The World of the Living: Urahara Shop
Tessai looked over at the unconscious female before him, happy that Kisuke had jumped into the fray; otherwise, he and Avira both would've been off far worse than what they were. The old man that was her taichou would probably have been pretty pissed she even accepted help from them. However, she had done it regardless despite being stubborn about it at first. She really was old man Yamamoto's fourth seat. The damn girl was stubborn as all hell. If anything, he wasn't worried about the girl. The real thing was that what could happen if she overstayed her stay in the human world. She could be executed as well, but considering this mission was just assigned, Tessai was sure the girl was fine for quite a while if she needed to recover. According to Urahara, she was most assuredly still able to survive just that she used too much energy.
Tessai looked at the Substitute Soul Reaper next to him. His eyes, not even faltering on seeing the unconscious Shinigami before him. He knew she had information and saving Rukia was vital. He still owed her after all and considering that this female before him was a high seated officer of the Captain Commander's unit, he knew just how vital it was for her to hear it.
"Give it some time, Kurosaki."
The door open to reveal Kisuke adjusting his height upwards, showing his dark eyes, smiling slightly at the eager boy.
"It's alright, the woman just got herself knocked unconscious and over exhausted herself." Kisuke piped in, smiling, "Seems pretty normal for First Division members."
Ichigo glanced at Kisuke and sighed, "I just hope she can give us some answers. The execution is approaching, and I have a lot of training to do if I am going to beat Byakuya and the other taichous."
"Patience, Ichigo, shouldn't you just go back to training?" Kisuke moved his fan around happily, keeping the grin plastered on his face, "I can tell you when the stubborn girl wakes up." He would've added that it might've been a bad idea for him to help Avira out, especially considering what division she was from, but he knew he could handle things if she was actually with Yamamoto's side. Never would hurt to kill if he had to, but he guesses he was waiting to see if that would be the case with her. She was always attached to the Captain Commander. That much, he knew about her from Yaijime when he was still a taichou. However, her role complicates things. It was the whole reason why he decided to help her to begin with.
Still, he'd highly doubted that since she was in the Captain Commander's division, that she would agree with everything the Soul Society did, considering how much of a peacekeeper Yaijime was, he was probably against this himself.
Orihime looked over at the unconscious girl who looked like she had been just exhausted from her fight with the Hollows. According to Urahara, she had been able to take out a whole bunch of them by herself, but she and Tessai-kun had been overwhelmed by the number of Hollows.
"I'd rather wait till she wakes up. She has information that we could use." Ichigo told him firmly. If she had any information on Rukia, he would have to get it from her no matter what.
"Stubborn," Kisuke noted, holding back a chuckle. Ichigo sure was just as stubborn as his dad. He reminded him of Isshin so much. He'd hope Avira wouldn't bring up too much to give away his past to Ichigo. He didn't need trouble, especially if she believed what everyone else had believed that he did.
"Look, I just want Rukia to be ok and this girl is our only chance to get any information so I have to stay here so I can get some answers." Ichigo pointed a finger at the unconscious Shinigami as Kisuke sighed.
"Just expect her to be a little pissed. I doubt she's gonna be happy if she gets questioned about this, especially if she woke up from a rough battle." Kisuke waved his fan around and grinned.
"Say, why exactly did you help her exactly?" Ichigo questioned, "Did you come to the same conclusion as I did?"
"Oh, yeah." Urahara nodded, trying to keep Ichigo away from what he knew, pulling out his fan, "It's a pretty good assumption, don't you agree?"
Ichigo hesitated, wondering if Kisuke was insulting him or something. Was it really that obvious? He just thought it was the right direction to go.
He sighed, shaking his head to himself. He was tired, but he needed to know what she knew.
"You shouldn't be in such a rush, Ichigo. I'll let you know when she's awake. You should worry about getting some rest. You had a long night after all." Urahara not only wanted Ichigo out of the room when she awoke, but also because he'd been literally here all day and it was near one in the morning. The kid needed to take care of himself.
Ichigo sighed, knowing Urahara wasn't probably going to drop this any time soon, "Fine, but I'll be back in the morning to check up if she's awake or not even if you do or don't tell me." Ichigo sighed as Orihime quickly followed him out of the room.
