to call him that instead of Toshiro."

Ichigo dropped his gaze. "Oh. Sorry."

Rangiku placed a finger under his chin and gently lifted his head back up. "Don't worry. I'm not as uptight as the captain. As far as the Arrancar go, neither the Captain, Abarai-kun, nor myself were able to even scratch them until our limiters were lifted."

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow. "Limiters?"

Rangiku raises an eyebrow in response. "Our power limiters. Don't interrupt. Anyway, before she passed out, Kuchiki – "

"PASSED OUT?"

Now a vein in Rangiku's head was throbbing. "Didn't I tell you not to interrupt, Kurosaki? As I was saying, Kuchiki told us that she was able to defeat one Arrancar, but the next one that appeared was able to…dispatch her fairly quickly."

Ichigo looked away. His hands, which were clenched into fists, were shaking. "It wasn't fairly quickly, it was with one freaking attack! Rukia didn't stand a chance!"

Rangiku thought for a moment. "What was his number?"

Ichigo scratched his head. "What? Number?"

Rangiku sighed. "The Arrancar I was fighting said that he was Nakim, the fourteenth Arrancar. And Hitsugaya-Taicho told me that he was told that all Arrancar get a number from eleven up based on when they were created except for the strongest ten."

Ichigo thought for a moment. "He said that he was Arrancar number six"

Rangiku gasped. "Then it's no wonder that you and Kuchiki lost. The Captain was fighting number eleven, and even he had to lift his limiter to defeat him."

Ichigo looked away, disgusted with himself. "I…I couldn't protect her, Rangiku-san." He opened his mouth to say something else when Rangiku interjected.

"What's with that look, Kurosaki? If a captain couldn't defeat Arrancar Eleven without lifting his limiters, then there's no way you could have defeated Arrancar Six."

Ichigo still looked skeptical. Rangiku gave him a look. "Ichigo, it's not your fault. Besides, she'll be fine."

But Ichigo wasn't so easily convinced. "Yes, it was, Rangiku-san. She was trying to – " He cut off and turned around. Rangiku moved to his side.

"I feel it too, Kurosaki." She said, "Come with me."

As one, they both vanished, leaving behind an empty street and the overpowering reiatsu.

-----

To say who was more surprised, Kisuke Urahara or Hayato, was hard to say. Within seconds of Jinta's call of "Freeloader!", Kisuke was already at the boy's side. For several seconds, he stared at Hayato before regaining his voice.

"Ah, hello there, Ryoushi-kun."

Hayato smiled at the man. It had been about fifty years since he had last seen Kisuke Urahara, and while they had parted ways as friends, Hayato was still suspicious of anyone who had ties to Soul Society. He did, however, lower and sheath his zanpakuto. And then he chuckled.

"Been a while, hasn't it, Kisuke?"

Meanwhile, Jinta was looking back and forth between the two men. He knows the owner? Jinta thought …and his reiatsu is so huge. Who is this man? Across from him, Hayato grew serious once again. He pointed at Jinta, but when he spoke, it was to Urahara.

"As I told your…boy, I'm looking for Abarai Renji. I've traced his reiatsu to this shop. Where is he, Kisuke?"

Kisuke sighed. "Ryoushi-kun, it's been fifty years. Why are you still pursuing this? Besides, Abarai-kun wasn't even involved."

Ryoushi nodded, and placed one hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto .It was more of a comfort thing that an actual threat. "I heard that he's in the sixth division now. He's a target. Step aside, Kisuke."

Kisuke remained where he was. "For someone who was forced to flee for his life from Soul Society, you seem to be pretty knowledgeable about its business. Who's your informant, if I may ask?"

Hayato held up a hand. "You may ask, Kisuke, but I won't tell you. I will, however, show you something. Kokuei-kun, could you come forward?"

Slightly confused, Akio stepped forward and came to a halt to his captain. Hayato gestured towards him. "When I came to you fifty years ago, Kisuke, I was alone. But I wasn't the only survivor. This is Akio Kokuei. He's one of my…subordinates."

Kisuke looked Akio up and down before smiling and offering his hand. "Hello there, Kokuei-kun."

Akio eyed Kisuke's hand before giving Hayato a questioning glance. Hayato nodded. "It's ok, Kokuei-kun. This man is not our enemy." He glared at Kisuke. "Right?" Urahara smiled.

"You have my word, Ryoushi-kun." Hayato smiled as well. Kisuke walked over to Akio and began to inspect him. Akio eyed him with something akin to suspicion in his gaze. Kisuke glanced up at Hayato.

"Amazing. Is he one of yours?" Hayato nodded. Kisuke continued, "Is he strong?"

Again, Hayato nodded. "He's my third seat. Actually, Lieutenant Kaito – " Suddenly, Hayato's face grew stern and he vanished before reappearing right in front of Urahara, his zanpakuto unsheathed and pressed against Kisuke's neck. Furious, he shouted at him.

"What the FUCK, Kisuke? Seconds after you tell me that we'll be safe here, you betray me?"

Kisuke held up his hands. "I swear, Hayato, they're not with me." He was silenced as Hayato pressed his zanpakuto harder into his throat, drawing a thin line of blood.

"That's bullshit, Kisuke! Akio, watch my back." Akio sprang to his captain's side. Hayato withdrew his zanpakuto and pointed his finger at Kisuke.

"I'll be back for Abarai, Kisuke. And for you."