a/n at the end of the chapter!
The bamboo door slid open with a soft scraping noise, followed by a dull thunk as it hit home. "Ah, Captain Hitsugaya," Urahara said. "Welcome. We've been expecting you."
Urahara was probably an ally. This was what Hitsugaya believed, but he couldn't bring himself to like the former captain very much. Urahara's smile was eternal and elusive, probably hiding a million secrets that Hitsugaya could only dream of, clued in by the vague, smug lilt that sometimes ghosted the corner of his mouth. His voice was always light and unassuming, and to hear an answer in that voice only fed the urge deep in Hitsugaya's belly to grab him and shake the truth out of him.
Probably most frustrating of all, though, was that he inspired extreme loyalty in his subordinates, so that even if Tsukabishi was honourable and moralistic, and Ururu was terrible at lying, and Jinta was at that perfect stage of early teenage rebellion, it was highly unlikely any of them would sell Urahara out for anything. The only thing Hitsugaya could hope for at this point was for Urahara to count him an ally, too.
"Lieutenant Matsumoto," Urahara said cheerily, stepping out of the way for them. "Always a great pleasure to see you."
"Come on, you flatter me."
"Have a seat. By chance I remembered that you enjoy candied azuki beans, so I made some just for the occasion."
"Thanks."
They sat at the low table, probably the only one Urahara owned, seeing as they always found themselves around it in some situation or another. Everything else looked much the same, for a shop that probably didn't get much business here in the world of living, but Hitsugaya wasn't going to pretend to know much about any of that.
From the back room where Hitsugaya could hear a kettle boiling, a cat padded its way out. It had green eyes, and large patches of white, orange and black fur that mingled and overlapped in no particular pattern. It didn't approach, staying to the far end of the room, but sat down and looked right at Hitsugaya, tail swishing idly along the floor.
"Eh? I don't think I've seen this one before," Matsumoto said, spotting the cat as well. "Yoruichi-san's coat was black, right?"
"Don't tell me you're in the habit of taking in strays now?" Hitsugaya said.
"Ah, this guy? She belongs to Ururu, technically, but she seems to like it around here. Well, we all spoil her a little, so it's no wonder she ends up here most of the time."
The cat was still looking at Hitsugaya. It's funny, but the way her face was shaped she almost looked like she was smiling at him, piercing gaze aside. Hitsugaya stared back at her, in a sort of juvenile staring contest, and neither of them let up until Tsukabishi appeared, setting down a tray with their tea and candied beans on the table.
"We have some watermelon, too, if you'd like," Tsukabishi offered. "I can cut it up at once."
"No, that's alright. One good thing at a time."
The cat stood, making its way over to the table silently with padded paws. Hitsugaya watched as she came over and sat down right next to him, looking up expectantly with her little smiling face and giving a soft meow.
Hitsugaya was unfamiliar with cats, as far as house cats went. They didn't keep pets in Soul Society, and if he ever saw a cat it was the feral ones from Rukongai, which of course no one tried to touch—would chase them off with a stick if possible. So he's not sure how this works, but he curiously offers the cat his upturned palm, like he would with a dog.
The cat doesn't smell his fingers, opting instead to rub the top of her head up against his knuckles. Hitsugaya turned his hand over, and the cat proceeded to arch her back into it, purring loudly and instantly.
"My, my! She likes you!" Matsumoto exclaimed.
Urahara, by this point, had finally sat down to join them, crossing his ankles and sitting down in one fluid movement. "My goodness, you're right. Looks like you have a fan, Captain Hitsugaya."
"Thank you," Hitsugaya responded, unsure as to what exactly you were supposed to say to that. The cat did a few figure eights beneath his hand and rubbed herself up along his back once before neatly slipping beneath his arm and climbing straight into his lap, much to his surprise. She curled up comfortably on his legs, and purred again when he began to stroke her fur.
"Well, it's not surprising. She's quite charming," Urahara said. "In any case, on to the matter at hand."
Hitsugaya straightened his back, waiting.
"I've had a look around, just as you've asked me," Urahara said, pouring himself some tea. "I have to say, what I found is considerably fascinating. Do you remember how Hollows make their way to and from Hueco Mundo?"
"Through a Garganta," Matsumoto said. "The Black Cavity."