"Kisuke, it was wise to keep him out of her until she wakes up," Tessai stated, glancing at the unconscious Shinigami once again. He knew there was something odd about her, but he couldn't tell what it was exactly.
"I agree, there's a lot she could tell us about but we have to be careful. We don't know if she's for the execution or not." Kisuke told him. It would be best for Ichigo to get some information from her. However, it wasn't like he couldn't tell him what the taichous were capable of and tell him how they could get Rukia back. They really didn't need Avira, but Kisuke wasn't quite sure if he was ready to let that secret out at this point, especially with this timing. Ichigo could assume that he was some kind of spy for the Soul Society, take off on his own, and most likely get himself killed in the process along with his friends.
This had to be kept a secret for a little while longer to ensure that Ichigo wouldn't go the wrong way. He also needed to keep his connection with Avira in the dump as well. That could cause issues as well. They won't trust her at first considering what division she's in.
"Her telling us some details of the execution would be good. However, she could expose our past to Ichigo and the others and that could end badly." Tessai stated as Kisuke nodded in agreement.
"Yes, that's why I'm glad I sent Ichigo on his way. There's no need for him to know about our past yet, especially with the events happening at the moment. We'll tell Avira to keep her mouth shut about such things. I hope she's on our side in this. I'd hate to have to do any kind of violence, especially to someone that probably has no involvement in this." It was to be said, but Avira was a lot more important than everyone else thinks. He couldn't let that be found out either. Who knows who was watching.
XXXX
Ugh, headache from hell.
Avira found herself groaning, waking up to a splitting headache. The lights above the room were killing her. Her body ached as well, but she noticed there were bandages around her as well. The moment her eyes adjusted to the room. She sat upright, looking around at her surroundings. She was in some kind of shop, and not some kind of ordinary shop either. The couch she was laying on was blue, along with feeling like it was a bit worn down. She looked around to see no one so she started getting up
"Greetings!"
A loud voice shouted, making Avira jump and fall to the ground, making the pain in her ribs increase due to falling.
She recognized that. It was Urahara Kisuke again. He looking down at her, showing his fan out, grinning.
"You're a fucking sadist you know that?" Avira sighed, looking up at him, standing back up to her feet, "You could always, I don't know, be normal about it." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"My apologies, Avira." He chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "We haven't had that many Menos Grandes in quite some time. Even if Karakura gets extra Hollows than most, that had to be the biggest amount of Hollows I've seen in a long while. Anyways, how are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a herd of Hollows." She paused before groaning, "Only because I did." She was curious though. What the hell benefitted Urahara to help her? If he has no affliction to the Soul Society and did all that shit to those members in the Gotei 13, what the hell was he doing helping her? Not that she didn't mind or anything, but it was still odd.
"Figure it would be that way." Urahara nodded, "By the way, I have a friend or four coming over to see you so keep yourself quiet about my past for now." He put a finger to his lips, putting his fan away.
"What? That you slaughtered people for experiments?" She asked before immediately regretting those words. That was rude of her to say that, but…
"I was framed." Kisuke narrowed his eyes at her words, "I never did those things." He stated while Avira sighed, resting her hand on her chin.
"How do I not know that you're lying?" She asked, sitting back down on the sofa. It was a good point that she didn't know if he was lying or not.
"How do you know that I'm not?" Kisuke retorted, smiling slightly at her while she tilted her head to the side.
"Good point." She noted, "But by that logic, how do you think I should trust you?"
"Well, I saved your soul from being eaten by those Hollows. How about that?" He asked her while she groaned.
"Damn it, Urahara-san. Fine, fine, you got a deal, but who are your friends?" She asked, crossing her legs.
"Eh, just some Substitute Shinigami and a few friends."
The moment Kisuke said those words, the door open, revealing Ichigo, Orihime, Uyru, and Chad.
"Hey! I told you I was coming…" Ichigo trailed off before noticing that the Shinigami was awake. He gasped, pointing a finger at her, "Hey! You're awake!"
Avira rolled her eyes, "Good, you can see pretty well." She muttered sarcastically, resting a hand on her hip. Who was this orange haired, loudmouth human? "Who are you exactly?"
