Chapter Four: Across the Shimmering Sea, Brothers Reunite

Not a night had gone by in the previous week that Orihime Inoue did not cry herself to sleep. Kisuke Urahara had denied her request of transportation to Hueco Mundo to search for Ichigo. Rukia had chosen, at least for the time being, to stay in Soul Society in order to regain her strength. Chad was still recovering from the brutal wounds he received as the final events had unfolded. And Uryu had not been himself after losing his powers against Mayuri Kurotshuchi, Captain of the 12th squad. Even Tatsuki, her childhood friend and possibly the only one that understood her seemed so far off since Orihime returned, even though Tatsuki was not part of the team that went to Soul Society.

Orihime felt alone for the first time in years. She wanted to help find Ichigo, help save him from the darkness that had taken hold of him, yet she was told that it would be taken care of by professionals. Urahara had made contact with a past student of his currently in the United States, and Renji, along with Toshiro, were heading to the Earth soon to join up with them in the search, yet Yamamoto had refused to allow her to come along.

She had been the one to inform Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father, that Ichigo 'went missing on their vacation.' Their vacation, of course, was just a cover story they all constructed before leaving for Soul Society to rescue Rukia. However, Isshin seemed too calm about it all, as if he simply expected that things would work out. It bothered Orihime that he could simply dismiss it as fact, to not seem to care that his son was gone, and that no one knew where he was.

With these thoughts in her head, she drifted off to sleep, sobbing. Her dreams were full of Ichigo, of reaching up to his face and removing the mask, revealing his true form. She wanted to pull the horrid thing back and see his normal smile, the one he gave rarely, but was always warming nonetheless.


"So, your younger brother, eh?" a thin man with short blond hair asked his companion, a tall man, muscular, with fiery orange hair. "You excited? You haven't seen him for… what, a century now?"

"Something like that," the other man answered shortly. "Urahara asked for Katsume as well, but I haven't seen him lately either. Knowing him, he's mixed up in some horrible trouble by now." The man shook his head slightly as the two of them continued down the hallway of the airport, reaching the baggage return. "He always did manage to get mixed up in some of the worst problems. Alan, you sure you want to be part of this? This isn't some minor deal here."

Alan nodded, adjusting his bags on his shoulders before the two of them set off again, down the hallways leading to the front of the airport. "I want to learn how to use my powers the right way, and you said this Urahara guy was the ticket for that one. Plus, I owe you from saving me when that Hollow attacked me on campus last year. Hey, Hideoyoshi, do we have time to grab a burger? I'm starving."

Hideoyoshi let out a quick laugh as he clapped his friend on the back. "Are you serious? We take a plane from San Diego to Karakura Town, Japan, and you want a burger? Don't you want to try some local flavor or something? They had some great sushi in Karakura last time I was here."

"Wasn't that seventy years ago? Times change, man." Alan glanced down at his watch, which he realized he needed to adjust. He set it to the time displayed on a clock on the wall as they continued to walk. "Never mind, we don't have time anyways if we're going to meet up with your little brother."

They exited the airport, with their bags in hand and waited out in front. It only took a moment for a black robed boy, who physically looked twelve, to land on the ground in front of them. Around his black robe on his shoulders, he wore a cape designating him as a Captain, and if that was not enough to identify him, his face and hair was nearly exactly the same as Hideoyoshi's, except that his hair was white instead of fiery orange.

Toshiro merely nodded, then added, "Brother." Hideoyoshi noted how he still seemed so cold… so much like the Ice Prince many called him. He had hoped his brother would grow out of being strictly business, grow out of being so formal.

"Made Captain, eh Toshiro?" Hideoyoshi asked before he noticed that Alan was glancing around frantically, his eyes dancing between the zanpaku-to Toshiro carried and the people around them, and how none of them so much as glanced at the Soul Reaper in front of them. "Relax Alan, Toshiro isn't in a gigai right now. This is his Soul Reaper form, and no one should be able to detect him right now that isn't in a spirit form." He looked back up at his younger brother. "Oh gosh, I don't have to start calling you Captain now, do I?"

His younger brother shook his head, indicating his answer as no. "You aren't in the 13 Squads anymore, and you aren't a representative either. As far as I am concerned, you're a civilian now."

"Hey, wait a sec!" Hideoyoshi shouted, forgetting they were in front of an airport for a moment. "So I have nothing to do with the 13 Squads, yet the old man asked for me specifically? What a crock of crap!" He scowled for a second, before the advantages dawned on him. "Heh heh… I guess I don't have to take orders this way."

"It isn't like you were going to anyways, Hideoyoshi," Toshiro replied, crossing his arms in front of him. "You did disobey orders when you were told to have nothing to do with Kisuke Urahara, which is why you got exiled here in the first place. But enough of this; we have important matters to attend to. Follow me, and I will take you to the Urahara Shop."