"That's right. Until a few hundred years ago, it was thought that only the Menos and the Arrancar were capable of creating these tears in our dimension, but we've devised a few methods of forcing one ourselves. We have Kurotsuchi to thank for our most recent method, should he decide to share his innovation. Now, what would you say happens once you've finished using one?"
Hitsugaya bit back his impatience. Urahara was one of the annoying types who took pleasure in explaining things through questions rather than a straightforward manner, but there was no reason yet to show impoliteness towards their host.
"I'm not sure what you mean," Matsumoto said, speaking for them both. "It just disappears, doesn't it?"
"That's exactly it. It disappears. Its purpose has been served. No reason for it to linger, right?" Urahara folded his hands over his cane, smiling lazily. "Except they have been. Rather than closing, the Garganta are remaining open. Someone, or something, is reinforcing the tears and keeping them propped open."
Hitsugaya leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowed. "Reinforcing it?"
"Indeed. I can't say I've been able to figure out exactly what force is at work here. It appears to be some kind of Kido, but it's certainly nothing I've got in my repertoire. Whatever is happening right now, it's been a long time coming. Someone has been working on this for quite a while."
"That's impossible," Matsumoto argued. "The Garganta are rips in the very dimensions of the universe, just like you said. They aren't meant to just stay open. The amount of disturbance it causes in the human world's levels of Reishi is enough to—"
"To destabilize the fabric of space and time," Hitsugaya finished, expression growing dark. "How many of them are there?"
"In Karakura, currently? Two. I've got them under surveillance, so for now maintaining some balance has not been difficult. But I'm afraid I have yet to get an inkling of how to close them. I can't say I'll be able to handle them as efficiently if more of them are to spring up around town.
"There's something else, too. The humans don't realize that the Garganta are there, of course, but it seems that does not save them from being able to physically pass through them."
"What?"
"Yes. Not too long ago a little boy catching beetles chased one straight through the opening into Hueco Mundo. We pulled him right out, of course, and he remembers nothing of the event, but it was still a worthwhile discovery, even if a grave one."
"And you've been able to keep the humans from walking through them ever since?" Matsumoto said, stunned.
"Well, one of them is about thirty feet off the ground, so that helped somewhat. But yes, we've been careful to steer the humans away. Quite possibly the most exhausting aspect of overlooking these monstrosities."
"Monstrosities hardly covers it," Hitsugaya said gravely. "This is much worse than we anticipated."
"Which is why I'm quite pleased you're here. Watch and observe is all fine and dandy, but it's good to see someone accomplished step in to set things straight."
"Big praise," Hitsugaya said, somewhat sourly, for he suspected Urahara was somehow making fun of him. "I'll have to report to Kyōraku and see what steps he wants to take from here."
"Just out of curiosity," Matsumoto said, "how much does this worry you?"
Urahara fell silent. His head was tilted so that the brim of his cap was covering most of his face, making it difficult to read his expression.
"If I'm to be perfectly candid," Urahara said, "they worry me a great deal. I've never seen anything of the like before."
Just then, the screen door slammed open. "We're back!" a loud, abrasive voice yelled, and in walked Hanakari Jinta.
Hitsugaya didn't know him all that well, only remembering brief glimpses of him here and there, but the boy certainly left a standing impression now. He looked, quite frankly, like a common street thug. His shock of red hair was slicked back on his head, his clothes consisting of tattered ends for a deliberately damaged, roughed-up look. He'd grown tremendously, it seemed, and Hitsugaya scrutinized his height without trying to look like he was calculating if he was the taller one.
Almost immediately Tsukabishi was on him, whacking him a good one over the head and causing Jinta to howl. "Have some respect when guests are here," he snapped, dragging him inside by the ear.
"Ow ow ow okay okay, let go, that hurts—!"
At the entrance, Tsumugiya Ururu stepped inside, with much more finesse than her brother. She'd grown some, too, and lost the pigtails, but otherwise she didn't look much different—just had a high school uniform on.
"Oh. Hello, Captain Hitsugaya, Lieutenant Matsumoto," Ururu said, bowing.
"See? That's how you should behave," Tsukabishi scolded, still pinching Jinta's ear. "Take a good look!"