"That's the Substitute Shinigami I told you about." Kisuke walked over, standing next to her. His fan was once again over his mouth.
"This kid got Kuckhi's powers?" She sighed, noticing all four of them were staring at her suspiciously.
Whoops, shouldn't of let that one out.
"You four don't trust me, do you?" Avira sighed. She needed some caffeine to knock out this migraine, "Urahara-san looks like I'm gonna need some tea. This is gonna be a LONG talk." A long talk she didn't expect to have to do to these people. No wonder Kisuke wanted her to talk with them.
"Glad you can see we don't." Uyru pointed out, "Good reasons, of course."
Avira could tell the black-haired man was different from the others. The girl and the dark-skinned man was also off. They weren't normal humans that's for sure, "I figured you all wanna talk. I owe Urahara-san a lot after helping me out last night." She had to make sure she arrived back in the Soul Society at a certain time or she might share the same fate as Rukia and that wasn't happening, "So no need to be wary of me. I'm not going to act like the others that were here beforehand." In fact, Renji she didn't know too much about. He had been in the same class as her sister Kaguya was. Byakuya-taichou was, well, pretty strict. Although her disliking of him came from being one of the five noble clans.
"Let's hope you're not. Honestly, I agree with you, I don't want to fight either. I want to talk to you as well, and I hope you can answer all our questions as clear as possible." Ichigo stated. Even if the woman was pretty hot-tempered, he sure didn't want to fight her if he didn't have to. No resistance surprised him, "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo." He pointed at Uyru, "This is Ishida Uyru." He pointed at Orihime, "This is Inoue Orihime," Finally, he pointed at Chad, "This is Chad."
"My name's Hozuki Avira. I'm the fourth seat of the first division." She stated to them before shrugging, waving her hand for them to follow her, "Let's have a seat, then I'll answer any questions you have for me." She's getting caffeine. She's going to need it to survive the day.
XXXX
"So where do you want to start?"
Avira rested her cup of Green Tea on the table, yawning. She stretched her arms out. God, she was tired from that battle still. At least she had some caffeine now.
"Well, how about the location of Rukia? We wanna save her." Ichigo stated, "She saved my life and I wanna return the favor."
"Kid, that area isn't the place you want to go. At least, not without a plan." She looked down on the ground, "She's being held in the sixth division's prison. Byakuya-taichou is the taichou of that division. He's the guy who came to the world of the living along with his fukutaichou, Renji."
"Yeah, I encountered him myself," Ichigo told her while Avira pointed a finger at him.
"Then I don't need to explain how powerful he is if he defeated you like he was nothing." Avira knew this kid was inexperienced, but even with that said, he should know how much power Byakuya and Renji had in that single encounter. She turned over to Urahara, "I take it you've trained him since then?"
Urahara nodded, "Yes, he's gotten a lot of it down in such a short time." He stated.
"Impressive." She looked over at Ichigo, "Unfortunately, there's a lot of people in the Gotei 13 that are stronger. My taichou especially. The Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 is my taichou: Genryuusai Shingeki Yamamoto. He's beyond powerful. In fact, I'd say he is power. He'd probably be able to beat Urahara there in terms of power. His Zanpakuto is Ruujin Jaaka. It reduces anything it comes active to dust, and that's only in its Shikai form. I've never seen the Captain Commander's Bankai, but I hope you never have to encounter him. You would be reduced to a pile of ashes in a matter of seconds."
"He's the guy that made the decision on the sentence didn't he?" His hand slammed on the desk and Avira flinched, not expecting him to freak out like that.
"Actually, no, that isn't the case." Avira rested her elbows on the table, "The Soul Society has a central tasked to carrying out sentences to criminals. That Central is called Central 46." She explained, "Forty wise men and six judges decide the criminal's fate. Once a decision been made, nobody, not even my taichou, can veto the decision. My grandfather is one of the judges. However, he's one of the better ones in there." Or so she thought. He changed his mind so quickly. It wasn't like him to be so persuaded so quickly, "Anyways, they are the ones that made the decision. My grandfather actually announced the execution. Something about him felt off that day. He's not the kind of person that would send a young girl like Rukia to death so quickly just for passing powers down. It isn't him. I was there when they announced it and I found my own stomach turning at the decision." She grabbed the cup of her Green Tea, drinking it, "Anyways, my grandfather is one of the few in the Central that actually believe that some rules are meant to be broken. The rest, are like corrupt politicians in terms of your world."
