Forever and Always
Chapter 3 - Back to the World of the Living
As Ichigo and Uryu moved across the campus to the cafeteria situated to the far west they noticed the gathering storm clouds. The thought of having to walk home in the rain made both of them frown, they lived in the same building a short walk away, but that short walk was still a twenty minute short walk. Again Ichigo wondered why he hadn't bothered to save up for a car.
Across the field they could see Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro coming towards them. Mizuiro was texting as usual while Keigo was trying to get more than two or three word answers from Chad. While Ichigo and Uryu had decided to study medicine, Chad was studying music, Keigo politics and Mizuiro psychology. Ichigo and Uryu had both made their decisions seperately that they had wanted to study medicine yet when they had found out that the other was taking it they had accused each other of copying.
That Chad had taken music was really no surprise to anyone in the group. While most people might think that Chad's big build made him someone to do with sport, his friends knew differently. Chad was incredibly gentle and music had been a logical decision as well as one that he knew he would enjoy. Even in high school he had played with a band. The surprise had come with Keigo qualifying well enough to study politics, though to be honest, a job where couldn't talk excessively would have been torture to him as well as the ones around him. As for Mizuiro studying psychology, that might have been the biggest surprise of them all. Mizuiro had never said much about what he wanted to do later on in life and his playboy attitude sure had made them all think that he wouldn't go into the academic kind of stuff.
About halfway to the cafeteria the two groups joined up and immediately the bickering between Uryu and Keigo started. Keigo because he thought Uryu was a boring academic as well as a smart ass, and sadly Ichigo couldn't disagree, and Uryu because he found Keigo as well as his loud and boisterous attitude to be extremely annoying. The others simply ignored the tirade between them, all lost in thought, either due to the lectures or lessons they had just had or because of other reasons.
After sitting down in the cafeteria to eat their lunch, they were joined by Tatsuki and Orihime. Orihime was taking courses in cookery, since she wanted to be a chef later on in life. Nobody had yet had the courage to tell her that her cooking was pretty different to what most people percieved as tasty, the celery and beet root sandwich she was eating right now being the perfect example. Tatsuki had decided to study civil defense and martial arts, a combination which hadn't been a surprise but which made most boys wooing Orihime think twice about what they did.
Both girls sat down at the table and they immediately started to talk to each other in some sort of organised chaos. Ichigo sat back and watched the scene. He had a bad feeling that this peace that they'd had for the past two years wouldn't last. Even worse, the feeling that that dream of his had been real made him really worried. He just couldn't shake it off.
~.~.~.~.~
Rukia stared at the group of people standing in front of her, wandering how much longer it could possibly take for them all to be ready. Captain Zaraki and Yachiru were arguing about whether or not she should take her scooter with her. Ikkaku was making a loud ruckus as usual about fighting a lot of enemies, Yumichika was looking at his reflection in a window nearby while simultaneously arguing with Rangiku and Captain Hitsugaya looked like he was about to erupt, just like a volcano would. Renji and her brother were simply standing there not talking. So basically their usual rota. Her own captain, Captain Ukitake was standing slightly to the side while talking to Captain Kyoraku and Nanao and not far off either was Captain Soi Fon giving her lieutenant a long list of things to do while she was gone as well the usual lecture she gave him about his incompetence. Izuru wasn't standing far away either, he was saying good-bye to Momo Hinamori while Shuhei was looking through his luggage, presumably having forgotten something. Hanataro was standing near Captain Unohana and was organising the final medicines into a bag while Nemu was watching the whole proceedings, apparently uninterested.
All these people had been chosen by Head Captain Yamamoto as part of an elite squad which was to be dispatched to the world of the living. All of them were lieutenants or captains, Hanataro, Yumichika and Ikkaku being the only ones not so. Rukia sighed softly and tried to keep her excitement from bubbling up to the surface and showing itself. She wanted no one to know just how happy she was about going back to the world of the living.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they were all ready to go.
"I presume that you all know what you were chosen for." Head Captain Yamamoto began. "Sosuke Aizen has escaped and we can presume that he will try to exact revenge on Ichigo Kurosaki and Kisuke Urahara for what they did to him in the winter war, two years ago."
All of them nodded, no one would ever be able to forget the winter war and the consequences it had brought. One of the most notable being Ichigo Kurosaki's loss of powers.
"When you go to the World of the Living you are to incorporate yourselves into the everyday lives of the humans, but please remember to stay on a constant guard. You will have no power restrictions and will be free to use all of your powers as you wish." Again, all of them nodded. "Now, all I have to say is good luck and may you find and capture Aizen before he is able to access his powers again."
They all raised their hands in farewell before walking through the senkaimon.
~.~.~.~.~
Nel looked up in surprise. She was feeling all weird and tingly. Like the time before she'd met Ichigo. Like the time before Aizen had come to Hueco Mundo. Something beig was about to happen. She could feel it in the air.
She looked over to Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the sixth Espada whom she had healed after finding him nearly dead on the battlefield.
"You feel it too, don't you?" She asked him.
He nodded softly. "Something's going to happen. We have to get to the World of the Living before it's too late."
"What about Ulquiorra?" She looked him in the eyes.
"I'm sure he's already there. Otherwise we would have found him by now." Grimmjow retorted, trying not to think too hard about the fourth Espada.
"Do you think Aizen will come back here?" Nel started to open a gargenta.
"I'm sure of it." He said as they stepped through it into the World of the Living.
A/N: So now all of them are starting to go to the World of the Living. Nobody really knows what happened to Grimmjow, most assume that he simply died. I decided however to keep him alive, he's going to play quite an important part later on in the story along with Nel and Ulquiorra.
