Kenpachi Zaraki does not see the point. The uselessness of traveling to the living realm to visit Kisuke Urahara angers him to no end. If he were to have his way, he would be alone and in Rukongai, searching and possibly killing the hollow that is on the loose. He grinds his teeth, flexing the muscle in his jaw.
The others chat silently but Kenpachi chooses to stay out.
"KEN-CHAN! WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK TO BRING MEEEE!"
Yachiru materializes out of nowhere, behind Kenpachi's back. She tugs on his spikes to jingle the bells and frowns. "If you brought me, I could tell them when to stay back and when you're really really mad! Why would you pick baldy over me?"
Ikkaku takes a defensive stance, "Why you!"
Finally, Kenpachi lets out a semi-malicious smile and speaks. "HAHA! There you are Yachiru! Where have you been? Lost in the tunnels of Byakuya's quarters again?" Kenpachi howls in entertainment.
"I can't tell you, Ken-chan! It's mine and Aia's secret!"
Unable to pay attention to one thing very long, Yachiru starts a new topic and pulls out a lolipop from her robe sleeve. Between licks she begs. "Can I stay with you guys now? I don't... want to go back and... play with Maki-Maki. Maybe we... can visit Ichi and Big-Booby!" An array of colors spirals around her tiny mouth and her teeth have become blue.
The only one who seems opposed is Ikkaku. The other 5 smile and nod, welcoming a seventh (and very colorful) member to their small group. A look of strain comes across Aia's usually calm face but again, no one notices
.
Yachiru bounces up and down, bashing Jinta on the head with his own bat.
"Knock that off and give it too me!" He cries at the oblivious child.
His arm swings and knocks an unsuspecting Ururu on the back. She lets out a cry of surprise but slyly drops and swings her leg around, connecting with Jinta's face.
Kisuke Urahara steps in to prevent an all-out brawl between three children. To Yachiru, he presents a paddle ball and to the others, chores around the shop. Ururu goes without complaint, her usual quiet, pushover self returning from the wallop she just gave Jinta. Jinta curses his master and stalks off, planning to hide and let Ururu finish his chores.
"Now then!" booms Kisuke cheerily. "This is what I wanted to give you!"
In his hand, he holds a small vial. It shimmers faintly in the pale lighting of the shop.
"Is that the specimen vial you wanted to give us?" Aia asks.
Kisuke looks at her for a moment, a hint of suspicion in his eyes. He passes over it, bends down and hands the vial to her, smiling knowingly.
"Correct."
After straightening himself up, he announces to the rest of the group. Your mission is simply this: Throw the vile at the hollow and hit it. This will take an immediate sample and travel back to me without your care. I've been analyzing the hollow for quite some time now, but as you know it has to be from a distance since I'm technically no longer allowed in Sereitei."
Shuhei Hisagi asks to examine the vial, and once he has done so looks to Kisuke.
"Just how long have you known the hollow was sneaking around?"
"I was the one who discovered it!" Kisuke claims in hard whisper. "I keep tabs on everyone from afar and when I noticed this creature on the edge of the spirit world, I followed it. I told Mayuri Kurotsuchi he could have all the credit and leave my name out of it, but I want the first sample. Just don't tell him that." He runs his hand over his scruff and throws in something about having promised the first sample away too.
The group of seven turn to each other, giving glances that say they are ready to go when Tessai comes in and invites them all for a fabulous meal. Unable to resist the giants cooking, the readily agree to the wafting smell of fish and sweet rice cakes.
In the next room over, a table is set up with plate after plate of food. An enormous bowl of miso soup sits in the center with a ladle and around it are various dishes, but some are half eaten.
Jinta pops in behind the group, smelling food but his eyes are bombarded by the color red and he goes ballistic. "WHO INVITED THE MOOCHER!" Jinta raises a fist at Renji Abarai and prepares for attack. Tessai has a different idea, though, and pulls Jinta to the kitchen to wash dishes.
Renji looks up, pieces of rice still stuck to his thin lips. "Hey guys!" he greets in a muffled manner. Drool begins to drip from his mouth as there is still food hidden in his cheeks. He is in a modern day school outfit that matches the Karakura school.
"What are you doing here, Renji?" Aia asks stepping ahead of the rest of the group.
He takes another spoonful of something that smells like pork and swallows before he reveals any information. "I'm here on an investigation. It seems there have been some kind of warps appearing in Karakura town. People have been disappearing in the warps but they haven't been found in Hueco Mundo, the Soul Society, the Dangai Precipice World or the Valley of Screams. It seems that there is another world out there or something. That's about it; a normal, jacked up shinigami problem."
His description puzzles them all, but they offer no help. The group of seven have a differen't mission and avoiding commands under Captain Yamamoto could be considered treasonous. After their simultaneous realization, they take pillows at the table and eat – except for Kenpachi, who shoves himself in a corner, stating that he doesn't need to eat to be strong.