Yamamoto tends to be like that too sometimes. It was why he and she would argue so much.
"I see, but why would the Central want to send Rukia to execution immediately?" Uyru asked, "Surely they have certain tasks when a crime is being charged against a Shinigami." Ah, Shinigami politics, his favorite. The very fact that a Shinigami was helping them irritated him, but if she was giving out helpful information, then who wouldn't want to jump in. Although, it's possible that she may, in fact, be lying.
"I'm not entirely sure. My grandfather liked to keep my sister and me out of those kinds of things growing up." She told him, "However, I am well aware my grandfather has witnessed the corruption. It's not like him to be like this. He told me to give up on this stuff as well."
"So, you're not okay with the execution either?" Chad asked. She just said that her grandfather wanted her to give up on this, but was it because he was trying to protect her? Or was the Central hiding important information of the execution?
"Actually, no, I'm not." She wouldn't be telling them this if she wasn't. She would act like someone that was pretty loyal to the law, and thankfully, she wasn't taught to blindly be loyal to the law no matter what like those classy, shitty nobles were, "Rukia and I used to be in the thirteenth division actually. I was a tenth seated officer when she joined. I showed her around quite a bit, even dissed off some people that were being rude to her. As someone who came from near noble status, I knew how she felt. People would always discriminate against the nobles and people that were born in the Seireitei. I wasn't born, I was taken in by my grandfather, but enough of that. Even though Rukia committed a crime, I don't think sentencing her is the right choice. Things happen in missions where you have to improvise or you'll die. Even if you have to pass on your powers to someone you barely know. That's life, filled with hard decisions."
Soul King, she sounded like her grandfather right now.
"Either way, Rukia completed her mission, and she did what she had to do to complete it." Avira sighed before Ichigo looked at her before smiling.
"Well, I'm glad Rukia has some people in the Seireitei supporting her." Ichigo sighed. The smile, fading quickly, "Anything you can tell us about the Gotei 13? You said you Captain Commander's pretty scary."
"Scary? Oh, you don't know the half of it." Avira didn't need to feel any pain from training that she hadn't had now due to the Hollow assault, "Avoid him like the plague. You'll die if you do encounter him." She could talk more about the other taichous, "So I think giving you more information on the taichous would be great. Who you might run into, who to avoid, and who may possibly be on the same side we are." She put her index and middle finger up, "So the Second Division taichou is SoiFon. She's got a hotheaded temper and swears loyalty to the lawfully. She used to serve the four noble clans. I'd say avoid her." She lifted another finger, "The next one is the third division taichou: Ichimaru Gin. I've met the guy a couple of times and he frankly freaks me out. You think being exposed to Yamamoto-soutaichou's wouldn't make me feel as freaked out, but no, it doesn't. He's got a Zanpakuto that shifts out as quick as lightning. I don't know if he would actually be on the side of us. He seems to be more of a neutral if anything." She lifted a pinkie finger, "Next is Retsu Unohana. She's the fourth division taichou. Despite being the taichou of a division strictly on healing, she's extremely powerful and one of the oldest taichous there. I would avoid her like the plague." She moved her thumb, "Next one is Aizen Sosuke, he's the fifth division taichou. Out of all the people in the Gotei 13, I'd say that he would be on our side. He's very peaceful and I have chatted with him on occasions. If I found something up with the execution, he certainly did as well. He also does work with my grandfather a lot." She sighed, "Then, you know about Byakuya, he's not much to explain. The seventh division taichou is Komamura Sajin. I don't know much about him, but two of my friends originally hails from that division before transferring to their own divisions. He's fiercely loyal to Yamamoto-soutaichou though so I doubt if you encounter him, he'll be nice."