"Okay, okay!" Jinta managed to shake Tsukabishi's grip off and rubbed the side of his head with a wince. "Honestly, it's a miracle I haven't fallen apart at the seams. Oh, what's this? Did that devil cat take a liking to you, Hitsugaya-san?"
The cat stiffened in Hitsugaya's lap, its hair bristling beneath his palm. Hitsugaya looked down, taken aback.
"Hey. She's doing something."
"That's nothing new. That raggedy stray has been up to all sorts of nonsense since it came here. Total nuisance, and it's really ugly too—"
The cat flew abruptly from Hitsugaya's lap, and in the next second it was all over Jinta, scratching and clawing at him with ear-piercing snarls as Jinta yelled and frantically began to try beating the cat off of him.
"That's crazy," Matsumoto said in awe, watching them and making no move to help Jinta whatsoever—nor was anyone else, for that matter. "It's like she understood him."
"Oh yes, she's a very bright cat. She knows when she's being insulted."
"GET OFF OF ME! QUIT HARRASSING ME, YOU CRAZY CAT!"
If anything, that cat only began to attack Jinta more fiercely, and this went on for a few good minutes before the cat jumped away with one last malicious hiss, Jinta's howling echoing throughout the shop as he pawed at the scratches littering his face and head.
"Well, in any case," Urahara said, as if this happened ritualistically every time Jinta came home, "that's the most we've been able to gather up until this point. In the meantime I can show you two to your rooms, if you'd like. You both are welcome to request anything you need from me and the rest of my staff."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," Hitsugaya said, standing up. "Mind if I go out and look around?"
"Go ahead. I'll be right here in the shop if you need me."
"Captain, should I follow?" Matsumoto asked.
"No, not unless you really want to. I'm just going out for a quick look. I won't be long."
From the corner of the room, the cat was sitting and watching Hitsugaya again, looking as if it hadn't just clawed off half of Jinta's face. Hitsugaya slipped his shoes back on, listening to Matsumoto politely inquire about the shop in the other room, until he noticed the cat's stare. He looked at it, somewhat intrigued.
"See you," Hitsugaya said. Not once, in his whole life, has he ever spoken to an animal like it could understand him, but apparently this one did. "Don't cause too much trouble."
The cat said nothing, just smiled up at him.
Hitsugaya sighed and ruffled his hair before going on his way.
-.-.-.-
Seemed the rest of Karakura Town hadn't changed much either. Some new shops here and there, but Hitsugaya had no problems navigating his way around. For now, at least, things were relatively quiet, despite reports of increased Hollow activity; a ghost flitted by here and there, but no Pluses, nothing overly concerning. His walk to the Kurosaki clinic was pleasant and uneventful.
He didn't really know what he thought he was going to get out of talking to Isshin Kurosaki. Up until very recently, the man had completely settled into the human world, leaving all Shinigami business to those who still wielded their swords. He'd started his own business, had married a human woman, and had started the family that would produce Kurosaki Ichigo, one of the most renowned Substitute Shinigami of their time. Only dire necessity—a threat to his children, to his new home—had brought him out of retirement, and only temporarily.
But, with Ichigo gone, his father was probably the next best person to ask about recent going-ons in the town, even with Urahara being completely co-operative. And telling Matsumoto where he was actually going had been out of the question; he would've suffered her badgering about Kurosaki Karin for the rest of their stay here.
Kurosaki Karin…
"But what does it matter anyway?" Hitsugaya muttered to himself out loud. Karin was more than capable of being able to sense his reiatsu; it was how she'd found him so quickly last time, when he'd taken a bit of time off to visit Grandma Haru a couple years ago. Chances were she'd catch up to him before the end of the day anyway.
There were a couple of kids playing outside the clinic, probably no older than eight, whom Hitsugaya carefully moved around as he moved up towards the front steps. There was a button near the front door, although Hitsugaya was uncertain of its function, so he decided it was probably safer to just ignore it and knock.
Then he noticed it.
It was only all the stranger that Hitsugaya felt the stare on his head once he realized what it was, but when he looked up at the window facing the street to his right, there was nothing but a white rabbit staring back at him. Its cage had been purposely placed there, perhaps through some well-intentioned idea that the little thing could people-gaze as the world went by on the other side of the glass. It was gazing directly at Hitsugaya now, sitting on its bed of pine shavings, its nose twitching rapidly. In all honesty, it truly weirded Hitsugaya out. This was the second time today that an animal was paying such avid attention to him.