The food is exceptional. The smell of cheesy, pork gyoza on udon noodles hangs in the air like the song of a siren, tempting them to take their bites as quickly and deliciously as possible. The yakimono grilled and pan fried dishes are all tinged with a sweet tariyaki or a sweetened soy sauce, something anyone could make, just not as deliciously as Tessai.
Soon after, and much thanks to the rice, they are full and for the most part happy. Yachiru has moved from the table to try and stuff a piece of sweet bread into Kenpachi's mouth, but still he refuses. As if she tried all that she could, the tiny, pink-haired child shrugs and stuffs the entire roll into her own mouth and hops down from his shoulders to lay across her pillow. The air is light, sweet and even Izuru and Shuhei who are not generally the most out-spoken have had their share of laughs.
They wave their goodbyes, heading towards another Senkaimon gate. But before Roka enters, he stops at Renji's side.
"Have you seen Ichigo, lately?"
Renji sighs, his upbeat mood destroyed. "He hasn't been in school much. Now that his powers are gone, he's gone into some kind of slump."
"Do you think he misses Rukia?" Roka asks coyly.
There is a flurry of red hair as Renji flicks his head up to look in Roka's eyes. A potent mixture of jealousy, admiration and anger have turned his brown eyes nearly black. "Why would yo-"
Roka is waved over to the opening gates, so he cuts off Renji and hands him a single, device. A flash drive, though Renji has no idea what the item is. "Give him this, please. Leave it on his window sill or something. Just make sure it gets there."
Roka's dress pants crinkle as he rushes towards the open gates and Renji stares at the piece of technology unwillingly.
It was an order from a superior.
He has no choice but to obey.
On the other side of the Dangai Precipice world, the group steps out into a clearing between wild shrubs and trees that are clearly untamed. According to Kisuke Urahara they have been brought to the Rukongai District of the Unabridged souls, number 42. Like Junrinan, the area is covered by forest life but in contrast is unfriendly and unwelcoming to visitors.
Before they can break up and search, it seems they have already been found.
Here they all are. The group of seven stand in front of an unusually small hollow. Its stature is that of a short man, but its shape rolls inwards, then outwards, giving it no definite body shape. Its mask, something that looks like a fat man, has large cheeks and many small teeth to fill the open mouth. The entire hollow appeared to be a glutton, ready to eat whatever stood in its path. And when none of the new, tasty morsels lays in for an attack, he chooses his own target. He lunges at the girl with the voluptuous, pasta-like hair and the green candy eyes. He wants her riatsu, something that lures him even more than her delectable appearance.
She does the expected - making her way out of the group, so to protect her friends and unknowingly to the hollow, to avoid them from seeing anything. "There is no escaping Taishoku-ka!" he shrieks in her direction. The hollow, getting hungrier and more ravenous reaches out a bubbling tentacle to her ankle. A foot would make a perfect appetizer before the main course.
Aia pulls her searing ankle away. The hollow's digestive acids have left burned and half-eaten flesh. She pulls out her katana, and without speaking directly to the sword in her hand, reveals a shikai with a silver handle and two blades. The see-through blades overlap barely at two ends, causing the sword to appear slightly longer and very fragile. The handle swirls around itself and Aia's arm, making the two inseparable from each other. Before making her move, Aia analyzes their new setting, making sure that no one is around.
Taishoku-ka springs at Aia once more, this time heading for her throat. He meets her sword, just before her throat and prepares to digest that too. She looks him dead on and in that moment, disappears. Taishoku-ka swings an arm through the air, "You're a tease!"
He is hit on the side. It doesn't hurt. It is just a small, precise tap, and his body sucks in the projectile. But as soon as he tries to dissolve it, it disappears, leaving him even hungrier. He thrashes in anger, screaming all the while about how he can't wait to eat her and relish in the fact that he had taken out another one of the afterlife's bitches.
The others can now be heard through the over-growth, searching for Aia and the rogue Hollow. They stop under a tree, just in time to see Aia slash through the raging hollow and be rained upon by falling ashes that disappear before they touch the ground. Aia knows she has executed her plan with perfect timing and falls to the ground with an apologetic look on her face. Her shikai returns to a regular katana and she replaces it back within her black sheath. "He wasn't that tough. But I did send the sample in. I suppose we're done here?"
After a few sideways glances, no one objects. It is clear that their mission is over and so everyone agrees to head home. Roka steps forward, a hand falling on Aia's shoulder. "Kenpachi, she's been injured and her injury is still active." He motions Kenpachi's eyes towards the ankle that is now almost bone and the skin that is still sizzling and falling off. "You're the strongest and most willing to get your suit dirty. Would you take her to the infirmary?"
Kenpachi huffs in Roka's direction but picks Aia up anyways. A part of him wants to leave her there and see how weak she really is. It wouldn't have been unlike Kenpachi to have abandoned the weak. At this point, the powerlessness of a strong ally would have driven him to be maniacal. He would have gone off in search of a better fight – someone or a group of someones that may have put up a challenge. But the majority of his new conscience takes over; because if he didn't get to fight, he might as well get to smell luscious peaches.