She paused for a moment, hoping everyone is following her. They nodded and she continued, taking another sip of her tea, "Eight division taichou is Kyoraku Shunsui. He's an interesting man; I've talked to him a couple of times, but I'm not entirely sure if he would attack you guys or not. He shares the teaching Yamamoto teaches his students and that's seizing justice on your own accord. It's hard to say if he'll actually do something if you encounter him. He's pretty peaceful." When he's not chasing girls good Soul King, "Now, nine, 11, and 12, definitely avoid. I'm speeding this up a bit. Nine is Tousen Kaname. I don't know him well, but he's pretty damn powerful so I'd avoid him. He's got an addiction to justice but he's the leader of a division a good friend of mine is in. Next is Hitsugaya Toshiro, small, pretty young, but very intelligent. My sister is from that division. I think he'd probably be looking into this so I don't think you'd have to worry about him." It looks like Kaguya might be getting involved in this too with that said, "Zaraki Kenpachi, eleventh division taichou. He's got a thrill of fighting, maybe a bit obsessive. Avoid him. Kurotsuchi Mayuri, a crazy scientist with an ego the size of both realms put together. He's terrifying. Don't know him too well, don't intend to. Avoid him more than anyone I said. The last one is Ukitake Jushiro; mine and Rukia's former taichou, you can definitely trust him if you encounter him." She followed by giving them the descriptions of everyone in detail. She had to learn how to be really detailed in appearances since she visited Mayuri once to give him information on Yamamoto. Let's just say, she never wanted to do it again.
"Thanks for the info." Ichigo declared with a small sigh. He was glad the person he found was one of Rukia's friends. He was convinced that she was telling the truth though, "What do you think we should get Rukia?" He was certain he knew where exactly to go. However, he wanted her input too.
"Do it before the execution. You'll have to deal with less taichous that way and you won't have to worry about a weapon that has the power of a million Zanpakuto trying to kill you." It was fair advice, and she was certain Kisuke was aware of it as well, "Even if you don't run into too many taichous that doesn't mean the lower officers will go after you. First division people are ones that have a different power scale with the exceptions of the eleventh who accelerate in Zanjutsu far more than even the first division. The first division's power is usually as powerful as the seat rank above them, but Chojiro and Yamamoto make the rest of the division look like puppies so watch out if you even make a scene big enough for them to get involved." She wasn't sure about Chojiro, considering the peace-loving tea man that was exceptionally powerful wouldn't step in to fight a small number of intruders that probably wouldn't kill anyone. Of course, Chojiro didn't know them. However, that didn't confirm if he was for or against the execution. She'd still have to tread on thin water or else she could be seen as a traitor, especially after spilling the beans like this to them. It could get her kicked out or worse, executed.
"I figured you'd say before the execution. I see your point." Ichigo stood up to his feet, "I appreciate the help. I frankly wasn't expecting this talk to go this well."
Avira stood up to her feet as well, "You got lucky, if they had sent anyone other than me, you would've been pretty screwed." Well, then again, Urahara wouldn't have sent her here if he didn't think that she wouldn't give out important information, "But anyways, I respect you, Kurosaki Ichigo for wanting to save the girl that saved your life and befriended in only a short period of time." She assumed it was that long according to what Reno told her earlier, "Let's end this conversation here."
XXXX
"Are you planning on joining us, Avira?"
Nighttime came around quickly and Avira was nearing her deadline of being back in the Soul Society. She needed to be back in the barracks by tomorrow afternoon.
His friend Orihime had an incredible power too. She had actually healed her to the point where she didn't actually need to go to a hospital. It was amazing that she could do something like this.
Unfortunately, she wasn't going with them. She smiled, "Unfortunately no, but I'll be watching from the inside. It's better if I stayed out of this part. Wouldn't want to die pretty quickly." She waved her hand while Ichigo didn't get what she was talking about.
"Huh? What do you mean die?" Ichigo asked as Avira felt shivers down her spine.
"My taichou would want me dead on sight. Believe me, it's better if I just hide in the shadows to help you. I'll be at the execution if you don't save Rukia til that point." She waved, preparing to head out back to the barracks.
"She's got a point." Kisuke pulled his fan out, looking over at Avira, "Good thinking on your part. Hope you have a great trip back."
"Yeah, I'll try not to die." Avira chuckled before heading out, "Good to meet you guys."
Oh boy, what a last couple of days this has been. She better keeps things under wraps for a while. Wouldn't want her to fuck up any of their plans.