The front door opened, and Hitsugaya was surprised out of his trance, quickly turning to face the man at the door.
"Well, well," Isshin Kurosaki said. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Captain Hitsugaya."
-.-.-.-
Hitsugaya stared, his second tea of the day cradled between his palms. The rabbit was still looking at him.
"I haven't seen them myself," Isshin admitted, sitting down on the sofa across from where Hitsugaya had been offered a seat. "I've only sensed them. Urahara filled me in very briefly. So I wasn't too surprised to see you on my doorstep."
"I see," Hitsugaya said, tearing his gaze away from the creepy rabbit.
Isshin noticed. "Cute, isn't she?" he said, looking at the rabbit with a big fatherly smile. "Her name's Moonbyul. Yuzu got her not too long ago. I'm in charge of keeping her company until she comes back from her trip."
"Your daughter's away?" Hitsugaya said, focused now.
"Both of them are, yessir. Went up to Nagoya to visit my sister. Turning 50 years old this week, but we're the only medical center in Karakura, so I can't close up shop. Sent the kids to congratulate her in my place. Ichigo's still in Tokyo, though, if you wanted to talk to him."
"No, that's alright. I only meant to ask around to see if the problem was noticeable." So all three of the Kurosaki legacy are gone, Hitsugaya thought. Why? At a time like this?
"Through a human's eyes, you mean?" Isshin said, taking no notice of Hitsugaya's concern. "If you ask me, probably anyone with a bit of spiritual awareness will feel it a little, but it's unlikely they've thought anything of it. It seems for now the Garganta are still invisible to the living, at least." He tapped his fingernails against his own tea cup, deep in thought. "Do you suppose there's anyone who could close those things right now?"
"Hard to say. I still need to take a look for myself. Urahara says it's some new Kido keeping them open."
"Urahara is right. Otherwise he would have asked me to help close them a long time ago. And I can't say I was ever a prodigy at Kido."
Hitsugaya glanced at him briefly, and realized he wasn't joking. He actually thought he wasn't good at Kido. Out of practise maybe, but the idea that Isshin Kurosaki wasn't proficient in anything was laughable. But then, that was probably something only a few really knew about anymore.
"We should count ourselves lucky," Isshin said. "The amount of traffic coming through from Hueco Mundo has been minimal. In fact, it only gets worse when one of us gets too close to it."
"Us?"
"You, me, Urahara. Anyone with a high spiritual pressure. It attracts them, unless we take pains to mask it. You know how it is. Stimulates their appetite. But most regular humans won't entice them to cross over. Seems it'll keep that way for as long as we stay on top of our Konsō rituals."
"Or until more appear," Hitsugaya said. An ache began to form between his temples. As long as they were in the dark, they were vulnerable to these things. Didn't matter much if they were manageable now. Without a way to close them, they'd have their hands full soon enough.
"Say," Isshin said, "I've been meaning to ask you since you got in, but…is that your natural form?"
"Not exactly."
"Hm. I didn't think so. It may be a lifetime to some, but to you and me, you might as well have been my 3rd yesterday. You didn't look like someone who grew very fast to me."
"It's not permanent," Hitsugaya muttered, because he knew that was Isshin's way of calling him small again. "Growing up makes achieving bankai easier, but it tires me out faster. It's just for the sake of my cover."
"Color me surprised then," Isshin said. "Well, it suits you." He grinned. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of girls at the school to keep you busy."
"I'm not here to chase girls," Hitsugaya said, irritated.
"Of course not. Anyways, consider yourself welcome anytime you like. I'm not expecting Ichigo until Christmas, so if you need somewhere to stay just say the word. I'm sure he won't mind lending his room to an old friend."
Hitsugaya almost snorted. An old friend. Well, he supposed that was one way to describe it. That made just about every chum in Soul Society Ichigo's old friend. "I'll keep that in mind."
Author's Notes
1. I uploaded 2 chapters at once so you guys could have a better sense of whether you like it or not
2. If you guys are confused it's becuase a) everything works itself out later and b) I cheat at everything