"At least he's not as much of a hardass as he used to be," Hideoyoshi whispered to Alan as they followed Toshiro into the heart of the city. Toshiro stopped suddenly, whipping around. "I was kidding, chill!" Hideoyoshi told him.

"What are you talking about? I just wanted to ask where Katsume is," Toshiro asked, raising an eyebrow at his brother's sudden outburst.

"I couldn't get a hold of him," Hideoyoshi admitted. "We haven't exactly remained as close as twin brothers should, but… last thing I heard, he was here in Japan, somewhere. He wanted that thing Urahara made… the Hougyoku. We had a big fight over it and haven't spoken since, so I'm not surprised that he didn't answer me. He wanted to force Soul Society to reinstate us and was angry for following Urahara."

"I see," Toshiro remarked, continuing the walk. "Then I suppose we are better off without him. He would only cause trouble."


"Trying again, are ya?" the Hollow asked Ichigo, taunting him from afar. "You won't be able to break my control, fool. You don't have what it takes to become King again… you will forever be the horse!"

"What the hell do you want?" Ichigo roared at him, enraged. His fists were clenched, thrashing in the air at an invisible enemy he could not make contact with. "Give my body back, bastard!" He dropped to his knees, slamming his fists on the ground several times before curling up into a quivering mass, barely holding back tears. "I'll get it back…" he said feebly, squeezing himself tighter. "I'll show you…"

The Hollow laughed, refusing Ichigo the chance of attacking by materializing inside his head. "That castle that those Arrancar had built… Las Noches… that is where the Hougyoku is. That is where true power awaits me, boy. That is what I want. Power. All of it! And to get it, I am forced to use you, use your body. Ya think I want to be in your weak-ass body? No. But I ain't got a choice."

Ichigo didn't speak again. He remained as he was, closing his eyes, ignoring the vision of the massive castle before him. Aizen was in there, waiting for the Hollow to make a move, along with the army he had gathered. Some of the Hollows that flocked to him had already partially removed their masks naturally, but many of them waited for Aizen's device to power up and release their true powers.

Just then an Arrancar appeared in front of the Hollow. The remnants of a mask on its face resembled fish fins protruding out just below the ears. "Hey! You're that bastard that followed Lord Aizen! Come here so I can kill you!"

"Aw shoot, ya found me…" the Hollow mocked, pointing two fingers on one hand at his foe. Red light erupted from them suddenly, which smashed into the Arrancar's chest, burning a hole straight through it. The Arrancar fell back, dead before it hit the ground. "Too bad you were too weak to do anything! I should probably get outta here though before Aizen sends more idiots… That power will be mine though!"


"Urahara," Hideoyoshi greeted with a slight bow, but didn't overdo it. "This is my friend, Alan. He has displayed some spirit powers, and I've heard you've taken to training some humans lately, so I figured I'd introduce you two."

"Ah, very good, very good," Kisuke Urahara responded with a smile. "Jinta, Ururu, get these guests some food, please!" he called back into the store.

"Yes sir, manager!" to children's voices replied, followed by a clatter of pots and pans.

Hideoyoshi decided it was best just to jump into business. "If I may skip the formalities, I was wondering if you could shed some light as to why you called me over from America."

"Straight to the point, as usual," Urahara laughed. "There has been a… ah… crisis in Soul Society, and seeing as I am the one that caused the problem, I was asked to help clean it up. You believed in me years ago when you followed me here into exile… do you believe in me now?"

"Does this have something to do with the Hougyoku?" Hideoyoshi asked as Jinta and Ururu brought out plates heaping with food and set them on the table in front of Urahara, Alan, and Hideoyoshi.

"It has everything to do with the Hougyoku," he replied, his voice suddenly taking on a much darker tone. "Aizen Sousuke turned traitor, along with Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tousen. He found the Hougyoku, which I had placed into a zero-spirit energy gigai that I gave to Rukia Kuichiki and took it. Then… this is the big surprise… a large force of Menos Grande opened up the sky above Soul Society and rescued the trio of traitors and took them back to Hueco Mundo."

"So the mission is to go to Hueco Mundo and take that thing back then?"

"No," Urahara said plainly. "Your mission is to find and subdue a Soul Reaper that turned into a Hollow during these events named Ichigo Kurosaki."


Note: Sorry this is such a short… and crappy… chapter. School has picked up quite a bit since the last update, and I can't guarantee that my next one will be soon, but I do promise that I will try! I will also do my best to make the next one not suck too. Sorry! Keep up the review, those of you that are, and those of you that don't… why don't you??